A few months back I had estimated what my budget would be when I moved into the trailer and out of my dads house. I think my estimates were fairly accurate but now that I am down to one job my income is a lot lower.
Below were my original estimates. My actual numbers are in green.
- Loan Payment for the Trailer $226 – $226
- Credit Card $45 (recurring donation) – $45
- Car Insurance $52 – $52
- Phone $28 – $45
- Internet $70 – $66
- Electricity $120 – $460 (three month average)
- Water $25 – $18
- TV $55 – $0
Total Utilities/Bills – $621 –$912
Thanks to my ridiculous electric bill I am $291 over budget on my fixed expenses. Last month my electric bill was $520, this month it was $360. I am hoping that since the cold weather is finally over that my electric bill will be much lower next month. I am praying it will be under $200. This by far has been the hardest bill for me to pay. I did check on budget billing but my power company won’t offer it until you are with them for a year and always pay on time. Ugghhh!
I didn’t end up getting cable. We don’t watch any TV until night time. When the girls are ready for bed they pick one of their DVD’s and watch it. I always thought I couldn’t live without cable, but I honestly don’t miss it a bit. It’s amazing how much more you get done when you aren’t glued to the TV all day long!
- Gas $200 – $160
- Food $250 – $250
- Babysitting $300 – $300
- Fun/Misc. $400 – Not Sure??
Total Everything Else $1150 – Not Sure?
There really isn’t a lot of extras in this budget. Other than my misc. money its pretty bare bones. And the bad thing is, it’s a lot more than what I am bringing home. I have went through the buffer that was in my checking account now and if I don’t start bringing in extra money then I will have to resort to touching my emergency fund.
Working two jobs was very stressful and allowed me no free time for myself. I want to be able to build up enough side income to not have to go back to two jobs. It’s time for me get hardcore with my budgeting and earning.
Working on the Budget
Like I said, I don’t have much that I can cut from my budget, its pretty tight. The biggest hurdle is cutting the electric bill and since the furnace hasn’t run much this month I am hoping and praying that next months bill will be manageable.
I probably have spent every bit of the $400 budgeted for fun/misc money. I haven’t done a very good job at keeping track of it. There haven’t been any big purchases, pretty much just nickel and diming the $400. I need to keep track of this and cut it down to $200/month.
Earning More Money
I am not gonna lie, I have been slacking in this department. I found a system that worked great and was producing results yet I haven’t put too much time into it over the last week or so. I need to get my butt in gear.
Looking at the numbers in my budget is a wake up call. I am going to work a lot harder at increasing my income. I know it can be done, I just have to do it!!
Here is my to do list for this week:
- Put up my writers website – I already purchased the domain and hosting but I need to pick a theme and get samples, a bio, and a pic up.
- Email 10 prospects
- Work on my new niche website – I have ten articles ready that need to be scheduled and I need to work on backlinking.
- Write 5 articles on insurance topics so that I have some of these ready to go!
I promise this week I am going to get stuff done! Any budget suggestions? Am I missing something that I could cut out or down?
Your electric bill just seems so scary! That really stinks. Good luck with your earning money to do list 🙂
Thank You!
We had the same issue with our electric bill as well. It always seems like a crap shoot with those. As for budgeting it seems like you’re pretty barebones as it is. Perhaps you could cut back a little more on food, there is a site dedicated to making cheap meals. Give it a visit when you get a chance.
http://www.5dollardinners.com/
Hope this helps!
Thanks for the recommendation. I will definitely check that site out. I could probably lower my grocery bill a bit more and am open to any different meal ideas. My only budget solution may just be increasing my income.
Love that you got rid of cable! You can always watch some of the shows online. We also use amazon prime, which has free video content – ends up being less expensive per year than Netflix. Your electric bill is so high! I don’t want to sound depressing, but what about AC in the summer? I like that you’re cutting down the miscellaneous – if anything, I would add to the food budget. We get along on $150 fun/misc for two adults – and most of it is more miscellaneous expenses (like printer ink). Doesn’t look like you have any debt which is awesome!
Well there is no central AC in here. I will have to break down and buy a couple of window units but I am hoping that the electric bill is still much lower than it was in the winter. Really hoping anyway.
I could probably cut my misc. money back some, I need to pay more attention to it because I don’t even know where it’s going at the moment.
