November 2024 Budget Report | Family of 5

[@iamjacquesbarjon]

I've been watching your videos for years (most of the time without commenting) and I just wanted to say that I appreciate you be so open, honest, concise, and positive. I get most excited about the Net Worth portion of updating my spreadsheet every month even though, similar to you, I have little control over that at this point. You obviously grow it with increasing your savings/retirement accounts, but the change in the market and the price of your house are just as big of factors - if not larger - it looks like. I have ~$450K invested so when the stock market goes up by 4% like it did in November, my net worth goes up $17-18K. There's obviously a negative side to that too when the market goes down, but it is crazy to think back to when my net worth going up $1K from paying off $1K of debt was a big month for me. Living on less than you make, paying off consumer debt, and then investing consistently really is the name of the game.

[@TheBudgetingWife]

Thanks so much for the kind comment! Yes. It’s fun to watch it go up, but I also remind myself that I have no direct control over the market!

[@Natalie_11188]

I’m glad you got your Pottery Barn stockings. They will be treasured and you will use them year after year.

[@christiansailor2880]

Thank you for sharing!

[@vano00293]

Thank you for sharing! I know I’ve said it on a recent video, but I’ve missed these 🥰

[@DavidKnicks]

❤ this as always.

[@DavidKnicks]

How did you have a kid 3 months ago and still look so amazing??

[@hay5441]

🎉 on your way to millionaire status!!!!

[@keithredsox36]

They make bank

[@keithredsox36]

Y’all must make around 250k gross a year. Good job

[@brittanylong6558]

I sometimes wonder how you consistently go over in the grocery budget considering you use Hello Fresh often and have credits, but then I remember you're feeding 1 man and 3 growing boys and then it makes sense lol

[@TheBudgetingWife]

Haha we actually paused hello fresh for the last 5 months during summer and newborn time! We only did it for 2 weeks in November. 😊

[@GlendaWarren-f1n]

I totally get it as a mom of 4 boys ! Wait till they get into high school and can each eat a whole chicken at dinner 😂glenda

[@PRRS08]

Do you feel like you didn't get a proper maternity leave because of the work you do? Or was it easier this way? Love your content so much! Mama of 3 daughters over here 💞💓

[@TheBudgetingWife]

Great question! It was hard not fully taking time off completely. But on the other side, I’m so grateful that I can work very part time on my own schedule and that this is my job! It was helpful that Jacob had 12 weeks off and could help more while I did a few hours of work here and there.

[@Thelifeofmegan9621]

Hey I love watching your videos! But I do have a question and it’s no disrespect intended. But, was curious on why y’all have two vehicles if y’all both work from home and don’t have to commute to work? ❤

[@TheBudgetingWife]

Totally! Last year we actually went down to 1 car for 9 months and it worked! Sometimes it was tricky, but it worked. We moved to Arizona without family and knew that we might have more issues with only having 1 car if we needed to be in 2 places at once. And there have been multiple times where I needed to be at an appointment while the kids needed to be somewhere else, so it has worked out in that way. And then when family comes to visit we have a car that they can use as well.

[@kendravoracek3636]

❤❤

[@Larkodaddy]

Who is your car insurance with? It's so low...

[@TheBudgetingWife]

USAA!

[@karihosny9420]

How did your home value go up when the Arizona State Average for Homes have gone down 5 to 7% over the past year?

[@TheBudgetingWife]

It didn’t go up this month. But we did a new build and had concessions that brought our purchase price down below the market value. Since our house is new it doesn’t have a Zillow “zestimate” yet, but I’ve taken the average sale price per square foot in our specific neighborhood, applied it to our house size and even deducted from that to be more conservative on the value. I know it’s not perfect but gives some sort of ballpark.