Cutting back?

[houseelf]

There has been a lot of posts that directly or indirectly talk about the financial hardships of the early medical career: residency, medical school, multiple moves, and post-training payment of student loans and consumer debt. My question to you all is what do you do to manage this overwhelming burden? We forgo small luxuries like cell phones, cable, new cars, and new clothes, but it still seems like we are still living paycheck to paycheck. Does anyone have any tips on how to live within their means but not feel denied by a spartan, workaholic lifestyle? I'd love to hear your penny pinching solutions because I'm starting to feel overwhelmed and frustrated.



Kelly

Ha...no one has touched this one yet, and I bet I know why...money, money, money...YUCK!!!! Cutting back is hard, Kelly...I think in some ways almost impossible. You get to a point where you cut back to the point that it is painful...really...and you are both working so hard that you feel like you deserve to treat yourselves occasionally or own something nice...



The thing that I can suggest is a SunTrust physician loan. We got a consolidation loan from them during residency and it helped out. The interest rate is low and they deferred payment on the loan until he was out of training..we paid interest only for 4 years....You can use it to pay off credit cards, etc and at least get rid of the high interest payments...just cut up the cards and don't use them again!



Go Cheap where you can...I buy a lot of things at the dollar store here...puzzles for the kids, spices, etc...I go to the grocery stores where you bag it yourself and I TRY to plan ahead and make a list....to prevent me from throwing everything that I see into the basket....



Whatever you do, you have to put some money aside and then go out or do something once a month...or you just become too resentful....



I think this is a great thread...I would love to hear other people's ideas on saving....another thing I'd love to hear...work from home opportunities that aren't bogus...



Kris

[DCJenn]

I think the hardest part for us has been getting Rick to stop and think "need vs. want". Having been a starving social worker for my entire professional life- I am very used to doing without. He has yet to learn that there are consequences to the spend, spend, spend lifestyle. Finally, when we were buying the house, I took him to a huge gorgeous Victorian that he loves and I said "if we weren't paying off 6 credit cards, we could make the payment on a house like this- but, we're living in a house 1/3 it's size because of the debt load".



Part of my strategy is to make sure we each take lunch as often as possible. Its seem so small but it really adds up. Also, we are lucky becuase he wears uniforms to work (which are tax deductible) and I get to wear jeans so we can refrain from too many clothing purchases.



I also use Quicken to do the books- it keeps track of everything. We are cutting back on presents for everyone this Christmas, too. I bought a lot of stuff in Ireland, not necessarily cheaper, but interesting and different.



Finally- I have a car that's paid for that gets really, really good gas mileage. I will never own a car that gets bad gas mileage- I figure I need the money more than the oil barons do!



Just some of my thoughts-



Jenn

[houseelf]

I have really enjoyed reading your suggestions. Here me chant: I will get rid of my credit card, I will get rid of my credit card..... Anyway, here some things that we do right in the financial arena:



1) DO NOT purchase a home for the maximum amount of what your are approved for. We purchased a home that cost 2/3 of the loan amount for which we were approved and we still feel s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d. The hidden costs to home ownership can be overwhelming.



2) Consignment shops. I have NEVER bought the baby an outfit from the mall. We have bought toys, books, and clothing for pennies on the dollar. I go to garage sales all the time too.



3) Take out books and videos from the library. There are waiting lists for the new titles, but in the meantime there are tons of other books and videos to enjoy.



4) (This is really a cheap-o suggestion that kind of embarrasses me to admit.) When we eat out, we try to get appetizers or soups or salads and we pack toddler fare and milk for the baby. I always drink water instead of a beverage. This way we don't feel denied by never getting to eat out!



5) We bought a commercial grade treadmill and freeweights for the cost of 2 years of gym membership for our family. (Of course, my use has been sporatic- but that is another story.)



6) I agree with Jenn on the topic of cars. We never buy new cars and both of our cars are extremely reliable and fuel efficient.



But there is oh-so-much room for improvement...



