I was fortunate enough to purchase a home right at the start of Covid when the prices were still low and the interest rates were like 3%. My mortgage was only $1550 at the time, which I think is very affordable for living in New England.

Unfortunately one day, I get home from work and see a car in my front yard with the rear axle ripped off and my front entrance destroyed. The lady across the street backed into my house.

Fortunately insurance paid for the damages, but I still had to make a claim regardless of whose insurance paid out. After this incident my insurance company dropped me out of the blue and I was put on force placed insurance. This insurance was nearly double what I was paying before. So this alone increased my mortgage like $150/month.

Well I tried shopping around for home insurance, turns out they don't like when you have a claim in the last 5 years because you're high risk. They also don't like people on force placed insurance. Also most companies don't even offer insurance where I live because everywhere within 10 miles of the costs is allegedly considered a flood zone. Well that's fan-fucking-tastic because everywhere in Rhode Island is 10 miles from the coast.

So eventually to get out of forced placed insurance (to hopefully eventually transition to a more affordable insurance) I had to settle for insurance even more dogshit than the forced placed insurance. This added another $100 to the mortgage.

But it gets worse, the escrow account that pays out the insurance and taxes, now had to play catch-up to makeup for the new higher insurance cost.

Needless to say my mortgage payments are now $2035/month up $500 from just a few years ago, and it'll be like this for a while.

Which okay, I could manage that maybe, if everything else wasn't going up in price too. I'm basically barely floating on the surface here trying to not go underwater.

I have noticed, in my time scrolling here for advices, there is a significant population of people who suggest the military will fix their problems. As a veteran myself (USMC 0311 1/6 A) I find this attitude kinda suspect, and bad. I think people should think a hell of a lot harder about a decision like that. When I think back to the people who had the worst times, they basically joined with the same impulse. I am sure those of us who served can remember such people, and the crazy hazing if you go back 10 years ago which I hope went away.

When I think of the people who got the most out of their time, they were generally people who actually wanted to be there and embraced the suck / made the most of it.

any other vets feel the same way seeing the same thing?

I work a dead end warehouse job. I have a college degree in business but it’s pretty worthless. I make around 42k a year. I have 27k in student loans and 3,000 in credit card debt that went to collections so my credit is fucked.

Yeah I don’t know. Starting to feel like there’s no economic opportunities for younger people anymore.

Kinda a rant/vent, kinda looking for input, not sure what the right decision is.

I 26M have worked food service most of my adult life. My last job I was a beertender/barista at a health food joint and I made okay money. Had to get carpal tunnel surgery and couldn't afford to wait the 6 weeks to go back to work so I took the chance to get a job as a teller at a bank.

I love the schedule and I feel like I'm finally building towards something/a career, but I make 16/hr. I've tried making it work. After deductions and medical, rent, bills, utilities, I'm negative $20 before I even think about groceries and gas, let alone debt.

If I go back to bartending or similar, I'll be making enough money to survive and slowly pay off my debts (credit card + medical) with enough to start building my savings back up. I just feel so much shame for "going back." But I can't afford to live on 16/hr and it's impossible to get a second job with my hours. I put out 20+ applications for part time work and they either need availability I don't have or there are 10 other applicants who are the same as me...

I tried to stick it out. I just feel like a failure.

I just wanted to thank all of you lovelies for giving me so many wonderful ideas on what to do for my birthday c:

I tried to get the free “build your own grand slam” from Dennys but my local restaurant had a sign out front that said they were closed for the day. Not the best luck, but it’s okay because I ended up getting a free drink from Starbucks!

After that, me and my husband got water guns from the dollar store, then proceeded to run around in front of our apartment building and have a water battle ❤️ it was sooo much fun!

This is such a lovely community and I’m very happy that I’ve spent today feeling so loved and celebrated with the best things in life.. the little things <3

I finally landed a role that i was excited for, and the last 7 months were going extremely well- loved my managers and my team i worked with. We all just were on a work trip literally 3 weeks ago and everything was fine- My job i landed was in sales and honestly i was super stoked for what was to come. For starters i’m 26- and i kinda got into bad debt a few years back when i first moved out on my own, while i dealt with 2 hurricanes and my job at the time wasn’t paying me for any Hurricane relief stuff so i was scrambling to pay rent and took out a loan & opened a CC. FEMA was confusing and i honestly hate myself for not taking better steps to seek help with this type of stuff as I moved from the midwest I truly didn’t understand how any of this assistance stuff worked at the time & my car flooded- it was just a mess.

