Now that Dave's back at work, this Friday will be his first real paycheque in 6 weeks, so we're looking forward to that. The good news is that we're still in okay shape and are on track with keeping our bills paid and not adding to our debt. I've been really resourceful and friends blessed us with gifts of groceries and stuff too. So food hasn't been an issue, which is great.
Okay, I don't want to show off, but:
Since April we've paid about $1200 onto debt and are now at about $1500 total consumer debt! I'm so proud of us. We've always been good about debt and it was all money we've spent on investing in our home that we bought last year that was in bad shape. But we're getting there. Once the line of credit is paid off ($1100 right now) we'll be adding an extra $100 a month to our van payment. And I'd like to put $100 a month into an ING-type savings account too so we could use that as short-term cash when the cars need work and stuff like that. ($400 was added to our line of credit a couple of months ago to replace the van brakes.)
You know what? I'm feeling pretty-d@mn proud of us for doing all this on an income of about $36K a year. We have four beautiful kids, own our own home and two cars, and almost have no debt aside from our mortgage. Our total financial position is that, including our home mortgage which we could now sell for about $250K, we only owe $115K.
__________________
Mama to Cole (9), Naomi (8), Adam (7), and Noah (4)
All adopted - All breastfed
Wife to David for 12 years!
Breastfeeding Counsellor and Doula
Accepted into midwifery school for February 2009!
We are moving to New Zealand on January 29th
Yikes, there is TONS to do before then. Gulp.
I'm glad everything worked out well for you all Kerri. I'd been thinking about you and wondering if he was able to go back to work yet.
DH was on the verge of signing his military re-enlistment papers and we decided to take one more look around to see what's out there. The very next day some things happened and we did a complete 180. He's been accepted to school, we found a tiny little house we're moving into. It's just down the road from family, a great price and has a huge yard so we can garden. There's a clothesline (hooray!). Between DH's GI Bill and disability we'll have just enough to pay the bills- that's the scary part. (The TWG has been by my side since we found out- gleaning every idea I can! LOL) We're not sure what we'll do on months he's not in school- because it means no GI Bill those months. We plan to do a bit of the woodshop and family members are already talking up DH and his handyman skills so he can get work on the side. We leave here in October and DH starts school in January.
Right now we're stashing away every penny we can for months that we have no anticipated income. Our garden is doing well. In the past two weeks I've spent under $100 on groceries. We were given even MORE fence and a friend gave me a huge stash of fabric, yarn and even some oak wood for DH!
Needless to say I'll be sticking around this forum. LOL
__________________
They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.
Andy Warhol
Location: firmly planted in the postmodern pastoral economy
Posts: 12,988
I'm having a very hard time right now. We *should* be doing great, but we've overspent drastically getting this house set up - I don't even know what the heck we've spent money on! We should have over $1200 a month for food, clothes, gas, etc after paying bills. We have *never* had that much money. I am not sure what the heck is going on, but we've drained our checking and savings and spent our deposit from our rental and we're struggling with finding the money for the rest of the month for groceries. In fact dh and I just had a big fight about it.
I am really feeling like I have lost all control of the budget. I think what's happening is that we have been spending an insane amount on food and going out to eat and trips for ds' medical care. It feels like there is a huge hole in someone's pocket, LOL. I know some of it was big-ticket purchases like the lawnmower, camp gear and summer clothes for Katie, some clothes I bought for myself, and a combination of a huge electric bill from our old house (over a month's worth all at once) and a crazy electric bill from the new house (not sure what is going on, but I think the dehumidifier is costing about $50 a month to run!!!). But it still has me completely over the edge as far as feeling like we have racked up consumer debt that will take us a while to pay off, and we have no cushion of savings now.
So I know that with that kind of money each month, $1200, we *should* be doing awesome. It is more than we have ever had, and we've done it on $400 a month for long stretches without feeling deprived. I just hope dh and I can come together, do some meal planning and grocery shopping, and make it happen - I want to pay off the debt we've acquired as quickly as possible. I have considered selling our car and buying one outright with the $5k or so we'd end up with (how is it that we put $11k cash into this car and it's brand new and we'd only end up with $5k if we sold it? sigh), but it seems like that $200 a month payment is the least of our worries right now, and having one dependable vehicle will be very important this winter.
