"The Bills Support Group"

[stacyd1987]

Originally Posted by aktotx

Its been awhile since I had to deal with military and the BAH. But from what I can remember we had to pay out of pocket one month and they remburised us back for that since it was them not getting it done on time. Has he been in long enough that he has leave built up and you could sell those days back? I know you can only do it 1 time I think. I would go to finance and talk to them about the troubles with the BAH. Is he getting his BAS? I can tell you after being in the military and then being married to the military (then divorcing the bas***d and the military) that it is hard to get ahead at first. I found that if you can make it on base to the family support center they can help you get things in order and I know with the air force they had the airmans attic which I could get clothes and household things for free you had to be e-5 and below I think. I also volunteered there and got first pick at somethings a few times a month. (and got free daycare when I worked) There is also the base thrift shops where you can sell or get things really cheap. Alot of bases have a wives club for both enlisted and officer and I found they too can help out in extreme times and you can make some good friends and do free or cheap activities. I could prob come up with more things but I'll stop.

Well, I haven't heard of selling leave time... We'll look into it. As for BAS, we have that at least. We have stuff still from the Army Loan Closet and I never heard of a wives club. Heck, there isn't even an officer's nor enlisted club on the base. Walter Reed is really just a big fenced in hospital with little departments like finance here and there and a hotel for wounded soldiers and their families. (By the way, had no vacancies when we needed them during the two weeks we were in hotels. They're small.) Nothing much else to it.

Originally Posted by mybabyphx

Thanks for the idea!

Now....if only you could come up with an idea to wipe out all of the bills in the world...

Oh yes, that would be man and woman's greatest discovery after finding the cure for cancer.

 

[sissy's mommy]

Here are my 2 cents, for what it's worth...I agree with the keeping track of all your expenses to see where your money is going...you'd be surprised how things add up.

I have done two things to straighten out my budget. Wait, let me back track a minute...my dh and I got behind on bills because I had lost my job, then we were trying fertilty treatments (lots of $$), it got to the point that our house was going into foreclosure. So we had to sell the house, and really buckle down. Here is what I did, I reviewed all of our bills and set up a monthly budget in MS Excel. I listed all of the expenses, including some fun money - you can't completely deprive yourself. Then there are two columns, estimate and actual. It's a really good way to track your expenses and adjust as needed. The other thing that I do (also in MS Excel) is a 'by paycheck' budget. I list each paycheck - dates and estimated amounts - then I list each bill that will be paid with that paycheck. Then you know just how much you'll need to save for the next weeks bills, or how much you can put into a savings account.

I hope I have given some helpful ideas!!

 

[stacyd1987]

Originally Posted by Sissy's Mommy

Here are my 2 cents, for what it's worth...I agree with the keeping track of all your expenses to see where your money is going...you'd be surprised how things add up.

I have done two things to straighten out my budget. Wait, let me back track a minute...my dh and I got behind on bills because I had lost my job, then we were trying fertilty treatments (lots of $$), it got to the point that our house was going into foreclosure. So we had to sell the house, and really buckle down. Here is what I did, I reviewed all of our bills and set up a monthly budget in MS Excel. I listed all of the expenses, including some fun money - you can't completely deprive yourself. Then there are two columns, estimate and actual. It's a really good way to track your expenses and adjust as needed. The other thing that I do (also in MS Excel) is a 'by paycheck' budget. I list each paycheck - dates and estimated amounts - then I list each bill that will be paid with that paycheck. Then you know just how much you'll need to save for the next weeks bills, or how much you can put into a savings account.

I hope I have given some helpful ideas!!

I might take up on your Excel idea. How did you do it though? I practically never used that program.

 

[sissy's mommy]

Originally Posted by StacyD1987

I might take up on your Excel idea. How did you do it though? I practically never used that program.

I'll PM you and try to walk you through it!

 

[taterkitty]

Originally Posted by mybabyphx

I completely agree! It is very very hard to get on the right track, and stay there. Thats why I'm struggling so much.

Is there any way to get his monthy truck payment reduced? $600 a month is quite a bit of money, and I'm not sure about your financial situation, but that would kill my paycheck! LOL It's worth looking into.

Credit cards are the devil.

We've already refinanced it once. It used to $675/month and I really don't want to add any more years to the loan so for now we're just going to pinch pennies and hopefully get through the next 2 years until it's paid off.

 

[littleraven7726]

Originally Posted by taterkitty

We've already refinanced it once. It used to $675/month and I really don't want to add any more years to the loan so for now we're just going to pinch pennies and hopefully get through the next 2 years until it's paid off.

What kind of truck is it? That seems like a really high payment.

Have you read Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey? It's a pretty good, although with our sick kitty we haven't been able to start implementing his ideas yet.

He always recommends selling cars if payments are so high you are broke. He has a website too, and it's pretty good.

 

[lunasmom]

If you're able to live at home (i.e. like you are now mybabyphx), start saving $50 a paycheck into a savings account (I was paid per week then).

After college I lived at my parents for a little less then a year. The one thing helped me when I moved out and occassionally ran a little tight is that savings account.

By doing something like this, you have a little bit of money to fall back on. I did this in college as well, but not as much, only $20 a paycheck. But the money came in handy when I needed it.

