Budget - How do you keep yours so low??

[sergio]

I didn't read all of the posts here but here is what stands out, consider either reducing or eliminating these, in my opinion.

• $550 in electricity (seems high)
• $185/mo additional mortgage (consider pausing for now)
• $167/mo in routine auto maintenance (seems very high)
• $280/mo cell phone plan (very high)
• $208/mo gym membership (go to a cheaper gym)
• $140/mo massage (skip unless medically necessary)
• $240/mo in pets (don't replace your pets when they pass on)
• $100/mo in subscriptions (not huge, but you might save an easy $50/mo by auditing usage)
• $1800/mo in travel (is there a trip or two you can skip? do you need to do each of these every year?)
• $551/mo charity (up to you, but if you're feeling strapped, maybe cut back for a few years?)

Overall though, nothing appears outrageous. Even the "obvious" stuff like your phone bill doesn't exactly move the needle relative to your income and savings, even if you halve it. The only thing that truly hurts to see is the nearly $3k/month in medical premiums. Are both of you self-employed and working? If one of you isn't working, can the non-working person find a part-time job that includes health care benefits (e.g. Starbucks, Costco, school cafeteria worker etc.)?

Raising 4 kids is expensive. Raising 4 kids in a way that gives them a great childhood (travel, sports, music, birthday parties, tutoring etc.) is crazy expensive (I have 3 kids myself). You guys seem to have a good thing going on, so I would just go for the low hanging fruit and now sweat it too much.

 

[aaronc879]

I spend that in a year.

That would be a high year for me.

 

[UpQuark]

I think it is great you are spending your money living a good life and providing a great life for your kids, paying the tab at outings, and giving to charity. I'd only suggest cutting out anything that is pointless, such as extra pet toys that the pets will only play with a couple times, or random clothing purchases that aren't needed, tourist type purchases that will wind up in a box to goodwill, etc.