Specific question, what to do moving forward the next 6 months.
Senario:
Single Income (44k), 2 year old and 1 bun in the oven, due June 30. Car 1996 Ford Taurus can/will die any moment, my mechanic (i'm his bookkeeper) is convinced the head gasket is leaking and can go any day.
Salary Take Home (minus tax/401k/health insurance: 2748/month
Moonlight: Craigslist/Amazon/bookkeeping $252/month
Total: $3000
Expenses
Mortgage: $900
Food: $500
Health Insurance: $450/month(*)
Utilities: 160
Gasoline: $200
Auto Insurance: 60
Household:60
"loan to dad"- $50 (he paid off my student loan, i put money back into our collective investment club @ 0%)
Tithing: $285 (10% of take home)
Total: 2215 *doesn't include health insurance, since taken out pre paycheck.
Savings
401(k) 220 (25% match)
Investment club- 100 (suspended until baby for)
Emergency- 100 (suspended until baby paid for)
Total: 420
2635, leaving a few hundred dollars of wiggle room. We may go out to eat once/month, we have no family in town (Spokane WA) so visiting family is a 4 gallon 30 mile/each way endeavor, however worthwhile for our sanity.
According to the budget there should be roughly $300 extra, can safely say that isn't true even though we are very frugal with our comings and goings. I have been taking the CPA exam and that has taken the extra money for the past 6 months, $1500/study materials and $600 test takings. My wife does craft projects for $20-40/month as well.
Balance Sheet:
Cash Accounts: $2000
Investment club: $4000 (do not want to touch under any circumstances)
401k: $2500
Credit Card: $1500 (DON'T WORRY, I'VE NEVER PAID INTEREST IN MY LIFE! PAID IN FULL EVERY MONTH)
Emergency Room Bill: $200
Baby Bill: we are doing this through a midwife and they want cash, up front at week 30, $4000 left (would be the same price as if billed through insurance, just due about 6 months earlier)
Car Situation: We have an old 1996 Ford Tarus that works(ish), get blinking check engine when idling and 2 mechanics tried everything easy. Overheats in summer, no heat in winter. My mechanic believes the head gasket is leaking and could blow at any point. This is our only means of transporting our family and we have no real way to pay for a new car (to us). I'm frantically watching craigslist for a focus/scion/prius/ etc etc, but don't have a real plan for how to pay for it. I do have a line of credit on the house worth $20k that I could draw from @5%, or I could get a used car loan from the credit union for ~3.5%.
I do have a 0% 15 month credit card I just set up in my wife's name ($1500 limit) that will get us $200 back and hold $1500 for the time being. I will also do the same thing in my name, my credit cards usually come in at $6000 these days and I will float bills to that as well.
Other interesting notes: I like my job, it's easy/fun/relaxing, and they are paying for me to do my CPA. I had to pay for half of my study materials and *ahem* failed tests... There is an "understanding" that I can't leave until I have put in the time it took for me to finish my CPA (3 years), and I have a feeling a raise past $50,000 isn't in my future. That being said they are happy to let me moonlight and run all sorts of businesses on the side, and even at work, there is lots of down time. The salary situation really frustrates me, but I am blessed to have alternative opportunities.
Obviously this wasn't an ideal time to get preggo, but apparently "the boys" can bust through rubbers, or I didn't pay enough attention in health class (seriously used protection in both cases). Please don't reprimand me on the pregnancy, neither were planned...we wanted to wait 5 years to have kids :0 that being said, we love parenting!
THE QUESTION IS: WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THE CAR!?!?!? I just found this out today, and we are both pretty well convinced this is the straw that broke the camels back, I knew we would "survive" this pregnancy by the skin of our teeth, and various financial tricks, but I don't want to buy a car if we don't have the money!! Not having a car isn't very much of an option with a toddler that is accident prone, a pregnant wife, and family that are miles away.