Setting up a budget

 

First look at the current situation

As it probably is for many of you, it’s been financially very tight. I can’t really describe it differently than the law of Murphy (Everything that can go will wrong, will go wrong).

A few events probably leaded up to this, it really felt like a domino effect.

A couple of years ago we bought a cozy appartment, with some work. It was the only thing we could afford at the time.

We took a loan for the building and one to cover the renovations, that part was planned and calculated.

Lots of things went wrong, our upstairs neighbors had a big leak, which was right above our bedroom and everything was starting to get mouldy. Lots of builders messed up. We had to redo like 70% of the work, because it wasn’t finished safely or it went wrong somewhere. It went to a point where we needed to take another loan for those extra renovations.

I got pregnant, which was like miracle for us, as we struggled so much on this road. But so the pressure to get everything done was getting higher.

The last builder did a good job, but he kind of hustled us with the end invoice where we needed to pay a lot more. It’s a long story and to keep it short, we couldn’t get out of that.

So besides the loaned money, we also had to use the little bit of money we saved up for the baby, to pay at this last builder. We were literally broke.

It really felt like the old movie from the 80’s The Money Pit with Tom Hanks.

A lot of times we felt like we were going to go crazy.😵

 

The renovation work still is done, but it’s safe enough for the baby.

Then the bad news piled up. At work they didn’t want to extend my contract because I was pregnant. So I had to quit just a couple months before the birth. Which made that the disability money for mothers was really low as I was unemployed.

That wasn’t the last of it. My hubby got fired because the company reorganized and lots of people were laid of.  So it’s been though, probably doesn’t cover it.

We were extremely blessed with our family as they helped us out to get the most important baby items.

Luckily my hubby has found a new job. So it’s going to get a bit better the next couple of months. We’ve been really busy with finding solutions, the renovations and now dealing with our emotions with our new little miracle.

Even with all the financial trouble, I feel really blessed with my son, as we’ve been waiting so long to hold him in our arms. But definitely now for him, I must work hard to keep it all under control.

I’m going to need to be frugal and cut some costs.

Cutting costs

The first thing I did was look for other providers(internet, electricity, insurances,…) that were cheaper, but still provided us the things we needed. Taking the time for this, saved us around of €150/$177 per month. But be warned: this can be stressful, you need to call and mail a lot and it takes some time. It’s worth it in the end though.

Some expenses we’ve completely cut. Like clothing, we literally can’t afford this until December. Which is probably embarrassing to admit, but not a lot we can do about that now. Seems like I need to get crafty with needle and thread.

The biggest expense are the loans, but most of them can’t be fixed for a while. Now with Corona pandemic, it was luckily an option to call the bank and get a delay of six months for the mortgage. Which was a back-up the government provided for the ones who were fired around the pandemic. So a little breathing space there for a while.

I can’t cut costs for the baby necessities like his food, as he needs special milk for his reflux.

A big expense is our food. So I looked for options to lower it. I went to shop in local shops and markets instead of the bigger supermarkets. I make a list before and definitely don’t go shopping when you’re hungry.

It’s been basicly back to basics. So lots of grains (like quinoa, couscous,…), eggs, flours, fresh veggies, potatoes. My back hurts a bit, since we can’t get it delivered anymore as that costs money for now. No car. But basicly I had to set a strict budget for €180/$212,4 a month for the next couple of months. This is ofcourse without the baby food, it’s just for us two. It’s very tight, but it’s doable. I keep snacks and special drinks for my hubby as he has a bigger need for it. I need to lose some weight from my last pregnancy anyways, so it can’t hurt.

We must be strict, as for the moment we don’t have any savings. So if anything goes wrong now, it’s bad. Which means we really have to build up savings in the next couple of months.

Setting up a schedule.

Now it’s excel time. You can also download OpenOffice here, and use the Calculator program. It’s completely free.

I collected all the bills and used my bank app.

I placed everything in an Excel-file, expenses and income divided. I tried to use colors, so it’s easier to read.

So an basic example could be

If I can stick to my budget for a couple of months, then I'l check this box of on Day Zero Project.