A minor setback with(out) income
Saturday, Mar-1-08 – 21:07 pmMy wife received a call Friday morning from the family she nannies for. One of their parents passed away. They are from India so they had to fly out that day to go there.
They’ll be gone for at least two weeks. This means my wife will be income-less for those two weeks. Hopefully it’s not any longer than that.
This caused us to readjust our "pseudo-budget" for this month. This will result in roughly $800 that we will be missing in income this month. I had planned to pay close to $1200 this month to credit card payments. I’ve reduced this to $650 for now and can go lower if needed. Our minimum payments are only about $275 so we still have some wiggle room if necessary.
When preparing our budget for the month I always leave about $300-400 of wiggle room for unexpected expenses. This help take this $800 blow to our monthly income.
Ways we’re trying to get some extra money this month:
* Wife is babysitting to bring home some extra money
* I’m working some extra overtime. With the previously mentioned raise I’m getting, my overtime pay will increase a tad bit as well.
If all else fails, we still have over $3500 in savings should we need to use just a little bit. Although I don’t expect us to.
In lieu of the semi-bad news, I do have some good news. Starting with my classes that I register for in 2008, my employer will now start offering 100% tuition reimbursement up to $8000 a year. Previously it was 80% up to $5000 a year. I don’t expect to get anywhere close to $8000 a year since they don’t pay back some of the fees. This gives me even more of an incentive to finish my degree!
3 Responses to “A minor setback with(out) income”
I am not commenting on this particular post but I wanted to comment on your the name you have given to your diffrent funds. Please think about remaining your diaster fund….That name is calling forth a disaster in your life. Call it a Plan for the Furture fund or the Girl/Boy Scout Fund “Being Prepared” You are doing great work to change your life and change your thinking this is simple another step.
By Erika on Mar 6, 2008
I like this post because you give a great example of being prepared. To have $300 to $400 wiggle room is such a good idea. I can not wait until I get to that point in my debt journey.
By 1stopmom on Mar 10, 2008