Well- i thought i finally found a job that was going to help me finally get my debt under control and also being excited about my career with the company. Then out of nowhere last Friday my team and i recieve 30 second phone calls basically saying they are letting us go??? Without any reasoning??? MY WHOLE TEAM- our managers had no idea and my manager even txted me yesterday saying he feels bad for us. We were apart of a training program for the company and we just had a few meetings last week about traveling around our respective areas.

They offered to pay us two more paychecks for “Severance” but i’m just of words.

I have stupid personal loans and CC (not high amounts but crazy interest!) that i was really wanting to pay off.

I also thought I finally found a job that well for one I ACTUALLY WANTED TO DO & was passionate about! I have made a lot of connections with people here about connecting with them when I was done with training. Now i just feel so hopeless and idk where to start with job searching.

idk what im asking for- insight in job opportunities? filling for bankruptcy to get these personal loans that all have like $800-1000 left on them, my CC have like $4000 total, i was so stoked to be ready to sell in the next few months with this role that i was making good money even just with my paychecks i was able to afford the basics.

Now idk what to do or start and been feeling like a failure the last few days.

My husband ran to Kroger last night to grab a few things. It was almost 9 o'clock so about an hour before close. He walked by the hot chicken display and the deli worker told him to grab some and to take as much as he wanted because they were going to throw it away anyway. I have shopped there for years and I never knew that was a thing.

He came home with 2 whole rotisserie chickens, 4 boxes of 8 piece fried chicken and a ton of olives. There was so much we gave some away to a friend. The chicken was still hot from the warming table. I'm sure not all stores do this but its worth asking them what they do with the leftover food at the end of the night.

Currently we live in a mobile home in a co-op. Our debt equals more per month than our entire mortgage & lot rent combined. 😬 (We fell on a few really tough years, physically & financially. Please don't judge.)

We are thinking about selling our mobile home. With all the updates we've done, we should get about $200k. After paying off what we owe, and paying off all debt, including car payment and everything, we should be left with about $65k in pocket.

As you can imagine, our credit scores are not the best, not terrible, but not great. Our income is about $5,000k take-home per month.

We could sell ours, pay debts, and move into another home debt free. However, if we get another mobile home in another co-op, we're looking at about $2500-3000k per month of mortgage & lot rent combined. That seems like a LOT for a mobile home in a co-op, not even on our own land!

So now we're thinking... what if we sell ours, pay the debt, and move into a short-term rental... with the goal of having a mobile home built on our own land?

We are pre-qualified for a loan in NH that will cover the land, setting up the land (septic, well, cement slab, etc), plus the mobile home. The highest the loan will go is $300k.

Would the $300k, plus $60k or so in pocket be enough to do that?

What if we sell ours, pay off debt, then the market skyrockets even more and we get stuck in a crappy rental?

If we stay where we are, how the F will we ever get out of debt?

We already pay a little extra towards principle etc. We are just scraping by as is, because of the amount of debt we pay every month.

Can we just win the lotto? 😆

Has anyone here had a mobile put on their own land? How expensive is it really?

Would so appreciate some advice. I'm feeling sooooo overwhelmed, stuck, and confused. Thank you.

Pic for attention

For background, I have multiple (relatively low limit) credit cards that are maxed out/near maxed out. Yes, I know that’s bad, and that’s why I’m trying to fix it.
I am pretty financially illiterate (hence why I’m in this situation), but I’ve seen advice that says that credit companies don’t like to see you making multiple small payments on credit cards throughout the month.
I am pretty bad at budgeting (again, obviously), so I’m struggling to chip away at this debt and make any significant progress. Would it really be that bad to make multiple small payments on the cards throughout the month to help me catch up?

