Budgeting

I'd like to set up a budget for us per month. I did join mint.com but honestly, it's kind of depressing to see the student loans listed on there and to see our net worth. Also, most sites I see have information on how to set up a budget when you have an income, obviously since we're living on student loans there is no *real* income.

How do you all who also stay home and live off the loans budget every month? We're pretty cheap people, no cable, cheapest internet, we shop at Wal-Mart, etc. but I'd like to do this so we keep on track. Thanks!

(I looked around for a thread like this and couldn't find one. Sorry if there's already one somewhere).

[Chrisada]

Hi Kelli! It's very hard to be a SAHM mom while your DH is in medical school, but it is possible. You pretty much have three options: DH goes into armed forces, he takes out private loans which, he will have to repay upon residency, or you work from home. We chose for me to work from home. I did home daycare, which was very in demand for our area. I turned people away all the time. We were able survive on that and cost of living loans. I have a friend who did not want to work, so they took out private loans. Now that residency has started and they are due, they are in the position of her having to work to help pay off the loans. The loans at DH's school would not factor in dependents. Are you trying to live off of cost of living loans just for him?

Chrisada, thanks for you post but I think you misunderstood my post . I'm already a SAHM. I'm just wondering what kind of program folks use to plan out monthly budgets who, like us, live off of student loans. (We live solely off of the student loans, we have no other loans, credit card debt, etc.)

[MrsPotts]

Hi Kelli - we are in similar situation, but have no children. My husband is an MS1 and have been living off his loans. I currently do not work as I am pursuing my real estate license - so in about a month or so I should be working - but since August we lived off his loans. I use mint.com as well and it can be frustrating because you get the lump sum - however there is a feature where you can put in a budgeted income sort of. So I budgeted that we would have a certain amount of income each month by dividing the loans per how many months it needed to last (regardless if I start working or not) and then set each of the other budgets from there (groceries, rent, etc.) So when I log into mint.com it shows my income as a certain amount for the month and how much we have used so far and that helps us keep track. Does that make sense? It can be a little off - but it helps! I know this is a bit confusing, but if you have any questions I'll try to answer them. We also check our bank statements quite often to make sure we are on track!

[ladymoreta]

I haven't used budgeting software, but I have a tip that may help. When DH and I were in undergrad, we lived off of financial aid and scholarships. We set up a savings account and put the lump sum into that, then each month, we transferred out the allotted amount. It made it kind of like getting a monthly paycheck. Would something like that work?

[HouseofWool]

I would also suggest looking at the Dave Ramsey books. I found them to be very helpful.

[Chrisada]

I would also suggest looking at the Dave Ramsey books. I found them to be very helpful.

Dave Ramsey is great! My brother is friends with his daughters and they actually live like they preach. My mom is taking a course with him right now.

We would also put all the loan money in savings and transfer money over each month. We never had a budget, and still don't to this day, but it somehow always works out.