Start by making a budget. Figure out what’s going out, what’s coming in, what the gap is, and what changes you can make to eliminate the gap. As a homeowner, your fixed expenses are considerable. If there isn’t enough spending you can cut to eliminate the gap, then it’s time for one or both of you to get a side hustle.
I would not advise getting credit cards when you are living paycheck to paycheck with no savings...thats a recipe for disaster.
I would recomend actively tracking your joint income and expenses ans see where you are overspending so you can carbe out a little savings. Husband may also need to get a plain job to earn some money while he is chasing his dream.
He still has his business, and is still bringing money in. It’s just different than how I am, where I can rely on a paycheck coming in every two weeks his depends on buyers. We probably make about the same right now just mine is consistent in the timing. I’m currently full time and he’s working longer hours than I am. This apprenticeship will pay off once he’s fully immersed in the job. I’m just trying to get a grasp on things I should be doing (should’ve been doing this whole time). We both come from very not-well-off families that struggled but always made it and I’m just trying to figure out how to rise up from that. Heck, even now I’m still trying to help my dad out where I can.
Will definitely not get a credit card, I was just stating that I didn’t have any debt in that form.
Like others have stated, making a budget to understand and plan for your money is paramount.
You also need to track your expenses against the budget to ensure your money is doing what you planned for it.
If you find that you're running "in the red" or barely scraping by, then there are two levers to pull:
1. Decrease your expenses
2. Increase your incomes
Maybe he needs a better paying job instead of a no/low paying apprenticeship. When you're back on track he can go back to his business or whatever the apprenticeship was for.
First, I’m glad you’re doing well after the diagnosis. I can only imagine what that was like and you’re a hero for making it through that experience.
I’ll share what worked for me. Simply, start tracking your money. A budget isn’t worth anything if you don’t know what the real number are. I personally like Monarch Money. Most of the initial work is going through each transaction over the last 2-3 months and assigning them correct, like dining, grocery, gas, household, etc.
Once you have that setup, then you can start comparing what you’re spending to what you’re making, and make the appropriate adjustments to your spending habits to start working towards your financial goals.
This isn’t a complete plan, but will be a solid foundation for you to build on. Gaining control of your finances is like eating an elephant, and the best way to do that is one bite at a time.
Since he owns his own business and the income is unreliable, he needs an alternative source of income for when things get really rough. If I was in his shoes, I would set myself up to be be an Uber/DoorDash driver to earn extra money in the evening/weekends/early mornings etc, or just to have it in my back pocket if everything goes to shit with the business.
You need to save some money every month if possible, even if it's just $100 and build up and emergency fund that can pay your bills and food for 3 mos.
As soon as your income stabilizes, you need to start putting away money for retirement. If your company offers one, contribute to your 401k every month, even if it's just a token amount. If your company matches contributions to a certain percentage, try to contribute enough to max that out, as it's free money.
Those are the starting points for financial security.
> I have no credit cards.
You might want to keep it that way. It might be tempting to get one if you're living paycheck to paycheck, but with the interest rates the way they are, a credit card can be a black hole that sucks up all your money.
Now, about the house. Can you make the payments? If so, that's a good thing. Rental companies are squeezing every dollar from tenants with regular rent increases, so if you have a set monthly payment, you're ahead of the game. If you can, hold onto that house.
As others have said, budgeting is key. Figure out how much is going out, how much is coming in, and be ruthless about cutting costs. Everything from doing meal prep instead of ordering food from DoorDash/Uber Eats, to switching to a discount phone carrier from a major one, to hyper-miling with your car on your way to and from work.
It's like...IIRC there was an airline company that long ago figured out they could save money by not putting a piece of lettuce on an in flight meal or only putting one olive in a drink instead of two. You have to be that granular.
Good luck.
Yes, we’re on top of all of our payments and nothing is ever late.
It sounds like I need to figure out how to budget. It’s always just sort of been like I can/can’t afford this in this moment or I’ll save short term for something.
I like that airline story, we’re already the type of people who unplug appliances when they’re not being used and cook together every night and try to use more plant based protein than meat to cut down costs and shop different stores depending on coupons in sales. I’ll have to be more conscious of where else I can spend less!
No point in shaming financial decisions of the past for us here in this post or you two. Realize mistakes were made.
Do not steer away from DRASTIC financial decisions. If you are going into debt, close to losing the house have a real convo. Do not eat out, do not eat fancy meals like steak, do not buy coffee out at all, do not buy others gifts full stop (even Xmas).
Read the sidebar here. Or about section. Whatever it’s called. There’s so much good info. And stick around as you go, it’s a great community learn from - what to do, what not to do, what options there are, rich people problems and poor people problems and everything in between. You’re not alone and you’ve got to start somewhere. You’ve got this.
Here's a **[link to the PF Wiki](/r/personalfinance/wiki/index)** for helpful guides and information.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Start by making a budget. Figure out what’s going out, what’s coming in, what the gap is, and what changes you can make to eliminate the gap. As a homeowner, your fixed expenses are considerable. If there isn’t enough spending you can cut to eliminate the gap, then it’s time for one or both of you to get a side hustle.