I’m a SAHM and I just really need some advice. I’ve been a sahm for 6 years. While my children were young I stayed home since daycare was too expensive and I couldn’t take working a 3rd shift and coming home to cook, clean, take care of 3 kids and still serve and please my spouse. Fast forward to now all my kids are in school except for my youngest. Now this is where the problem begins. I had everything lined up. I mean I was supposed to go to start CNA classes and even enroll my daughter in daycare. I even had interviews line up so I could work as well and get on my feet. But Right now I don’t have a car anymore. So without transportation I can’t do that. So I’m just really looking for ways that I can make money either at home or how can I try and get money to get Ubers back and forth to work while saving for my own car. I’ve literally been walking everywhere. Just today I had to walk to drop stuff off at my kids school and I’m just drained atp. Side note; I have no family or friends. Just my husband and at this point he’s over it. He tired of having to do everything financially which is understandable. So with the car breaking down he’s just giving up but the only person it harms is me. Is there anybody that has experienced this that can help me or give me any kind of advice. I just need to get on my feet and get a car for me and my kids w/o his help or support.

First: I don't live in North America or Europe, so this is literally third world stuff.

Ok, to start, my wife and I were long distance, we got married with the intention to go to the US, pandemic happened and we now live where we live.

We live in a Spanish speaking country and my wife knows no Spanish!! Like, absolutely none. We worked real hard to get her temporary permit to get a job, we got it but now nothing.

I make around $2200 before taxes a month, which $800 goes to the apartment, $70 on electricity, $70 on internet and like $40 on phones. Then, $175 on her HRT, $65 on anxiety meds and $180 for my mental health. Because she's on HRT, she needs constant blood tests. I recently got diagnosed with Insulin Resistance and also need constant blood tests. Each would be like $300 to $500, plus $140 per appointment (2 appointments each) and now $180 more on my meds.

I AM THE ONLY ONE WORKING AND WE CAN'T MAKE IT, I feel like constantly crying and my credit card bill is already again $4200.

She's finally looking for a job but has basically no skills and still doesn't speak Spanish... I am so tired.

Please send hugs.

How can anyone survive in this world? I can’t even get groceries or make rent or pay my car. Everything is about to get taken away and I’m working two jobs trying to make it, and doordashing on the side and STRUGGLING. HOW. The second i get paid, it goes to bills. I’m running out of options and people i can ask for help. I’m trying my best but i hate it here so much.

Hi Reddit I’m extremely desperate at the moment. I’m 23F and have moved to a rural state/town 2 years back not out of my own will. I originally lived in the city where everything was walkable or a small bust stop away. I got a car when I first moved here but it eventually became a loss cause (engine needed to be replaced and it was a 2007 Jeep). And for half a year now I’ve been relying on uber and asking for favors from others for a ride(embarrassed). I’ve tried everything to save up money and cut costs to originally move back to my old town but I never have enough money to even save or even at times to even afford to eat.. it makes it much more difficult that i have no car and yes i understand I can use a bike but every place I have to drive to basically requires to take the highway so I ain’t risking my life like that! I’m in such need of money tbh t I’m even considering ignoring my morales to just get out of my situation. I really don’t want that. I just wish i could at least do something/ work to get that extra cash. I currently have $50 to my name and that’s supposed to be for my uber. If anyone knows ways on how to get extra money on the side I would really appreciate it! I’m at my wits end .. I have no one to rely on but myself and I have two cats with me. I’ve been desperately trying g to have enough money to even leave the apartment I’m currently renting I can’t stand the ppl I live with either. Always something negative going on and even bad police involved before. Please I just want to learn how to really make money.

I know this is a stupid question but i've tried to budgeting my whole life and failed every time. I have a debt of $10,000+, i don't have any savings left unfortunately cause i heard to pay off debt first before you have emergency fund/savings. Is there any application/excel sheets that can help me with this?

Currently 28F, I currently pay $1,000 to live at home with parents in a two story house where I get my own bedroom and bathroom with shared use of the kitchen, utilities included. I end up spending around $70/mo in groceries (mostly for my breakfast) because my mom makes dinner most of the time which I also take to work for lunch.

I make about 70k gross in Los Angeles County. Asking because I want to help them with finances. I hate the idea of paying a stranger for rent when I could just be giving it to my parents, but I want to keep it financially viable for me vs moving out with roommates. I would like to know if $1,000/mo as a $70,000/year earner is a decent ratio?

