Anybody have kids AND money?

[PugnacAutMortem]

Or are these things mutually exclusive?

My wife and I seem to always be teetering on the edge of heading into financial ruin. I mean we make good money and we can pay all of our monthly bills, but that's about it. We can't seem to save any money up, and on the offhand chance we do build some savings the car/house/children break and we have to get them fixed. We can't make a dent in our student loan/CC debt, because of the same reason explained above. I don't want to come across as complaining, because I am very thankful that we can pay our monthly bills on time each month. But it seems like all it would take is one BIG thing to happen and we would get sent into a crazy tailspin financially. We're not getting any worse financially, but we just can't seem to do any better either.

Any advice from those who have come before me? Or anybody actually have both kids and money? It would be a real blessing to be able to do more than tread water.

[Snowman78]

No, I have 3 kids and no money. We sound a lot like you...

[Sixgun]

I thought this was the American dream.

[sellersm]

Nope, they're mutually exclusive! At least in my household they are. But I wouldn't trade 'em for anything!!!

[johngraves2]

DINKS: Double Income No Kids :)

[PugnacAutMortem]

Nope, they're mutually exclusive! At least in my household they are. But I wouldn't trade 'em for anything!!!

Oh neither would I. I'll take a small bank account and a happy family all day long over a big bank account and no family.

[thvigil11]

No, I have 3 kids and no money. We sound a lot like you...

"Why can I have 3 monies and no kids" - Homer Simpson

[Dave_L]

Wife and I are almost to that point. I want to accomplish a couple more things first because as discussed, once kids come, everything else goes on the back burner.

[sniper7]

kids definitely factor in a pretty good cost. Mine is 2 and I keep thinking it will get better but new things always come up. at first it is the massive cost of getting all the stuff you need. then diapers, forumla, clothes (constantly needing new ones), the list goes on.
now he is getting into activities....like swim lessons, then sports, then preschool to get him with more kids.

We have learned to be smarter with our money. look at what you can do to save 10-15-20 dollars a month. you might find several things that add up. now take that money and put it into a separate fund to start up a good backup fund.

look at how much you drive. gas is a significant expense today depending on your vehicle. we have all SUVs and trucks so MPG isn't great. With that, we make trips count. don't make a $12 in gas trip to go buy $5 in groceries or get fast food for dinner. all of a sudden your cheap fast food dinner cost a whole lot more than it would have to eat steak and potatoes at home.

food cost has gone up quite a bit. look at what you are buying, see if there is an equivalent that is cheaper. Is there something you can do without...like cookies, or pop, or instead of buying pop in cans, get them in 2 liter bottles.

If you have multiple credit cards with balances, pay off the smallest one first, focus on that with extra money, get the balance to 0 and cut the card up. that will save you money in interest every month as well as free up that payment to move on to the next bill.

Vehicles: do you have a 3rd car? Do you need it? if not, sell it. that saves maintenance, potential problems, theft, and insurance. are the cars paid off? If not, consider if you really need a car payment, is it worth it? do you need something that is pretty much completely reliable, or can you settle for something else that gets the job done?

vices: alcohol at dinner...cut it off. buy beer at home. tons of money can be saved depending on how much you go out. plus you reduce the risk for DUI. eating out a lot? eat at home. typically healthier and will save a good bit of money on food and gas. still get the wife out for a good time for both of you, but if you are going out a couple times a week, that can be cut down to once every couple weeks just fine.

go through the house and come up with things you don't need and sell them. do nothing with the money but put it into your backup fund. you would be surprised how much is lying around the house. probably $500 pretty easily.

if you are buying a lot of expensive kids clothes, think about salvation army. you get them cheap, the kids don't wear them hardly at all, then donate them when you are done with them and get the tax benefits making them even cheaper.

[Dave_L]

vices: alcohol at dinner...cut it off. buy beer at home. tons of money can be saved depending on how much you go out. plus you reduce the risk for DUI. eating out a lot? eat at home. typically healthier and will save a good bit of money on food and gas. still get the wife out for a good time for both of you, but if you are going out a couple times a week, that can be cut down to once every couple weeks just fine.


We just started really budgeting and checked how much we spent eating out and it was shocking. We cut our food bill by nearly 70% by eating at home. It also feels a lot more like a treat now when we do go out.

