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Here’s my first take on a $2,500 budget. This was so hard and I cannot reasonably get it down below the $2,500 at all.

Spending Category	Monthly Amount
Mortgage	1013
Utilities - Water, Gas, Electric, Trash	350
Auto - Gas	80
Auto Insurance	650
Groceries	100
Pet Food	140
Internet	70
Cell Phone	55
Health	100

Annual/Quarterly Payments
Life Insurance (Qtr)	67

Total	2,581

This budget doesn’t include everything. I kept eliminating line items and reducing budgeted amounts. But ugh, I can’t. I have to make more money.

And this does not include a single dollar of debt payments. This is terrible.

It’s a great exercise, I get that. But not realistic at all.

Mortgage Modification

You will notice that my mortgage is higher. I signed the paperwork for a modification I applied for back in early November yesterday. It was to increase my payments beginning in January. I had applied back in early November when I wasn’t sure how I was going to make October, November or December payments. And I got approved after I paid the $1,300 to cover October and part of November. I’m not sure yet how that is going to play out. It may apply the payment I made in the between time to January or ? So I’m in a waiting period to see how the modification affects future payments.

Health

You will see a new line item for health. Over the last few months, I have put this last and let the things I had begun doing for my health over the last couple of years slide. This primarily consists of daily 10K steps and an assortment of supplements. As a result, my mental and physical health has suffered greatly. And I have realized that even in the worst of times, I have to prioritize my health. So this is now a non-negotiable to me, I have to be able to purchase the supplements that have greatly improved my health and over all well-being. While I have come off all but one prescription, I do take a variety of holistic supplements. And I can’t just skip them. I’ve tried that on a few of them over the last couple of months in an effort to save money and it is not good.

Car Maintenance Needed

My biggest concern outside of just covering minimum payments is that my car is about to hit 100,000 in miles and needs an assortment of maintenance. For sure, it needs new front brakes. The dealership gave me a list of things and prices when I last got my oil changed along with pricing so I could plan. In total, it needs about $1,600 in work. I believe the brakes are the most urgent. But I’m going to have to find someone to review the list and advise on what to prioritize. And, of course, none of that cost is even kind of reflected in this budget. Nor is the cost of registration, which although nominal in the state of Georgia, is due this month.

Car Insurance

When the kids are here at Christmas, we are going to sit down and compare costs for getting Princess and Gymnast onto their own plans. I think that will end up being higher, but we need to do the research and they are struggling to do it on their own. Beauty shares my car so no reason for her to be on her own plan, but starting in the new year, I will be asking her to contribute more.

Hope

Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.

Ways to Revamp Your Living Room For the Holidays Without Breaking the Bank

by Semify

The holidays are here, and there’s a good chance that you already have a series of events planned. This means that you need to get your home presentable and ensure that it reflects the holiday spirit. This isn’t something that has to break the bank. Read on to see some practical ways in which you can revamp your living room without digging a deep debt hole that may be quite hard to climb out of.

Repaint the Walls

One of the best projects to tackle at any point in time is repainting a space. That’s because this project is fast, easy, and affordable, but it makes a massive change to the space. You can repaint the walls for the holidays, picking calm and warm colors that are going to set the perfect backdrop for the rest of the projects and decorations. Remember that living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms should all be repainted roughly once every three to five years, according to House Digest. This means that if these years have already elapsed without you having repainted the living room, it’s high time you did so.

Deep Clean the Space

Next, you need to make sure that your living room is in the best possible shape in terms of cleanliness. The best route to take in terms of this is to call a team of reliable professional cleaners and ask them to deep clean your entire home for the best outcome. With their assistance, your home’s interior is going to look and smell amazing, ensuring that the holiday mood is not interrupted by coughs and sneezes among your guests when they arrive. A clean living room is also going to have a low likelihood of making it easier for germs to spread. It’s important to keep this in mind, knowing that your hands spread around 80% of germs that cause illnesses.

Re-Arrange the Furniture

Once your home has been cleaned thoroughly, it will be quite easy for you to move the furniture around. This is because you won’t have to be scared about stains and other issues like this, concealing them with the furniture. A clean house will be the best canvas for a new organization of the living room, so take full advantage of this fact. While re-arranging the furniture, remember to make room for any decor, including massive Christmas trees that you may put up.

DIY Some Holiday Decor

The holidays are synonymous with decoration, so it’s a good idea for you to get creative. Check online to see if you can find practical ideas for holiday decor that you can DIY successfully and add to your living room. This is a step that can help you save a considerable amount of money because holiday decor can be quite expensive to get.

Art and decor are generally expensive, especially if you get them in large quantities. This is based on the fact that the global art market had a value of $65.1 billion in 2021, an amount that has probably gone up since then. The worst part is that most holiday decor may only ever be useful for Christmas, making it a very singular expense.

Set Up Warm Lighting

Finally, you can capitalize on the cozy and relaxing holiday spirit by installing warm, relaxing lights strategically around the house. Simply changing bulbs that have cool tones to those with a yellow hue can make a big difference. Some fairy lights or string lights can add to the effect, and you may already have these somewhere in your house from some other use.

Clearly, getting your living room ready for the holidays does not have to be an intensive and expensive project. By making use of these tips, you can end up with a beautiful space to which you’re proud to invite friends and family and share the holiday cheer. Whatever amount of money you can save this time, you may be able to double it by making use of more cost-effective tips over future holidays.

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Hope’s $2,500 Budget