Falling off the Bandwagon
Posted by Jess | Filed under Jess
I eluded to the fact that I had some ‘fessing up to do. And I plan on delivering, because way back in January I told you that we would have our ups—and, of course, our downs. Hubby and I have been living *gasp* outside our budget now for a number of weeks. Not because we are suddenly rolling in the dough either, or because our debt has vanished. No we are much in the same situation we have always been in, and tacking on more debt with every passing semester, but we are just exhausted. It is one thing to be a student and ignorantly spend away your student loans because, “Hey, it’s for living expenses, right?” But its an entirely different thing to be completely aware of your money, where it should go, and to do the exact opposite with it. I am finding it so much harder to be living outside the budget, to pull out the visa or debit when we “forgot cash at home” when we know better. Who am I letting down? Well after all of you (yes I feel like I’m disappointing every reader, and Gail!) We are only letting ourselves down. Spending that money today, means its not there tomorrow, and tomorrow I really need it.
So there it is, the big secret. Of course I still get a pain in my gut every time we buy something bigger than we should be able to afford (some new summer clothes, books, professional soccer tickets at half price) But apparently it is not so much of a pain that we rap our wrists and smarten up. Our budget is currently a pile of misplaced cash, empty jars, and about six printouts of Gail’s online budget worksheet—the living room is a mess.
If this were an episode of TDDUP Gail would probably award us with no money with the way we have been avoiding the money lately. How do we get back on track? The answers in front of us are either:
A) Make more money and then make the budget based on that new income because the one we have no longer fits our needs.
B) Use the student loans for their intended purpose and live off of the surplus, slowly chipping away at it over the coming months.
And of course in good husband and wife fashion we have discussed both of these at lengths. Yes making more money is a great solution except—
Yes living off of the student loan surplus makes sense for students who are making a mad dash for the degree finish line except—
Except what? Excuses. Remember when I said we got really good at reasoning out of anything? It’s just a merry-go-round and then we go out and leave the cash at home. Again.
Time for a change, time for a plan! Husband is going to be done school before the year comes to an end, and I am not far behind him, then our big ugly debt suddenly becomes a lot bigger, and a whole heck of a lot uglier. I can’t say for sure how it’s all going to go down but in the next few months it looks like our plan is to put school before the rest of it and finish it strong, because ultimately that GPA will make or break the dream of grad school for both of us. Then in that glorious time between undergrad and grad school when most people would enjoy their free time, we are going to work our tails off, like we did in the year before our wedding, and turn our debt around. For real this time!
That is one thing I have learned from this big rut we have been in financially—you have to have a solution before you’re going to try and turn it around. It simply isn’t enough to say “hey I have fallen off the bandwagon, I should probably hop back on” We needed to address why we fell off, and what we were going to do to strap ourselves in this time. It is going to be an interesting year I can promise you that!
A twenty-something FT university student and wife from the wonderful west coast, Jess’s husband is also in school FT. They are both PT coffee slingers. Not surprising, they are in debt. As Jess says, “We love to say yes to each other.”
May 16, 2012 at 11:25 am
It really is hard to stay on track. Some days, weeks, months, it’s easy. And sometimes it’s beyond hard! I haven’t been a student in a decade but with 3 young kids, I understand the overspending just because you’re tired. Sometimes, it’s not that there isn’t food in the house to make for dinner… but the idea of having to make it is exhausting… and ordering pizza is just a couple clicks away… Sometimes though I think you need to slip a little to realize how hard you’ve been working and how hard you need to keep working… sometimes a little slip up makes it easier to get back on track and stay on track the next time
I wish you guys luck!
May 16, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Thanks for that perspective Tara! It certainly is easier to drive ourselves to work hard at the debt monster now that we know we can do it. I’m glad I’m not the only one who just hits the wall sometimes…mmm.PIzza would be so good right now.
May 16, 2012 at 12:09 pm
I’m in the same boat as you, although my issue stems from the fact that I just don’t make enough money. Having graduated last year, my biggest issue (which was still an issue until last week, thank goodness!) was finding a teaching position. Thankfully, I was one of the lucky ones who found a job but I had to move 200 kms away and it was only for five months. Again, thankfully (I am extremely lucky), I was offered another term position that started the week after my previous one ended. However, my current job, which is ending in June (I am a teacher afterall), is only 3/4 time meaning I make about $600 less a cheque (I get paid once a month) and it’s 80kms from my house so I’m spending $400/month on gas, up from about $80 I was spending at my other job. I’ve thought about getting a part time job or taking in a roommate but I really value my free time and privacy so I’m sucking it up for a few months, taking on a little bit more debt, until September when I’ll be starting a new job where I’ll be making more since I now have a years experience under my belt. I’ll still be driving a fair bit but my gas expenses should decrease (especially this summer when I’ll be doing absolutely nothing) so I know it will all work itself out in the end. I plan to be debt free in 5 years ($23000 of student loans included) and that may happen even sooner with all the tax credits I have banked. So I guess my point was that I understand falling off the wagon every now and then as long as you keep on chugging towards your final goal; becoming debt free forever!