The wife also suggested something she had heard that we're going to try out. If you do go out to eat, don't go somewhere unless you have a coupon for it. It helps you try new places AND saves you money.

[Zundfolge]

No kids AND no money here!

:D

[sniper7]

We just started really budgeting and checked how much we spent eating out and it was shocking. We cut our food bill by nearly 70% by eating at home. It also feels a lot more like a treat now when we do go out.

The wife also suggested something she had heard that we're going to try out. If you do go out to eat, don't go somewhere unless you have a coupon for it. It helps you try new places AND saves you money.

we do that as well. coupon or a gift card.

[PugnacAutMortem]

kids definitely factor in a pretty good cost. Mine is 2 and I keep thinking it will get better but new things always come up. at first it is the massive cost of getting all the stuff you need. then diapers, forumla, clothes (constantly needing new ones), the list goes on.
now he is getting into activities....like swim lessons, then sports, then preschool to get him with more kids.

We have learned to be smarter with our money. look at what you can do to save 10-15-20 dollars a month. you might find several things that add up. now take that money and put it into a separate fund to start up a good backup fund.

look at how much you drive. gas is a significant expense today depending on your vehicle. we have all SUVs and trucks so MPG isn't great. With that, we make trips count. don't make a $12 in gas trip to go buy $5 in groceries or get fast food for dinner. all of a sudden your cheap fast food dinner cost a whole lot more than it would have to eat steak and potatoes at home.

food cost has gone up quite a bit. look at what you are buying, see if there is an equivalent that is cheaper. Is there something you can do without...like cookies, or pop, or instead of buying pop in cans, get them in 2 liter bottles.

If you have multiple credit cards with balances, pay off the smallest one first, focus on that with extra money, get the balance to 0 and cut the card up. that will save you money in interest every month as well as free up that payment to move on to the next bill.

Vehicles: do you have a 3rd car? Do you need it? if not, sell it. that saves maintenance, potential problems, theft, and insurance. are the cars paid off? If not, consider if you really need a car payment, is it worth it? do you need something that is pretty much completely reliable, or can you settle for something else that gets the job done?

vices: alcohol at dinner...cut it off. buy beer at home. tons of money can be saved depending on how much you go out. plus you reduce the risk for DUI. eating out a lot? eat at home. typically healthier and will save a good bit of money on food and gas. still get the wife out for a good time for both of you, but if you are going out a couple times a week, that can be cut down to once every couple weeks just fine.

go through the house and come up with things you don't need and sell them. do nothing with the money but put it into your backup fund. you would be surprised how much is lying around the house. probably $500 pretty easily.

if you are buying a lot of expensive kids clothes, think about salvation army. you get them cheap, the kids don't wear them hardly at all, then donate them when you are done with them and get the tax benefits making them even cheaper.

All excellent advice...and actually all stuff that we are doing currently. We cut cable completely out, we eat out once a week instead of all the time, I'm unloading stuff on craigslist, I carpool with my mom to work since she works across the street from me (AND she doesn't make me pay a cent in gas...score!), we own both of our cars outright and Kid to Kid has become quite the awesome place to grab stuff for the kids (to fill in the holes from hand me down stuff we keep getting from friends and family). We've come to a happy medium with where we are living lifestyle wise...we just can't seem to take the next step to digging out of debt in a timely manner. We can make it by if we stick with the minimum payments on everything (and keep our student loans in deferment...but we can only do that for another year tops), I just wish we could start making some headway on this stuff, know what I mean?

And truly, that is a great list of things to look at to put some more coin in your pocket. If we didn't do these things, we would be in big trouble.

[MrPrena]

Kids, but no money.

I try to lower the cost by going
-prepaid cell phone (virgin mobile)
-Only base $39.99 broadband internet
-pay semi annual on all insurance (save average of 150 per semi)
-use internet and clip-on coupons
-basically no going out at all.

I am still poor and constantly broke.

[PugnacAutMortem]

we have 6 kids and home and 1 in college. we afford it just fine. we have less than $70,000 a year.

Why? we dont spend a bunch of money
eating out or fast food,
smart phones
cable
movies
NEW CARS
on stupid drains of money.

