(Money Magazine) -- Kerri and Mike Miller have a spending problem. Three of them, in fact.
Sorry I don't see that the kids are a problem. These two need to start being in charge and start parenting. It's about more than money. If they can't say no now, what's going to happen in 3 or 4 years when this girl dates, starts driving and eventually graduates high school?
There's 12-year-old Kate, a seventh-grader who covets a pair of $160 boots, prefers clothes from American Eagle rather than Target and recently got a $300 cell phone.
She wouldn't "prefer" AM over Target if they hadn't started shopping there. Also who in their right mind buys a 12 year old a $300 phone? and $160 boots? This family's priorities need to be straightened out. Perhaps volunteering at a homeless shelter would help.
There's nine-year-old Landon, who has a voracious appetite for video games. And their youngest, four-year-old Claire, will soon start taking ski lessons (cost: $224, not including equipment).
Unless this kid is going to the Olympics, this is just a waste of time and money.
All three kids attend summer camps that run about $60 a day for each child. And then there's the cost of babysitting ($200 a month), preschool ($4,000 a year) and braces ($3,000).
$200 a month for babysitting? Two kids are in school full-time, one is in preschool. They get shipped off to summer camp AND the mom doesn't work. Why do they need babysitting?
Even with Mike's six-figure salary in commercial finance, the Park City, Utah, couple's ends are nowhere close to meeting.
"I look at how much money we spend and I think, 'Where is it going?'" says Kerri, 44, who is a stay-at-home mom.
She needs to get a job. Not just for the income but it will keep her busy so she won't invent reasons to spend money.
It's not all going to the kids, of course: Mike and Kerri have their own indulgences, like the hot tub they put in last year.
Personally, I think hot tubs are one of the biggest wastes of money. No one I know that have bought them still use them. Now they are just large lawn ornaments. The neighbor next door must keep his running because I can hear it when I'm outside but I never see them use it. I wonder how much they spend heating it? Even if they use it when I don't see them, I can't imagine it's very often.
The home-equity line of credit they opened two years ago to pay for home improvements now often serves as a safety net when they come up short at the end of the month. The balance is almost $50,000.
He makes SIX FIGURES and they need to use their house for back up at the end of the month?!!
"We've seen that go up and up and up," admits Mike, 48. Meanwhile, aside from the $300,000 in Mike's 401(k), the couple have almost no savings. And that means no emergency fund and not a dime set aside for the children's college.
These kids will have to pay their own way through college but at least they'll have expensive clothes and electronics growing up.
Learning to say no to the kids won't solve the Millers' financial issues, but it is a good place to start.
You can click to read the rest of the article, frankly it bothers me.
I have a problem with the husband working in commercial finance yet his own family's finances are a complete mess. No savings, no emergency fund. Using credit to pay monthly bills. Spending more than income.
I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
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