Basic Life Math

Essentials:

• Food is something that everyone needs.  If you make your own food you are already in good shape because you can save a lot of money preparing your own food and eating leftovers.  Budgeting for food is easy, you eat three meals a day and you eat for an average of 30 days per month. Thats 90 meals in a month, and if your meals cost $5 then you spend $450 on food a month.  If you like to drink or eat out then your food bill will be a lot more expensive.  If you have someone else that you need to feed then you can double that.  What I do for a food budget is break it down to groceries and eating out.  Groceries should take up the majority of the food bill, and the budget for eating out is more a treat.  
• Rent is not something everyone has, but the majority of people out there aren't pretty enough or lucky enough to get a free place to live.  For my rent budget I went with a condo community since some of the essential bills are already taken care of.  In our complex we do not have to pay the water bill which can save $50 a month. Other communities you can also get free cable, water, trash, etc that can save you more money over having an apartment. 
• Clothing is another essential that almost everyone has to have.  Instead of buying the newest thing you can find, shop sale sites or big sales at stores.  I know I have found half my wardrobe at Banana Republic for very cheap.  6pm is also a very good site to find good clothing for less.  Knowing when to buy and being willing to spend the money can actually save you a lot in the long run.  I know I have a problem when it comes to the spending part.  I always think that it will get cheaper and it never does. 

Non-essentials:

• Transportation can actually be an essential for most people, I know it is for me, but for some people it isn't.  Buying a good road bike and biking to work if you live close enough can save you $100 in gas a month, meaning the bike will pay for itself very quickly.  If you live far from work you can actually ride a train and save yourself tons of gas. 
• Entertainment is not an essential in life but it can relieve stress.  Look for deals on Groupon, LivingSocial, or just look on regular websites.  If you like to go out and drink then try to find good happy hours.  Drinks are expensive and saving half off your monthly tab could be hundred of dollars. 
• Electronics are so integrated into every day life that we all have them.  From TV's to cell phones we all need these things.  If you do need a new phone, TV, or computer try logicbuy since they seem to have great deals on everything.  

Hopefully these little tid bits help out. 

Adventures in Life

Today I started looking for a house to buy, well not really a house but more of a townhouse/condo arrangement.  Since I live in one of the more expensive cities in the country, and my parents weren't filthy rich I have a warped view of how things should go.

A little background might help with my perspective.  I grew up in a small town in New Mexico.  How small?  28,000 people small.  The next closest town is 30 minutes away, and the town survives on the oil field and farming.  It doesn't get more country than that.  When I was a child my mother bought a home all by herself, it was 2200 square feet, four bedrooms, two bath, and had a garage.  She paid 50,000 for it.  She did not have to put down 20% or even 10% since her father was the one that owned the house and they found an arrangement at the bank so that she could just pay it off without having too big of a burden.  I currently have dozens of friends that still live there, some of which are secretaries or work at the grocery store but own their own houses.  So now you can understand me when I don't understand how things work in "the big city."

Currently I am looking at houses in the range of 200,000-230,000.  Anything in that range will supposedly fit my budget.  So I was SHOCKED when I found out flats were going for 300,000 without a garage.  A GARAGE?  A garage is a mans temple, where he builds shrines, and goes and hides when he's tired of the honey-does.  My heart almost hit the floor when i found out that 20% down is standard.  That is 40,000 before 3,000 in fees to clear escrow.  How the hell are you supposed to come up with that much money? Oh ya, parents...well what if you don't have those?  I think I lost or broke mine somewhere in the move out here to expensive town.

I'll post more as I go and learn more.  This is step one in....I don't know how many steps.  Stupid F**** City, where are the horses and quiet.