May 16, 2012 at 4:31 pm
Thanks Steph! Yea our problem at the root of it is that we don’t make enough money to make it all happen. But our jobs are insanely flexible especially considering our availabilities change every 4 months, so its hard to give that up. I suppose the dip isn’t as bad as I’m feeling about it because, after all, we still know where we want to be and how to get there. We can’t undo that knowledge. Thanks for the support!
As for you, good luck with the teaching. My sister is playing the same dance with the way the system works here, and I hear all about it. It certainly isn’t easy for everyone to waltz into that full time continuing contract! You’re brave. What about a summer position so you don’t backtrack? tutoring is always a rewarding outlet.
May 22, 2012 at 10:26 am
Thanks for the response! At this point finding any sort of summer work will negate any EI benefits I can get this year. I should be getting about $1600 a month for the two months I’ll be off work, but I can only receive EI if I am not on a permanent teaching contract. Talk about a catch 22. Not to mention I work in a small city so tutoring opportunities are limited. I will definitely think about it though when I no longer can get EI (probably next summer). Thankfully my work offers a paysave program which I am definitely going to take advantage of this coming year. Again, good luck with your endeavors and I enjoy reading your blog every week!
May 16, 2012 at 6:11 pm
I fell off the bandwagon this month because I had over $2000 in car repairs and didn’t have enough in my emergency fund to cover this expense. I don’t make a ton so saving $2000 takes a long time. Now my cc has $2000 more on it than when I started paying it down. It is a vicious circle. I feel like whenever I get a tax return it goes away immediately on something that needs fixing.
May 20, 2012 at 4:42 pm
We felt that too, we thought we were being so proactive with our tax return. It paid off our CC almost entirely, but life happened and all of a sudden it looked like nothing had changed. The CC was back up and the tax return was long since spent. Time to hop back on the wagon!
May 16, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Sometimes it’s so hard to keep your head up and focus on the big picture. I’d been doing so well paying down my Credit Cards, until I was let go from my job last month. I know that I have to do something to make some money, but I’m not sure what to do. Sometimes a step back can make the picture a little clearer…I know that I want to start my own business now. I just don’t know where to go or what to do to get it done!
May 20, 2012 at 4:46 pm
Look for programs that specialize in kickstarting small businesses! Good for you, sometimes a little dip in the plan makes for a better opportunity! Figure out what you loved to do and make it happen. And hop back on the bandwagon!
May 16, 2012 at 11:12 pm
Jess, I completely feel your pain. We fell gloriously off the wagon in the last few weeks with some major shortfalls and had to use our crdit cards because we haven’t yet got an emergency fund. However, we are back on the wagon and more committed than ever. 3 years to debt-free. And never, ever again.
May 20, 2012 at 4:47 pm
Stay strong Jennifer! you can do it. way to get back up right away!
May 17, 2012 at 11:01 am
I did something I’m not too happy with. I stayed in an apartment I love which is too expensive. I was offerred an affordable without a washer/dryer. Hubby got mad; he needs the garage as a place to do hobbies. I took a loan of $6,000 from my 403B in order to stay here and now pay $1648/mo rent, $6 rent insurance, $160 electric, $27 water. $117 cable/phone/net, $50 a month to cover grounds fees. Why did I give in? I know. I am afraid to do what is right and not people-please. I still do couponing and surveys to make $. I am learning the difficult lesson in people pleasing and doing whats right for my wallet and savings. How do I pay back my 403B? I can’t. Any advise on what to do from anyone here would be grateful. Thanks for your article. Thank Goodness for one thing, I have no credit card debt.
May 20, 2012 at 4:55 pm
Wendy! sounds like you know your issue, now its just about sticking to your guns and clinging to the bandwagon. When we look at the big numbers its really easy to get discouraged because its really daunting, but we just have to swallow it in chunks and know that every little bit helps. Good luck!
May 18, 2012 at 9:45 am
It’s really easy to get “budget fatigue”. One method that really seemed to work for me was having a “rich month” budget, and a “poor” month budget. I would alternate the months, so that during the poor month, when I would go to the bare minimum, it was easy to say that it was only going to last a couple more weeks, then I would be in the rich month budget.
And sometimes, the habits that I developed in the poor months, carry over into the rich… so that I wouldn’t spend all of the money in the budget for that month.
It’s all about balance… and sometimes you have to feel not deprived, or you go “crazy’ and go on a spending spree that just makes you feel bad.
May 20, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Kat, I actually LOVE that idea!
Thanks for this, I am definitely going to try and see if we can implement this into our future budgeting!