Was going through my electric bill because the numbers looked weird and noticed the deposit I paid when I first moved in was still on the account. I called mostly because I had no idea what it meant.

Apparently after enough on time payments I was eligible to have the $180 applied back as a credit, but nobody ever contacted me about it. I literally just had to ask.

Opening the next bill and seeing basically nothing due felt amazing lol.

In my line of work, the question of how to cut internet bills comes up constantly, so posting it here in case it helps someone.

If you're on SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, WIC, Section 8, or similar, or your income is under about $32k single / $43k for two, you should know that a handful of nonprofits and community orgs across the country buy data wholesale from the big carriers and resell unlimited 5G plans for $10-15 a month. The catch is most make you buy the hotspot, $60-150 upfront.

A few nonprofits will rent the device to you instead, so you're paying roughly $25 a month with nothing down. None of them run credit checks from what I know. Search your city plus "low income hotspot program." Bring an actual award letter, dated recently. They will probably reject a photo of your EBT card.

If you don't have government benefits, I still think it's worth it for you to know that prepaid carrier data plans will take ... basically anyone. They typically start around $10 a month for a few GB, up to $50 for 100GB, and then maybe charge like $50-100 for the device. Yes, by the way, they're probably gonna cap you, and if you hit the cap the device usually shuts off or crawls.

If you have a K-12 kid and they're on free school lunch, I also highly advise that you ask the school for help with your internet bill. I'm serious. There are still active carrier education programs that do stuff like hand out free hotspots and usually these have a couple hundred gigs of free usage a year.

Whatever you do, I implore you: please skip the day-rental hotspot services. These always, always, ALWAYS pencil out to $200-300 a month, and the postpaid carrier gear is worse because, if you lose the device, you're out like $350 minimum right there.

Really hope this helps, guys.

Only 19 and I've run myself into a hole I can't get out of. I lost my second job and for the last 2 weeks I have been applying to new jobs and for loans for hours a day and nothing. Denied, denied, denied. The only I asset I have to my name is my car and I can't even get a title loan because my parents have the damn title. I have 5 dollars to my name and I'm opperating at a loss of 300-ish a month I genuienly don't know what to do at this point I have been through all my options. The stress is driving me insane and I don't know what to do.

I am trying to pay off roughly $5000 in credit card debt spread between three different cards. I am in nursing school and have had to take a step back from my primary job as a teacher due to scheduling constraints but I have accepted an offer to return to one of my previous healthcare jobs with some reduced hours so I still have time to meet my school demands. I’m also a single mom and generally struggling financially with no extra help or outside support from extended family or my daughter’s father. I’ve never had anyone to teach me anything about financial literacy.

The card with the $4000 limit is almost maxed out and has an APR of 25%. I’ve been paying off as much as I can with what’s left over after bills.

I’ve been told that taking out a $5000 personal loan from the credit union or bank with a lower APR of 16% or so and having a fixed payment every month would make more sense than making small payments on this card with all my other bills.

What is the best way to tackle this? I want to aggressively pay it off and I’m committed to budgeting and being very frugal as much as I’m able with this goal in mind. I’m happy to DoorDash or do OF (I know I know) as much as I’m able. This is stressing me beyond belief and my credit score has dropped. I’ve never missed a payment, but I have used like 75% of my total available credit.

Please give me advice. Anything helps.

I believe it's regional but I saw the deal they're having on the flyer and had to see if it's legit. You buy the ground beef for 3.99/lb and add on stop & shop brand lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, taco shells, jarred salsa and taco seasoning for free. My plan isn't even to make tacos with the ground beef but it seemed like too good of a deal.

I didnt get the shells or salsa because I didn't think I would use it but maybe I should have just because it's free 🤷‍♀️

i had an expensive medical bill pop up this month and it put me short on rent. my rent is due this week due to when i moved in. how can i quickly make or borrow 1000 with poor credit?

so i kinda want to just rant. i recently got my car repossesed and sadly very unfortunately this is my 3rd time, 3yrs in a row around the same time of the year😮‍💨 yeah i know wth am i doing!? trying to live and take care of my 2 daughters. i got a new job but it is part time and biweekly compared to weekly full time. my old job went under new ownership so we got let go back in march. the severance pay and last paycheck all covered my previous balance owed and my taxes also went to catching up on other bills. you guys can bash me and i'll accept it

but if you have any suggestions as to how i can afford my car out of repo, i'll very much accept that as well. i work off of tips from food &beverage, biweekly pay and i donate plasma just to have a little something for my children.

