GMR 131: Answering More of Your Financial Questions
Sometimes knowing the right answer to a financial question is difficult, especially when financial stress is high and money is tight. In this episode of Getting Money Right, we’re answering more of your financial questions so that you’re better prepared to manage through budget challenging situations.
Show Notes
Financial Questions:
1. We’ve created a budget and set aside an automatic draft to savings every month, but we’re always having to take money out of savings to get through the month. We’re just not able to save!
There are two main reasons why you would have to take money out of saving to get through the month:
Your budget is not realistic - not funding your categories adequately.
You’re not sticking to it as planned - discipline.
If you’ve been on a budget for less than 6 to 12 months, this is normal. You are coming across expenses that you didn’t include or didn’t allocate enough money to when you created the budget.
You’ll need to make two adjustments, one to cover the expense when it occurs, and then, just as important, adjust the budget to ensure next time the money will be available to cover the expense.
What makes this difficult is that you cannot spend more than you have available in your budget, which means you’ll have to reduce a non-essential category, like eating out, to cover this new expense, something none of us like to do.
Now, If you’ve been on a budget for longer than a year, it’s time to get serious and make a commitment to not rob your savings.
2. We make a good income, but with teenage drivers in the household, some of our transportation expenses like insurance, fuel, and car repairs have skyrocketed. What can we do?
A family budget is not designed to support more than 2 adults. If your kids are past 16 they should be working to provide for some of those expenses themselves.
You could provide them with some help (keep them on your insurance policy so they get a better rate, etc.) but they need to start taking care of some of their expenses on their own. This is first good for them, but also good for your budget.
3. Our medical out of pocket expenses are very high. Between our doctor visits and the monthly prescriptions, it eats up a significant percentage of our income.
Take care of yourself - do everything you can to improve your health. This usually results in lower healthcare costs.
Take personal charge of your medical treatment - don’t blindly trust your doctor. Ask questions about treatment options, tests, and medications prescribed. (Ex. Rachel’s blood work test for Avery).
Find ways to save on prescriptions - GoodRx
Talk through the cost of treatment and ask for discounts. More than likely, there’s a less expensive way the doctor can provide treatment.