For $6k a Month I'd Expect a Better Lifestyle

I'm noticing a cyclical mood swing: Every month when it's time to pay the bills, I get freaked out about spending down our savings on unknown business ventures with an unknown payoff date and amount! Guess I'm just perceptive like that. Hmm, $0 in, $6000 out, Aggghhhhhhhhh!!

On an up note, my wonderfully supportive life coach reassures me today that I am a much different woman than he started working with 2 years ago. I don't feel different enough, meaning I wish I was a different woman who has a flexible job that earns $100,000 a year. I find savings in bits and pieces -- like cutting out $300 a month for a life coach. I will take you up on your offer to email you, Bill ... or maybe I'll just pretend I'm talking to you in my blog, who knows.

Doesn't $6,000 seem like a lot? For it we get to live in an apartment building that's been poorly managed for decades (recent changes notwithstanding), in an apartment that though having been entirely gutted and remodeled just before we moved in 5 years ago, is not up to code in terms of electrical and has peeling paint in the bathrooms.

We also drive a 7-year-old (paid-off) car that we all love but is starting to need more care than we want to pay for.

In order to really save on those monthly expenses it's big things that need to be cut -- like our car, which is kind of a necessity given where DB's school is vis a vis our home, and our weekly expenses - uh, food and the like. I could (and do) drive less to save on gas.

I'd eyeball the digital cable bill, since we're paying for the service on 3 TVs, but DB and Husband would probably cut out eating before they gave up cable. I can try turning off my computer every night to see if the electric bill goes down. We could switch to a cheaper phone service or cut back to the most basic level, since we have 2 cells as well. (The idea of not having a landline at all kind of freaks me out. We needed it during the NYC blackout of '03.)

We do need to look at our life insurance, which is currently more than $100 a month apiece for the 2 of us.

Our weekly cash is $500, which covers groceries (and liquor), the cleaning lady (yes, I could give her up, but she's like a member of the family), the laundry machines, our parking space (if you've ever tried to park in Forest Hills you know that as long as we have the car, we need this space), anything we do on weekends, any night-out activities, babysitters, and pocket change (with which I buy stamps, socks, fast-food kid meals, give to charities, and the occasional toy; not sure what Husband buys). I'm also buying Christmas presents with my weekly cash. We've just decided to cut the monthly cash amount back by $40 a month so DB can keep taking swim lessons next semester.

I feel like we're stretching that weekly dough about as far as can be.

Beyond that, it's where we live. Between the mortgage and the maintenance and the current maintenance assessment, plus the parking space, the cleaning lady, the laundry machines, it's over $3000. Moving would probably cost $6000. So how much lower can we get those expenses to recoup that? Can we buy ourselves two months? Is that worth it?

I feel like I'm a frugal person who's good at finding a few dollars here and there to save. Not that you'd know it from this blog, which was started when I was in high-income mode. At a certain point I realized I was spending more time on combing the coupon circulars than it was worth, given our income, so I stopped. I'm back in sale-shopping mode but don't do the store-hopping I did the last time we were unemployed. Part of the reason I did it then was to have somewhere to go with the toddler DB. When I was lucky, he napped as I bargain-shopped.

Now, I'm overwhelmed by the $6k number, and though I'm saving $1 here and there when I can, I feel like finding ways even to save $20 here and $50 there won't add up to anything helpful in the long run.

I guess we need a better handle on how long we think these businesses will take off enough to cover our monthlies.

But every month I get more and more worried that it won't be soon enough.

Last but not least, got to give props to Bossy and her Poverty Party for making me think critically about the issue instead of freaking inside, which is what I usually do.