We have a 6 year old 4100 sqft house on 61 acres with a 1000 sqft 3 car garage. We have lots of toys. We save money by doing all the work that can be done by ourselves...by ourselves. It should work fine, but people need to stop thinking they need to live the lifestyle of a millionaire even though they dont make that much money.

See that's the thing, we can afford it just fine as well. But just barely. We do all of the cost cutting measures and don't spend frivolously, we're just trying to figure out how to dig out of debt to where we can make our money start working for us...instead of us working for our money.

[ruthabagah]

kids definitely factor in a pretty good cost. Mine is 2 and I keep thinking it will get better but new things always come up. at first it is the massive cost of getting all the stuff you need. then diapers, forumla, clothes (constantly needing new ones), the list goes on.
now he is getting into activities....like swim lessons, then sports, then preschool to get him with more kids.

We have learned to be smarter with our money. look at what you can do to save 10-15-20 dollars a month. you might find several things that add up. now take that money and put it into a separate fund to start up a good backup fund.

look at how much you drive. gas is a significant expense today depending on your vehicle. we have all SUVs and trucks so MPG isn't great. With that, we make trips count. don't make a $12 in gas trip to go buy $5 in groceries or get fast food for dinner. all of a sudden your cheap fast food dinner cost a whole lot more than it would have to eat steak and potatoes at home.

food cost has gone up quite a bit. look at what you are buying, see if there is an equivalent that is cheaper. Is there something you can do without...like cookies, or pop, or instead of buying pop in cans, get them in 2 liter bottles.

If you have multiple credit cards with balances, pay off the smallest one first, focus on that with extra money, get the balance to 0 and cut the card up. that will save you money in interest every month as well as free up that payment to move on to the next bill.

Vehicles: do you have a 3rd car? Do you need it? if not, sell it. that saves maintenance, potential problems, theft, and insurance. are the cars paid off? If not, consider if you really need a car payment, is it worth it? do you need something that is pretty much completely reliable, or can you settle for something else that gets the job done?

vices: alcohol at dinner...cut it off. buy beer at home. tons of money can be saved depending on how much you go out. plus you reduce the risk for DUI. eating out a lot? eat at home. typically healthier and will save a good bit of money on food and gas. still get the wife out for a good time for both of you, but if you are going out a couple times a week, that can be cut down to once every couple weeks just fine.

go through the house and come up with things you don't need and sell them. do nothing with the money but put it into your backup fund. you would be surprised how much is lying around the house. probably $500 pretty easily.

if you are buying a lot of expensive kids clothes, think about salvation army. you get them cheap, the kids don't wear them hardly at all, then donate them when you are done with them and get the tax benefits making them even cheaper.

Words of wisdom, ^^^^ right there. I was in the same situation as you 3 years ago, and now everything is paid up and I only have a small mortgage to pay.

3 things I would like to add:

Cut everything you don't need. For example: you will see how easy it is to go from a 100$ cable/satellite bill, to a 50$ one and still enjoy good tv. Do you have a cell phone? How many minutes do you actually use? Can you get a cheaper plan?

If you eat out everyday for lunch: Stop it. Make yourself a sandwich @ home before you go. That's right away 8/9$ a day in your pocket (x22 = 176/198 a month).

Pay off your cc, starting with the smallest balance, but once it's at 0, just put it away, do not close the account. Why? It will damage your credit.... I know it is silly, but it's better to have an open account in good standing than no account. Trust me, I wrote some of the programs for Experian a while back....

[PugnacAutMortem]

one reason we are where we are is we have bought 3 foreclosures. we have now lived in and sold one, we live in one now and will hopefully sell it in the spring and we bought one last week. We made alot of money on the first house. SWEAT EQUITY. We should make alot of money on this house. i dont know if thats something you can or are willing to do, but it has worked for us. no, we dont like living in the house while we fix it up, but the reward is good.

That is the dream actually. That's always something I have wanted to do, and the next house we move into will most likely be one we can fix up and make some money on. The nice thing about the house we live in now is we bought it from the City of Aurora through one of those Neighborhood Stabilization programs. $1,000 down and they subsize the rest of the down payment and closing costs...plus they completely gutted and fixed this one up. Over $100K put into this house. Only bummer is we're stuck here for 5 years minimum, so we couldn't get into a foreclosure or a fix-n-flip for another 3 years.

