All your expenses are pretty normal. I don’t think you’re overspending. And saving 10% is laudable. You’re doing fine. I’d suggest trying to increase your income with a raise, becoming a manager, or a higher paying job. When you can’t decrease expenses you have to increase income.
List them all out. Where is all of the money going and how much. No one here can help if we don't have numbers to work with.
Listing your total monthly income is also extremely helpful. So, everything going in and everything coming out we would need to see.
You’re spending over 40% of your income on rent.
My advice:
I would look into how I can defer my student loans for now. That will give you an additional $400 a month to play with. Then I would reassess my grocery bill and make sure I’m not overspending there. Grocery costs have increased significantly so it’s not unbelievable for 1 person to spend $500 on groceries a month at all, even before inflation got as bad as it is currently if we’re being real. But do you really need all the things you’re buying? Or can you live without until maybe getting rid of the lawyer debt you listed.
Getting your student loans deferred and reassessing your grocery bill may help get the lawyer debt cleared quicker. At which point you will no less than have an additional $580 no longer allocated to debt, but rather savings or overhead. Build an emergency fund from there. But also understand that unless your student loans eventually get forgiven, you’ll need to reassess again at a later date.
Depending on where OP loves, that might be a very reasonable rent.
I'm in NYC and share an apartment with a roommate. I pay $1,080 per month - and I live at the end of a train line.
So that means you're saving 13%! You're really doing better than lots of people, plenty of people who make more than you are living paycheck to paycheck.
Start with building up a $2-3k emergency fund (1 month salary if you can swing it), then prioritize paying down the highest interest loans first. I'd also look into your non-monthly costs (car license renewal, insurance, etc) and setting aside 1/12 the cost each month. That way they're not a big chunk out of your budget when you do renew.
Ignore the people saying get a roommate, they clearly missed the bit about having 2 kids. But, if you can do a side-hustle without having to pay for child care, think about it. Just long enough to pay off your debt as fast as possible.
And I second the people saying to get deferment for the federal student loans. You might have to pay nothing in an income based repayment plan, because your fixed costs (rent, etc) are subtracted from your salary before they determine what you have to repay.
Cut out the subscriptions. Those are wants not needs.
I'm curious to see if you can get your phone bill down. You shouldn't have a new or semi new phone if you are struggling.
Do you really need a car? What about public transport?
You need a roommate or do something to cut those housing costs. Id also try to trim that grocery budget to 300. What are you cooking? Do you make a new dish everyday?
Yeah. I pretty much make new meals everyday but also eat the leftover for lunch. I'm not the best cook so if I don't like something, I sometimes throw it out because I can't force myself to eat it again. On top of that, my son is autistic and eat a separate meal alot of the time. I'm know I need to work on the food budget more.
Phone service go with Mint.
Cut the food bill if you can. Go to Aldi or some other budget grocery store.
Get a roommate or find a cheaper place. Can you move in with family for a little bit?
Can you find cheaper car insurance?
Can you post your budget here for us to review? It's likely that you're classing the categories you're overspending on as needs, but the spending within that category is wants. For example groceries, everyone needs groceries. But where $70 a week might be a need and $150 will contain a lot of wants, but they're all being grouped together as "groceries", and therefore a "need" in your mind. Same with housing or transport or whatever. Everyone needs to travel to other places, but driving a 2000s model/cycling is a need whereas a 2020s model with a car payment or Ubering is a want.
Is $500 on groceries for one person or a family? We spend about $800/mo and that is for a family of 5, and honestly we could cut that way back if needed. Don’t get down in the dumps, you are still saving 10%, no it isn’t 20%, but still better than 0%. The first goal should be to have an emergency fund. Target $1000, or whatever you think your biggest single emergency expense might be. Once you hit that $1000, use all your spare cash to pay off debt. How much is your student loan? Getting that paid off will allow you to put an additional $400 per month into savings/investment.
So hit the $1k emergency fund. At 10% ($360) that is 3 months. Then start paying your $400+$360 on the private loan. That probably takes 2 years to pay it off. Now, you have $760 a month (20%) to put into additional savings or to pay down the additional loans, and build up 3-6months if living expenses. Does you work offer a 401k match?
Yes, it does. ETA : correctly. It does but it's only available after one year. I'm currently two months in as a full time employee. Was a contractor before.
When the time comes, one thing to think about with 401k, is that if there is a generous match you could put money into 401k, get the match and then pull the matched funds out. Yes you will pay taxes (you would have anyway) and a 10% penalty, but it is still free money.
10% is better than a lot of people are doing so cut yourself some slack.
For me, it's a matter of gamifying frugality. I've trained myself to have fun finding ways to be cheaper. Think of it like winning the game/beating the system when you find a way to avoid a cost. New shoes cost $65 but I can stretch a few months out of adding in an adhesive pad over the back part that was making me need new ones? Nice. If that doesn't work make it "revolutionary." "The system wants me to waste money so I'm stuck working". You gotta find the key and sort of almost psyop yourself into whatever will motivate you to stick with it.
