I track all of my monthly expenses in an effort to have a good handle on where my dollars go, and try to cut recurring bills when possible (i.e. dropping cable subscription, shopping insurance, etc).

Of my take-home dollars, the biggest monthly expenses are
Morgage/escrows 24%
Dining out/groceries 21%
Daycare/school (2 kids) 13%
Truck loan 5%

Currently paying down credit card debt and wondering if anyone here has had successful side hustles to generate extra income.

It's simple math when it comes to staying on budget, but not easy to be disciplined. Exploring options, as always, to cut expenses and generate more income. Any success stories for either side of the equation here?

This post was edited on 11/10/18 at 8:41 am

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Posted by yellowfin

Coastal Bar

Member since May 2006

97615 posts

Posted on 11/10/18 at 10:17 am to Boh

Seems like dining out would be easy to cut until you get debt under control

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Posted by Upperdecker

St. George, LA

Member since Nov 2014

30543 posts

Posted on 11/10/18 at 10:22 am to Boh

There’s no way in hell you should be spending that much more on food than you’re spending on your kids’ daycare/school if they’re in private school and you have 2 of them

You’re paying nearly as much for food as you are for your house. You’re never gonna get out of debt like that

Edit: stop eating out til you’re out of debt. And eat cheap, healthy meals at home. And take up extra work or a side job to make extra money to pay off your debt faster

This post was edited on 11/10/18 at 10:24 am

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Posted by Boh

Baton Rouge

Member since Oct 2009

12357 posts

Posted on 11/10/18 at 10:36 am to Upperdecker

Well only 1 of the kids is in full time preschool, and for my oldest i only pay for a few school expenses (not tuition)

I have cut back on the dining out because that’s obviously where too many dollars have been going. I’ve had a positive cash flow of around 500/mo lately so just trying to keep that up/improve it so i can be CC debt free within a year

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Posted by Upperdecker

St. George, LA

Member since Nov 2014

30543 posts

Posted on 11/10/18 at 11:01 am to Boh

You brought it down to 21% or it had been at 21% and you brought it down to something more reasonable? Assuming you mean option 2

The school costs make sense if you’re only paying 1 tuition

Man if you can finish your debt by the end of the year only paying $500 extra a month, you could cut your food spending even more and be done fast

What’s your occupation?

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Posted by Boh

Baton Rouge

Member since Oct 2009

12357 posts

Posted on 11/10/18 at 12:00 pm to Upperdecker

Option 2 - once i started tracking it, it opened my eyes to the actual dollars being spent on food and make it a lot easier to just eat a bowl of cereal or make a sandwich at home as opposed to $10-20 for a meal somewhere.

I’m an accountant