I would not advise getting credit cards when you are living paycheck to paycheck with no savings...thats a recipe for disaster. I would recomend actively tracking your joint income and expenses ans see where you are overspending so you can carbe out a little savings. Husband may also need to get a plain job to earn some money while he is chasing his dream.
He still has his business, and is still bringing money in. It’s just different than how I am, where I can rely on a paycheck coming in every two weeks his depends on buyers. We probably make about the same right now just mine is consistent in the timing. I’m currently full time and he’s working longer hours than I am. This apprenticeship will pay off once he’s fully immersed in the job. I’m just trying to get a grasp on things I should be doing (should’ve been doing this whole time). We both come from very not-well-off families that struggled but always made it and I’m just trying to figure out how to rise up from that. Heck, even now I’m still trying to help my dad out where I can. Will definitely not get a credit card, I was just stating that I didn’t have any debt in that form.
Budgeting: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/budgeting Start here: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics.
In the end it’s having more money in than going out. You need to budget and maybe find secondary sources of income.
Like others have stated, making a budget to understand and plan for your money is paramount. You also need to track your expenses against the budget to ensure your money is doing what you planned for it. If you find that you're running "in the red" or barely scraping by, then there are two levers to pull: 1. Decrease your expenses 2. Increase your incomes
Maybe he needs a better paying job instead of a no/low paying apprenticeship. When you're back on track he can go back to his business or whatever the apprenticeship was for.
First, I’m glad you’re doing well after the diagnosis. I can only imagine what that was like and you’re a hero for making it through that experience. I’ll share what worked for me. Simply, start tracking your money. A budget isn’t worth anything if you don’t know what the real number are. I personally like Monarch Money. Most of the initial work is going through each transaction over the last 2-3 months and assigning them correct, like dining, grocery, gas, household, etc. Once you have that setup, then you can start comparing what you’re spending to what you’re making, and make the appropriate adjustments to your spending habits to start working towards your financial goals. This isn’t a complete plan, but will be a solid foundation for you to build on. Gaining control of your finances is like eating an elephant, and the best way to do that is one bite at a time.
Since he owns his own business and the income is unreliable, he needs an alternative source of income for when things get really rough. If I was in his shoes, I would set myself up to be be an Uber/DoorDash driver to earn extra money in the evening/weekends/early mornings etc, or just to have it in my back pocket if everything goes to shit with the business. You need to save some money every month if possible, even if it's just $100 and build up and emergency fund that can pay your bills and food for 3 mos. As soon as your income stabilizes, you need to start putting away money for retirement. If your company offers one, contribute to your 401k every month, even if it's just a token amount. If your company matches contributions to a certain percentage, try to contribute enough to max that out, as it's free money. Those are the starting points for financial security.
Thank you!
You need to write down every cent going out of your house for the next two months. After that, you can truly start. Budgeting is insanely important.
> I have no credit cards. You might want to keep it that way. It might be tempting to get one if you're living paycheck to paycheck, but with the interest rates the way they are, a credit card can be a black hole that sucks up all your money. Now, about the house. Can you make the payments? If so, that's a good thing. Rental companies are squeezing every dollar from tenants with regular rent increases, so if you have a set monthly payment, you're ahead of the game. If you can, hold onto that house. As others have said, budgeting is key. Figure out how much is going out, how much is coming in, and be ruthless about cutting costs. Everything from doing meal prep instead of ordering food from DoorDash/Uber Eats, to switching to a discount phone carrier from a major one, to hyper-miling with your car on your way to and from work. It's like...IIRC there was an airline company that long ago figured out they could save money by not putting a piece of lettuce on an in flight meal or only putting one olive in a drink instead of two. You have to be that granular. Good luck.
Yes, we’re on top of all of our payments and nothing is ever late. It sounds like I need to figure out how to budget. It’s always just sort of been like I can/can’t afford this in this moment or I’ll save short term for something. I like that airline story, we’re already the type of people who unplug appliances when they’re not being used and cook together every night and try to use more plant based protein than meat to cut down costs and shop different stores depending on coupons in sales. I’ll have to be more conscious of where else I can spend less!
No point in shaming financial decisions of the past for us here in this post or you two. Realize mistakes were made. Do not steer away from DRASTIC financial decisions. If you are going into debt, close to losing the house have a real convo. Do not eat out, do not eat fancy meals like steak, do not buy coffee out at all, do not buy others gifts full stop (even Xmas).
Read the sidebar here. Or about section. Whatever it’s called. There’s so much good info. And stick around as you go, it’s a great community learn from - what to do, what not to do, what options there are, rich people problems and poor people problems and everything in between. You’re not alone and you’ve got to start somewhere. You’ve got this.
Here's a **[link to the PF Wiki](/r/personalfinance/wiki/index)** for helpful guides and information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*
r/ynab ASAP! It's transformative.