Techie Expenses-Need To Build into Budget

I apologize for my absence this week writing or commenting on others blogs. I've had an insane work and personal schedule this week, plus not feeling very well, I've not even turned on my home computer since Monday. I've tried to keep up via my phone, but that has been difficult as my fingers don't work the best on the tiny screen. My little $250 computer that I've had for nearly four years is dying, or at least the part that gets me to the Internet is failing. I can only get to certain websites-this being one, but it won't move me through pages nor let me do any searches. I can get to YouTube, but last night it wouldn't open any of the videos. Turning to my phone, it is only two years old, but doesn't have enough speed or memory for the way I need to be able to use it. Add to both of these, our Internet has gotten painfully slow at home and it is time to invest in an updated  WiFi System. We still have a land line, but the phone has been on the fritz (we just have one in the kitchen), so haven't used or really missed it. 

Tech, love it or hate it, it's part of life and has to be planned for. I haven't priced computers for a while and I could still get by on a very low cost model for home use, but the cell phone and WiFi need more thought. Regardless of what I end up spending on the computer, we've got some investment to make very shortly. All my little pay bumps are sure being eaten away! Replacement of technology needs to be built into my families current budget better than just an incidental, no different than we think about other home repair and maintenance items. 

We started a sub savings account when we paid off our mortgage for taxes and insurances, which were no longer part of an escrow payment. About seven years ago when we had paid off a car, we added to that account by continuing to pay ourselves and have used for things like buying a car for DD2 to use. This is also the account that we could tap into to pay off the current interest free loan if we choose. We've tweaked that a bit over the years to include a budget for replacement items in the home instead of cash flowing them like the new dishwasher two years ago.  We did this after having to replace both the washer and dryer four years ago right after we had spent a small fortune on our UK trip. We were mighty glad to have had the sub savings account and not tap into our other savings, but realized we weren't accounting anywhere in our budget for these home replacement items. 

It's time to revisit that account again. Both insurance and taxes have gone up and we need to make sure we have tech replacement accounted for somewhere. Once I figure out what all this tech will cost and the lifeline of it, we'll prorate those costs into the savings as well. My guess is we need to increase this somewhere between $100 and $150 a month to really have a sub account to take care of these normal, but periodic expenses, maintaining peace of mind when we pay the monthly bills. We're giving ourselves until the end of the month to decide if we keep or ditch the land line, which if we ditch, would take care of about $50 a month to put towards the sub savings fund, still leaving a gap. Ugh, there goes my July raise.