After 10 months, we are finally able to put together a budget. We decided yesterday that even though we have not closed on the loan fully, that we have a good idea of what the mortgage note will be and we are going to formulate a budget and put it into practice.
This includes our monthly budget, projection for 2018, thoughts on the next 5 years - everything! I am beyond excited.
We have been living without a real budget. It has been like this - spend as little as possible and save everything else, which has been insane with building a house. Money has flowed like water and we cashed flowed a ton, ran up the credit cards a ton (not going to hide it) and just all around floundered.
We still don't know how to disperse the cash we have built up because we have not closed. But, I will tell you that ALL that cash is going to debt when we do close.
Some things happened during this 10 months - my son's car, 2 family deaths (of which I am getting an inheritance with one), our car, and a major flood. Things that by themselves cause turmoil and financial difficulty, but we got all that WHILE building.
And so it goes...
Time to pick up the pieces.
This coming weekend, we put on our calendar to work through this budget and get back on track!
2018 is going to be the year we get out of non-mortgage debt! Through hell or high water - we are determined!
(numbers will come next week)
one husband......four kids......debt......sewing...... saving......cooking......yoga......sweet......chaos......life......
Well if you haven't had to pay a mortgage while building(there was that rental tho I recall)and you kept an eagle eye on spending, you should be in good shape going into making a working budget going forward. I have no CLUE how much your spiffy new custom home will cost you per month but I hope it's going to all be ok.....and leave you plenty of breathing room for paying down all your debt. 8-)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I tried - I know we splurged on a few things, but really worked at keeping it in line. We had to pay the interest on the loan during construction, so we know that much and how much the mortgage actually is. Taxes are a little iffy because it was only on raw land 2017 and before, but we do know the rate and appraised value of the home. We know insurance, we will have a good idea - within $20 or so. LOTS of room for paying down debt - probably close to $2-3,000 per month just to debt. Plus the inheritance when it comes.
DeleteI'm sure it will be really nice to finally get back to a "normal" life, especially with finances.
ReplyDeleteOh, like nothing else!
DeleteI'm so excited for you! You can finally get back to some normalcy. I love budgeting and making plans for my money. I can't wait to see the numbers.
ReplyDeleteMe too - I am a little scared, but I learned a long time ago, the anticipation is always worse than the reality.
DeleteI'm happy that life is settling down for you. It will so much easier to figure out the budget once you know all your numbers.
ReplyDeleteI know - I have not liked just winging it at all. 2 more days!
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