I used to live in a trailer and I too had huge electric bills. I lowered the hot water heater temp to 110 degrees, changed all the bulbs to cfl’s, painted my roof white to reflect the sun light back. These were instrumental in lowering my bill. I learned about painting my roof from the energy auditor that came to my home, he explained that a black roof will absorb the heat (in the summer it felt like a roasting tin can) and a white roof would reflect the sunlight back to the sky and would help to cool the inside temp. In the matter of a month, my bill was reduced by $248 and I averaged a monthly summer energy bill of $85 a month. I know it seems like a lot of work, but its worth it. God bless.
I am so glad you mentioned someting about painting the roof a light color. My roof is horrible and plan to get it painted in the near future. I was actually thinking about painting it black!! That would have been bad. I thought black would make the trailer look a little nicer but it would be roasting.
It’s only been in the 70’s lately and feels like its 100 degrees in here!
Alexa,
I would be very interested to learn how/why you decided to move into a trailer. I definitely see the potential saving but I’m curious when this became an option for you. Did you shop for one? Or did someone you know sell it to you?
Good luck with the electric bill. We live in Florida so our highest bill times are reversed. Ours are cheaper in the winter since we don’t need much heat and higher in the summer when we bake without AC. At night is very hot for us but we switch to sleeping with a sheet instead of a comforter and good fans really help too.
When I first moved out I started looking at houses but everything in my price range that I liked fell through. I didn’t want to rent (although now I think it would have been a much better option) and my dad wanted me to stay close to him. He has a quite a bit of land and had just torn down a run down house that was right by his house. He wanted to put something there so he thought it would be a good idea for me to put a trailer there and then he would just keep it or buy it from me when I was ready to move out. At the time it seemed like the most cost effective thing to do and I liked the idea of having him near me. I thought that I would have really low bills and be able to save money and take my time to save and buy my own house.
Long story short, things didn’t really go as I planned. I ended up quitting one of my jobs and my electric bill has been crazy high.
Stay strong! I’m sure you will figure out the electric situation and you will be back on track to save! I’m sure your kids and your dad love being near each other.
That’s a tough spot to be in when your bills come in higher than expected. Hopefully you can get on equal billing as soon as your year is up. What we do is we average out what we pay over the course of the year for electricity and water (one bill) which comes every 2 months. Every month we budget that average amount in and save it in our projected expenses account so when the bill comes due the money is there. I think once you get your new site up and running that will motivate you even more. You’ll get there, keep the faith. What do you use for a budget right now? Cheers mate, keep smiling.
I think budgeting for utilities that way is very smart. I am going to try some of the suggestions I have gotten and see if I can lower my bill some more. Hopefully I can increase my income throughout the next several months and have enough money to budget for the bigger bills.
Hmmmm. Have you talked to the electric company about doing an energy audit? That just seems crazy expensive. I feel for you, I’m facing a very similar situation with the money not going as far as it should each month.
No I didn’t ask them anything about that. I just tried to get on the budgeted billing but they wouldn’t do it without the account being active for a year, which stinks. I will look into that though
It really is a good thing that 1) you have a budget! & 2) you check yourself against it. I have a similar issue with less $$ coming in and same expenses. How to reconcile that gap is really a tough question. I guess the thing that jumped out at me was the babysitting costs. Seems high to me, but then, I don’t use babysitters often. Is there anyway to get that lower? Is that the before & after school program maybe? Joining a co-op/swapping goods & services/playdates ? I think my kids are older than yours; I try to optimize sleepovers to go out instead of getting a sitter.
It is hard to reconcile the gap. I atually think my babysitting costs are pretty low. I have to take the kids to the babysitter when I go to work it is $150 a week and the ex and I take turns paying.
I can’t even imagine an electric bill that high, I’m assuming this is because it’s a trailer? Are they pretty bad on energy costs? Good Luck with it.
Yeah I think its because its a trailer, but I have some insulation issues as well. Hopefully the months to come will be better.
That’s a tough spot. I honestly don’t see anything besides the electric bill that seems high. $300 a month for babysitting two kids is cheap. Maybe the internet, but I’m not sure if you have any choice in carriers. We only have one in our area, but I did call and ask if there were any discounts, and they gave me half off for a year. It might be something to try. Ultimately, you are doing great with your spending and cutting a few dollars here and there helps, but I think you are on the right path with increasing your income. It sounds like you have a good plan. Best of luck.
I am so thrilled to have found your site!!! I am a single mother of two (14 and 11). I’ve been doing this single mom thing for 7 years now. I am now in a place where I could totally use your money saving/making advice.