Question

Anyone live in Ohio and want to help me? I have such a scarcity mindset that I get so overwhelmed paying things off and it's so hard to keep up with a family of 7. It seems the kids always need something (this weekend I had 2 kids tell me their shoes are too small. I wanted to cry). We have car repairs coming and the list never ends. I have to fund the sinking funds but we don't always have enough. I have our tax refund and I just want to hold on to it but I know as soon as I deposit it, something will eat it up before I can even figure out what I should use it for. And the scarcity mindset comes in where I know something pop up and I will need it but won't have it if I used it to pay off debt with it. Any ideas or help? I'm struggling!  

Answer 1

What kind of sinking funds do you have.  

Comments

I've been tracking what we typically spend in a year so I have a long list- that is part of my challenge. I can't seem to keep up with all the expenses/sinking funds. Back to school, clothing/shoes, haircuts (I have teenagers and can't cut their hair so I get it cut), we go see my parents once a year in CO so I try to save for that, birthdays, christmas, taxes, car repairs/reg, dry cleaning (that happens just every 1-2 mo), we need a new computer soon, plus boys expenses for sports or church activities. We try to limit the activities but I'm not good at setting up the budget for that or tracking so I'm not sure if we are going over or not. My husband can work over time and I usually fund a lot of this with OT but we have to spend it at random times and the over time is not set (we can choose) so I don't always have the funds funded which is stressful. I need to have him work at the beginning of the year to fund it but he usually works a bunch from Nov-Jan and is ready for a break. It's just a lot to keep track of and I'm not good at it.  

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@cartesian okay so what I would do is see how much you are spending in clothes/shoes for the year. Once you have that divide that amount by 12. Then that’s how much you can spend for every month. And do the same for your other sinking funds. Then what you need to do is set up an emergency fun you don’t have to have much a month but people say to have 1, 000 in it and is there any way to not go to the laundry mat at all.  

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Once you have the 1, 000 you don’t have to keep putting money in it but if you use some you have to replace that money if you don’t have the amount you took out for the month just add some in at a time till it goes back up to 1, 000

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@danczyk I do have my EF funded but I never use it (hence the scarcity mindset). I hate using the money I have saved because I'm so afraid I'm going to need it one month and so I can't use it. I just don't have a handle on funding all the funds (I have the basic amount we spend but trying to keep up with tracking it all overwhelms me each month). I don't like using cash because I'm not organzied and a lot of times will buy things online so than it's another thing to switch back and forth. I need someone to sit down and help me map it out. i just can't see it myself. =(

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@cartesian so if you have things like a car that need something repaired and you don’t exactly have all the money for it use a little bit to finish paying what you need to pay. I would consider that an emergency because the car is something you need for everyday things. So what I would do is also start writing down what your spend a day. In a note book and color code it say the groceries is pink and clothes is green. The pictures I am attaching are from the budget mom but you can always just write it out.  

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@danczyk I have started the last 2 months! It’s been helpful to see (and see we have been over budget both months ‍♀️ but it’s the sinking funds that make us over since they aren’t funded). And we went over on groceries and dining out- hard ones to cut! Working on it though! I’m just trying to wrap my head around 20-30 sinking funds and it is overwhelming when doing my budget. Especially since the $ isn’t there yet so I can’t set it aside.  

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@cartesian so what you need to do is look at your sinking funds and see what you can either group together and or cut out that you don’t need. For me I have my daughter clothes, misc. , groceries, my daughter bday, Christmas that’s for everyone including my daughter, house fund, car maintenance, family bday. The others I have but don’t do till a couple months before is v-day, Easter, and all those other holidays.  

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@danczyk I'm working on doing that but the thing I can't figure out is how to stay on "budget" for each category if it's grouped. Like birthdays- with 7 kids, lots of nieces and nephews, I forget how much I budget for each and then go over unless I have it written down somewhere. I'm a hot mess lol! Or clothing- trying to keep track of each kids "budget" for clothing gets to be a lot of work, especially at back to school or during growth spurts. It's those kinds of things I can't figure out how to make "easier. " Since I don't like to do cash, I'm trying to figure out an easy cashless system that I don't have to transfer each month- I want it to do automatically. I see people use all these trackers and I'm already spending hours just doing the basic budget/expense trackers. I can't figure out how to do more with less time.  

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Does your bank account have an savings account you can open on your card. I have an app for my bank I have 6 savings account that I can transfer money into and always take out. So if I know I am going to need to get clothes for my daughter I can go on my app and transfer the money say $50 into my checking account and I know that I can only spend that much.  

