The other day I posted that I was going to hit the books and do some analysis of my family’s financial situation. Here is some of the raw data that we are working with:
So as it stand, we have we run into a $130 deficit given our current spending and saving habits combined with an increase in our health savings (I vastly underestimated how much we needed for this), an anticipated gym membership, an expanded fuel budget to offset the rising cost of gas, and a slight decrease in the level of my take home pay due a change in my benefits deductions.
There is some wiggle room in our family budget, but not that much. Here are some of the other savings goals that we would like to hit in an ideal world:
When all is said and done we will have to make some choices about what we want to invest in with both our money and our time. The ways that we can work this are limitless. We just have to remember that happiness is always primary, savings goals are always secondary. Numbers help inform decisions, wisdom drives the decisions. Lets keep first things first, after all.
Other Posts in this series (in order of appearance):
Jobs, Can’t Live With ‘em …
The Job Dilemma – The Numbers
The Job Dilemma – My Wife’s Potential Income
The Job Dilemma – The Decision
The Job Dilemma – The Resolution
Hi Steward. Just checking out your site for the first time here. I’ve been debating on whether or not I should squeeze my budget to include cash donations in addition to just giving away stuff. Just curious, what does your “Giving” category consist of?
@amanda – When my wife and I were putting together our finances we agreed to give a fixed percentage of our income to local and international non-profits. Some of our donations go to charities where we get to ’support’ individuals directly, like World Vision, and others help provide basic needs or community infrastructure to areas of the world that need it most, like Invisible Children.
I guess I’ve been so caught up in helping myself that I haven’t really thought much about helping people that really need it. I’m looking forward to checking out these organizations. Thanks for the response!