[PugnacAutMortem]

Pay off your cc, starting with the smallest balance, but once it's at 0, just put it away, do not close the account. Why? It will damage your credit.... I know it is silly, but it's better to have an open account in good standing than no account. Trust me, I wrote some of the programs for Experian a while back....

Is there some sort of delay between closing CC accounts and it showing up on your credit? We closed and shredded all of our CC at the end of May this year. The wife and I had to reapply to put me as an authorized user on her CC that we kept open, and when they pulled our credit we were both well above 700.

[ruthabagah]

Is there some sort of delay between closing CC accounts and it showing up on your credit? We closed and shredded all of our CC at the end of May this year. The wife and I had to reapply to put me as an authorized user on her CC that we kept open, and when they pulled our credit we were both well above 700.

Depends of the CC issuer (bank, retail). Your Credit score will only reflect past transactions and may not be updated until you apply for new credit.

[th3w01f]

Depends of the CC issuer (bank, retail). Your Credit score will only reflect past transactions and may not be updated until you apply for new credit.

Definitely depends on the bank, I closed a Chase card (actually replaced with a different one) and both were reported to all 3 bureaus within 60 days.

The issue with credit score is related to 'credit utilization'. It's better to show a lower % of your total credit in use; for instance it's usually better to have $20K in credit and be using $10K of it than to have 5K in credit and be using $5K of it.

Lots of other factors of course but just one to keep an eye on.

[Aloha_Shooter]

One of the things I harp on when I teach Scouts the Personal Management merit badge is learning to distinguish between wants and needs. Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard may not be the best guys to follow when it comes to investing but their approach on minimizing household debt and really identifying needs from wants is sound. The number one tool I have is making them log everything they earn or spend for 90 days (that's required for the merit badge anyway). If they protest, I show them my log book from 4 years of college -- I can show them to a penny how much I spent on food, soda, comic books, pinball, you name it. It's usually quite the eye opener when I challenge them to go over their own logs. Do this with every member of the family and review the logs together as a family once a month. You can do it weekly but some of the spending may get lost in the noise whereas a monthly and year-to-date review with everyone can highlight some spending that you weren't aware of.

I never make a major purchase on the spot -- I always like to do at least a week's worth of research first and even after deciding on the purchase want to sleep on it for a night or two before completing the deal. When I didn't have money, I just flat out wouldn't go to things like computer shows or gun shows or anything that might tempt me into spending. Now that I have some, I still walk around and won't handle anything (too tempting, it's like women holding a new baby) until the second pass. If I see anything I like, I go around a couple more times to give the seller a chance to unload it on someone else -- and if it disappears, I figure it's a sign from Heaven that I should save money. This tactic works even on minor purchases as I'll frequently decide after 20 minutes of walking that I really didn't need another dust-collector or more calories.

You say you're in a happy medium lifestyle-wise. I'd say you should think about reducing it even further. One thing you might think about is setting up a separate account that gets 10% of your gross off-the-top. This conditions you to think about living at 90% of your current standard. Later, funnel any raises into that account. I made it a general rule as I grew older that at least half of any payraise I made went directly into investments (paying off debt counts as an investment).

Get your kids to learn to scrimp and save from general self-interest. My dad raised me to think I was pulling one over on them by pocketing my bus money and walking to/from school once or twice a week. They incorporated two haircuts a month into my allowance and I usually stretched it so I went 3-4 weeks between haircuts. Now that I'm middle-aged, I'm sure they knew exactly what was going on but were happy I knew the value of a dollar.

[Snowman78]

All good stuff and I do most of it, we NEVER eat out. One vehicle (paid off). No data plans for our cells phone, ect. I also keep the heat down low at our house (63) helps save on the Xcel Energy bill. Our bigest cost is the morage (we are trying to re-finance) and daycare (near $650 a mounth)

[hatidua]

A lot of people have seemingly necessary items that aren't even remotely necessary.

[PugnacAutMortem]

All good stuff and I do most of it, we NEVER eat out. One vehicle (paid off). No data plans for our cells phone, ect. I also keep the heat down low at our house (63) helps save on the Xcel Energy bill. Our bigest cost is the morage (we are trying to re-finance) and daycare (near $650 a mounth)

Man if we could swing daycare for that much we would be totally set. We're paying upwards of $1,200 a month for our 2 year old, and its about to go up when our daughter is born in December.

