Budget Busters

[luvnmy2bys]

What are the things that really bust your budget. We are trying really hard to stick to our budget and I have found there are a few things that really are killing us.
1.) Food and eating out. This is our number one budget buster. Even on the weeks that we don't eat out I tend to spend around $200 on our food budget. I have a teenage son and a pre-teen son who eat like there is no tomorrow. How do you save money on your food bill?

2.) Sports activities. The boys both play baseball and we just spent over $200 on registrations, another $200 on equipment and uniforms, and that is just the start, I know other expenses are coming.

O.K. that is my two budget busters for this month what are yours?

luvnmy2bys
Chris

 

[tinaluis]

Softball for my oldest DD - $150 (plus a lot of time before and after games prepping the field, working in the concession stand, fundraising, etc.) and an unexpected crown for a broken tooth $1165 .

 

[mrsltg]

Eating Out! I have been sick this week and the thought of cooking was just too much. So, for the last three nights we have either had take out or eaten out. My dh works evenings so it's just the girls and I. What I should have done was made grilled cheese or something equally simple. Instead I spent about $75 on virtually nothing! It drives me crazy.

 

[Motherofboys]

Some of mine for this month are:

1. Sports fees for 2 oldest boys - $195 + all of the equipment that will need to be replaced (cleats, new soccer shorts, new baseball glove)

2. Car maintenance - oil, filter, lube, and tire rotation $55 (can't ever be cheap can it?)

3. Sons managing to tear zipper on winter coat, or outgrow winter boots, or losing snow pants, etc. - all had to be replaced and clearance deals are long gone!

 

[shortbun]

-Eating out
-Shoes for my 11yo son who wears a men's size 10.5 and always needs new shoes for some sport or just school
-gasoline, my husband is all over town all day long and drives a Ford work van that is heavy and a gas hog. He fills up on Giant Eagle every once in a while because HE has a 30gallon tank. That helps but two years ago, our budget for fuel was waaaay lower.

 

[feedindy]

Here are a couple suggestions for those who eat out more than their checkbook would like:
1. Stock up on Ready-to-Serve dinners, refrigerated mashed potatoes and canned vegetables. The entire meal goes together in under 10 minutes. Ditto spaghetti sauce, pasta and frozen garlic bread. It provides dinner on those nights you just don't want to cook, but it's better, healthier and cheaper than ordering pizza.
2. If you absolutely must pick up dinner, try your grocery store's deli instead of the drive-thru. It is just as fast, but much healthier and you can feed your family for much less than buying individual meals.
3. Set an actual and realistic budget for dining. Too many people just grab food without thought to what that money was earmarked for. Expecting a family to never, ever eat out or pickup food is unrealistic so pick a dollar amount. It's easier to stick to a low amount each month than it is to stick to $0.


My budget buster is DD's activities. Soccer fees always seem to hit me, plus this year she'll need new shoes and has probably outgrown her shorts too. Writing Club sounded like a good idea and was free, but I just paid $18 to buy the finished book. She'll need money for Kidtown next week as well as the book fair later this month. I have always been supportive educational expenses, but they seem to come in rapid succession and aren't something that are actually listed in the budget.

 

[disneysnowflake]

We have 2 tanks in the basement for holding home heating oil.
Usually we can use 2 tanks per cold season.

We have a budget of a certain amount each heating season.

DH went to the basement to check the tanks. Each has its own gauge. DH checked the first tank. It said 1/4 full. DH didn't check the 2nd tank which was 100% full.

Well, DH didn't tell me, but he ordered fuel on Tuesday. Fuel was delivered while I took my son to the dentist. The bill for the fuel was $600.

We can still use this fuel next season, but I certainly didn't plan on spending another $600 on fuel this heating season. We didn't need it.

I also just found out how much senior portraits are going to cost me. Yikes.

Always something.

ETA: Yikes. I should have filled up my gas tank on Monday when gas here was $2.29. I just went to get gas to find out it's $2.52. What the heck!! Another budget buster.

 

[Zoemakes5]

The cost of "running around" busts my budget everytime!
Little things that add up, like stopping to get gas and getting drinks and/or snacks as we run from one activity to another, or from one store to another. Or eating lunch or dinner out as we're running to activities or it's "too late" as we're returning from an activity.

 

[powellrj]

my kids have been my budget busters this month. DD needed money for 2 field trips and needed new jeans because of a growth spurt. She had grandparents day this week so that was 3 extra lunches plus pictures.

We have 2 birthdays.

DS is moving back home so we will have the gas, overnight in hotel expenses and meals out when we go to help him.

Eating out. We have frozen meals and also ready to eat meals at home, but sometimes its just too much effort after working all day to have to come home and even heat it up and clean it up. Its just easier to drive thru and throw it away when you are done.

