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Raise v. Expense Increases

February 15th, 2019 at 06:06 pm

My husband got a raise this year- yes! Not a huge raise, but we are super happy! The result is $98.90 per month net.

Now for the increases in expenses for 2019:
- 83.33 more to the IRAs which gets us to our limit
- 58.67 increase in F's tuition
- food cost increases - our old food budget is not cutting it anymore - probably need to add about $75 more a month to be safe but $50 more would be ok

So budget needs to change by about $192 and we have $98.90... need to find another $93.

One way to do this is to take money out of other categories:
- 20 from karate (since she does so many sports that there isn't time for a lot of privates and the testing will slow down, too)
- 10 from camp (since F doesn't really like camp anymore and will do one or two at most - one karate and one soccer)
- maybe some money from the tuition savings (we try to save a little extra each month) to offset the tuition increase

Another option is a small distribution every so often from my business, but I hate doing that.

What categories do you use to offset budget increases?

Posted in Frugal Living, Frugal Shopping | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “Raise v. Expense Increases”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    February 15th, 2019 at 11:24 pm 1550273050
    1550273050

    Entertainment and dining out often get cut before anything else when we need funds. I have reduced some personal care spending too (such as makeup, or potentially unnecessary vitamins).

  2. PatientSaver Says:
    February 16th, 2019 at 01:02 am 1550278951
    1550278951

    I've budgeted $5K for home improvements each year, so I can fairly easily downshift that if needed.

  3. Buendia Says:
    February 16th, 2019 at 01:13 am 1550279634
    1550279634

    Hmmm... all good ideas! I currently have 1300 in home improvement and 1600 in home repairs... I budget 150 for repairs and 100 for improvements, so that's where I am going to downsize, leaving the 1300 and 1600 in there of course! Will now build a little more slowly but still ok for now... I would love to budget 5k a year for those - for now it's basically $3k I guess and will be a little less...

  4. Amber Says:
    February 16th, 2019 at 11:44 am 1550317472
    1550317472

    In the past when I had to make changes, I decreased my savings, fun spending, cellphone and cable. But the savings adjustment was always the best option

  5. PatientSaver Says:
    February 16th, 2019 at 01:41 pm 1550324476
    1550324476

    Buendia, I should say that the $5K is set aside as kind of a combo fund for both home improvements and vacation. The one has nothing to do with the other, but since both are usually discretionary for me, it would make it easier for me to make adjustments if something critical came up. Last year, for instance, I didn't take a vacation, for various reasons, so the entire $5K went toward home improvements.

    I have a separate line item for "home maintenance," which usually involves lower cost repairs of under $1,000.

  6. rob62521 Says:
    February 17th, 2019 at 08:34 pm 1550435662
    1550435662

    One thing is we do less traveling if money is needed since it is a luxury as well as eating out.

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