going from 2 to 1 income.. need your help please

[angeleyeza]

just preparing for when/if things happen. i can get a head start for in the savings acct. i plan on keeping the house at least 1-2 more years at least due to the tax xcredit laws. that you have to be in the house at least 3 yrs. I thought about reselling but cant. refinancing is an issue because we dont have enough equity built into our home and may hurt me in the end credit wise. no car payments but car still needs fixed or need to find another one that works well.

Mortgage
$780/month

electric
$150/month

sewage
$40/month

water
$50-60/month

cable internet phone
$150/month i think

if/when he leaves i will be getting a diff. cable/internet/phone pkg hopefully find one cheaper even if we have to live off dvd's i dont care. internet i can probably do without. and i could probably get the vonage phone. i heard is way cheap.

i make roughly $1100- $1200 a month and the mortgage takes a huge chunk.

any ideas is helpful. i can do online surveys or any at home ways to make some money. finding ones that are legit are time worthy only.

[kval07]

Find a roommate. It might involve some shuffling in the house, but if you can find someone (even better if you know them) you can split the bills. That will help you out a ton. I personally wouldn't do without internet, just because there is so much information that could help you. aka HCW. You can get internet for pretty cheap. I pay $20/mo for AT&T internet. It's no high speed, but it gets the job done.

[tarab1021]

I am in the same boat kind of. I lost my job right before thanksgiving and we have been struggling since. Look into mystery shopping. It has added a few hundred each month to my income. But whatever you do dont pay to get the website list. Any questions pm me.

[ssfkat3]

just preparing for when/if things happen. i can get a head start for in the savings acct. i plan on keeping the house at least 1-2 more years at least due to the tax xcredit laws. that you have to be in the house at least 3 yrs. I thought about reselling but cant. refinancing is an issue because we dont have enough equity built into our home and may hurt me in the end credit wise. no car payments but car still needs fixed or need to find another one that works well.

Mortgage
$780/month

electric
$150/month

sewage
$40/month

water
$50-60/month

cable internet phone
$150/month i think

if/when he leaves i will be getting a diff. cable/internet/phone pkg hopefully find one cheaper even if we have to live off dvd's i dont care. internet i can probably do without. and i could probably get the vonage phone. i heard is way cheap.

i make roughly $1100- $1200 a month and the mortgage takes a huge chunk.

any ideas is helpful. i can do online surveys or any at home ways to make some money. finding ones that are legit are time worthy only.

The 'if/when' he leaves part makes me think you are looking at a separation, in which case, he pays out the nose for child support and possible spousal support. If you even think it's a possiblity that he is going to leave, talk to a lawyer NOW! You might also qualify for financial aid, food stamps, etc. If you do, utilize it! definately make him pay his share.

Not much you can do with the costs you have listed, do NOT give up the internet!!!! That is your lifeline to the outside world, and believe me, you need that more than ever when the entertainment budget gets cut to nothing. I'd give up a lot of stuff before I'd give up internet. Like eating. :D

Your mortgage vs possible rent is not going to be much different unless you really get lucky, depending on where you live of course, but with five kids, that's a hard place to find to rent. Look closely at that before you do anything, renting is not cheap at all.

You do need a car, get that asap because if you don't have one before he leaves, the odds of getting one later are stinky slim. I'm still without a car after over a year, just not enough cash to squeeze out a car payment.

On the internet thing, I changed my plan after the first year was up, dropped long distance on phone (have cell if and when i need it) but kept cable (dropped most of the optional stuff other than a couple my daughter watches on a regular basis) and raised my internet to get faster speeds (I'm always downloading stuff it seems) and got my bill to drop about 40 dollars. Once she hits 18 and moves out I will drop the tv and phone and just have internet and save a whole lot more. I don't watch tv at all, and the phone was only kept to keep it at a combined package which is actually cheaper than one or two of the options.

Most of all, good luck.

[CW&M Mom]

You should be getting child support. I too second go to the state where you apply for FS and such. Even if you don't qualify for anything as of yet...they can verse you in what you need to do if you need to have Child Support taken directly out of his check.

Don't short yourself on the CS and I'd suggest unless he's giving you a huge amount of money Get it in writing in your divorce decree that you can claim them on your taxes each year. Don't give that UP! He's being the Jack a$$ who is leaving.....not you.

How many kids do you have? What are there ages?

I can come up with more suggestions with that info

[434Teresa]

32% of his gross income will be yours unless he has kids by someone else...well 32% of gross income is the law here that is..

Not only get the who claims the kids on taxes in writting but who pays what on collage. And to save you problems later on where the kids are to be picked up at and dropped off at when its his turn to have them and the time that is to take place...I know this seems crazy now and most likely wont be a problem at first but when he finds a new honey it will become one, trust me.
One more thing the way to go is to have the child support took out of his check instead of him paying you each week ect..for he will soon find many reasons not to pay you and he will try to make you feel sorry for him so you wont make him pay it. Since you are not making him leave and thought you guys were doing great he will have the upper hand on you when it comes to making you feel sorry for him.