 

[jakoky]

well, it just seems like in the last few weeks it has been one thing after another

my oldest dd(15) tore a ligament in her ankle....crutches-$20, tie up support brace-$45, and 4 physio appts-$200

last weekend we finally got our new puppy(we have been waiting for her for 5 weeks)...new puppy $500 and all puppy gear(beds, collars, toys) $200 OUCH

my youngest dd(11) is on a travelling rep soccer team...we just won the upper island tournament and now are playing for the island cup..we have been doing lots of day travelling, so no motels, but a $25-30 in gas and 1 meal out adds up each weekend., but i love watching her and she loves it and is so good at it... (oh, and my oldest daughter cheerleads and my son plays both hockey and soccer)



OH well, we are happy and healthy with a lots of food and a warm house so it is all okay...BUT it sure would be nice to never have to worry about money

sharon

 

[KristiA]

Eating out and then running around doing errands and stopping at the gas stating for a drink and snack or at coffee shop for coffee and smoothies. I always forget to grab something at home. Need to start remembering to do this.

Also, lately my car needed new front brakes. Everything was great, but yesterday I started hearing squeaking coming from back tires. So, I probably need new back brakes now. Ugh!

 

[kwhite1022]

How funny, I was just discussing this on another board. Our budget buster all the time used to be eating out. I added it up:

Hubby daily lunches out - 8x5=$40
Friday dinner out- $50
Sat lunch out -$20
running around snacks - $10
Bkfst after church - $25

grand total $145 a week or (drum roll) $7540 a year and thats being conservative, I know there are weeks it was worse!! How disgusting that we could blow 2 vacations to Disney, or a new to us van, on junk thats just padding our butts!!

Now we budget just $40 a week for eating out, and anything else comes out of our individual blow money or we dont do it.

Im on the other side of the kids equation, Im actually waiting for school to end so I will gain the $50 I spend a month on bus passes and hot lunch, and $35 from my daughters ballet classes.

Glad to see we arent alone.

 

[suz72]

My recent ones:

New tires for my car $850.00
Dentist for DH (fillings) $480.00
New bike for DD7 (hers was tooooo small) $60.00

New "work" shoes and clothes for me...I've been SAHM for 4 years and am now beginning to work part-time....$ not sure how much....buying a little at a time...can't wear jeans, sweats, and tennies to work On the other hand, it does give me a good excuse to buy new clothes, which I like to do But, it is a bit of a budget buster

As far as activities for DDs, dance, basketball, etc....I am able to fit that into my monthly budget, including new dance and bball shoes, monthly fees, etc. So, I don't consider that a budget buster.

 

[ceroarty]

My budget buster was today. I just had to shell out $155.00 for allergy medicine. The thought of this every month sickens me. I am going to need a job just to pay for these. The only thing that is keeping me sane is knowing that I really do need. I just can't function with out them.

 

[NY Disney fan]

Here are a couple suggestions for those who eat out more than their checkbook would like:
1. Stock up on Ready-to-Serve dinners,

This is easy but make sure they are low in saturated fat and sodium. These frozen dinners are notorius for high fat and salt. We used to stock up on frozen dinner until we started reading the labels on some of them.

 

[PatsMom]

This week's budget buster was almost $500 for a rear wheel bearing for my 7 year old Subaru (which has around 185,000 miles). I tell myself it is cheaper to maintain this old car than to make a car payment and it is just time for some things to start wearing out. But we'll be eating cheap for the next couple of weeks to make up for the expense.

 

[Kimmumum]

SPORTS FEES!!!!

1. Football (doesn't start until August but sign up is today) $320 for both boys plus they both needs new cleats (about $30/each). Also, 2DS will need a special-made mouthpiece because of expander/braces...cost...???
2. Indoor Soccer for 1DS (started last week) $40 plus $30 for indoor soccer shoes.
3. Outdoor Soccer for 1DS (starts at end of March) $175 plus new cleats.
4. Basketball for 2DS (started a couple weeks ago) $80.

I guess it is a good thing that I have a "One sport at a time" rule

5. New tires $500
6. We started orthodontics with 2DS 2 weeks ago ($1000 so far). 1DS will start in about 5 months. UGH!!!!

 

[kellia]

This has been a really bad month-

Braces- $3000! (We did plan for them and have the money in our Health Flex Plan, but still!)

Dishwasher- $425 (I did get $200 off! )

Gas- dh drives almost 100 miles a day

Medical Co-Pays- we have horrible insurance and seems like someone is always getting sick or something! Also just found out I need surgery to fix my sinsus, that will be $250 + 10%...

Home or Car repairs- our mudroom roof has ice damage and it's all gonna have to be replaced. Can't wait to see how much that costs...luckily dh can do it himself.

All of that makes our Disney trip a couple of weeks ago look cheap!

 

[disykat]

Our teeth! We have dental insurance, but it doesn't cover orthodontia or very much of the major stuff like wisdom teeth extractions. This past year we finished paying for our older son's braces and started our younger son. Then ds #1 needed his wisdom teeth out. Now we've discovered he needs another gum surgery. I also had some dental work done that wasn't covered. YIKES! We've had more than 5K in out of pocket dental bills this year with more coming.

 

[clownchk]

First : Doc appointment in Cincinnati for the boy. This is 100 %paid for (Including the airfare there and back) but I need to eat while gone (Total 12 hours from the time we leave for the airport to the time we return home) The budget buster is usually one airport snack (About $15 for the 2 of us) and DH having to orde rin because he refuses to heat something up $12 for pizza for himself and the girls.

THEN our Van needed fixing. $1750 and 4 days later its back but not before...

the hot water tank for our tenent breaks. ??? DH didn't tell me, and At this point I don't care + $65 for the guy to come put it in tomorrow.

GRR