Living beyond my means

[Queenkim98]

I'd venture to say that theres a few people on this board that know the feeling of exactly what I am going to say. I am really bummed out. Because of the way the economy is going......just normal every day things is living beyond my means. I don't feel like I'm ever going to get out of the hole.

Well its not really out of the hole, but its more like ahead. I don't like living like this. I just went to foodlion and purchased 6 boxes of stovetop, 10 cans of campbell's cream of mushroom soup, 4 cans of cambell's gravy, 20 bags of birdseye steamfresh corn or peas. I paid $6.77 and I should be woohoooing and jumping for joy........but what I purchased is going to be eaten within the next two weeks. Everything has gone up, the mortgage, the cable, the price of oil for heat, food, water, sewer, car insurance, gas for my dh to get to work........everything has gone up except for dh's paycheck, he hasn't gotten a raise in two years, he's has no overtime in a year and because of the weather, his hours have actually been cut. He still has to travel to work and then the'll send him home and pay him for two hours. He was actually laid off for the month of September, and unemployment didn't cover much. So, since the income has decreased, and expenses have increased, the extras have been coming out of my food budget and other incidentals...We've been cutting and slashing everything we can and there really isn't that much more to cut.....geez, I don't remember when the last time I had steak was.

I'm probably going to come across as whining, and maybe I should concentrate on being greatful for the things I do have, or the ability that I have to stretch a $1..........but if you know what I'm talking about, how do you deal with it?

Kim

[kval07]

I hear ya. I suck it up and watch tv, hang out here, and find low cost (read FREE) things to do with my dogs. I don't go out and do a whole lot. I don't live beyond my means, but I try to be mindful that I'm trying to get out of the hole myself after five months with no job and no unemployment $$ to help me out during that time. (My own darn fault, too.)

[Cynthiabutterfly]

After DH lost his job (4 years ago now) I started cutting back.

We stopped paying for TV. I turned the thermostat up (summer's here are a pain) to 80. Every month I looked for better deals on our car insurance, our phone service, and our internet service. We cut our our home phone, and cut our cell phones from $120/mo to $65. We stopped driving around as much even when we wanted to visit friends or family, and cut our eating out to a once-a-week splurge for McD.

Every $5 or $10 saved was an improvement. I went from paying close to $700 a month for all our bills, to less than $400 now.

We really struggled for a while, and wondered if saving $5 or $10 here or there was even worth it, but at the end of it all we did have enough food and we were able to pay the bills. I even had enough to put a few extra dollars on our credit card bill and finally paid it off after 6 years.

It's a lot of work, trust me. It was hard to not get depressed too.

We finally are at the point where DH can stay home with the kids, we can afford pay tv again because the credit card is payed off, and I have a savings account with actual money in it for the first time in my life.

[hbaqueen]

I hear ya! Dhs checks have stunk big time lately. Not getting his full pay even though hes salary. Once was his faault he took a couple days off but his jerk boss has worked him 17+ hours several days a week then give him a mandatory day off and cut his check for it. And a lot of other crap vacation hours dissapearing and getting worked to death for the same or less $. I honestly think before long hes gonna get peeved and quit or more likely get mad and say something he shouldnt and get fired.

Ive cancelled all my credit cards even the emergency one. Scary but I have a weakness for buying clothes for my kid that I cant afford.

Were staying in a lot more both with the flu risk and the fact that we cant afford the gas. And my car is on its last leg which is just great (not!) considering its not even an old clunker. So, DH told me not to drive it unless I absolutely had to until we can get the money to have someone look at it Dhs is an old clunker and a gas hog and cant fit a car seat and I cant drive a stick!

Weve not ate out in shoot I dont know its been over 2 months I think. Partly because were scared of getting sick and dont want stuff other people who could be sick have prepared, partly b/c we need to shed some pounds but mostly b/c money is tight.

Ive cut my cel phone bill down to the lowest possible plan and have shaved off about $87 a month total on the bill per month. No early weekends $16.99 No texting $5 No data $30 and lowered the plan by $35 a month. We have at+t and I called and asked to keep my rollover minutes. They let me keep all 7000 to use. So we should be okay for 6 months - a year on this plan. We have to have cel phones its not a luxury but a necessity for us. So we cant cut it out but we can cut back to the basic.

Ive been trying to get more creative and eat things Ive gotten cheap or free or weve had given to us but my grocery bills are still sky high with or without coupons. But Im trying to watch sales and cut back as much as I can.
We drink filtered tap water now no bottles :sad: and little to no soda.
keeping snacks to a minimum which is no loss as we need to lose some weight anyway.
I havent been stockpiling or couponing much because even $5 here and there adds up. Im focusing only on what we will actually eat.

Our last luxury item that we could cut is $30 that covers all our TV channels and my internet. Ive already called about having it suspended for a while but I just cant bring myself to do it I dont want to be stuck in this house 24/7 and no tv or internet.

Whew sorry guess I whined too! Im good at that! but Im very very thankful for all the gifts in my life my God and my family.
I dont have a lot of advice just start cutting out everything you can. Its crazy because so many people have what we consider extras that weve never had and do things we never did and were like we cant cut anymore. But when I looked honestly at what we spent on DS clothes I mean shoot I can go to goodwill with the best of em and I will! Internet no library near so I cant go that route but do we really need internet and TV? I say yes but I know we dont.

Im also doing all the online surveys and rebate type things I can for any $makers I find. Luckily I bought some goodies at the Target clearance and then my mom gave me a Kohls GC the other day and with the 30% off and $10/10 I got DS some toys for $10 oop so Im done with Christmas for him and he is still little so he wont be that dissapointed that hes not getting a ton of crap. And weve never went all out so hes use to just a few gifts on holidays.