Anyway...thanks for listening to me vent. I haven't been here much, I have been so busy, but I sat down today and nearly had a panic attack when I looked at the bills and how I can't pay any of our credit cards off this month, plus have no money left for groceries for the rest of the month!!! The big part of this is dh is NOT on board and everytime I tell him we don't have money for something, he tells me that I should get a job. Grrrrr!!!! I think that the problem is that he has a fantasy that I could just walk in somewhere and get a $30k a year job...we live in the boonies and I'd be lucky to find one that paid half that for full-time work within a reasonable drive. And right now we get a little money for Jake's care and I can't see being able to make more than that in the short term. It's just depressing that dh doesn't want to see how we *can* make it on $32k a year (his salary before taxes) but wants to spend spend spend and have me work outside the home - which limits a lot of the things I do now to *save* money. I want to work writing articles from home for money but I had decided to take the summer off due to the move so he just sees that I'm "not working."
Okay, shutting up now. I think dh is actually coming around, but now the situation is so dire that it's going to be super tight for a while, which will mean he will feel more deprived...then he'll feel we don't have enough money coming in, when the problem is the debt we racked up overspending this summer. ARGH!
__________________ Be realistic: Plan for a miracle. ~Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
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We have been in a similar situation. We have a lot more income but have been doing some expensive things we had put off (like new tires for the car $600, medical bill from ds's birth that we just got, $575, luggage for dh's business trip, $100). It is really easy to spend money. Sigh.
I am really feeling like I have lost all control of the budget.
I am with you, even with the DH not being on board part. I work part time, teaching online, but I'm off for the summer, so there is money not coming in right now. The hard part is that we had a huge tax return that precipitated our losing control. Now, it is compeletly gone, and we have very little to show for it. What is worse is I discovered that one of the big purchases DH made that I thought was cash, he put on his credit card...He has no problem charging stuff all over the place if it's something he wants.
Then, we found out I am pregnant, and I think that sent DH into a mid-life crisis of sorts. Fortunately, the result is an expensive mountain bike(not the most expensive, I am told) and accessories and him getting in better shape and not something more serious and expensive, I guess. But, that makes it even more difficult to suggest we should be living on a shoestring, YK? He was looking forward to me getting a full time teaching job at some university in another three or four years, and now it will be at least another 8 before I'm bringing in any "real" money.
I was sick for 3 months. I am finally getting my life back in order. I am slacking and stalling on the budget, but as my house gets in order, I am making slight progress and getting closer to feeling ready to tackle it. Having the house not falling down around me makes it a little easier to focus on stuff like saving money, planning meals, etc., eh?
__________________ Jody
Mama to two boys (5-10-98 and 6-01-01), and two girls (11-18-03 and 1-11-07)
I'm new here, but I understand living on a shoestring.
My son and I live with my boyfriend who is a PHD student and TA. My ex-husband and I each have children to care for ( he has the 2 teenage girls and I have the 5 year old "special needs" boy), so there is no child support between us (it comes out even). I am laid-off for the summer from a job as a teacher's aid. My boyfriend has also been asking when we can have a child together, since he is 42 and has no children of his own and is very good with kids. He even has a "working title" for this hypothetical child, "Zardoz".
If I get pregnant, I will not be able to work after the first 3 months, because I have difficult pregnancies.
Thes last few months have not gone as I'd planned. LOL We were supposed to be out of debt except for the mortgage by now, but it didn't happen.
We had been putting so many things off and some of them finally HAD to be done, like Van tires and work etc... Then our medical bills have been crazy this year. We also had to pay the midwife in full when William was born a week and a half ago.
I'm not complaining, because these things would have had to be done anyway, just not in the order I'd planned.
We are down to $1,150.00 in CC debt and that's it. It won't take long to pay off and we've done well..... paying 24K off in 10 months. We still need to do more van work and then the truck is next, we still have some medical bills coming in and need to replace our savings.
