Anyone else having MAJOR financial problems?

[angie68]

I hate to even post this, but I can't ever remember a time when money was so tight. Everything we attempt to do takes money and it seems no matter how hard i try to save we still end up in the red every month.

We NEVER eat out and I only go out to get groceries on the days I go to church to save gas. I have the heat turned on 60 and d0 very little drying when it comes to laundry.

I consider myself extremely frugal, but we are sinking. Anyone else having this problem?? Sometimes I think it helps just to get it off your chest.

 

[Dace]

Things are really tight for us too. In fact my kids and I just went thru the gas & electric bill. I dropped our usage this last month by 30% but it is still WAY too high. I told them that if we can bring it down next month we will do a dinner & movie night out...how I will pay for it I don't know, but at least now they are on my team
We went thru the whole house unplugging things to ease the phantom load draw. We'll see if they stick with it!

I noticed on my bill that even though I had done a ton of outside line drying, my gas usage did not come down. Our biggest chunk by far is electric. Maybe you could make some headway there?

 

[user251]

tight here too. We don't do anything extra, we have cut back to the bare bones the only extra we have is the internet but we use it for TV and movies (free movies by the way) the crappy thing about it is i had a part time job at a church retreat camp right down the road not even 5 minutes away and I quit cause we were doing so good and i didn't really need the job plus i wanted to use that time to be with my kids and wife as she is a stay at home mom and i have always worked 2 jobs so she didn't have to, any way as soon as i quit the economy started tanking and prices soared and now we can hardly make ends meet and I cant get a part time job anywhere. but im thankful i have a job and feel bad for those who have lost theirs.

 

[2dream]

Things are tight here. Not only do we have a reduced income but one of my stepsons has moved back home because he has had his hours cut back, my daughter is living with me because she can't work until after she has her baby and my Mom had a stroke back in May and is now living with us. Overall though we manage without to much trouble. We have always lived a rather frugal lifestyle so tight is kind of a normal thing around here.

 

[lupinfarm]

Extremely tight here, mum is a SAHM, running the boarding, dad is a computer contractor but is paid very inconsistantly. We make the money, enough, but the inconsistent nature of his work is what kills us.

 

[reinbeau]

Very tight here, with hubby laid up and laid off, my clientelle is dwindling, the holidays are here (oh yea, right!) and I'm feeling a bit down about it all. We're fortunate here, we own the houses (I own mine, he owns his, and I almost feel bad about having two, but we have both brought what we had into a marriage, and have owned them for a long time), our bills are low, we don't have little kids to worry about/provide for, all we need to do is pay our current bills. But things keep going up (except for gas - for now!), and after New Years his unemployment will be cut due to not making much this season......all we can do is go day by day and hope things don't get horribly worse than it looks like they're going to be, which is pretty bleak right now!

 

[FarmerChick]

not major financial distress, but one big expense or major bill and I could find myself behind big time. Tony is laid off right now, always scared until he back to work come January hopefully as usual. Until then, I always have that noose hanging over my head.

pay off one thing, I have to finance something else just to keep this lifestyle of animals and farming alive. it is expensive actually. There are many days I wonder why I put myself in this position. Property taxes on 120 acres is not fun...LOL and I dread having to come up with that money. And everything else.

So yes, I know what you mean. The financial worries are always with me. I am working on getting it more under control. Being more SS and less stuff in my life means less bills etc....in the end some type of financial freedom from the worry.

Ugh

yet I am so thankful for what I do have!

 

[enjoy the ride]

I'm still OK although like FamerChick, I'm only one major expense away from not OK. Income and outgo are pretty equal. But I still own two horses who are not even ridden so I suppose I do have one more thing that I could eliminate if it comes down to that. It would be the next to last thing (the house being last,) as one is a retired girl who I have had a long time- she deserves her retirement.
In times like this, I think family is the strongest resource to have. As long as that is there, everything else can be coped with.


PS angie68- maybe if you told us your biggest (or most irritating) expense, someone here could think of ways to help.

 

[FarmerChick]

angie you said you are in the RED every month. you can't live like that. it will drag you down.

you must truly find every bill, expense, etc. and eliminate something, anything, to not be in the red....even if you hit dead on with every penny earned, and every penny spent than that means you are a push. being in the red means more debt is incurred each day.

I know it is hard. believe me. we have all been there when the money didn't stretch. but to live in the red, steps must be taken to help yourself.

like ETR said, what is the worse expenses and can you cut even more?

 

[inchworm]

Not major problems. But, the cushion in my budget is pretty much gone. Most of our bills have stabilized, but groceries seem to go up every week. Property taxes are a problem since we were reassessed just before the bubble burst. I pay out the wazoo for basically no services on a house with declining value.