Ok.. So I've done my reading.. now, I am going to join in the conversation :) Why am I writing this? Accountability. I have found myself in a crappy situation. I have to raise 3 kids on my own. I have to work full time. I make $45,000 a year because we always invested in my ex-husband’s education instead of mine. (I’m almost done my degree… just a few more months…) And, on top of that I have a lot of lawyers fees to pay for my divorce and continuing battle with my ex. I have found myself on my ass and I cannot allow these changes to stop my life from being wonderful. I need to find a way out from under this weight, so I am forcing myself to spend $0.00 of unnecessary expenses.
So to start… No more Cable. This is officially the beginning of our fourth month as a cable-less family (before I even found this MMM site! So glad I did, though!). I thought for sure this would cause some heartache, but amazingly, the kids didn’t even seem to notice! And, the moment I called them and successfully dodged all of the friendly man-on-the-phone’s “special offers” and other attempts to keep me on board, I felt a weight lift off of my shoulders! Who knew how oppressive that $100 monthly payment was?!?! Granted, we still have our internet connection bill (just under $50.00 per month) and our NetFlix Streaming bill ($7.99 per month), but now we have an extra $100 in our family budget! Not only do we have that cash, since we aren’t being bombarded with corporate commercials, our other spending has miraculously cut itself down! I have to admit, advertising works on me. I would see that cheesy-yummy-goodness pizza commercial and all of our healthy dinner plans went right out the window!
I’ve been taking it a little slow, as to not completely shock my system, but since I found this site, I have really gotten on the band wagon!! For Christmas we took step number two of my “adding cash adventure” (sounds much better than “tightening the budget”.. right?). And now, the kids are FULLY involved with the plan! Instead of buying a bunch of last minute crap to fill up stockings and make Christmas a bit more expensive… I planned ahead! This year, each kid got a bike. (I did too!! I haven’t had a bike in a couple of decades… and honestly, I was AFRAID to get on it… and I waited until no one was looking before jumping on.. just in case it didn’t go so well!) Two of the bikes were new, but bought on sale with earned rewards points, and the other two were second hand, but basically brand new! So the stocking stuffers were fun accessories! Everyone got a simple water bottle holder, the young ones each got a fancy bike bell, the oldest got a pouch to hold her phone, and we all got issued the challenge to bike instead of drive for our local shopping trips! Believe it or not, even in the cold New England winter, the kids WANT to ride their bikes everywhere! I am the only one who is seemingly a bit squeamish about the idea…. haha! We also got a second hand bike trailer for hauling the groceries. Savings from these adventures are yet to be calculated, but we certainly will be saving electric and entertainment money by taking the time to enjoy some life out on our bikes!
The other big gift, my oldest and I switched to a primarily-WiFi phone service instead of our old EXPENSIVE Verizon Wireless plan. Even though we had to pay cash for the phones up front, the miniscule monthly payment for unlimited everything (EVERYTHING!!) is $45.00 per month (for both phones with tax and everything already included!!!). Since the phones counted as Christmas gifts, that completely nullified the upfront cost (smooth move, right? hehe!) and the monthly savings… $90.00 per month! So far so good!
The final stocking stuffer was a brand new LED light bulb for each kids room! Again with the up front costs being nullified by the Christmas season! Would you expect a kid to get excited about a light bulb? Well as it turns out, my third grader has been learning a lot about green energy and conservation of resources in school! We looked up the calculations of how much energy we were saving (they don’t care about the $$$$ that goes with it like I do…) and we added up how many old junkie bulbs we replace! Again, the actual cash savings are yet to be determined, but I am hoping my January bill will be at least noticeably lower than my previous year comparison. (No, I didn't punch myself in the face for each incandescent bulb i through out.. I'm not that badass yet... haha!)
Now, to the big ticket, right up front savings! I have to pay my lawyer $5,000. Well, the firs have of that is already on my credit card (eating away my new found money at 14.75% interest). I have been selling items on Craigslist, Ebay and Amazon and that balance is nearly $0.00 now.. Total damage for that will be about $100 in interest payments total. So I did some research before paying the second half of my bill. One thing I am definitely luck to have kept through the divorce is the outstanding credit score I have worked to build over the years. My research found me a credit card that offers… wait for it… a SIGN ON BONUS for people with great credit scores!!! That’s a $100 score! Not only that, it pays 1.5% cash back on all purchases! AND, it has a special offer of 0% interest until 2015!!!!! So, when everything is said and done, I should have saved about $250 in interest charges, plus I will have gotten about $125 in bonuses! Can't wait to see what else I can save.. and after the lawyer is paid, I'm going to dump that onto my mortgage.. It is feasible that I will be debt free before my oldest starts college.. hmmm.... so exciting!
Sorry this is so long!