With the baby born, I'm starting to feel better and have more energy, so I'm looking forward to being able to practice more frugal habbits and hopefully by sept. we'll be back on track. I really need to get our grocery bill back down and work on our electric bill. Those will probably be my main focus for the next few months, as well as continuing to aviod eat outs and staying home as much as possible.
Aileen
__________________
Happy wife to Keith for 20 years and amazingly blessed mama to 10 sweet munchkins.
we've racked up some credit card debt and i'd have to look into it/ask dh more about it to know why. but i opened the bill and put it in dh's bill pay spot, and it's more than i ever thought. but i feel really proud that we are putting the tax return and something extra dh got at work on that card, and it will be down a lot. just sucks that the extra couldn't go to a special memory or something else fun. oh well...our own fault, i'm sure.
in general, doing well. dh takes care of all of our finances, and we were talking recently about all the things we *could* cut back on and how much it would save. most of the bills are all in like close to $50 increments...cable, cell phone, water, telephone and dsl. besides our mortage, of course, and the darn credit card payment, the big ones are the electric bill and our awful student loan payment. can't do anything about the student loan except hope for some large lump of money to fall out of the sky, so i think i'm gonna really focus on trying to get the electric bill down. and i want to focus again on being simple and thrifty so that i'll have leftovers in the money i get for gifts and groceries and that sort of thing in order to put it towards that darn CC and eliminate that payment.
__________________
Stephanie, wife to Tim (almost 9 years) and mama to Isaac (3) and Kendall (13 months)
Hey... I was just talking about cutting cost with my best friend on the phone yesterday. Am I nuts to say I get an adrenaline rush when the rubber hits the road? Let me try to explain...
When we are in a comfortable phase; it is easy to become complacent- even lazy. I don't focus on meal planning, organization or conservation. I am a very conscious person but on those late nights it easier to "not cook" and opt for take out or a crappy frozen burrito for dinner.
When the money crunch is on, it is a different story. I am up, organizing, catorgorizing and planning. I soak the beans and rotate the left overs. I hang the laundry and make an extra walk-through to turn off the lights. I plan a trip to the library on the way to the grocery store for free movies, instead of that extra trip to the video rental shop.
I just get in gear when I know my "talents" are in high demand. I pay attention, I am busy and productive in the kitchen as well as the rest of the house.
I have always told myself when I "get older" I wouldn't cultivate hobbies that cost money just to busy myself. So when I am living an active, frugal lifestyle, it seems that those future (boring) golden years are farther and farther away....
__________________ Live simply, Simply in peace...
"It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life." -Bilbo Baggins
Hey... I was just talking about cutting cost with my best friend on the phone yesterday. Am I nuts to say I get an adrenaline rush when the rubber hits the road? Let me try to explain...
When we are in a comfortable phase; it is easy to become complacent- even lazy. I don't focus on meal planning, organization or conservation. I am a very conscious person but on those late nights it easier to "not cook" and opt for take out or a crappy frozen burrito for dinner.
When the money crunch is on, it is a different story. I am up, organizing, catorgorizing and planning. I soak the beans and rotate the left overs. I hang the laundry and make an extra walk-through to turn off the lights. I plan a trip to the library on the way to the grocery store for free movies, instead of that extra trip to the video rental shop.
I just get in gear when I know my "talents" are in high demand. I pay attention, I am busy and productive in the kitchen as well as the rest of the house.
I don't really have much to say except that I'm TOTALLY like this! When I know I have to get serious, I look at it like a survival game and make it work. And it has a righteous pioneer-spirit about it. The rest of the time I am frugal and use extra to pay down debt, save, etc. But when I have to cut back (like right now because Dave's paycheque was about $600 less than usual, which is a bit of a pinch) we do it. I stretch every last penny and it works out somehow. Interesting. Motivation is important I guess.
Hey... I was just talking about cutting cost with my best friend on the phone yesterday. Am I nuts to say I get an adrenaline rush when the rubber hits the road? Let me try to explain...
