My wife and I are having a difficult time managing our bills. How to we get on track with our finances?

Question

Too many late payments, no nest egg, The medical bills or the unexpected bills through a wrench in our plan all the time.

Answer 1

well there are many non-profit debt counseling agencys, just goto google and search for them. or watch the tv :)

Answer 2

Not enough information to really narrow down what you need to do.

Here are a few good general ideas.

1. Get a good education (night classes or online - if already employed) this will increase your salary

2. Get a good resume - submit application to many many employers and keep shopping for the best possible job ( no idea what your field is )

3. live within your means - shop around for lower rent - a less expensive home

4. Do without cell phones or your home phone.

5. Don't go out to eat - buy from discount stores for a while

To really get out of this rut, you will need to live within 80% of your means - save the other 20% and invest in stocks, real estate and commodities.

Read up on real estate and stock investments - Money magazine, Investors Business Daily, Mad Money - CNBC, take a community college class on investments.

Without more details it's hard to give you specific help

Answer 3

What you need to do is sit down and figure out what you absolutely cannot live without and get rid of the other things. For example....just get basic cable instead of all the extras, carpool if possible, try to combine all of your credit cards into one that has a low interest rate. My husband and I went to the bank and took out a small personal loan to pay off all credit card debt and my vehicle. It freed up about 300-400bucks a month. Thats an option as well. I know what you mean though, its always something. Get on a strict budget....limit your dining out and take your lunch to work. That saved us a ton. You never realize how much you spend on food until you start adding it up. Reserve one night every week to go out to a movie, dinner, etc. The rest of the time do something thats free like going to the park, cooking a good meal at home, etc. Good luck.

Answer 4

Set up a time with your wife and go through all monthly expenses. You can put each expense into two different categories: fixed and variable... this is an equivalent to a corporate income statement. If you need an example of a personal income statement, you can download Excel templates from Microsoft's website: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT011377171033.aspx

Fixed expenses - you "can't change" or "can't do without." examples - monthly medical bills, utilities, mortgage.
Of course, you can cut down on utilities, etc.

Variable expenses - you can change or do without. examples - movies, cable, dining out, groceries, etc.

Then you take your NET Monthly income (how much you take home after taxes) and subtract out the fixed expenses. What is left over will be what you have to work with for your groceries and misc. expenses. You and your wife will most likely have to explain to your kids to cut down or eliminate some "luxuries" such as cable and dining out several times a month. These steps will lead to smaller credit card bills as well (I'm assuming you used to pay these things with a credit card anyway.)

Anything left over from subtracting your expenses will be what you save as an emergency fund (preferably up to 6 months' net income.) There is a lot of work to it, but once it's set... you will have an easier way of identifying areas that need to be addressed. The hardest part of all this is implementing a budget for the family and STICKING TO IT! you can do it, I hope this helps!

Answer 5

hope for you,your debt is not too big..
anyway,a good way to start is to calculate your total monthly income,and expenses..of lets say,the last 3 months,so you can have an avarage,the diffrence income and expenses,should be + in favour for the income.,that amount is what u normally can save.if it is not so,like its - in favour for expenses,you have a problem.,that amount is what you are short each month.
the best way to solve that problem is to cut expenses.
examine your expenses carefully for a month..,see where your money goes..,prolly will find here and there unnessesary expenses,or at least expenses that can be lowered.
lower your expenses so mutch that the income-expenses diffrence is + income..,the difrence is your gain.
.....
if monthly payments getting to heavy all together,probably a good thing to do,is renegotiate some of the debts if possible,..giving you some financial space.
.....
of course its difficult to come up with a plan,if one does not know all the facts involved..,my golden rule.."i can't spend,what i don't have"...so,i have nothing on credit,no creditcards..
wish you all the best of luck..

Answer 6

Read "Miserly Moms" by Jonni McCoy. It's about living on one income in a two income world. Lots of good tips. Some are better than others. You could pick and choose the ones that work best for you.

Answer 7

Been there, Done that, Currently in the same boat!!!

Don't have a clue.

I guess for us, family of 5 - ONE INCOME, would have to cut out all Fast Food, Video/Movie Rentals.

Never enough $$$ to go around.

Answer 8

just try to manage ur money pay a little bit at a time on each payment till u get caught up or call in and let the people knnow whats going on and till them when ull have the money to pay them off so theyll know ur going to try to pay it

Answer 9

Put your finances on software like Microsoft Money. Keep track be disciplined.

Answer 10

I can relate. You should really try Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. It is excellent. I use it myself. It's a baby-step program to get you on track financially. Give it a try! It really works, if you follow his instructions.

Answer 11

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