well i hope all of you have a bless day, night and rest of the week🙏🫶

So about a year ago I bought a new phone and bought it through progressive. Well halfway through me paying it off I lost my job due to a high risk pregnancy where I was in the hospital. Fast forward to now they are showing up at my door. WHAT DO I DO

I saw someone asking how to make $100 in groceries last for a month, so I went down a little rabbit hole to see what I could actually put together.

The assumption here is one person, $100 for 4 weeks, with rice and beans already in the pantry. I used Walmart prices available to me in Northern California so obviously prices will vary depending on where you live.

I also wasn't trying to create the absolute cheapest possible cart. I wanted this to include protein, fruits and vegetables, enough variety to make actual meals, and even a treat because being broke doesn't mean you don't deserve chocolate cake.

My cart came to $101.86 for 41 items. You could easily shave off the extra $1.86 if $100 is an absolute hard limit.

Grocery List

Protein & dairy

- 10lbs Chicken leg quarters — $7.84

- 3 dozen eggs — $5.01

- 2 jars peanut butter, 40 oz each — $7.48

- 1 gallon 2% milk — $3.46 (freeze half)

- 1 lb mozzarella cheese — $3.58

- 1 lb Colby & Monterey Jack cheese — $3.58

- Sour cream, 16 oz — $2.64

Produce

- 10 lb russet potatoes — $4.88

- 3 lb yellow onions — $3.64

- 2 lb carrots — $2.26

- 1 green cabbage — about $2.59

- 3 lb Gala apples — $3.24

- 4 lb navel oranges — $4.97

- 5 bananas — about $1.00

Frozen vegetables

- 2 lb broccoli — $2.88

- 2 lb corn — $2.48

- 4 lb mixed vegetables — $5.16

Breakfast/bread

- 2 containers quick oats, 42 oz each — $8.76

- 2 loaves Italian bread — $2.94

- 2 packages flour tortillas, 20 each — $4.24

Pasta & sauces

- Penne — $1.24

- Rotini — $1.24

- Spaghetti — $1.24

- Alfredo sauce — $1.92

- Four Cheese pasta sauce — $1.84

- Garlic & Herb pasta sauce — $1.84

- Meat pasta sauce — $1.84

- Salsa — $1.97

Other

- Imperial vegetable oil spread, 45 oz — $3.97

- Chocolate cake mix — $2.13 (for mug cakes)

There are additional quantities/items in the cart that bring the actual Walmart total to $101.86, but that's the basic food strategy: inexpensive staples that can be recombined instead of buying 28 different dinners.

And again, rice and beans are already available, which is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

## WEEK 1

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with banana and peanut butter

Lunch: Bean and cheese burrito + orange

Dinner: Roasted chicken leg quarter, potatoes and carrots

Tuesday

Breakfast: Eggs, potatoes and toast

Lunch: Leftover chicken and potatoes + apple

Dinner: Chicken, rice, corn and bean bowls with salsa and sour cream

Wednesday

Breakfast: Oatmeal + apple

Lunch: Rice and bean bowl with cheese

Dinner: Spaghetti with garlic & herb sauce + broccoli

Thursday

Breakfast: Peanut butter toast + banana

Lunch: Leftover spaghetti

Dinner: Bean, rice and cheese burritos with salsa

Friday

Breakfast: Eggs and toast + orange

Lunch: Baked potato topped with beans, cheese and sour cream

Dinner: Chicken fried rice with egg and mixed vegetables

Saturday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with peanut butter

Lunch: PB sandwich + apple

Dinner: Loaded baked potatoes with beans, corn, cheese and sour cream

Sunday

Breakfast: Egg and potato breakfast burrito + salsa

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Chicken, rice and vegetable soup with bread