When we are in a comfortable phase; it is easy to become complacent- even lazy. I don't focus on meal planning, organization or conservation. I am a very conscious person but on those late nights it easier to "not cook" and opt for take out or a crappy frozen burrito for dinner.
When the money crunch is on, it is a different story. I am up, organizing, catorgorizing and planning. I soak the beans and rotate the left overs. I hang the laundry and make an extra walk-through to turn off the lights. I plan a trip to the library on the way to the grocery store for free movies, instead of that extra trip to the video rental shop.
I just get in gear when I know my "talents" are in high demand. I pay attention, I am busy and productive in the kitchen as well as the rest of the house.
I am right there with ya, mama! During the summer, I have no income (during the "school" year, I babysit for another family) and my dh (who is a teacher) does not get paid from the school during June and July when school is out. While he does work a summer job, the income is less than half of what we're used to! But, somehow, it always works out! I'm much better about couponing; being thrifty, etc. when I absolutely have to!
__________________
Jenn
homeschooling mama to my little brood...
~L (1997), M (2001), N (2004) and M (April 2007)~
Kerri- That is amazing! You should be beyond *danm* proud! What you've done is inspirational. I would not have been able to do this. Truly. You should write a book!
Location: When I dare to be powerful -- to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
Posts: 9,502
Kerri that is WONDERFUL! Great job!
As for the rest of you, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your honest posts. This last three months has been SO hard on us in the money area. I have been SO sick and dh is just domestically useless... so we have put way more on credit than we have in the last two years and it makes me feel sick to think about.
The main trouble is that we are at RIGHT where we need to be with Don's new paychecks. Nothing more, nothing less. It makes us in the "working poor" category and it is SO hard on dh because he has worked really hard to get here and it feels like no where good. We make under $500 a month more than we need for bills, and without me cutting strings and moving things around, shopping around to get the best deals and menu planning, and making sure I know about every little thing, well you can just imagine that things have gotten out of hand.
This last two weeks I have felt better... but now my mw is saying that I am due in Dec and not Jan and so I feel as though I have lost an entire month and am in shock. We get the u/s tomorrow and we will get to see if Little truly is a Christmas baby or not. I don't know either way... but it is more stress right as we got some relief. lol... Alex will be gone for the next 5 wks, and Don will be working CRAZY hours because of Lake Fair and a few other things going on downtown (he is a cop) and so it shoud even out with just me and Cyan at home. Hopefully. I can wish right?
Val
__________________
Val; Living the dream we have been working towards for over 5 years.
Mama to Alex, Cyan, and Logan. Wife to my very best friend.
Location: firmly planted in the postmodern pastoral economy
Posts: 12,988
Whoa, Val, that has got to be a shock! Although it does seem to make sense with what you said about how it all happened...right? You had a positive very very early on?
Just hang in there...it will even out. I came to post that we're getting back on track ourselves...still have some penny-pinching to do but we're close to our budget now.
He's been accepted to school, we found a tiny little house we're moving into. It's just down the road from family, a great price and has a huge yard so we can garden. There's a clothesline (hooray!). Between DH's GI Bill and disability we'll have just enough to pay the bills- that's the scary part. (The TWG has been by my side since we found out- gleaning every idea I can! LOL) We're not sure what we'll do on months he's not in school- because it means no GI Bill those months. We plan to do a bit of the woodshop and family members are already talking up DH and his handyman skills so he can get work on the side. 
. Fortunately, the result is an expensive mountain bike(not the most expensive, I am told) and accessories and him getting in better shape and not something more serious and expensive, I guess. But, that makes it even more difficult to suggest we should be living on a shoestring, YK? He was looking forward to me getting a full time teaching job at some university in another three or four years, and now it will be at least another 8 before I'm bringing in any "real" money. 
Jody
I am right there with ya, mama! During the summer, I have no income (during the "school" year, I babysit for another family) and my dh (who is a teacher) does not get paid from the school during June and July when school is out. While he does work a summer job, the income is less than half of what we're used to! But, somehow, it always works out! I'm much better about couponing; being thrifty, etc. when I absolutely have to!
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