Money is so tight for us this month. I had committed us to making a final settlement payment this month and knew it would be tight if we did not have new roommates. We're here in the middle of June and still having only 1 roommate. The main reason for the lack of roommates was the broken front bay window for a month. We brought down our rent to $300/month all utilities included this week to see if that will help us get some people in the room.
The other big item that I decided to do this month was replace our back porch boards. We have had plywood as our porch deck since we moved into this house 3 & 1/2 yrs ago and the steps were not installed properly, so they were starting to rot and sway when you walked on them. I went with cedar, which is more expensive than pine but I feel will last longer. The costs for the project went much higher than I expected due to additional support structure needed for the stairs and placing boards over the stair openings so our children would not fall through them.
Here's what we have left to take care of this month that we can't push until next month:
$78 Car Sticker for the license plate
$10 Dr. Co-pay for my wife and the baby to come
$15 My life insurance policy
$40 Water bill
$69 My student loan
$40 Car gas to & from work
Total: $252
We're holding off paying for my daughter's health insurance ($40) until the 1st, electric bill ($70), and my wife's life insurance (and my old policy of $95). We're still a bit short on cash with $228 in the banks and cash on hand. I'm planning on taking 1 extra board back to Menards ($8), my dad owes me $30 for Cubs tickets I will be going to tomorrow, plus I have a $20 rebate check from Menards that I may use to buy an item I purchased for the porch with cash and then return it to get the cash back.
On the positive side, we have plenty of food in the house and our garden is producing a fair amount of food. The settlement payment is the last of our over $1K payment we will need to make to a debt, the rest of our misc debts are $400-600 range medical bills. Next month's goals is to just build up a cash reserve. I will be doing some patching of our basement walls next month, but that should only cost $5 a bag and I'll probably be using around 10 bags.
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2 comments:
It's going to be fine. This is just a temporary squeeze. As far as the room rent goes, I think I would offer a cheaper move in (1st month) then go to the regular rent. Although, I'm sure you know better then I.
The porch was a fabulous investment, expecially with kids. One less worry is one less worry, because there are so many worries.
I'm glad to hear you will begin saving next month. You need cash, especially with kids. That cash will keep you from making rash decisions with potential renters too. It is amazing the power that comes from a little cash in the bank.
Prayers coming your way.
Look at how far you've come! Everyone has "short" months, and you guys have had a lot of unexpected expenses. Stay the course!
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