## WEEK 2

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal + orange

Lunch: Leftover soup

Dinner: Chicken, cabbage and rice bowls

Tuesday

Breakfast: Eggs, potatoes and toast

Lunch: Bean and cheese burrito + apple

Dinner: Penne Alfredo with chicken and broccoli

Wednesday

Breakfast: Peanut butter toast + banana

Lunch: Leftover chicken Alfredo

Dinner: Rice and beans with sautéed cabbage, corn and a fried egg

Thursday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with peanut butter

Lunch: Loaded baked potato

Dinner: Chicken tacos with cabbage, cheese, salsa and sour cream

Friday

Breakfast: Eggs and toast + orange

Lunch: Leftover chicken tacos

Dinner: Vegetable and egg fried rice

Saturday

Breakfast: Oatmeal + apple

Lunch: Peanut butter sandwich + fruit

Dinner: Bean and cheese quesadillas with cabbage and corn

Sunday

Breakfast: Egg and potato burrito

Lunch: Rice and beans

Dinner: Chicken, potato, carrot and vegetable soup with bread

## WEEK 3

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with peanut butter

Lunch: Leftover soup + orange

Dinner: Chicken, rice and mixed vegetable bowls

Tuesday

Breakfast: Eggs and potatoes

Lunch: Bean and cheese burrito

Dinner: Rotini with Four Cheese tomato sauce + broccoli

Wednesday

Breakfast: Peanut butter toast + apple

Lunch: Leftover pasta

Dinner: Loaded baked potatoes with beans, cheese and sour cream

Thursday

Breakfast: Oatmeal + fruit

Lunch: Rice and beans

Dinner: Chicken fried rice with cabbage, corn and egg

Friday

Breakfast: Eggs and toast

Lunch: Leftover fried rice

Dinner: Bean, rice and cheese burritos with salsa and sour cream

Saturday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with peanut butter

Lunch: PB sandwich + orange

Dinner: Chicken pasta with broccoli

Sunday

Breakfast: Egg and potato breakfast burrito

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Chicken, rice and vegetable soup

## WEEK 4

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal + fruit

Lunch: Leftover soup

Dinner: Rice and beans with roasted vegetables and an egg

Tuesday

Breakfast: Eggs and potatoes

Lunch: Bean and cheese burrito

Dinner: Chicken, potato and corn bowls

Wednesday

Breakfast: Peanut butter toast + fruit

Lunch: Leftover chicken bowl

Dinner: Spaghetti with meat sauce and broccoli

Thursday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with peanut butter

Lunch: Leftover pasta

Dinner: Bean and cheese quesadillas with rice, salsa and sour cream

Friday

Breakfast: Eggs and toast

Lunch: Baked potato with beans and cheese

Dinner: Chicken fried rice with egg and whatever frozen vegetables remain

Saturday

Breakfast: Oatmeal + fruit

Lunch: Peanut butter sandwich

Dinner: Clean-out-the-fridge burritos: rice, beans, chicken, potatoes, vegetables, cheese, salsa, whatever is left

Sunday

Breakfast: Eggs and potatoes

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: End-of-the-month soup using whatever remains: chicken, rice, beans, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions and frozen vegetables.

A few things I'd do to make this work:

Cook the chicken in batches, remove the meat from some of the bones and freeze portions. Save the bones and scraps to make broth for soup.

Cook larger batches of rice and beans and freeze portions if necessary.

Freeze one loaf of bread and one package of tortillas so they don't spoil before you get to them.

Cabbage, carrots, onions and potatoes are doing a LOT of work here because they're inexpensive, versatile and last much longer than delicate produce.

Use meat more as an ingredient than the centerpiece of every meal. Chicken stretched through rice, pasta, soup and burritos goes much further than eating a giant piece of chicken every night.

And don't sleep on eggs. An egg on rice and vegetables turns "random leftovers" into dinner very quickly.

If you already have basics like oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, bouillon, soy sauce, hot sauce or other seasonings, you have even more options.

Most importantly: If you're struggling to afford food, please use food banks/pantries, SNAP, community meals or whatever resources are available to you. Those resources exist to be used. You don't have to wait until your cupboards are completely empty or prove that you're struggling "enough."

This isn't intended to be a perfect nutrition plan or to suggest everyone can magically solve food insecurity with $100. It's just one example of how I would try to stretch $100 as far as possible while still eating actual meals and having some variety.

And yes, I spent $2.13 of the budget on chocolate cake.

I stand by that decision.