HOW CAN A MIDDLE INCOME FAMILY MAKE AND MEET A BUDGET?  3 KIDS. 2 JOBS.  A HOUSE AND 2 CARS.  SEEMS LIKE NOW WITH THE GAS PRICES.... DOESNT REALLY PAY TO DRIVE 1 HOUR 1 WAY TO GET TO WORK.  ANY IDEAS WOULD BE APPRECIATED!!!
137138
Have you consider taking some kind of public transit system that would reduce your stress and expenses.\nWhen doing budget you need to ask yourself if you really need this or want it.\nNeed is something you must have.  Want is something you can cut off.  For example do you need to have cable T.V. or should you spend time with the kids instead of watching T.V.
449452
in my state, min wage is $6.50 hr X 40 hrs = $260 a week X 4 wks = $1040. Take out taxes then, = $990 (?) a month.\nRent is about $550, gas a month is about $35, food about $200 (shopping and groceries with coupons), electric about $40, phone $10, basic TV $12. That leaves me with $143 for clothes, bathroom and cleaning supplies, entertainment and medical copays.\n\nOf course I can LIVE on $990 a month. But my apt has water leaks, toilet doesn't flush every time, I can only rent $1 movie once in while and can't go to the theater ever, I drive to work, store, church and parents, I haven't driven out of the city in 3 years, I had unforeseen health diagnoses and pay $25 a month in copays for meds, I get 1 bag of food once a month from Salvation Army, I have holes in my tennis shoes that I bought 4 years ago, etc. Yes I can live on this but I can't save any money from any of my checks, I have to use coupons and rebates all the time, I can't afford to have a $12 haircut so I cut my own hair, I just took two end tables from the dumpster area and nailed the leg back on it and cleaned them and covered them with kitchen towels for my lamps, I did splurge and bought a $1 double cheseburger at McDonald's today, the computer is have was given to me by different people (the monitor is Envision, the keyboard is Compaq, the PC is Gateway, no speakers, and the mouse is Hewlett Packard from Goodwill for $2). I go to the librar to use their computers because I can't afford much extra electricity.\n\nSo Yes, I can live on min wage, BUT IT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
405094
By working a full time job and several part time jobs, cutting back on spending and waiting late in the year to turn on heat and not turning on A/C until it gets too unbearably hot. Patching and mending clothes, making shoes go another year, no more eating out, movies out, unneccessary trips to town, etc.\n\nI make a good wage but members of my family have been hit hard and they really have to tighten up. After a job layoff the only jobs available are low paying jobs. (Going from $15 an hour, down to $10 an hour is quite a drop) These people lose their homes, have to sell their vehicles or have them refinanced to a lower payment, move closer in to save fuel...I've seen the destruction of their quality of life, firsthand. It's not right.
584489
You make 2000 a week.  Your mortgage is only about 1400.00 a month.  You should have tons of money unless you are living beyond your means, and aren't we all?  Keep the stock if doing well, if you sell you'll get killed with the capital gains, especially in your income group.  OR, sell the loosers or a portion of thes stock and put it into other vehicles.  Pay a couple extra dollars every month on the mortgage and it'll be paid off quicker.  Start saving something, even if only $1000 a month.  Try living a little simpler, and getting rid of some of those toys.  Yes, you can live without that big boat, some of us only have canoes, and you don't need the luxury sedan, they have all the same toys in cheaper cars.
177434
If I'm living here in the woods of Arkansas, with no kids, and I get rid of my cell phone, satellite tv, and the Internet, I think I could do quite well with much less money.  Oh, and I wouldn't even need a dryer because I'd hang my clothes out on the line.  I'd be sure to plant plenty of food in my gardens and put a lot of it up for the winter.  I don't think I can give up my AC and I'm still paying off on my car. :)  But I have a well instead of city water.  I guess I could get by on about...  $600 a month.
656895
Whoa, dear one, which planet are you from?  The rent covers your portion of living there, your use of electricity for the TV, Cable and the Internet fees, computer, DVD players, CD players, the printer, Monitor, the Speakers.  The furniture upon which you sleep or sit.  How about the food you eat or the clothes you wear, or the materials you need for school?  \n\nPaychecks don't go too far these days.  Gas has gone up tremendously in the last couple of months.  Phone, gas, electricity have all gone up and in some states have doubled because of municipal, city, and local taxes have been added.\n\nUnfortunately after all that, they just might be right.  Definitely was that way for me.\n\nMy son started collecting all the old newspapers in our apartment complex.  Collecting the soda cans tossed at our football games and saving up the plastic containers at home.  It was work, sure, but he was getting almost $20 bucks a week.  Darn sharp I say.\n\nHope this gives you a bigger picture on what may be happening with you.  Good Luck with how you chose to deal with your situation.
108944
I sort of agree with Big Ed...but you got some complications in this situation.\n\nAre you in agreement that all income is "Ours"?  Or is it that he puts in only a portion into the pot.  This is not good!\n\nI've shown people how to create a budget on a worksheet.  You can project into the future what your finances will be, and can budget your "play" money accordingly.  You are nervous because you don't really have a clue what is coming up.  By budgeting, it should help you out.\n\nDo a search on the internet for "budgeting" and get some ideas.  If you are still stumped send me an email and I'll show you how it's done.  \n\nThe fact that you now own your home indicated you are off to a good start.  Don't stumble now!
