Watching my husband pay the monthly bills, and the "new" stress on his face, makes me feel a bit guilty..but I know if he didn't become involved, he still would not know what it took to keep our house and family "humming". It's been a bit of a squeeze lately, however, as I had set up a very generous savings schedule. It included contributions to two 529 plans, a Roth 401K and our ING emergency savings account.
We are, however, feeling the cost of rising gas prices and food prices and needing to "borrow" from the savings we are putting away to pay for it. Our gasoline bill usually is $225.00 a month, and this month the bill came in at $371.00.
We just recently had to replace 4 tires on two cars, and replace a couple of small appliances.
We've had some extra expenses recently, and I'm afraid to say that I now have some clothing purchases on a Kohls card and an Ann Taylor card. Yikes! I wasn't going to do that! I hope to work a few extra hours to pay for these purchases...(some needs, others wants). We still have money in savings that can cover this, (and I'll use it before I pay a dime in interest), but it still is a bit unnerving.
We've doled out quite a bit in car maintenance, graduation gifts, birthday gifts, traveling and such, so it is no wonder that we didn't have the "cash" to purchase the clothing.
Even so, it is amazing how quickly our paychecks disappear. It seems to be going so much quicker today than say last year. It is time to buckle down, regigger our savings plan a bit, and be more prepared for what the future economy will bring.
How is everyone else doing this????
Weekending
10 months ago
5 comments:
Hi Sharon! :)
We're feeling the squeeze too! Hang in there!
- Jennifer
Thanks Jennifer! If you discover any secrets to hanging on tighter, let me know! :)
Hi Sharon - we're doing the same as you, aggressively saving but pulling from savings when we need to. I'm juggling the next couple of paychecks as we pay off a few bills and deal with summer expenses like a sitter and tutoring. I take it one paycheck at a time, and try not to freak out too much.
Hang in there - you're doing fine!
Diana
Diana!
I love that name!!! Anyway, I will try to hang on...but just read Obama's economic policy and I will really have to regigger my plan!
Sharon
I wish my hubby would read things like this, maybe it would make him see how lucky we truly are sometimes. I think he overlooks just how crazy it sounds to some people that we're alright and saving up for a $4,000 car modification when others are having a hard time simply adjusting...
Of course, I'm scared of how much I'll be spending on gas once the fall semester starts. A drop in work hours + increased gas expense = ouch! (And that's not including textbooks... Eek.)
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