LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
madseason
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LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
First - thanks everyone for their reassurance and their realistic views - I appreciate it!
With that I am trying to make a budget of what wed have to pay everymonth....So far I have:
Rent (incl heat and water) Electric Car insurance our 4 credit/store cards tv/phone/internet (IO) Cell Phones Gas Food approx 400 Misc home essentials like shampoo and cleaning - WALMART TRIP
Am I missing anything???? WHat do you girls pay monthly for If you dont mind my asking - anything additional i need to include in my list??
Also.....
This is a dumb question but ive never gone food shopping - do you girls go weekly? Im not sure how much to budget for food!
Soon2beAlberti
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
get yourself a costco or bjs card!!!! then just divvy up the large portions of meat and such into ziplock bags. you'll save a good deal of $$ I used to go once every 2 weeks and spend about $70 (after I initially spent $200 when i first moved in for things that last longer)
Snick n Nick
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
hmm....my other monthly payments:
school loans car loans (so if you don't have those you should be good on that!)
I used to have to pay for parking monthly, but not anymore
As for groceries, I usually go once every 2 weeks, but I live alone right now and I also get lunch provided at work, so sometimes I have to pick up milk on the off week, but I also spend a lot of time at FH's obviously so I don't shop too much. I think when we live together we will go weekly Really the only reason I need to is veggies/fruit and dairy products that go bad, b/c my freezer is full of meat!
Ayne11
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
Posted by Soon2beAlberti
get yourself a costco or bjs card!!!! then just divvy up the large portions of meat and such into ziplock bags. you'll save a good deal of $$ I used to go once every 2 weeks and spend about $70 (after I initially spent $200 when i first moved in for things that last longer)
I second this! FH works at Costco and we buy chicken cutlets, ground turkey, Paper towels, plates, TP and it last us for like 2 months. It's the best! You're initial grocery shop is going to cost you about $200 -$300 because you're going to need everything! Even salt and pepper LOL
bensgirl
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
FH and i spend anywhere from $100-$130 a week on groceries. the plus side is that we almost always bring our lunches to work so we save money by doing that and we don't eat out very often. i've heard costco is great, but we don't have the space for stuff in bulk right now so we just do stop and shop :) it looks like you have everything in your list. the only other thing i would include is some miscellaneous $ for household stuff--shampoo, toilet paper, napkins, cleaning supplies, etc
FutureMrsLehmann
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
that lists sounds about right.
food shopping? me and FH have a very tight budget so we only spend between $110-150 twice a month ... meaning $220-300 a month.
this may sound crazy, but what we actually did was went to the grocery store with a pen and paper and wrote down every item we bought plus the price of the item. we went home, put it into a spread sheet and figured out what we actually need and how much it will cost us. i can FM you our list, but obviously what you eat will be different from us.
madseason
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
THanks girls!!! FH mom is a sample lady in the one right off of nichols - were def going to get a car!
Im in grad school now so no student loan repayments yet - i wont be in that apartment when they kick in so thatll be good!
So im good?
jeanne08
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
Can you save yourself some $$ by cutting out the phone part of the IO bill? You have your cell phones.
I do go shopping every week for food. I also spent about $200 on the initial shopping trip. But it included a lot of basics hat last a long time (like sugar, salt, pepper, etc). Now I do 1 big shopping trip at the beginning of the month, and just get little stuff once a week, especially things that don't last, like milk. Definitely check the weekly ads from the supermarkets. I try to stick to stuff on sale. Haven't gone the BJ's/Costco route yet . I'm just not sure that buying in bulk is for me, not enough storage.
Ayne11
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
BTW... don't go food shopping hungry LOL
Lucky0510
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
looks like you got everything covered!
FutureMrsLehmann
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
Posted by jeanne08
Can you save yourself some $$ by cutting out the phone part of the IO bill? You have your cell phones..
yeah we don't have a land line. it's a waste of money. we each have a cell phone, and if god forbid something goes wrong with both (not likely) then i would just knock on one my neighbors doors (even tho i've never met any of them!)
betani
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
hm, we pay for:
rent electric cooking gas food shopping cable/internet/phone credit cards student loans metro cards cell phones laundry
some things i've payed for in the past: car insurance car payments water heat parking
i don't think i missed anything....
as for food, fh goes to the farmer's market every sunday for produce and we go to the supermarket about once a week (less when there's more at the farmer's market) for prepackaged things and stuff that's out of season. we spend anywhere from 50-100 a week, maybe a little more, depending on how much we need (ie - we always run out of toilet paper, paper towels, cleaners, etc. all at the same time) and how frugal we're being (we could prob just do 50 or less a week if we needed to, but this is the first time we've been able to afford it, so we're trying to buy organic, etc. and enjoying ourselves when we can). the first time you'll go will be the most expensive because you'll be setting yourselves up, so don't pass out when you see the first shopping total (i know i almost did!)
del Rio
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
Wow, you're so good! FH and I just paid RENT for the first time this month and I leave the budget to him! At least until the wedding is over because I can't take too much pressure these days! I also agree on the BJ's or Costco's card, although FH and I never lived together we used the card for all of our bulk items like toliet tissue, tissues, paper towels, water, etc.
madseason
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
Im just afraid of the bill going through the roof with the cell phones Does that happen?
FutureMrsLehmann
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
Posted by madseason
Im just afraid of the bill going through the roof with the cell phones Does that happen?
not for us. i mean most people we call have verizon like us so those minutes are free, plus most calls we make at night because during the day we're at work and can just use our work phones.
del Rio
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
Posted by madseason
Im just afraid of the bill going through the roof with the cell phones Does that happen?
what about a family plan? FH and I have one, it works for the most part but we both have smart phones so the internet plans change it up a bit.
Lucky0510
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
Posted by madseason
Im just afraid of the bill going through the roof with the cell phones Does that happen?
i have the unlimited verizon plan so the bill is the same every month. it costs a little more then the other plans but so far i think it is a good thing. I was always going over my mins
MD835
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
here's some more for you - i looked up our list
Some may be insignificant but can add up! - tolls - car maintenance/wash and repairs - dry clean - medicines (copays and over-thecounter stuff) - subscriptions (magazines, newspapers, netflix )
we also put away for the big stuff every month, like vacations or contributions to our IRAs etc.
goodluck!!! it's great that ur doing all this planning now!
jeanne08
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
Posted by soon2bemrsdelrio
Posted by madseason
Im just afraid of the bill going through the roof with the cell phones Does that happen?
what about a family plan? FH and I have one, it works for the most part but we both have smart phones so the internet plans change it up a bit.
Agree, go on a Family Plan. So instead of (example) $50 for yours and $50 for his. It will be $50 for one and $10 for the second cell, saving you $40 a month And remember that if you lose power, Cable phone doesn't work, you'll be using your cell then anyway.
MikeandJess
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Re: LOL ok a general question for those who live in an apartment