I already told the adults we were not doing gift exchange. I dont see the point in you buying me $20 of something I dont want and me buying you $20 of something you dont want lets just keep our $20!
Now I will look for super cheap/free/$maker deals between now and then and if I see something theyd like then Ill get it.

Good luck OP and to everyone who is struggling!

Ohh our neighbor gave us info on the angel food ministries were looking in to that. Anyone get it? Is it worth the cost? Is it good quality?

[Ggbwg]

I hear ya too! DH's boss sold company w/ out telling anyone. No one had time to search for a job. Finally DH was hired on by the company who bought his old boss's company.

We didn't see a pay check for 1 month. So of course that put us behind on all bills. Everything is still behind. During this time as well we have had 2 dr visits, 1 pet bill, and 2 dentist bills. DH get's no overtime as well and has had to use almost all his vacation time because it was either take vacation & get paid or get sent home or not come in w/ no pay.

I'm chasing deals ONLY we need in order to get ahead. When i say chasing deals we need, it is food & food only for the most part & trying to get as many gift cards as i can from the free or cheap items.

It's rough around the holidays too. Everyone talking about what there buying and it makes you sad, but we have to think we are doing everything we can do. We receive no gov. help either, we don't qualify. Not that we make a lot we don't. I wish they would give you some sort of bonus when filling out the aps for having a car and house payment. So, have been putting applications in as well for me to work evening/nights while DH stays home w/ kids. Job hunting is not going well.

I'm sorry your having a rough time, but just know your not alone. I'll be thinking of you and your family.

[bubblefly23]

No, you're definitely not alone. We're being squeezed too.....my husband has a second job now, but they've cut his hours on his regular job, so it's not like we have extra even though he's working more. My pay was frozen this year and no bonus, which I know we shouldn't rely on but really need. I'm counting every penny, we've cut everything like you have, and we're still barely scraping by each month. One of my kids needs to see the dermatologist, another needs to go to the dentist, but I have to keep putting it off because I don't even have enough to pay the deductible. I really don't know what we're going to do about Christmas. We don't qualify for help either, but it doesn't mean we're financially well-off. I don't have advice......just keep hanging in there, and know that you're not alone.

[sadetom]

Originally Posted by Queenkim98 I'd venture to say that theres a few people on this board that know the feeling of exactly what I am going to say. I am really bummed out. Because of the way the economy is going......just normal every day things is living beyond my means. I don't feel like I'm ever going to get out of the hole. Well its not really out of the hole, but its more like ahead. I don't like living like this. I just went to foodlion and purchased 6 boxes of stovetop, 10 cans of campbell's cream of mushroom soup, 4 cans of cambell's gravy, 20 bags of birdseye steamfresh corn or peas. I paid $6.77 and I should be woohoooing and jumping for joy........but what I purchased is going to be eaten within the next two weeks. Everything has gone up, the mortgage, the cable, the price of oil for heat, food, water, sewer, car insurance, gas for my dh to get to work........everything has gone up except for dh's paycheck, he hasn't gotten a raise in two years, he's has no overtime in a year and because of the weather, his hours have actually been cut. He still has to travel to work and then the'll send him home and pay him for two hours. He was actually laid off for the month of September, and unemployment didn't cover much. So, since the income has decreased, and expenses have increased, the extras have been coming out of my food budget and other incidentals...We've been cutting and slashing everything we can and there really isn't that much more to cut.....geez, I don't remember when the last time I had steak was. I'm probably going to come across as whining, and maybe I should concentrate on being greatful for the things I do have, or the ability that I have to stretch a $1..........but if you know what I'm talking about, how do you deal with it? Kim

You are not whining you are venting what most of us feel. It'll be okay. things seem to go from bad to worse but I just think that someday things will turn out okay. Remember that no matter what people tell especially older people, everyone is in debt at one point or another, and most likely things will work out. I for one can't wait for things to work out for us because I am sick of being broke and even using coupons I am still broke. 6 kids takes a lot of money and my hubby is just like yours, no raise in pay but raises in everything else that is coming in. So I will eventually get a job and get out of the rut we are in but probably not until our new baby is in school so we still have another 5 years:) Don't get bummed about it it takes a lot to keep what you got but if youre keeping it then you're doing well because a lot of people are not even able to do that. And don't be afraid to get help if possible through your state agencies. I know I am going to get flack for that, but sometimes everyone needs help but have no one to turn to.Take care, things will look up soon.

[hbaqueen]

Oh I feel you guys on the dentist. I have FIVE teeth that need taken care of and I cant afford to go. Ive got a temporary filling from the last root canal he did and I cant afford to go back right now to get a real one and have 2 others filled he said need it. That area causes me a lot of pain I have a big painful bump there most days. The on the other side of my mouth I broke a tooth too and now my front tooth is giving me pain and has a deep cut like in the front.
DH and I were just talking this morning we didnt know what to do we were cutting back but the dental and Dr bills just kept coming so we cant ever get caught up!

[Queenkim98]

I love you guys!!!!! Thank you, you made me feel much much better.

Today is a better day so far. I stopped at the grocery store this morning and they had pork spare ribs on sale for 99¢ a lb, but they had a few packages that were actually marked down on special. I grabbed 4 packages, $1.40, $1.15, $1.65 and $1.66. I then used 4 of the $1 off fresh pork coupons.....so I got meat for 4 meals dirt cheap! I'm thrilled.......lol.......I have like 36 bottles of bbq sauce that I got for free in the pantry and had nothing to put it on!

I have family in NJ and in Florida, so they're too far away.......but if theres anyone close to me (I'm in York County, PA) and wants to trade stockpiles or whatever, I'm all for it.

Kim

[justmeagain]

I'm at the point now........where I just don't give a rip anymore.........