New York Nesties
MrsDe2008
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Is it ever enough?
My husband makes a great salary and I work part time, so mine is just a little extra every month. But, we get killed in taxes and feel like we don't bring enough money in...even with renting now (which we are saving close to $1,000 a month just by doing that). I don't understand what kind of salary one needs to "survive". We're not lavish spenders (except for our vacays once or twice a year, but that's coming to an end after this last trip). We don't want to rent forever and will be looking for a new house in NJ in a year or so, but I'm afraid to go back to just getting by. =/ So, besides venting, I guess what I'm asking is, How can we fix this? Do you claim zero all year round or do you claim dependenants? Right now we both claim zero and I'm wondering if we claim a couple of dependants if that would help a lot...I've never done that before. Also, any budgeting tricks that you have and want to share? I'd love to hear it...
Re: Is it ever enough?
Unless you have a specific budget each month, we almost always notice money just "vanishing" and wondering what we've done with it. The little things really add up!
If you're constantly feeling this way, create a spreadsheet containing all of your fixed monthly expenses (including any money you automatically put into savings) and see what that adds up to. Then add non-fixed monthly expenses with your best estimates (groceries, etc.). See what the difference is. You probably will have a big difference between total expenses and your monthly income, which will make you scratch your head like I do, haha. That's when you then start thinking about the little expenses here and there - clothes, eating out, etc. Then start thinking about where you can realistically cut back. Take baby steps if you must.
If you're feeling especially brave, you may want to post your monthly net income and your expenses each month on the Money Matters board. A lot of them live very frugally so some of the stuff they may recommend you cut might not be realistic, but they do generally offer excellent ways to maintain a budget (which doesn't necessarily mean that you have to live frugally).
<a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Home Dmarie's suggestions are solid.
when we were first calculating what buying a home would cost, i was FREAKING OUT about how much money it was going to be out of pocket each month. now that we are in it, though, it's totally fine. we did little things, like having half our mortgage taken out of our checking account twice a month, instead of the whole thing coming out at once...it helps us to maintain an easy baseline of useable money. that said, we are still working on how to effectively build up our savings with the higher monthly expenses.
Emerald Nuts Midnight Run (4m) 1/1/12
Coogan's Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks Run (5k) 3/4/12
Colon Cancer Challenge (15k) 4/1/12
Purple Stride NYC (5k) 4/21/12
Run to Combat Autism (5k) 4/29/12
RnR Philadelphia (Half Marathon) 9/16/12
Claim 0 and then claim yourselves and baby on taxes next year. The fact that you are renting now would have put you on the pay side for next year anyway. Good thiing you are having a baby.
Your vacations do add up and I doubt you go on vacation and spend zero money or buy zero souvenirs or items for the trip. LOL. It is what people do in vaca preparations.
I agree with Marie on the monthly budgeting issue. Once the baby comes out you are going to feel it in your pockets big time and it is best to start that now or work full time and not part time. Cut out things you pay monthly for and don't use. Stuff like that.
Dan and I spent several years aggressively saving for our down payment and expenses. I started by setting aside the savings first, then using the rest as my monthly budget. If there was still leftover at the end of the month, I added that to savings as well.
Things to cut or downsize: cable, phone, eating out.
It's amazing how much money some people spend on little things like morning coffee, lunches, etc. I take my own coffee everywhere, usually pack my own lunch at work.
Also, take inventory of things that could be purchased more inexpensively. Cat food and litter can add up. Do you buy them at a place like Costco or the store?
I know how you feel. It's so hard in NYC coming from WI. There I rented a 2 bedroom for $400 a month. My husband and I are professionals and should be able to have house, but there's no way right now. So we bought a coop. Then there's students in my class who get free lunch, mom doesn't work and they afford an apartment. It doesn't make sense. I wonder if other people have huge credit card debt to live the way they do.
Do make a budget. Depending on how you're going to find childcare, maybe working full-time is an option.
Good Luck.