Kelly

[DCJenn]

I've been thinking some more about this and I came up with another thought- we don't have a ton of money to spend (a common thread!) but I don't mind paying to have someone else do stuff that we could do- such as, I have hired a landscaping group to come and do the yard. I have them stretching it our over a several week period and they are willing to wait until payday to get their checks- but it also gives me time to spend with Rick- rather than us having to sacrifice an entire weekend for lawn work. I would rather be with him doing something fun as a couple, rather than sweating it out in the yard. Now, I'm not a huge 'yard and garden' person- either. I think there are other areas that we can let other people do things- paid or not- that can help us not be quite as angry about the time away or the money!



Just a thought as I look at my half-finshed front yard!



Jenn

Well, another suggestion that I might add is to RESIST the credit card offers during residency...RESIST, RESIST, RESIST!!! We really got ourselves tangled up in that. One thing that I did that helped us a bit was to go to school part-time. I took enough credits each semester to qualify for Stafford sub and unsub. I was able to take a lot of evening courses and you can even get financial aid for distance learnign programs through accredited universities....It made the difference for us between survival and complete devastation and I did get an education out of it. To me, it was a better alternative than going to work full-time...of course, now that the loans are coming due I wish I hadn't taken them out But the interest is still better than credit card debt, and I will be qualified to work when the kids are all in school...



Kris

[houseelf]

Jenn,



I completely agree with you on hiring out services. We bought a quad style townhome so that we don't have to spend our precious time together laboring in the yard or on the house. It is especially nice in winter to know that someone else will plow the driveway instead of having to battle with a shovel at night after the baby goes to sleep.



Kelly

[Phoebe]

I am interested in this topic since I may not be returning to work to my full-time job following maternity leave as initially planned. With one income, making ends meet will be more difficult



We won't be going out to eat as much and I have to try harder to use coupons. Everyone has good suggestions. I have to think of other ways to get by.



Jennifer

[DCJenn]

I just urned off cable- we only have the basic cable now. We didn't have anything extravagent before, but I figured we could use the extra $25 dollars more than Time-Warner. I am also trying to get Rick to reduce the plan for the cell phones why pay for 100 minutes or 500 minutes or whatever he's got- WE DON'T USE IT. (Can you tell I'm frustrated?!) I do like having a cell phone for emergencies etc. but I don't use it beyond that. And I never call from the car if I'm paged from work- so, it's another useless expense to do away with. He does get resentful that I never let us 'do' anything. (not true) But I would prefer to laeve residency debt-free which gives us another year and a half to finish paying everything off. Then , when we move, we'll have a little more freedom!



Oh well-



Jenn

Everyone has great suggestions. We have done the same thing with cutting cable, all magazines, only eating out once a month and that is usually ordering pizza. I have an advantage (in some ways) of having 4 boys where we just pass the clothes down to the next child. That has saved us a lot! I have a large shoe box and whenever one of them outgrows their shoes, we check out the box to see what will fit them now.



I think it is the little things that we don't pay attention to but that add up that I need to work on, i.e. the bottles of pop my husband picks up on his way home from the hospital or the vending machine. The little treat for the kids at the store etc.



My grocery list is made the day the ads come from the stores. I only buy things on sale. I need to get better at using coupons. We also try to stock up on groceries when they are on sale for future use. If there is a great deal on flour, we buy as much as we feel we can and then we don't need to later. I wish that hamburger would go on sale right now! We haven't had any hamburger in a couple of months and I have tons of recipes that my kids will actually eat with hamburger. We are getting tired of chicken!



The library is a GREAT place to get entertainment (like Kelly said). We will get movies there and tons of books to keep the kids occupied. We also rent videos instead of going to the theater. We rarely go to a movie unless it is a very special occasion or if it is at the discount theaters.



With my kids, there always seems to be money going out for school fieldtrips, special class parties, craft projects, soccer treats, etc. I haven't quite figured out how to prepare for those things. It gets expensive but I don't want them to be left out or feel bad so we keep paying. We just cut back in another area.



This is a great topic, especially with the holidays coming up.



Robin

These are great responses...I think we should start a saving money around the holidays thread!!!



Kris