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Do you think this is able to be done?
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amother
OP


 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 10:20 am
Hello ladies, I'm going to post our money situation for you. I want to know if you think that we are insane to try to live on a budget this tight or if it's normal and you do it too.
Husbands income: 2200 (after taxes are taken off)
My income: 0 for now (I'm in school for a practical job and will we done in about 10 months). I have a part time job that I can do and bring in about 300 a month cash but I've just been so busy and haven't had a moment to work on it. (It's a service I provide so I would need to set up somewhere to do it and advertise a bit)
Rent: 1200 (this is for a small basement)
Daughters daycare: 500
We are left with 500 for spending of any kind including insurance (we have free health insurance, but I mean renters, life...) phone bills, groceries, gas etc

There is me and my husband and our 2 year old child.

Do you think it's crazy to try to live in that? Or is it totally budgetable? What's a normal amount to budget for the basics like clothes, food etc )
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thunderstorm




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 10:24 am
How much do you spend weekly on groceries? I think groceries alone wi cost you between $100 - $150 a week. So you wouldn’t be left with enough money to pay for your other needs.
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groovy1224




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 10:26 am
That's EXTREMELY tight. I hesitate to say it's impossible bc I'm sure someone on here will come and say that they made do with less, but that would not be a workable situation for me.

Think about the kind of foods that you,your husband, and your daughter eat over a week and multiply it by 4.5 for your grocery budget. Then think about toilet paper, shampoo, batteries, windex, etc.
Don't know how much gas you use or your car insurance or your cell phone bill but those are all factors as well.
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 10:27 am
Join blogs and FB groups about "frugal living". You will learn how to save tons of money, and not feel deprived in the process.

It will be a tight 10 months, but you already have a bright light at the end of the tunnel, when you graduate. It's not like you'll be stuck in this cycle forever. You have a solid plan and are working on your education, so that's awesome!

Can your parents give you a small loan in case there is an emergency of some sort? Anyone you can go to for help? Not saying that you should be borrowing, but just knowing that someone is there to back you up can make the waiting less stressful.

After you graduate and find a good job, maybe DH can start looking around for a higher paying job. That would put you in a really good position to start saving money for the future.
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tigerwife




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 10:28 am
It’s pretty tight. Can you maximize on your home business at least for the next ten months, and slow down when you get your new job?
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amother
Aubergine


 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 10:28 am
$2200 a week? Or a month?
For a month, it's extremely tight. DH has a part time job?
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amother
Aquamarine


 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 10:30 am
It's not crazy to live like that, but it's crazy to live like that by choice.
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Elfrida




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 10:34 am
It's going to be very tight. You are talking about a weekly budget of around $100. Assess your expenses very carefully. What are your bills like? How much are you spending weekly on food? Diapers? Can you cut down in either of those areas? Toilet training your daughter could save a lot over the year! Can you cope without buying any new clothes until you get a job? And buy your daughters clothes second hand? What other weekly expenses do you have, and can they be reduced? Can you manage without any take-out food for the next year? Pesach? Is your husband on board?

It's a mentality of being aware of every single penny before spending anything. Using cash rather than credits cards would help you keep track of it.

Only you can decide if you can do it, but it will be a year of constant struggle. On the other hand, repaying debts isn't much fun either.
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doodlesmom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 10:46 am
Is there a way for you to get free day care? Or any govt. benefits until your income goes up?
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33055




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 10:52 am
Try Tomche Shabbos, neighborhood fund, borrowing money.
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baby12x




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 10:54 am
Do you have a choice?

If this is it, then you have to make it work.

If either of you can make more money then you're life will be much easier and more pleasant
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amother
Slateblue


 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 1:27 pm
Assuming that you mean $2200 per month, I's tight, but it's completely doable. My DH brings home about $3,000 a month, and $2,000 of that goes to rent. We also have car insurance and car related expenses, utilities, medical insurance, deductible, copays, medication, dog food and vet appointments, groceries, and are getting ready to have our first baby in February. I make $800 a month working part time, and most of my income goes to paying off my previous debt, plus some food, and some clothes, etc for me.

Most of these expenses are non negotiable. But you can save a TON of money on groceries by knowing who has the lowest prices, shopping sales, and stocking up when things you use a lot go on sale. Last week (still this week at ShopRite!) 34oz. bottles of Tide were on sale for $1.99 - I bought four. A gallon of olive oil was $9.99. Sadly, I couldn't carry more than one with the Tide! Our favorite pasta sauce was .88 a jar.

I plan to buy hand-crank baby food mills and make baby food to save - pre-jarred food is so expensive! Those cute toddler-size packages of cheerios and yogurts are cute, but it's MUCH cheaper to buy large size on sale and put it in another container.

So, you can cut your grocery bill nearly in half by shopping carefully. My husband goes through the circulars every week to see what's on sale for a good price.
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Rappel




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 1:31 pm
OP, do you have emergency savings? If not, then I think you need to stretch out your degree, and get a day job. You may be willing to live on beans for a year and walk off pneumonia, but you can't do that to your kid.
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amother
Chartreuse


 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 1:39 pm
It is possible to do, if you know you have an emergency cushion which you can use should the need arise. That often means yours/his parents. That isn't to say that you have to borrow money from them now, it means that you need to know that in the event of an emergency that the money is there for you to borrow it. I am a big believer in kids standing on their own two feet after I have given them good educations (I am mo), but the ability to lend them money in the case of an emergency is a bracha I can give, even when I am not actually lending them a penny. They know that if they need it, I can lend. That is a cushion that I had as a cash strapped newly wed also. I never needed it, but it was really nice to know it was there.
Without that cushion, or any of your own savings, it sounds like everything would have to go perfectly for things to work.
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amother
Babypink


 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 2:20 pm
That sounds really tight but it also sounds very short term which is great. Are you eligible for WIC, you don't write the gross income but WIC has a fairly high eligibilty threshold so worth checking out to see if it canhelp the food budget. Also sounds like you might be eligible for the earned income credit, if you can count on getting that tax refund it would be a nice bonus.
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amother
Violet


 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 4:02 pm
you mentioned free healthcare but my guess is at that level you're eligible for food stamps and free daycare too, no? Always seems like people making that little are doing better than those that have more income but also a lot more expenses. If your income is so low--- free health, food, and daycare isn't a given?
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amother
Floralwhite


 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 4:42 pm
amother [ Violet ] wrote:
you mentioned free healthcare but my guess is at that level you're eligible for food stamps and free daycare too, no? Always seems like people making that little are doing better than those that have more income but also a lot more expenses. If your income is so low--- free health, food, and daycare isn't a given?


$2200 net a month for a family of 3 is probably over food stamps limits.
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amother
Slateblue


 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 6:38 pm
amother [ Floralwhite ] wrote:
$2200 net a month for a family of 3 is probably over food stamps limits.



https://otda.ny.gov/programs/snap/
Hovering around the cutoff. Definitely worth looking into!
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miami85




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 6:45 pm
It will be doable for a time, but not a long-term mehalech. Other expenses will come up, you will have more children iy"H and you will need a bigger income. There's something called "survival mode" and there's "living mode"--the income you describe sounds like "survival" rather than "living"
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amother
Floralwhite


 

Post Tue, Dec 10 2019, 6:49 pm
amother [ Slateblue ] wrote:
https://otda.ny.gov/programs/snap/
Hovering around the cutoff. Definitely worth looking into!


That's gross; OP cited net.
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