<prompt> Human: If you had told me 10 years ago what Id be making today, I would have thought I was living a life of luxury. I know I have it great compared to some people, but it sure doesnt feel like we live very extravagently, and still, I feel like theres just not much left at the end of each month to make any progress towards bigger goals. If we get through the year without being in the red, it feels like a win. Im sure were being extravagent somewhere, but I need another set of eyes to call me out on it.Be brutal, its fine.Situation: Family of 3 living in the greater Seattle area. Myself, my wife, our 4 month old son.Monthly Income: around 5,000 after deductions between me and my wife. Deductions include taxes, health insurance, 3 into 401k each both have 3 employer match and 150month each into HSA that is to pay for medical bills from our first child who was just born in MayExpenses, as detailed as I have recorded: Mortgage: 1825 Went up recently due to property tax increase, and value reassessment from the county. Double whammy. Originally was around 1650 Daycare: 700 Tithing: 625 Groceries: 500 includes all house suppliesdiapersetc. Not just food Utilities: 300 50 water, 50 electric, 50 gas, 85 Sewer, 15 trash, 50 internet Waterelectricgas vary from month to month, but their rolling average is roughly 50 each. Medical Bills: 300 1500ish left Car loan: 240 10k left, car valued around 12k Gas: 200 Insurance: 190 2 cars, 2 life insurance policies, insurance on my wifes wedding ring family heirloom Student Loan: 130 7,000ish left from 30,000 starting EntertainmentIncidentalsMisc: 140 Netflix, Random night out with a babysitter, Oh my last good pair of jeans just tore etcNo other debt besides mortgage, car loan, student loan, medical billsTotal Spend: 5150ish Obviously Im using very clean numbers on the budgets that have variance to them, but these are all a general rolling average.Obviously 5000 - 5150 -150, which is not good. Were getting by on a couple different factors:1.My wife does a little photography on the side. Some months its 0, other months its 300, so its tough to budget it exactly as income, but it generally makes up for the current deficit.2.The medical bills are not far from being paid off which should free up 300ish per month, so it feels like we just have to make it through that to get some breathing room.Even when the medical bills are paid, we still dont have the kind of room in the budget to put away more for retirement 3 each is obviously not enough or general house maintenance, or for our sons college lower priority, but still a goalAnyway, Im hoping you guys can help point out some areas where Im overspending, or other things to think about when trying to reel in the budget.EDIT: Forgot to mention, we do have an emergency fund of around 7000.Assistant: Before I get butchered by Reddit, Im admittedly nonreligious.To me it looks like you have 625 a month sitting right there. I cant imagine a thithe carries the same amount of importance as your childcare so that would be the first thing to get scaled back. 10 is reasonable when you dont live in Seattle. Life is expensive there!Human: Yeah, I had a feeling I might get grilled on the tithing amount. If we were in the red consistently, then we might talk about reducing it until we could get our budgeting figured out better, but being that were break-even, Im not interested in stopping that to pursue other goals.If people want to call me foolish for that priority, Im ok with it.EDIT: The votes are in, and Im officially foolish! I do wonder what this thread would have looked like if I had just said we made 4400month and not included tithing on the budget. The whole thread derailed into a referendum on tithing, which wasnt my intent  <response>: As someone who grew up in church I can understand wanting to tithe, but if youre currently struggling to make ends meet or are barely getting by the church will understand if you reduce your tithing. If you were to cut your tithing in half that would free up a little over 300 that could help to knock out the medical bill that much quick which then frees up another 300 that could be applied else where. If youre concerned about dropping the monthly tithe amount maybe you could offer up some physical help rather than monetary? Does your church have ushers or other areas that you might be able to help?Just my two cents. 