It really is also the little things that add up in the long run. I used to spend $2 every morning on coffee, but eventually I did the math on just using reusable pods in a Keurig and it's insane. $2x5 work days is $10 a week and $520 a year. A $4 tin of store brand coffee lasts me weeks, so I might save $300-400 a year this way. Do that to another expense and now you're saving $800 etc.
Last, revaluate everything you could be buying in bulk. If you are saving 10% you should have some wiggle room to break through the initial higher costs. Paper towels go on sale, stock up. Figure out what you'll totally use and what you would throw away. If bulk doesn't work for one thing don't force yourself into it (as throwing it away probably raises the long costs). If you buy a snack every day at the vending machine, it's a guarantee buying a case a week is cheaper.
Are you in the US? Consider switching to Mint Mobile. That’s not going to make a huge difference but see if they have decent coverage in your area and switch to their plan. 15GB per mo $20 If you pay 12 mo ahead.
How soon will the student loans be paid up? Those will free up a good chunk, in addition to attorney. Those two expenses together eat up 16% of your income.
It's really make more money or spend less money.
So get another or better paying job or.... find cheaper living.
Example if you chop your phone bill I half. It sounds great but does shit all for you. Drop your rent by 20% though and that's damn near 300 bucks
I bring home.damn near.double what you do and my rent is 925 including washing and dryer.
I wish I could find something cheaper. I'm in a major city so that was the best I could find for a 2bd. My first apt was $825 for a one bedroom that was back in 2015. I miss those days.
Earn more spend less.
That's reality.
You can ignore it you can try and explain it away you can point the finger say it's hard. What ever you want to do that's great.
I don't care.
This isn't emotional for me, it's just facts.
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All your expenses are pretty normal. I don’t think you’re overspending. And saving 10% is laudable. You’re doing fine. I’d suggest trying to increase your income with a raise, becoming a manager, or a higher paying job. When you can’t decrease expenses you have to increase income.
we don’t know what that 85% comprises off. we need to to see if there’s any room to save there.
It's all of my bills plus groceries and gas. Nothing more.
List them all out. Where is all of the money going and how much. No one here can help if we don't have numbers to work with. Listing your total monthly income is also extremely helpful. So, everything going in and everything coming out we would need to see.
I added it.
You’re spending over 40% of your income on rent. My advice: I would look into how I can defer my student loans for now. That will give you an additional $400 a month to play with. Then I would reassess my grocery bill and make sure I’m not overspending there. Grocery costs have increased significantly so it’s not unbelievable for 1 person to spend $500 on groceries a month at all, even before inflation got as bad as it is currently if we’re being real. But do you really need all the things you’re buying? Or can you live without until maybe getting rid of the lawyer debt you listed. Getting your student loans deferred and reassessing your grocery bill may help get the lawyer debt cleared quicker. At which point you will no less than have an additional $580 no longer allocated to debt, but rather savings or overhead. Build an emergency fund from there. But also understand that unless your student loans eventually get forgiven, you’ll need to reassess again at a later date.
The groceries are for 3 people (two kids). I work from home so I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at home. Don't eat out much.
Oh, and you may also want to get a roommate if possible.
Depending on where OP loves, that might be a very reasonable rent. I'm in NYC and share an apartment with a roommate. I pay $1,080 per month - and I live at the end of a train line.
What do you mean by net? Are you contributing to a 401K that's coming out of your paycheck?
That's how much I get after everything is taken out. Yes, I contribute but it's only 3%.
So that means you're saving 13%! You're really doing better than lots of people, plenty of people who make more than you are living paycheck to paycheck. Start with building up a $2-3k emergency fund (1 month salary if you can swing it), then prioritize paying down the highest interest loans first. I'd also look into your non-monthly costs (car license renewal, insurance, etc) and setting aside 1/12 the cost each month. That way they're not a big chunk out of your budget when you do renew. Ignore the people saying get a roommate, they clearly missed the bit about having 2 kids. But, if you can do a side-hustle without having to pay for child care, think about it. Just long enough to pay off your debt as fast as possible. And I second the people saying to get deferment for the federal student loans. You might have to pay nothing in an income based repayment plan, because your fixed costs (rent, etc) are subtracted from your salary before they determine what you have to repay.
Start with getting an income sensitive payment on the student loans.
Cut out the subscriptions. Those are wants not needs. I'm curious to see if you can get your phone bill down. You shouldn't have a new or semi new phone if you are struggling. Do you really need a car? What about public transport?
You need a roommate or do something to cut those housing costs. Id also try to trim that grocery budget to 300. What are you cooking? Do you make a new dish everyday?
