Financially - Are you doing better than before?

[Maismom]

We all know current ecnomy is not doing too good (at least according to media), but are you feeling it? If so, what area is impacting you the most?

I see houses going foreclosure, and some of my friends lost jobs. According to my friend who lost her job, "Everybody is struggling." Well.....Sorry, but not me. We are doing OK.... Is it just us? How about you?

[fperkins]

I'm with you. We are doing better than ever, financially. We have no debt and a nice emergency fund. I contribute it to couponing and smart shopping. Oh, yeah, and all our kids have moved out.

[kmmmom]

If I hadn't learned all the things I have learned on here and had I not taken the steps to get an emergency fund in place and learned living on a budget, then the economy might be hurting us more. As it is, I just adjust my budget and my habits (driving too much) and we are doing okay!

[nannabownanna]

I will just be honest here.
I am a single mom on disability.
I also receive a small amount of foodstamps each month.
In June, when I stumbled onto HCW, we were barely scraping by.
My fs were gone usually in 2 weeks and we spent 2 weeks each month
eating just once a day.
My 17 yr old dd would often need HBA items that I simply could not afford and never had luxery items/products.
Now, my Bathroom cabinets are packed with quality brands of shampoos, razors, soaps, body wash, toothpastes, deoderants, face products, the list goes on and on.
My food closet is filled to the brim with all the FREE FOOD items I have purchased by turning ecb's and rr's around to by food for our house!
And I have more money available to pay my household expenses, so, YES, we are definately doing better than before!!

Thanks to all the kind hearted pros on HCW that take the time to share and teach others like myself!!:thanku6:

[3girlsQMom]

This is not a cut and dry question for us. We are doing fine right now, possibly even better than before, if you just look at the dollar figures. DH is in construction and our area has taken a really hard hit industry-wise. Over the past year and a half, we have really had our ups and downs. Many of his friends have been laid off (good, quality workers that can't find another job.) He would probably be in the same situation if he didn't have his own company.

Right now, the company is doing really well. But we are charging a LOT less in order to get the jobs and DH is working 7 days a week, 12-15 hours a day to bring in the same amount of money he used to. Now in a month or so, this may all die down again to where he is scrounging for work and then we will not be doing so well again. We just try to save extra during the up times to help us get by on the down times.

Construction is always known for its ups and downs, but lately the industry has had a LOT more downs than ups.

[Susan in WA]

Yes the gas prices and food prices affect us, but really our problem is dh retired and health insurance is the huge problem.

[Mommy2Cadence]

We are doing ok considering this time last year we were living from paycheck to paycheck. We found Dave Ramsey and a budget and we now have extra for debts and savings every month.

[jillibean_1978]

We are not making it. The only reason we have food is because my in laws give us cash or bring over food. Thank God for them!!! As it stands right now....we have to let our health insurance go. Hopefully, no one gets sick. And hopefully we can get it back if we ever have the extra money. I know letting go of health insurance is a big no no for most. But you do what you have to do to feed your family. And until a part time job comes in for one of us...we will do what we need to.
Jill

[mama22qts]

We are doing ok. I always think back to my precouponing days with two children in diapers and a dh working hard to build his business. It was very hard -- there were the days of scrounging in the couch for milk money -- and not using the dryer because it costs too much...

Now, seven years later, we are doing much better. Dh has built his business and is continuing to do so successfully.

Gas has been a killer though because I drive quite a bit just to get my kids to and from school. I figured it up the other day and I was spending at least $8/day on school travel. Sheesh!

We traded in the Yukon and got an Acura, and the gas mileage is tons better.

Overall, we're not really feeling the pinch as much as others might be.

[oscamaya]

We are doing better than ever financially. True, we go without a lot of things (like health insurance), but usually the things that we are going without are things that we have never had before. We actually should be able to fit health insurance into our budget some time next year. Fortunately, my babies qualify for Medicaid so they are taken care of.

DH is in a business right now that is booming so his pay keeps going up. He installs security systems, and with so many people struggling they have seen an increase in burglaries and break ins. So while that is bad for most people, it is great for us because that means that more people are buying security systems for their homes.

I commute 25 miles one way to go to school 3 nights per week. We sold our big truck and got a small older honda so that gas would be cheaper. We kept the van even though it is a gas hog just b/c it is convenient to have.

I was forced to stay at home with the kids because day care is too expensive and the waiting list for day care assistance was really long. We couldn't really make it on one income, but I found HCW, we changed our spending habits and here I am. I am able to go to school so I am not just staying at home and I can actually work towards having a career one day.