Peanut's journal

[Peanut]

Hi, I’m Peanut. I introduced myself elsewhere so I won’t repeat that stuff but just get right to it. I wanted to try a journal since we moved into our condo a month ago and it seems like a good time to figure everything out and make new goals.

First off, the dreaded budget:

Baseline Expenses for 4: 2 adults + 1 child + 1 huge dog

------------------
Shelter: $930 a month for property taxes, condo assessment, insurance
Necessities: $600/mo for food, toothpaste, diapers, etc.

Utilities: $110/mo estimated for gas, electric, internet
Cell: $190/mo for 2 smart and 1 feature phone
Donations: $45/mo
Subscriptions: $25/mo

Car: $60/mo for insurance and registration (haven’t gotten gas in 3 mos)
Parking: $15/mo
Bus to work: $70/mo

------------------
Projected total: 2045

I’d especially welcome solutions to the astronomical cell phone bill we pay. I am ashamedly on a plan (AT&T) with a new Iphone, but the second smart phone (DH’s) and feature phone (my mother’s) are out of plan. Their phones are not anything special and they are fine with that, so cheapest alternatives are on the table.

Not included: One-offs like a special outing, surprise $400 vet bill, activities for kiddo, and so forth, that seem to crop up regularly. I'm not sure if I should have a stipulated budget for that which I would either spend or save each month, or just decide on each expense as it arises based on other criteria.

[George the original one]

Budget for the one-offs. If you can eliminate them, then they add to your savings, but for now, to keep those expenses from increasing drama, budget for 'em!

[Peanut]

@George: It makes sense to budget but then I need to work out limits. Maybe a yearly one that could then be broken down monthly.

I need to do more financial mapping but it's been on my mind so I'll do my work goals first:

Work goals: DH currently works, and I do not. I would definitely like to work again. The question is how much and what kind of work to pursue, and that’s something I need to figure out. And also when. For now since I take care of my child full-time I have been investigating volunteering possibilities.

In the past I did some volunteer prison teaching, which was great, but some cursory research suggests that where we currently live that type of work is only available as a regular job. I may just need to look harder and find the right people to ask.

Yesterday I signed up for tutoring with a city organization. I think it would involve working with one or two HS students weekly for one school year. My preference is to work with adults rather than HS-age students, but maybe that’s just because I have no experience with the latter, so perhaps that would change. If they want me to be in the program that will probably be all I have time for for a while. Although I’m into the cause it may not be the best thing for me to pursue since I would kind of like to try something other than teaching. I should quickly look for other options before I make a commitment to the organization.

[Peanut]

Late update to the 'monthly' accounting.

Well, as I suspected, the one-offs keep coming.
June was a $570 vet bill for a lot of thyroid exams for the dog. July was a $395 plumbing bill. In August I plan to fly so the flight costs are bound to be $400-$500 again. I guess I should accept this $$$ as an inevitable add-on to base expenses every month and plan accordingly. Not having hot water and solo driving with a small child for 12 hours are not good alternatives to these financial outlays for us.

I suppose I should either save up a permanent nest egg for this wildcard category of expenses or figure out a part-time job that would generate extra monthly income. The only thing I've ever done to earn money without dedicating set work hours to it is day trading, but I'm trying to exit my positions rather than get embroiled in risk. Freelancing is attractive for its flexibility but inherently unstable, and pays terribly for the areas I'm qualified in. Conclusion: getting some new qualifications would be worth investigating.

[ArkTinkerer]

Learn basic plumbing? I know they all seem like emergencies but the next repair item that crops up, stop, take a break, and see if you can fix it yourself -- at least do an internet search. A water heater is not that hard to replace and, if installed to code, has a shutoff valve. Water can be heated on a stove for baths and laundry if its going to take you a while to learn how to do it.

[Gilberto de Piento]

Can you live without the smart phones? Even if not, look into republic.

I'm struggling with the one off costs too (see my journal). I've given up on having a budget for this reason. What makes or breaks my monthly spending is the unpredictable expenses. Start keeping track of these expenses very carefully and put them in your budget. You won't know what the next expense will be but you'll be able to figure out how much they cost per month.

If you track expenses long enough you'll start to see that they are somewhat predictable. For example, you might not be able to predict a $395 plumbing bill will happen in July but you can predict that there will be $xxxx in house related expenses every 12 months. You can then plan for these expenses by dividing them up into months and putting them in the budget. Hope this makes sense.

[Peanut]

@ArkTinkerer: I did several internet searches, and talked to many plumbers, a few of whom seemed to have no idea themselves what they were looking at. As a novice with little free time and no tools, diy was not a viable option in this case. I was very happy with the guy I finally hired, as not only were his prices good but his advice saved us from having to replace the water heater altogether, which we had planned to do.

Re: how to boil water. No kidding, I boiled four stockpots of water every other day for seven weeks for my kid’s bath. Did not consider no hot water an emergency situation, but after a while we did want to have it again…

[Peanut]

Can you live without the smart phones? Even if not, look into republic.

I cannot, and am stuck with a new plan, but I will look into Republic for DH, thanks. (Do you typically bring your own phone with them?) I also need to boot my mom out of our family plan to save more money, but that's proven a little difficult so far.

On house-related expenses--yeah I think the rule of thumb is to plan to have to spend 1% of your home's value per year on maintenance, although that doesn't necessarily make sense when you really think about it. But it should be different in a condo situation since monthly assessments go towards the building itself anyway. One or two fixes per year at less than $1k for the interior may not be unreasonable, but I kind of expected not to spend anything beyond the assessment for a while. Our inspector missed a couple of things or we just had bad luck, I guess.