Yeah. I pretty much make new meals everyday but also eat the leftover for lunch. I'm not the best cook so if I don't like something, I sometimes throw it out because I can't force myself to eat it again. On top of that, my son is autistic and eat a separate meal alot of the time. I'm know I need to work on the food budget more.
There is some room to cut subscriptions and groceries, and perhaps in the personal category as well.
Phone service go with Mint. Cut the food bill if you can. Go to Aldi or some other budget grocery store. Get a roommate or find a cheaper place. Can you move in with family for a little bit? Can you find cheaper car insurance?
Get a roommate. Rent is killing you
Can you post your budget here for us to review? It's likely that you're classing the categories you're overspending on as needs, but the spending within that category is wants. For example groceries, everyone needs groceries. But where $70 a week might be a need and $150 will contain a lot of wants, but they're all being grouped together as "groceries", and therefore a "need" in your mind. Same with housing or transport or whatever. Everyone needs to travel to other places, but driving a 2000s model/cycling is a need whereas a 2020s model with a car payment or Ubering is a want.
I added my budget.
Is $500 on groceries for one person or a family? We spend about $800/mo and that is for a family of 5, and honestly we could cut that way back if needed. Don’t get down in the dumps, you are still saving 10%, no it isn’t 20%, but still better than 0%. The first goal should be to have an emergency fund. Target $1000, or whatever you think your biggest single emergency expense might be. Once you hit that $1000, use all your spare cash to pay off debt. How much is your student loan? Getting that paid off will allow you to put an additional $400 per month into savings/investment.
Thank you. The groceries are for 3 people. Student loans are at $63K. The $400 is actually only one private loan . The rest are deferred.
Thank you. The groceries are for 3 people. Student loans are at $63K. The $400 is actually only one private loan . The rest are deferred.
Of the 63k how much is the private loan?
$21k
So hit the $1k emergency fund. At 10% ($360) that is 3 months. Then start paying your $400+$360 on the private loan. That probably takes 2 years to pay it off. Now, you have $760 a month (20%) to put into additional savings or to pay down the additional loans, and build up 3-6months if living expenses. Does you work offer a 401k match?
Yes, it does. ETA : correctly. It does but it's only available after one year. I'm currently two months in as a full time employee. Was a contractor before.
When the time comes, one thing to think about with 401k, is that if there is a generous match you could put money into 401k, get the match and then pull the matched funds out. Yes you will pay taxes (you would have anyway) and a 10% penalty, but it is still free money.
10% is better than a lot of people are doing so cut yourself some slack. For me, it's a matter of gamifying frugality. I've trained myself to have fun finding ways to be cheaper. Think of it like winning the game/beating the system when you find a way to avoid a cost. New shoes cost $65 but I can stretch a few months out of adding in an adhesive pad over the back part that was making me need new ones? Nice. If that doesn't work make it "revolutionary." "The system wants me to waste money so I'm stuck working". You gotta find the key and sort of almost psyop yourself into whatever will motivate you to stick with it. It really is also the little things that add up in the long run. I used to spend $2 every morning on coffee, but eventually I did the math on just using reusable pods in a Keurig and it's insane. $2x5 work days is $10 a week and $520 a year. A $4 tin of store brand coffee lasts me weeks, so I might save $300-400 a year this way. Do that to another expense and now you're saving $800 etc. Last, revaluate everything you could be buying in bulk. If you are saving 10% you should have some wiggle room to break through the initial higher costs. Paper towels go on sale, stock up. Figure out what you'll totally use and what you would throw away. If bulk doesn't work for one thing don't force yourself into it (as throwing it away probably raises the long costs). If you buy a snack every day at the vending machine, it's a guarantee buying a case a week is cheaper.
Are you in the US? Consider switching to Mint Mobile. That’s not going to make a huge difference but see if they have decent coverage in your area and switch to their plan. 15GB per mo $20 If you pay 12 mo ahead. How soon will the student loans be paid up? Those will free up a good chunk, in addition to attorney. Those two expenses together eat up 16% of your income.
Student loans are $63k. I don't see them going away anytime soon.
It's really make more money or spend less money. So get another or better paying job or.... find cheaper living. Example if you chop your phone bill I half. It sounds great but does shit all for you. Drop your rent by 20% though and that's damn near 300 bucks I bring home.damn near.double what you do and my rent is 925 including washing and dryer.
I wish I could find something cheaper. I'm in a major city so that was the best I could find for a 2bd. My first apt was $825 for a one bedroom that was back in 2015. I miss those days.
Get a roommate or move out of town. There are options you just want to believe it can't be done. It's the solution earn more or cut major expenses
She has two kids. You're being unrealistic.
Earn more spend less. That's reality. You can ignore it you can try and explain it away you can point the finger say it's hard. What ever you want to do that's great. I don't care. This isn't emotional for me, it's just facts.