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My budget....advice
I am a newly single mom with a 5 and 7 year old. I am also in school getting my masters. Advice appreciated.
TAKE HOME EACH MONTH: $5,125.00
Rent: $1,110.00
Electricity: $95.00
Cable/Internet: $113.00 (my school is online so I need internet and I need it good and fast as I live on it at least 2-3 hours a night with my masters program.)
Cell: $82.00 (iPhone)
Car: $480.00 (2013 Toyota Camry that I plane to drive for 7+ years. Per the divorce, I had to get rid of my Lexus because I could not afford it and I got nothing to put down on a car. I bit the bullet to get something that was long time reliable)
Storage: $88.00 (I have to store everything I got from 4,900 square foot house that will not fit into an 1,100 square foot apartment with 2 kids)
Daycare: $680.00 (2 kids in after school care 5 days a week)
Car Insurance: $85.00
Gas: $125.00 (If that. I work about 10 miles from my apartment. It's the driving busy kiddos around)
Groceries: $300.00
Medical: $105.00 (son's ADHD meds and my thyroid meds)
School: $35.00 (lunches, supplies, etc)
School Loan: $100.00 ($5,200 left)
Credit Card: $400.00 (3,200 left)
Furniture: $100.00 ($1,800 left, had to buy after the divorce)
Daughter's Dance: $45.00
Son's Sports, etc: $55.00
Personal Misc.: $125.00
Retirement is through the state of Texas (TRS) as I am a teacher.
This gives me (give or take) $1,000 for entertainment (hello, I am a single mom) and savings. I am hoping to put $500.00 minimum each month in savings. I have around $2,300 in an e-fund and want to build that too.
Re: My budget....advice
Overall, I think your budget looks pretty good. The only thing I'm not sure about is the storage: what did you get in the divorce that you can't use but need to keep?? If possible, I would try to sell it - then put the extra money from the sales and from no longer paying storage towards your debt.
But even with what you're doing now, you should be able to work on a lot of your debt quickly. It looks like if you throw all of your extra money towards a debt snowball, starting with your CC, then paying your furniture off, then SL, you should be able to have all of those paid off in 7 months. Wouldn't that feel great? I'd say take very little for entertainment in the mean time - any that you take out of that $1000/mo will extend the time it takes to pay off debt, and you'll pay more in interest. After those 7 months, I'd start splitting your extra money (now $1600!) between making extra car payments and saving.
Good luck!
"You know you're in love when you don't want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." - Dr. SeussI think it looks good. I agree with pp about using as much as you can of the extra $1000 to put towards your debt. Obvioulsy it cannot be the entire $1000, you need some entertainement. I wouldnt feel guilty about using some of that for yourself, especially being a newly single mom.
Also, your food budget of $300 seems low to me, is that for all food for the month?
I think it looks like you are doing a good job, and have a good plan in place.
Why did you get such an expensive car? $480 a month is a crazy car payment. It's almost half your rent. I commend you for getting rid of the Lexus, but a Honda civic or corolla is much cheaper and would easily last you ten years.
Here's MMM's info a $10 Iphone plan: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/10/11/our-new-10-00-per-month-iphone-plans/
The aftercare programs seems expensive; perhaps shop around for a cheaper place next school year.
I would leave your e-fund where it is. Take around $800 of the "extra" money each month and pay off the credit card in its entirety in four months.