[02ducky]

Kids = no money.

Good luck, like other have said cut back on the unnecessary stuff.

[T-Giv]

Damn I had no idea childcare was that much! Hopefully my wife don't get prego in the near future of we would be in the same boat...if not much worse. Good on you guys for doing what is necessary to prioritize your kids. Too many people these days that have kids and don't adapt their lifestyle in any way. Makes me sick!

[hurley842002]

Great advice guys!

I'm in the same "kid no money" boat. My child and marriage happened very quickly, so I've struggled going from roughly a thousand a month surplus, to zero....

I wasn't as smart with my money (saving) as I should have been, before I started my family, but I HAD zero debt, so that is a plus.

We pretty much live paycheck to paycheck, after all bills and daycare are paid, but I'm the happiest I've ever been, and love being a husband and a father.

We will catch up and get ahead sooner or later.

[wctriumph]

You can blame women's lib for the economic woes this country faces.

[blacklabel]

We've worked on cutting back and I'm always looking for new ways to do so. We've also been working on paying off our smallest credit cards and working towards the largest. That should be done in the next 4-5 months. After that we need to pay off my truck and then we'll be able to sack away a decent amount in savings/investments/preps on a monthly basis.

[sniper7]

Man if we could swing daycare for that much we would be totally set. We're paying upwards of $1,200 a month for our 2 year old, and its about to go up when our daughter is born in December.

wow, are you guys gone pretty much all day 5 days a week? that seems pretty high

[hurley842002]

wow, are you guys gone pretty much all day 5 days a week? that seems pretty high

That does seem very high..

[blacklabel]

Yeah it does. We pay $600 a month for 40 hours a week of in home daycare.

[encorehunter]

I am lucky so far, but I also have a second full time job. Technically, the two of us have 3 full time jobs. I have been working 100+ hours a week for the last 14 years. My retired father watches our little one, so we save on daycare. We "pay" him $30 per day, 5 days a week. I say "pay" because he won't accept money, so we are putting it into an account so JJ can buy him a very nice Christmas present. When we go out to eat, we only get water to drink. It save $4 just for that, and if they serve big meals, we just get an extra plate and split it. Most of the time, the two of us can go out to eat for under $15, plus the tip.
JJ is only two months old now, but we began purchasing his stuff when we first found out we were pregnant. I began working my butt off paying off all bills I could.
There was another thread on here about how much you could make off of $1k. I started buying gold and silver at garage sales and selling it for scrap. My first investment was just over $3.00 if I remember right. I sold it for over $100, then went buying again. I bought a silverware set for $100, and sold it for $650 in scrap. I took that $650 to buy parts for my mother's camping trailer that was totalled and fixed it. She gave me $5500 for doing 18 hours worth of work, but she got a check for just over $24,000. I used this money to pay off all my CC debt and other little bills I had. Now, there is only my truck and the houses. You have to be willing to do extra work. You may have to spend a little time away from the family to accomplish it, but you have to make the decision to do it. Squirrel away all little amounts you can. We save our change and put it in JJ's account so it will start his savings.

[Dave_L]

http://kdvr.com/2013/11/04/child-care-more-expensive-than-college-in-many-states/

In Colorado, care was $12,736 for an infant.

In Colorado center-based care was on average $9,619.

[Great-Kazoo]

Man if we could swing daycare for that much we would be totally set. We're paying upwards of $1,200 a month for our 2 year old, and its about to go up when our daughter is born in December.

Here's a suggestion for you and everyone else with children. Look in to a nanny. My sister back east (nothings cheap) is able to have a in home nanny, till 5-6pm, for way less than $1200 a month, for 2 kids.
There's college girls, and seniors who are available for a very good price with great references.

As hokey as it sounds. Consider the nany forums like a gun forum , for child care. PLUS your children are in your house. This reduces the cross contamination, of an after school scenario.
AND going way out there. if a SHTF happened you know exactly where they are



http://www.babysittersregistry.com/nannies/?t202id=32541&t202kw=Denver%20Nanny&c1=nannies-cities&c2=Denver&c4=4323t6zrg7&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=26269586803&utm_campaign=nannies

http://www.indeed.com/q-Nanny-Share-l-Denver,-CO-jobs.html

http://www.sittercity.com/?pc=mnan&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=bing.com&lid=seeker_basic_nanny_browse-caregivers|paid|search-engine|A_0_Q_0_M_0|20131101|none|none|text|none|1o f1|find-nannies|7

[IceAxe]

Dave Ramsey

Yes it works

[Irving]

Try wearing only vests instead of paying for entire jackets.