 

[mybabyphx]

Originally Posted by lunasmom

If you're able to live at home (i.e. like you are now mybabyphx), start saving $50 a paycheck into a savings account (I was paid per week then).

After college I lived at my parents for a little less then a year. The one thing helped me when I moved out and occassionally ran a little tight is that savings account.

By doing something like this, you have a little bit of money to fall back on. I did this in college as well, but not as much, only $20 a paycheck. But the money came in handy when I needed it.

That actually sounds like a really good idea, but with my situation I really don't want to live here any longer then I have to. So, I actually need to save a lot more then that- so I can get my own place. I just brought PHX to my dads, and I don't feel right leaving him locked in my bedroom... we really need our own place bad!

 

[catsarebetter]

The other suggestion I've heard and honestly, I've just not been able to do this because we're so struggling sometimes.. is take any raises you get and either put the extra money straight into savings, or immediately into 401K for retirement. I know BB&T has a "savings" account that offers a slightly higher yield but it's for your house downpayment. Any other withdrawals I think incur a penalty, but if you use it for a down payment on a house, then it's good... so it would be really good if you were saving for a house, and then wanted to make sure that you didn't get into that savings for any other reason.

 

[stacyd1987]

Originally Posted by lunasmom

If you're able to live at home (i.e. like you are now mybabyphx), start saving $50 a paycheck into a savings account (I was paid per week then).

After college I lived at my parents for a little less then a year. The one thing helped me when I moved out and occassionally ran a little tight is that savings account.

By doing something like this, you have a little bit of money to fall back on. I did this in college as well, but not as much, only $20 a paycheck. But the money came in handy when I needed it.

I did that too before I moved out. I was working at a BK that I had to bike to 5.6 miles away and back and was renting a room from a kind woman in a devloping area. The roads were mostly dirt which wasn't fun on even on my off road bicycle. (Yes, a pedaling bicycle, not a motor.) The room was about $460 a month but even at 40 hours a week, I wasn't able to cut it and still be able to feed myself and pay for my cell phone which I relyed on for my work schedule and emergancy work time. They always called me for more hours if someone didn't show up because I was reliable. The only catch was if they called me and it was way too hot or raining to bike, someone had to pick me up. This is FL in the summer where it always rains at 3-4pm and it's always +95 degrees out. By the time it was November and getting close to when I had to quit working to go the the Air Force bootcamp, my savings was depleted to almost nothing. If I can recall, I think I had about $8 left in it.

But that thing saved my butt more than once when I needed a bit for food.

 

[gailc]

If anyone owns their own home-esp in a more northern climate its is worth he money to buy a programable thermostat. Since our house is electric heat (out back as we heat with wood) we have thermostats in every room!! The bedrooms are very rarely turned on (unless it below zero and then for just a few minutes). Three of ours have various programs that turn it down to say 62F at 10 pm them at 5:30 (dh's alarm) turns it back up to say 68F until 7:30 when it turns back down to 65F until 5 pm when it turns it back up to 68F.
Works quite well!!

A thought on debit cards-you might want to try writing a check sometimes instead of a debit card say at the grocery store-I bet you would spend less!!

One of my former co-workers used the envelope system for budgeting.
She had 2 kids and 3 step kids at varying days and times of the week. It seemed to work for her but you have to stick to it pretty well.

 

[mybabyphx]

Originally Posted by GailC

A thought on debit cards-you might want to try writing a check sometimes instead of a debit card say at the grocery store-I bet you would spend less!!

I have a checking account, but I do not have checks. I decided I don't need them, and i only have a debit card. The reason for me not wanting checks is because you know that period before your next payday- when your strapped for cash... well I would just write checks with no money in there, and then make sure I put the money in when I got paid. I wrote some bad checks that way

And ever since I will NOT get checks. Also, I used to have a bad problem with getting payday loans...without checks- you can't get those loans to put you farther into debt.

So I'm thinking ahead!

 

[taterkitty]

Originally Posted by littleraven7726

What kind of truck is it? That seems like a really high payment.

Have you read Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey? It's a pretty good, although with our sick kitty we haven't been able to start implementing his ideas yet.

He always recommends selling cars if payments are so high you are broke. He has a website too, and it's pretty good.

It's a Dodge Ram 1500 quad cab and when he traded for it he still owed about a 2 years on his other one so basically we're paying for 2 trucks. He didn't realize they added the old loan onto the new one until he had already bought it and I explained it to him. Men...sheesh!!!

 

[stacyd1987]

Originally Posted by mybabyphx

I have a checking account, but I do not have checks. I decided I don't need them, and i only have a debit card. The reason for me not wanting checks is because you know that period before your next payday- when your strapped for cash... well I would just write checks with no money in there, and then make sure I put the money in when I got paid. I wrote some bad checks that way

And ever since I will NOT get checks. Also, I used to have a bad problem with getting payday loans...without checks- you can't get those loans to put you farther into debt.

So I'm thinking ahead!

Same here. I heard in the news a few years ago of people doing that a few days before their paycheck so the check doesn't hit until after you finally have money. They plan to stop that with a faster system but then that'll mean a lot of people who really needed the money a day or two earlier are going to be out of luck.