Home 'Budgeting'

We close in a few weeks and I am feeling 'worried' about our finances. I know we will make all of our bills monthly, I just want to know any of you homeowners that went to a home from an apartment with a big jump in rent to mortgage (we are about a $1k swing upwards to our new mortgage) - what did you budget to 'cut out'

I know we are going to be avoiding going out to dinner, careless spending, freely stopping at the ATM (I feel we lose so much $$ by just 'swinging by the ATM), being conscious when food shopping (such as not just grabbing what we want - getting what we need, and shopping for sales).

I am at a loss of what other corners to cut. DH doesn't spend time out much, the only thing he really LOVES (as silly as it is) is his WWE wrestling pay per views.. our Cable bill comes out to just over $200/monthly (including phone, internet, the cable 'silver' package, and his ONE monthly payperview) - I would HATE to cut one thing he truly looks forward to monthly.

Also - we are going to be paying for water for the first time EVER... what does a typical two person home water bill look like...

TIA for all of your help!

Re: Home 'Budgeting'

I'm in NJ and my water bill is $32 per month. I really cut back by not always going to my favorite stores. I used to always swing by Homegoods, Target, Sephora and stores like that. I never left without spending at least $50...so just don't go to your favorite stores. It can help. Also we really try to do bulk shopping at Costco instead of running to Wholefoods all the time.

Re: Home 'Budgeting'

Re: Home 'Budgeting'

Plan ahead for those expenses that just pop up by having a rainy day fund too. I'm not talking about the "need to replace the appliance" or "fix a leaking roof" or car repairs, but the little stuff - wedding gifts, confirmations, graduations, birthdays, etc. You need a fund for those bigger repairs, but don't forget the little things that crop up - they can really wreck a budget if too many crop up. Don't forget to budget for annual bills too, car insurance, life insurance, homeowners "extras" like an Umbrella policy that isn't bundled into your mortgage.

Re: Home 'Budgeting'

Im in Long Island...my water bill is $8 every 3 months in the winter, and $16 for the summer. that is the least of your worries if you live on long island.

you have the right idea. if you think you will be tight..shop sales, clip coupons, don't eat out, etc.

good luck!!!!!!!!! and congrats!!!!!!!!!

Re: Home 'Budgeting'

Hi. I totally understand as we just closed on our house 2 weeks ago tomorrow and are dealing with the same thing.. Honestly, we cut back on our cable even though it sucks! We just have the regular triple play with family cable. We gave up the silver package and DVR. We are also all of a sudden extremely conscious of what lights are on and turning off anything that doesn't need to be on. I no longer leave the water running when brush my teeth (i "needed" the noise), etc.

We gave up eating out, well, now we go to McDonald's and TGIFridays. We have a baby on the way so we need to save for that too.

It's tough and I'm scared sometimes but I think you just have to reign in your spending. I rarely buy clothes anymore and it's tough since I need maternity clothes. I'm off all summer so I've been dealing with only having 2 pairs of shorts and 3 capris. It's not easy but I just remind myself that its for our house. The more we save, the sooner we fulfill our emergency fund needs and can start saving for furniture.

Re: Home 'Budgeting'

We don't have a house yet but a few years ago we started getting serious about saving for one and became much more money and budget conscious. We started to look for the little extras in life, finance-wise, that may help to balance out the unexpected expenses and inflation, etc.

We opened a high interest savings account (well, it's not so high interest anymore in this economy but it's still better than nothing!).

We started taking advantage of our Discover cards and the cash back bonuses they offer. If you can pay the bill in full every month, you might as well use that account to pay for things instead of checking account money, and then you can redeem for money applied to your balance or gift cards to stores like CVS and Lowes. Also you can often redeem $20 in cash back money for a $25 gift card, or $40 for a $50 card. This of course extends to other credit cards that have similar offers available.

We also made a point of really taking advantage of flexible spending accounts at work. It's nice to have a little less taxable income..again, every bit helps.

Also any kind of airline miles, hotel points, when buying clothes and other things I only order online if I'm getting a discount AND pay no shipping, etc. etc. We are now free perk and money saving whores!

Message edited 7/11/2009 11:32:18 AM.

Re: Home 'Budgeting'

whatever you do, start an emergency fund. it's sad to say, but things in a house break all the time, often without notice. so while you're cutting back on expenses, add that money to your emergency account because home repairs can be $$$ as we've learned the hard way

we take out a certain amount of money each week and charge all of our purchases. as a PP said, discover has great cash back, and i cash that in every month for an applebees $50 gift card which is how we get to go out to dinner almost every saturday--we pay nothing except tip!

start a notebook writing down ALL your bills, when you pay them and how much they are. i would have forgotten bills over the last few years if i didn't. i can easily look at the notebook and see what i still have to pay for the month, which helps me figure out how much money i can put into savings.

i personally do not debit--EVER EVER EVER. i would never keep track of those purchases the way i do with CC and wouldn't get any "bonuses" like our applebees gift card. make sure you balance your checkbook every money if you don't already do so because mortgage payments are high and you don't want to be stuck not being able to pay it.

our water bill is anywhere from $25-40 a month depending on if we use our sprinklers. they used to do every 3 month billing but stopped that. we have an approx 60x90 lot.

hope that helps! just really watch your spending the first few months and record all your bills and you will have a great sense as to how much you need every month