93153
You need to budget your money and get a mind-set to allow yourself only so much per account. \nExample: $250 net income/week\n         $100 car\n         $100 food, gas, laundry, etc \n          $50 spending money\nBudget will be tight, but very satisfying when you make your goal. Also, try not to loan out money you may not get back, or will be slow being repaid. Another thing that can make money disappear quickly is taking others out to eat as "your treat"\n\nGood luck!!
212408
who can afford it with the price of gas...........and 5 kids and a husband.
498631
your parents probably have a mountain of bills to pay....mortgage or rent, car repayments/ maintenance/ rego/ insurance/ petrol...health insurance,school fees,school uniforms,council rates,dental/medical bills,phone bills,internet bills, electricity, food,entertainment, etc etc etc...ooooh and clothes for the whole family!\n\nwhat you need to say to your parents is :\nMum? Dad?...I need to find a part time job so I can help out with the family finances (25% of my take home pay after taxes) then I can spend the rest on jazzing up my wardrobe or window shopping with my mates then we have a coffee afterwards and spilt a serve of french fries
49198
I am also a 27 year old female, and I've learned some harsh lessons about financial realities.  I'll share with you what worked for me.\n\nI have a binder full of lined paper.  On the first page of the binder I have a budget.  You may ask yourself, how does one create a budget?  \n\nThe way I did it was to first list the things I have a fixed amount I need to spend per month: Rent, Car payments, Magazine subscriptions, Car insurance.  Then I figured out how much I would need PER PAYCHECK to save for this (don't say per month - if you do this, you're setting yourself up for failure).  I need $400 per paycheck for rent, $200 for car, $50 for insurance, $5 for registration, etc.  ANYTHING you spend money on goes down on paper.\n\nNext, I put down the things I need, but that aren't fixed.  For instance, groceries, gas, car repair, health (SO very important to have a large reserve, as I recently found out).  I guess how much I'm going to spend on this per month.  Don't forget, that a budget is ALWAYS evolving.  You get raises, bonuses, and (hopefully not) pay cuts all the time, so be prepared.\n\nFinally, you need to have some money to yourself.  I seperated these into clothes, gifts, massage, and books for myself, but you can always change that around.  Put a fixed amount per check into these funds.\n\nHere's the most important part: RECORD what you're spending on the other sheets of paper.  If you buy a pair of shoes, that goes in the clothes budget.  If you buy a gallon of milk, that goes in the groceries budget.  I guarantee you'll be shocked by some of the purchases you make. (I was spending $500 on groceries for two people in a month - that's absurd.  I now REALLY watch what a shop for, and I make sure I'm not throwing things away because they got old - I use everything!)\n\nOk, now we're ready to set aside some money to save!  Generally people say to save 10% of your gross income.  With the above method, the car repair and health funds are sort of "oh no" accounts that you're not going to be touching unless you have a situation, so I count that as part of the 10%.  Aside from this, calculate 10% of your net income ($800 = $80) and have it direct deposited into a different account.  This should not be accessable by check OR atm card!!!!  Once you have about $2,000, you should be able to move it into a money market (some people call money markets "High Yield Savings Accounts") without having to pay any fees.  You'll earn about 2%-4%, depending on the rates at the time.\n\nDon't forget that you'll want to fund some sort of retirement account out of this!  Make sure you try to set asside the maximum possible into retirement accounts so you don't regret your misspent youth.  I'll let you know that I've done calucualtions that say I need 2 million (caluculating for inflation) dollars to retire at age 65.  Yes, that is $2,000,000.  I urge you to look for a program called "Smart Women Finish Rich" in your area.  You'll learn TONS from it, and hopefully be inspired to start saving money.
446204
Budget, Budget, Budget.  You need to sit down and write up a budget.  If it ain't on the list and isn't absolutely required then it ain't gettin' done.  As you get used to this each pay period you'll get better at listing everything and estimating bills.  As you go through the month you'll be surprised at how much you'll be tempted to spend on non-requirements.  Make sure you factor in entertainment and food into your budget.  Budget is not a dirty word.  After you do it a few times you'll see it's not a burden.  BTW, get rid of that car or pay if off ASAP.  Alot of people retire poor because they always have a car payment.
138504
I paid 25 cents for a gallon of gas in 1971.  I was making $3.80 an hour.  In 2006 I am paying $2.85 for a gallon of gas.  I am making $80,000 a year.  My earnings have gone up, but along with that so have prices of products.  If inflation increases 5.1% for the year you are taking a 3% wage cut.
187410
Listen, you ignorant republican. I am a teacher in inner-city Philadelphia. I am having a hard time making ends meet. I have NO children, I could not pay off a loan (I am paying off college loans.) What's your next suggestion, GW?
171939
i try to consolidate my errands, and i don't accelerate quickly anymore- it burns up to 1/3 more gas every hundred miles. on a job related level, i'm a server in a restaurant and i can definitely tell you where other people are cutting back!! tips are way below average.
229217
Well I have 4 kids and I'm a single mother. I can not work at the moment because I can not find proper child care for the two children that don't attend school.( I would love to be working) But here is the deal, Me and my kids are living in a small 2br, 1 ba home, you could donate about $2,500.00 to us so that we can pay the down payment on a new and bigger home. Charity I guess you could say, but I would consider it to be a blessing. Ty   latovat@yahoo.com
69264
Tell him the Economy is like a big store that covers the whole county with lots of stuff and that some people make the stuff, some finance the stuff like mommy and daddy finance their car, using a bank.  Yet others haul the stuff from the people who make it to the people who store it  and other's sell the stuff and finally people buy the stuff.  The more stuff that gets produced the bigger the Economy gets and the people in it make more money! So they can buy their kids more stuff.  Now thats a lot of stuff!