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The following is the latest post in my “Reader Profiles” series. Each post in this series details the financial situation and challenges of an FMF reader. The purpose of this series is to help us all identify with people like us (in similar situations — not all will be, of course, but eventually Im sure you will find someone like you here), get to know the frequent commenters on the site, and hear some financial wisdom/challenges from people other than me.

If youre interested in contributing to this series, then drop me an email. The series seems to be very popular with readers and I need a steady stream of new ones to keep it going.

Next in the series is FMF reader TB. She answered my questions (in red below) as follows:

Please tell us a bit about yourself.

I am a 27 year old mother of two (10 and 7), married to a police officer for 8 years. We live in south central Texas. My husband is former military and has been a p.o. for two years. I am a stay at home mom attending school full time, and I will graduate next spring with an associates of science in general studies.

Describe your financial situation (who works in your family, how your income is (general), how your expenses are, etc.).

Our monthly finances break down as follows….

Bills:

• Mortgage: 844.34 ($109,000 @ 5.54 for 30 years fixed)
• 10% Tithe: 240.00
• Sprint: 150.99
• Verizon: 46.79
• Netflix: 21.00
• Government: 164.13 (balance: $3,200 @ 1% fixed; repayment of two paychecks erroneously paid to us; currently trying to get this dismissed)
• Car Payment: 140.17 (balance $7,300 @ 5% fixed)
• Electric: 100.00
• Credit Card 1: 50.00 (balance: 718.50 @ a double-digit interest rate…)
• Credit Card 2: 50.00 (balance: 212.22 @ 17-ish%)
• Water/Trash: 64.00
• Prescriptions: 90.00-150.00
• Groceries: 400.00
• Gas: 80.00

Income:

• Husbands paycheck: My husband just got a raise, so we net about $1200 bi-weekly, variable due to amount of overtime, etc. This amount is after taxes, Social Security and Medicare, insurance ($285/paycheck), and 10% into the citys retirement plan. We do not pay federal income tax because we do not make enough money each year to owe anything to the government. Our income tax check is a little lower, but our monthly income is higher ($38,000/year for married with two dependents).

In-law Generosity: Our in-laws currently help us out to the tune of $200/bi-weekly.

Babysitting: $100 every other week

GRAND TOTALS: (income) 3,000.00
(bills,etc) – 2,441.00
———–
559.00

As a side note…

• Money Market Account: 202.43 (recently drained for our every-three-year family vacation)
• Balance from Pell Grant: 400.00/semester

In case you are wondering, I have attended school solely on Pell Grants; therefore we have no college tuition debt!

Looking at the math, Im wondering: where is that stinking $559??? The only other variables I can come up with are that my husband cannot make it home some nights on his break (he works 4:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.) and has to eat on the run; also, he dips and I know that pulls from our budget; and….thats all I can think of!!! Im sure your readers will understand that on paper a budget looks nice and pretty but in reality its not! I need Verizon for my online courses and my husbands work correspondence. The only indulgences I can see are my husbands dip (thats a battle in itself), our cell phones (we dont have a land line) and Netflix, a hubby-”need”.

What are the current financial issues youre facing (saving, paying off debt, etc.)?

A goal that never changes from year to year is to pay off the credit cards. They mainly get a balance going because after the new year, our medical insurance implements a $200/per person prescription deductible. We currently have three of us that need monthly medications (me: depression, my son: depression and asthma, my daughter: ADD). This means that in the month of January, instead of paying $60 for my meds, $30 for my son and $30 for my daughter, we will be paying…

• Me: $200 + $60 = $260
• Son: $200 + $30 = $230
• Daughter: $200 + $30 = $230
• TOTAL: $720

IN ONE MONTH!!!!

Luckily my meds are delivered every three months and my son has enough meds for two months. When he needs more, the prescription allotment will go to $60/month on top of my daughters $30/month (the $90 above). On months when I need my meds, that increases to $150 for that month. This breaks down to 150/third month and 90/all other months. No, this does NOT count towards our family deductible and yes, I believe this is ridiculous!! The $720+ is usually put on a credit card and paid off throughout the year.

If your readers are confused, it will be helpful to know that I am too.

Thats about the only major financial issue we have right now.

What are your plans for the future (retire early, build your career, etc.)?

Some goals for 2012 are to get a part-time job and start making some headway on the car loan and credit card debts. We would like to pay off the mortgage in 15 years vs. 30. My last goal is to beef up our savings to at least $5000. Over time, we would like to supplement our social security and city retirement with a substantial savings account (401K?) of our own.

Whats your best piece(s) of financial advice and/or your general philosophy on personal finances?

1. Dont give up! Negativity will always kill any progress youve made! Just keep swimming!

2. Have a budget. Keep it updated at least every three months.

3. Get an education…but dont pay for it. My philosophy was to not take more classes than my grants/scholarships could pay for. Period. It may take a little longer to graduate, but not having that financial burden was worth it for me. Im not saying to abuse this privilege; any money left over from my grants is Obviously, if youre going to be a doctor or some such this plan wont work. The best advice I can give is to do the best you can and apply for scholarships from places that you would like to work. A friend of mine made straight As through her LVN and a hospital offered to pay all of her tuition to receive her RN of she would work for them for five years upon graduation.

4. On that note, dont pay for your childrens education either. My parents raised us to make the best possible grades in school or to play sports, etc so that when we graduated we would be eligible for grants and scholarships. My kids arent getting a free ride; were instilling hard work early. Now, thats not to say that if your child is getting grants and such, working two jobs and still not making ends meet that you should ignore their plight. If I find my kids in that sort of situation, I will be more than happy to help them out.

5. Spend less than you earn. This is a given. Cut out what you dont need (Starbucks runs, Netflix, etc.)

6. Visit DaveRamsey.com. I abide by most of his advice.

7. VOTE!!! Get educated! The politicians we elect have a more or less direct affect on our lives, from the amount of taxes we pay (or dont) to where they spend our taxes (bailing out big banks?!!).

8. Utilize freebies. The library, city conferences, college counselors, family, friends, coupons, Pinterest…. Look for ways that you save money everywhere.

9. Exercise and eat right. Running is free, and there are countless free exercise websites online. Exercising releases those feel-good endorphins that help every situation look better. Zumba is my favorite! Eating right will save you from the fast food wallet suckers and keep you healthier, possibly avoiding co-pays and other medical insurance fees.

10. Go to church. Im not going to preach here, but my faith has helped me immensely throughout our financial struggles.

11. Volunteer. There is a saying that goes, “I once complained that I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.” Helping those that are in a deeper pit than you helps keep your situations in perspective.

12. Keep your marriage strong. Dont hide anything (financial or otherwise) from each other. I HATE when I pull up the credit card bill and there is a $25 charge for an Xbox game. Ugh!! Refer to number eight in regards to entertainment. Spend time together, love each other.

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