Life is expensive

Four weeks ago we began a series of classes designed to educate us on financial matters. Last night was the last of this series and it culminated with learning to produce a budget. Frankly I was very disappointed in the series. It was a very high over view of financial basics. They wanted to make sure we walked away knowing the basics of financial health. 1. Have a goal. The second and third really escape me at this moment. I think # 3 is knowing your source of income. Clearly I gained a lot of knowledge, right?  I think it felt like a waste to me because this is all information I already know. I know that not paying your bills on time affects your credit. I know that bankruptcy stays on your credit record for 10 years. I know that most other debts fall off of your credit report after 7 years. I also know that Mike and I have been pretty irresponsible when it comes to our finances. That is the reason we were there. Hoping to find some education on how we can straighten ourselves out. We need more than ever to be on solid financial ground.

Since May 20^th we have really had to think about what we’re doing, how we’re spending and how we need to spend in order to be okay. I’ll be honest; we have never really tracked our spending. We spend way more than we should on frivolous things whether it is a good meal or a video game for Mike. Mostly it’s the good meals though. Sitting in last night’s class I couldn’t help but giggle often. The woman leading the class pulled out a giant board that had a blank budget for a make believe woman. They filled out her information such as her monthly income (roughly $2100 net) followed by her expenses. Utilities, rent, child care, etc… They added up her monthly expenses and in the particular scenario the customer was running $400 a month more than her income. So then they began scrutinizing her spending… That’s where the giggling started. I don’t know what universe these people come from but it wasn’t the same one I’m from! For instance they were talking about cutting her electric costs in half. The instructor asked, for a household comprised of a single mother of one child in say a 2 bedroom apartment do you guys think $175 is too high? Well yeah it is pretty high but you can’t just say yes that’s too high, we will only budget $75 a month for electric because realistically that is all she should be using! Sorry folks the real world doesn’t work that way!! You have no way of knowing why her bill is that high. She could have shit for insulation, which believe me is the case all over Eugene. She could have a dead heating element in her water heater and not know it. Hell she could be in a place with a shared meter and not know it! There really is no way to say why her bill is what it is unless she’s at home all day running the washer and dryer all day, while she soaks in her 100 degree bath tub. Of course according to the scenario she is a working mother so that wouldn’t fly. What else… Oh! Movies, she spent $30 a month on movies and the cries of outrage in that room were astounding. Really folks, unless you’re going to the cheap theater in Springfield (where you ass generally will not fit in the seats without some serious squeezing) you’re going to be paying at least $9 a show if it isn’t a matinee. Nowadays with Hollywood moving towards 3D this and IMAX that, you’re looking at closer to $15 a show, yes it hurts I know. Cable, yes Comcast is a vindictive whore. I know plenty of people who have cut their ties and kept them only for the sake of internet (you can find a handful of them in my living room watching HBO every Monday). I just don’t know if I’m ready to cut that tie yet. Yes we have Netflix but who cares? (I’m pouting at the thought right now!) There’s Hulu, but unless you have Hulu+ you kind of get the crap end of the stick when it comes to programming.

After all that we came to her spending on food. Oh it made me cringe and laugh all at the same time. It made me look around the room and take good inventory of the people that were there. On this sample budget the person spent roughly $170 in a month on meals eaten outside her home and another $150 on groceries. Remember this is for two people and one is a teenage son. The folks in that room were ready to tar and feather this imaginary person! It made me want to retreat slowly out of the room. There were statements being said such as: “if she’s spending that much eating out, then why does she bother buying groceries?” or “those groceries but be going bad in her refrigerator”. It truly boggled my mind and I wanted to ask them what THEY were eating if they were feeding their families for less than that a month. One guy claimed he NEVER eats out, as did an older gal who also pays $20 a month to sprint for internet (huh?). Honestly I think those people were full of shit. $170 divided by say 31 days in a month equals out to just over $5 a day. If she’s giving her kid money to go out with friends to the mall or whatever that is going to be more than $5 unless you’re telling your kid he can only eat off the dollar menu at McDonald’s.

Before going to class I had sat down and gone through every expense Mike and I had incurred since we began the class on June 6. What I found was astounding, yes a good chunk of our funds go towards dining out. Surprisingly, almost as much goes into our groceries. When cooking at home, I tend to cook healthier food than I would get while dining out. The thing is though; I generally spend the same or more on home cooked meals. I was surprised when I started to notice that trend, but frankly Mike and I don’t like to eat bad food. I could slash my grocery bill to $100 a month if I was only feeding him a steady diet of mac and cheese, hot dogs, or top ramen. Could you imagine the health implications of that? Protein isn’t cheap my friends! Neither are fresh vegetables! They are certainly worth the extra investment. Mike and I have cut out our soda habit completely. Admittedly it took longer for me to do so and I believe it lowered my grocery bill a good bit. I could guzzle a 12pack of soda in a few days time! I shudder to think what that was doing to my insides.

I felt kind of like an ass sitting there thinking about what I spend and wondering how honest these outraged folks were being. The woman teaching the class kept telling everyone “remember, it’s all about what each person puts value in”. I think I was almost offended by that. I know she didn’t mean it to be a negative statement. Really though one person can look at my spending and say you know if you weren’t doing this or that or eating here or there you could put down a down payment on a house. But that’s not something I want. I’m not interested in a mortgage at all. Are you kidding me? If I have learned anything in the past few weeks it’s that I am sick of people telling me what is best for me and Mike. If I had listened to my mother or his mother or anyone else who has told us we should have children, where would we be? Barely scraping by with a screaming kid who we can’t afford to keep! You can’t try out a kid for a month and then return it. It would be much nicer if you could that way I could show everyone that it isn’t for me. And what if we had paid attention to anyone who told us we’re wasting money on rent when we could own? We would probably be stuck in a house with a mortgage much higher than the value of the house, a kid we can’t afford and an unemployed husband. Oh the thought of that just stresses me the hell out!

So did I learn anything from the 8 hours I spent locked in that room? Yep. I learned that we eat far more than we should and that we need to sit down and look at our credit report and work our way through paying off old bills. Rome wasn’t built in one day so it will probably take some time but we will eventually be in a healthier financial state.