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@danczyk I can get a savings account but I have to go into the bank and create it and then maybe I can do an auto transfer? I just need to really figure out what categories I need. I'm working on that now and how much I need each month. It still doesn't help me figure out the "budget" when I use it but it might help at least a little.  

Answer 2

Where are you in Ohio?  

Comments

Fairfield- near Cincinnati

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@chinaware isn't far from you

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@ji fairfield is a different town. I live near fairborn

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Oh yeah I realize you are saying not far from cincy. yeah about 45 mins probably. Not bad!  

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@chinaware we are an hour from Dayton! Not far

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@cartesian were in xenia

Answer 3

Family of 8 here. This is my life. For us, we need more than $1 k emergency funds. I’m using my tax refund (if I get one) for EF and to pay down a little more debt . because I know my EF will get used and it’s hard for me to replenish it. I might “advance fund” an important sinking fund (like birthdays or a car maintenance fund) with it. I do participate in savings challenges as best as I can. Sometimes I just can’t save all the $5 bills because I need them. That’s okay, I do what I can. Do what YOU can, and give yourself some grace. You are moving in the right direction.  

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It's hard but I'm learning. I just get overwhelmed when I have extra money lol!  

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@cartesian I know what you mean! I have the same struggle.  

Answer 4

Can you find any clearance shoes? Buy sell trade- used shoes. Could you or your partner start a second job? Stop buying food for the week or really limit. Slow cooker meals everything in it but the kitchen skin type of meals. Donate plasma. Coupon, use digital if you can. Save on printing. Have only one child get shoes this pay check. Trade the gym shoes if they are bigger. Wash the small ones and use for gym till you can get new ones. In the future, buy gym shoes 1/2 size or one size larger and swap out. Hope some of this helps.  

Comments

I'm hoping to start donating plasma soon. I've tried couponing and did it for years but it became such a hassle thanks to our stores. They made it a pain so I stopped and the things I needed I could never find much cheaper than I can get at Sam's in bulk. We usually buy 1/2 size bigger in shoes but now that my teens are wearing mens shoes I don't have luck with them holding up if i buy them from walmart (like I do my kids). I'm usually having to replace walmart shoes every 2 months so the older boys I've been buying more expensive ones and they are lasting much longer. (I do buy when on sale though so it's not as painful and their growth spurts have slowed a bit). It's just so hard! Thanks for all the ideas! I definitely need to find ways to add more income. I work part time but it's not much and with 5 kids I'm limited with my time. Thanks!  

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@cartesian i hear you. We have 4 children. Try second hand stores. My son got polos that had Kohls brand clothes that was new with original tags on.  

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@parenthesize where do you shop for them?  

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@cartesian Im in Wisconsin. We have several second hand stores here. If the store is consignment, usually they have good used or new clothes. There are rules for clothes, must be from 2 or 3 seasons or less.  

Answer 5

I bet if you ask on Facebook a friend or two might have some shoes in the right size to hold you over til you get your sinking funds built up. I'm near dayton ohio! You can message me if you ever need anything.  

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@chinaware have you mastered this budget lol? I just can’t wrap my head around the easiest way with 7 people! I already track and know my sinking funds but when I have extra money I’m afraid to spend it

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@cartesian I wouldnt say mastered lol. I've gotten used to it and it has definitely helped us a lot! Ive been doing it since January 1. You can pm me if you want and I'm happy to talk numbers. As far as sinking funds, we take the extra money out as cash so that way it's not "spent" but it's also not sitting in our checking account where it might get used up.  

Answer 6

Hey Kathleen! I'm in Cincy (actually I went to high school with Charity, hey girl ) I'm not much help, bc reading everything you already posted sounds a lot like where we're at right now. I'm not great at cash, and I've not done well sorting out sinking funds yet. I've been all DEBT DEBT DEBT. We aren't remotely frivolous, and we use every penny that comes in each paycheck. I'm finally starting to figure out which funds I want to make, and I'm going to struggle to get anything in them at first. But I know it'll start to pick up speed if I can just start it. I would say 20-30 separate funds sounds anxiety inducing. Maybe try to group them into 10-12? Then not worry so much about who's used what amount, just start funding them and using them as needed. And if you come up short at some point you can adjust accordingly. Some money set aside at all is better than none and scrambling. We're with 5/3 now, and I don't care for them. Lots of mamas on here have mentioned Huntington for ease of separating funds within your account. Thinking of switching soon. Good luck and know you've got local support ✊

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@miyamoto hey girlie!