[PugnacAutMortem]

wow, are you guys gone pretty much all day 5 days a week? that seems pretty high

Some weeks yes, but we pay $10/hr for in home daycare for our boy 25-35 hours a week.


Yeah it does. We pay $600 a month for 40 hours a week of in home daycare.

Holy crap...tell me about this setup you have please. If we could do something like that we could start really cranking on our debt situation.

[PugnacAutMortem]

Here's a suggestion for you and everyone else with children. Look in to a nanny. My sister back east (nothings cheap) is able to have a in home nanny, till 5-6pm, for way less than $1200 a month, for 2 kids.
There's college girls, and seniors who are available for a very good price with great references.

As hokey as it sounds. Consider the nany forums like a gun forum , for child care. PLUS your children are in your house. This reduces the cross contamination, of an after school scenario.
AND going way out there. if a SHTF happened you know exactly where they are



http://www.babysittersregistry.com/nannies/?t202id=32541&t202kw=Denver%20Nanny&c1=nannies-cities&c2=Denver&c4=4323t6zrg7&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=26269586803&utm_campaign=nannies

http://www.indeed.com/q-Nanny-Share-l-Denver,-CO-jobs.html

http://www.sittercity.com/?pc=mnan&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=bing.com&lid=seeker_basic_nanny_browse-caregivers|paid|search-engine|A_0_Q_0_M_0|20131101|none|none|text|none|1o f1|find-nannies|7

Man we have been looking for a long time, and there's really not any people out there willing to come into your house to watch your kids for less than $10/hr here. But you are right, we definitely want to do in home daycare for our kids. I've never liked daycare facilities...my wife used to work at a couple of them and the stories she has about what they used to tell the teachers to let the kids get away with was astonishing. It might be cheaper to put the kids into a daycare facility...but frankly its worth all of the money I have and more to know that they are safe and cared for when I can't be with them.

[tmleadr03]

Here's a suggestion for you and everyone else with children. Look in to a nanny. My sister back east (nothings cheap) is able to have a in home nanny, till 5-6pm, for way less than $1200 a month, for 2 kids.
There's college girls, and seniors who are available for a very good price with great references.

As hokey as it sounds. Consider the nany forums like a gun forum , for child care. PLUS your children are in your house. This reduces the cross contamination, of an after school scenario.
AND going way out there. if a SHTF happened you know exactly where they are



http://www.babysittersregistry.com/nannies/?t202id=32541&t202kw=Denver%20Nanny&c1=nannies-cities&c2=Denver&c4=4323t6zrg7&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=26269586803&utm_campaign=nannies

http://www.indeed.com/q-Nanny-Share-l-Denver,-CO-jobs.html

http://www.sittercity.com/?pc=mnan&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=bing.com&lid=seeker_basic_nanny_browse-caregivers|paid|search-engine|A_0_Q_0_M_0|20131101|none|none|text|none|1o f1|find-nannies|7

I am actually looking into this now. Even with just one kid it almost makes sense. Especially if I need to work late at the shop some times.

[Gman]

No kids but 2 mortgages. Hope to sell the wife's condo soon and be done with it. It's currently a rental, but we just lose less money than before.

[HoneyBadger]

Mrs. HoneyBadger and I both work full time jobs and pay about $700 a month for 45 hours a week of childcare. Sometimes it seems really hard to get ahead when we have more months than not when we can't add anything to the meager savings account.

have you heard of www.youneedabudget.com ?
Or how about:
http://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-steps/

[Jamnanc]

I've got three and all the money I need.

[JohnnyEgo]

Two kids; one teenager and one toddler. No money, probably for the next 15 years.

[Trout Hunter]

Some great advice in this thread.

