Question

I'm feeling really frustrated.  This is month 2 and I'm seeing people paying off this and that and I am so excited for them.I'm feeling really frustrated. This is month 2 and I'm seeing people paying off this and that and I am so excited for them. Yet, every month I'm holding my breath hoping to have enough money to reach the next paycheck. Anyone willing to share tips for how they moved past the breath holding point?  

Answer 1

Girl I'm in YEAR FOUR and still struggle.  

Comments

Well we're not alone! ;)

Answer 2

I’m in the same boat. I am an agency nurse and if I don’t work I don’t get paid. They don’t always have shifts that suit the hours I can work. So I just hope I can work enough to keep my head above water right now.  

Comments

I'll hope that for you as well. :)

Answer 3

Because no two budgets look alike i would say. how did “I” do it? I tracked every penny spent for 3-4 months. We spent WAY too much on groceries, eating out, misc. spending. How are others managing to get that momentum? Probably by cutting out the crap and being focused. We “found”$1700 of frivolity and cut it out completely/cold turkey. Now we have momentum. Take a harder look at your budget. I have 2 teenagers as well (1 also a senior) and the two things they hear from me are “it’s not in the budget” or “we have food at home”  Good luck.  

Comments

Yes, I have definitely found where I have been spending needlessly and groceries was one and eating out was another. :)

Answer 4

Don’t get discouraged! Don’t compare yourself to others’ successes just yet. Starting your journey is a huge success in itself! You’re on the right track and soon you’ll be able to post your big wins! You’re doing amazing! Just keep going!  

Answer 5

The first few months have a steep learning curve for sure. It takes a ton of tweaking to see exactly what is a realistic budget to live on. We have been living VERY TIGHT this past couple of months knowing that it is short term and we can ease up in a couple more months (trying to eliminate the last student loan ASAP). Another thing to remember that may or may not help is that this time of year is not necessarily an accurate representation of many people’s real income. A lot of employers issue bonuses at the beginning of the year, as well as it being tax refund season it can feel like others are probably budgeting better than you which I don’t think is usually the case. Extra income definitely brings added momentum and it’s hard to watch others making huge leaps and bounds when you’re working hard and feel like you’re not making progress. Truthfully though, “extra” income is great, but the real life-changing behavior happens in the day-to-day life without any extra boosts. You’re learning so much about being mindful with your income and expenses, and I’m confident you’ll find yourself celebrating a milestone soon! Keep up the good work. You got this!  

Answer 6

Agree with this, and then i also realized that those people make a lot more money than i do

Answer 7

I think one of the biggest things I had to realize was that when Miko says (perhaps in the blueprint course) if you're living paycheck to paycheck, you probably have to either decrease expenses or increase income. It seems simple but I kept focusing on our household income and thinking "nope we make plenty, that doesn't apply to us". It does. We pay nearly 30k a year in daycare tuition. This is an expense many people don't seem to have. We do. We love our daycare. We won't be eliminating that. But have been able to reduce our cable bill, cell phone bill, car insurance and weekly grocery bill. This, paired with careful tracking and planning (even just writing our what bills are paid when) has helped me tremendously. Start small. You WILL make progress. It may not be "throwing an extra $500 at debt" and that's okay!  

Answer 8

I keep a massive sticky note when I close my budget what i learned that month. Like I always budget $0 for my kids bc their expenses I wanted to go to food or entertainment or misc (like a mcdonalds trip) and they're 4 and 5. Turns out on average they spent 87$ a month. So expectation and realty didnt align. Get real familiar with that sort of stuff. It took me 5 months to get a budget I could even hold because what I wanted isnt actually what we needed. I didnt start sinking funds until month 7. Being real and really diving in helped me alot. Marathon, not a sprint!  

Comments

Hope this helps!  

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@beller yes, more than you know. I’ve been feeling so stuck on sinking funds and building an EF

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For sure. For us, we have 5 figures worth of monthly income and outgoing it's not going to break down as pretty as just cutting insurance. It's to many moving parts for me to uproot it all and start day 1, it was gradual. You'll get there, I promise!  

Answer 9

We are always broke to. we are only on month 2

Answer 10

I’m not in a great place yet! BUT I’m not where I was ! If you are following the plan, it’s help sooo much ! Soon I will be able to save something, even if it’s a few dollars !  

Answer 11

I have just been tracking every penny. I am in my second month and I am figuring out where we can cut back. Definitely not a lot of room for extra or paying huge amounts off. I am there with you.  

Answer 12

Same here! I just keep telling myself to stick to the process it will pay off.  

Answer 13

I am just starting and having this same issue

Answer 14

Don’t measure your beginning to someone else’s middle or end! Keep up the work and it will come!  

Answer 15

I had to pick up another PRN job. I think if your expenses dont leave room for savings then you just have to increase your income.  

Answer 16

The only way I can make progress right now is to work extra shifts to bring in more money.  

Answer 17

DON'T GIVE UP! We've all been there!  

Answer 18

I subbed and proctored tests, in the school district, almost daily for 4 weeks and that added an additional $500 for the month for us. Honestly, that’s the only reason we were able to pay off 2 of 3 medical bills. Now, I’m back down to a day here and a day there. It’ll still add $50-$100 for us.  

Answer 19

Don't be too hard on yourself, you're just starting, this stuff really does take time. It's truly trial and error, the successes you see TRUST me aren't without previous failure and truthfully aren't without current failures as well. It's soooo easy to waste money (not saying that is what you're doing). One month I spent almost $500 on eating out for two people and that was with an additional $200 for our monthly grocery budget lol. I was like girl, what's the point of buying groceries you're not even using them lol. But it take time, trial and error, and few tears, and a swift kick in the a** sometimes, but you really will get it if you stick to it. My month last month was great and horrible. I paid almost $1100 in debt off, but because I got frustrated with the process of keeping track of my bills and expenses, I wasted over $3000. Imagine how frustrated I was when I had to sit and track every penny and see where it went. But I learned one main thing, without my planned and written budget every week, I will fail. So no matter what I make sure I do it. I complete and stick to it. My months are fill with wins, but also sometimes included losses, as long as we learn and adjust to the losses it will get better. I made sure to make the proper adjustments this month and on the first day of the month I was able to pay off 3 small debts. Everyone's situation is different, but we are in this together and YOU CAN DO THIS! Little by little, celebrate your small victories. Sorry so long of a post, I really didn't mean to lol