Finances family of 5 kids 2 adults

amother

OP ↓

Today at 12:00 am

Lately my husband started cutting down like crazy he gives me 500 a week for everything besides grocery I feel like I am not able to get through the week and stressed like crazy....before you know it it's.shopping season and clothing for 2 teens are crazy expensive.....how wil I get through? Am I crazy? What is normal for a family of 5 per week? Clothing , fix my wig..shoes cleaners tons of extra everything cost...Is this a normal price to be able to.manage well ???

amother

NeonBlue

Today at 12:03 am

If he doesn’t have the money he can’t give to you. Is something going on with his job? If you can’t cut back you’ll need to supplement his income. Can you get a job to offset the difference?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 12:06 am

amother NeonBlue wrote:

If he doesn’t have the money he can’t give to you. Is something going on with his job? If you can’t cut back you’ll need to supplement his income. Can you get a job to offset the difference?

True he's more.tight but not so much ...he became crazy extreme maybe because he is nervous or someone told him this is normal , so he trying to watch every penny now and says I need to.figure it.out....he thinks it's norm only couse he totally doesn't get expenses ....question is am I crazy for saying it's not enough or it really should be good

amother

Bluebonnet ↓

Today at 12:27 am

That’s 2k a month for things that are non essential
it’s pretty generous if you ask me.

You might need to put some thought into budgeting this money but that’s not a bad thing.

amother

Oxfordblue

Today at 12:30 am

How old are your kids? Where do you live (in-town or out of town)? Those details matter here. When you say $500/week not including groceries, does that include bigger ticket items like tuition, insurance, etc.? Or only smaller items like clothing, gas, and misc expenses? If the latter, my personal opinion is that 2K/month on misc expenses sounds reasonable to me at first glance.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 12:30 am

amother Bluebonnet wrote:

That’s 2k a month for things that are non essential
it’s pretty generous if you ask me.

You might need to put some thought into budgeting this money but that’s not a bad thing.

What do you mean non essential? Why is pharmacy stuff to fix for home Clothing shoes underwear coats....cleaners non essential true it's not bread and electricity but just as much

amother

Jasmine

Today at 12:31 am

$500 a week besides for groceries? That's great! I don't wait for my husband to give me money, but we don't have enough for me to have $500 spending money in addition to groceries (obviously the main bills like mortgage, tuition, etc are not called spending money)

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 12:32 am

amother Oxfordblue wrote:

I live brooklyn in town.
Kids are 15 14 girls teens 11 year old boy
7 and 3

amother

Babyblue

Today at 12:33 am

Sounds plenty to me. Do you need something non essential every week? Save the money for a few weeks and then take care of your bigger purchases.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 12:34 am

amother Jasmine wrote:

Fact is at end of week I have zero dollars left many weeks if it's a busy shopping season of yom tov and hosiery and alteration and cleaner and before summer or school ....it's spending money? These things I spend on are things that are a must even for myself I barely get anytin not shoes or clothing couse I don't have

amother

↑ OP

Today at 12:36 am

amother Babyblue wrote:

Sounds plenty to me. Do you need something non essential every week? Save the money for a few weeks and then take care of your bigger purchases.

Save ??? You mean not spend how Is it more then 2 weeks I shouldt have to spend it....so so many things come up every week in addition to just grocery ....I haven't gotten myself a pair of shoes or clothing or anything for myself for the last year...

Teacher_EW

Today at 12:41 am

I think you should write a budget and figure out where the money is going. For us, writing a budget was freeing. At first I thought it would be limiting... "I can only spend $x on this?" But after living on a budget for a few months it became, "I have all this $x to spend on this "extra" category." And if you know that teen shopping is coming up, maybe spend less than the $500 and create a little envelope of money that starts to build up for the shopping spree.
For me, going through a month of statements and tracking every penny was eye opening. I hadn't realized how much I was spending on stuff I really didn't need. Amazon, pizza store, coffee on my way to work, a cute new book I saw in a store... it all added up...

Seashell

Today at 12:48 am

You need to both sit down together and look at your monthly income and then create a budget. It's very important that you both understand your income, expenses and come to a decision together how to spend the extras. Either the money is there or it's not. Your husband should not be giving you money. You should both have access to your account and decide together how much to spend in each category.

(Wondering if the $500 includes toiletries / paper goods / cleaning supplies or is that included in grocery? What about bills, gas for car, magazine subscriptions etc.? Depending what's included, $500 may be a little or a lot. But regardless makes no difference, it's how much u could afford to spend.)

amother

↑ Bluebonnet

Today at 1:00 am

I have similar ages. It seems like you had an unlimited budget and it’s scary to have limits.

To answer your concerns.

You don’t need a new new coats every year. Buy clothes that fit and are washable. It cuts out a lot of the cleaners. It does t have to be designer.
‘

You should be able to afford a $200 shoes and $300 dress for yourself unless you are expecting a 2k one it’s a different story.

Really the most helpful thing is that you should have a calm open honestly discussion with your dh to know if you have savings and how you are doing financially. You can explain to him that you are used to a certain standard and if he can afford it it’s not right to take it away from you and find a compromise.
If he’s not doing well financially it’s your responsibility to help out and “make “ money by cutting and budgeting.

amother

Crocus

Today at 1:01 am

I’ll be honest, I have 6 kids ages 15-1.
If we’re not including groceries, $500 is plenty for me.

In a regular week, I don’t spend much misc, unless you count the cleaning help in that. If you do, that’s a bit tighter. Ditto if this includes money for things like paper towel and tissues etc.

Regular week, maybe $15 at cleaners. $45 for gas. Wigs once every other month, so say another $50/month. That’s not even $100/week.
If the rest is clothing, save it up for the busy season. How often are you buying underwear already? Assign each person a clothing budget and stick to it as much as possible. You might need to look at less expensive stores, but definitely doable. I do way less than that.

amother

Lawngreen

Today at 4:16 am

amother OP wrote:

YT time is the exception not the rule. Yes yt time you'll need to spend more money and you should budget for that but the other 10 months a year,$500 should be plenty for a weekly budget not including food. Does it include cleaning help? What's your weekly expenses that this is not enough? Or do you just feel like you need to be conscious about spending that's scaring you?

amother

Maroon

Today at 4:21 am

That actually sounds pretty reasonable when it’s not holiday time. I’m guessing that doesn’t include prescription medication. That’s very expensive. I agree with everybody else you should sit down and write up a budget and see what’s realistic. If you never had a budget it’s really really hard to stick to one in the beginning. But it’s definitely doable. And $2000 a month for just extra items sounds pretty good.

amother

Crystal

Today at 5:23 am

I spend way less than that because I work lol. I think if I didn’t work I’d have more free time to spend money and do errands and take care of getting things I “need”. So I make double income by working lol. My salary and the money I save by keeping busy.