Best thing a person can learn is to be honest with themselves in regards to needs and wants. Want to get out of debt, well start with vehicles. If you're paying on them sell em and buy something out right. When you eat out don't buy drinks, it usually shaves 15-20% off a ticket. Also look at things that have hidden charges and stop using them. Look at debit card withdrawls, or if your bank account has monthly fees and switch a Credit Union that doesn't have the same fees. Coupon. End of the day the desire to be debt free needs to out way the desire for the new gun, fly rod, shoes, ect. Personally having gotten into CC problems in my early 20's I avoid debt. Only thing I feel good about going into debt for is school and that is going to be paid off in 18 months too.

[Snowman78]

Two kids; one teenager and one toddler. No money, probably for the next 15 years.


Yep me too with one in the middle (10 years old).

[blacklabel]

Holy crap...tell me about this setup you have please. If we could do something like that we could start really cranking on our debt situation.

I should have clarified better. Its in home daycare, just not our home.

[Great-Kazoo]

We lucked out. Daughter joined the .mil after HS. Eloped , divorced, college courses for degree. All on her own dime. Had she done the usual "I'm getting married and this is the wedding we want"" I am going to college" we'd still be paying it off.
Times were tight while she was growing up, being in between jobs i delivered newspapers, bill collector, anything to put food on the table. I don't know how any of you with more than 1 child manages.

We did make sure any debt we incurred, was one that could be paid by having 1 income and not both of ours. Budgeted any "loans" to be less than a $xxx per month.

[PugnacAutMortem]

I've got three and all the money I need.

You are very lucky then.

[Great-Kazoo]

You are very lucky then.

if you consider what white slavery is bringing on the world market , he may have received less than fair trade value.

[merl]

<troll>
No kids but people keep trying to make me pay for theirs.
</troll>
:)

[JoeT]

My wife and I do "better than most". We have 2 daughters ages 10 and 11.

One of the key things was that we waited to have kids until we could afford them. We were married 7 years before we decided we could. Another HUGE plus is that we only owe the mortgage company and the taxman. All other bills are paid. The only credit card we carry is Amex, because we know it's due every month on the 22nd.

We've built a decent nest-egg, have college funds for the kids, 401K's with well into 6 figures each and cash in the bank. The BIG secret is that we say "NO".... "wants" and "needs" are different things. That said, we don't live with just the needs. We budget, and we bank the difference.

There are those here that are far wiser than I with money and investments. I don't know what you do for work, or who your employer is. But if they offer a 401K and THEY have any company match, MAX OUT their match. It's "free money" for you. If they match 50% of your money up to 6% of your pay...that's a 3% raise, TAKE IT.

Living within your means is tough some times. When you get a raise, bank your raise, if you were scraping by on your income before, continue to scrape by, and bank the rest. Compounding interest is your friend. You'll build a nest egg in no time. It's easy to spend the extra $40 week (it's only $40) but if you never see it it's an additional $2000 a year you didn't miss.

Also in the "lean years" when things were tougher, I'd pick up side work doing something. I'd cut trees, I'd sweat pipes, I'd do brake jobs. all of that added up, and I did it on my schedule so it wasn't a second job.

Others have mentioned cutting expenses. If you buy lunch 5 days a week, even if it's McDonalds that's $40 a week. If you buy a 1/2 pound of ham, 1/2 pound of cheese and a loaf of bread.... you just saved $30 a week ($1500 a year) If you buy 2 starbucks a day that's $12 a day x 5 days a week = $60 a week or $3000 a year Have a cup of coffee at home and another at 7-11 and you just saved $2500

Here's one my father taught me... in the summer set your thermostat at 75 instead of 70 in the winter 65 instead of 70. Both are comfortable temps and over the year will cost (depending on your home) $2000-5000 less per year

In short, you're not likely to find one way to save $10,000 a year, but $200 a time adds up.

Just today, I got a price to plow my driveway for the winter and a seasonal contract for landscaping for next year. It'll be cheaper to buy a used commercial mower and a crappy truck with plow (or a kick ass snowblower). So sometimes it's cheaper to spend money to save money. And I'm also of the same mentality that my time has value. So it it costs me $50 to have my lawn cut and it takes an hour. Can I make more than $50 in that hour? it depends... and that decides if it's cheaper to pay someone

[ChunkyMonkey]

^^ Your last paragraph is extremely good. I averaged out my 'hourly wage' and I was real surprise how high it is. Higher than what my lawyer is charging me. So, now I judge what I need to delegate and do myself based on that number. Life is much better ever since.

DINKS here too.