Just to make ends meet...

[KokomoBusa]

In these days a lot of people are finding it harder and harder just to provide for their families. Have you had to take on other jobs, cut your grocery list, or cancel and familiy vacation just to make ends meet?

Share your story if you want.

 

[Schism]

i haven't been forced to take on a 2nd job as of yet, but my wife and i have been cutting costs. i don't think we are taking that trip to greece next fall to visit family.

 

[Busa Jules]

We stopped eating out during the week (God Bless DocDrop... he's had to eat my cooking)

... and since I drive the School Bus to and from school every day, we have been able to save considerably on gas.

I also take my lunch to school/ work everyday... usually a bologna sandwich, PB&J, or leftovers from last night's meal.

We also make it a point to try and get out of Walmart with a grocery bill around $50 (yeah we shop once a week.. we are not the types to shop once every 2 months)

I'm not seeing a dramatic increase in available funds... but it's gotta help

 

[ditchdr]

Thank God our income has not dropped, and we got everyhting paid off. To be honest O dont have time for a 2nd job nor does Jessica..

But as for saving money, we did( and still do) some creative things when we wre paying off debt..

The biggest was MAKE AND STICK TO A BUDGET..

you only spend set amount of stuff.. If you put lets say 100 a week in the food budget and you only spend 90.. That extra 10 pays on a bill.. If you need 105 for food, looks like you buy 5 dollars less..

That was the biggest thing..

With gas prices being normal now thats not to much of a issue.. But we had a set amount we were allowed to spend. If we needed gas and it was not time to refill, you better have some good sneakers..

We found ways to cut the elec bill by 30%. Stuff like keeping the vents in the rooms we did not spend a lot of time in closed, unpluging stuff we do need on. Even if a radio is off, it is still drawing power.. Only do FULL loads of laundry.. Washers and dryers hog up the power. Oh and I even went as far as ot stop using the garage door opener lol.. Keep the refer as full as possable. Once the food in the freezer and ice box are chilled it takes less power to keep it at that temp.

What was really cool was my night job.
At the time I did the bike stuff during the day and for extra money I worked as a server at Applebees at night.. I had figured out to the penny what we needed to pay the bills on a daily basis. it came to 74.90. So at the end of the night I would count my tips, put 75.00 in the check account and what ever was left went right into the savings account.


it took a lot and we were one step above beans and rice for over 3 years but we did it and it was SO WORTH IT..


I HIGHLY recomend everyone get a copy of " The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. It works its not easy but it works..


Can you live like no one lese, so later you can live like no one else?

 

[pcosho]

Just haven't been on any big vacations in a while and don't see any in the near future. I'm just glad that my wife is great at managing money and my vehicles are paid for.(except my truck)

 

[semperfi]

At least gas has gone down. (For a while anyway) ???

 

[BigBSBusa]

Expenditures have been cut back drastically (aka very few Busa mods).

 

[dadofthree]

With gas prices being normal now thats not to much of a issue.. But we had a set amount we were allowed to spend. If we needed gas and it was not time to refill, you better have some good sneakers..

No No No $2 / gallon is not normal folks lease:

 

[RonnieTheBull]

Been kinda crazy around my way...was with a firm for 8 years that closed the doors in March, went into the manufacturing field in late May for a lil stability and was caught in the plant lay off first week of November.....and to top it all department of licensing denied my un-employment claim ....so yea this entire year has been a wash...and now I'm ending it looking for another job in a dumping economy

 

[KokomoBusa]

My wife and I have cut way back on spending...back to crosswords, scrabble, and guitar hero for entertainment. For some extra wiggle room in financing I had to get another job, so I'm bouncing at a bar on the weekends now. Good money, but I'm not sure it's the greatest thing for me. But i'll do it, cause I need to earn the jack to make the spring bash!

 

[WWJD]

no changes. I've always been "frugal" while extravigant

and someday I'll learn to spell it

 

[hotrod_rick1]

Wished i could work a second job, I work 7 days on 2 days off. My busa mods have came to a hault. (poor Busa will be the same next year)

 

[99'busa]

def. cut back frivilous spending here. We're on a tight rope right now. I just hope we get to the other side before I fall off. Any day now things could go bad or good.

 

[BusaBoy86]

We stopped eating out during the week (God Bless DocDrop... he's had to eat my cooking)

... and since I drive the School Bus to and from school every day, we have been able to save considerably on gas.

I also take my lunch to school/ work everyday... usually a bologna sandwich, PB&J, or leftovers from last night's meal.

there was a study done between someone who buys their lunch everyday and someone who brings their lunch. The person who brought their lunch saved over $1000 dollars over a year and ate healthier(obviously). i personally am in school right now and i am trying to balance two jobs with school. I picked up a part time retail job at school and on breaks go home to work on cars with my dad. It helps so much having gas prices down, but with other prices still up its hard on my whole family to make ends meet.

 

[Revlis]

Here comes the huge wave of Unsympathy.

BUT

To provide amusement, I'll post up that YES I've had to cancel some trips and make several cuts since loosing my job in August.


1st. Have stopped eating out as much, instead of about nightly, we're down to 2-3 days a week. Kicker is that it's become cheaper in some cases to eat out than cook at home.

2nd, Busa and Moto Guzzi are still here, but the Busa is on borrowed time, She's been on and off of sale for a year now so we'll see. Likely Busa will be gone soon.

3rd, The BMW 335i Coupe, has to go as well. This isn't all that bad, with me working around the house and the wife carpooling 4 days a week we have about $2000 a month in new vehicles that just doesn't get used. Answer? Get rid of both and get one do it all vehicle for the household. Looking like I'll be able to work with BMW Seattle and turn the 335 into an X3 and then sell the Pathfinder outright or get it up on lease trader. This will help a great deal.

4th Christmas has been canceled for the most part, we don't really "need" anything anyway so no huge loss there. WE'll still decorate... ok I'LL still decorate and have fun, but there just isn't going to be anything under the tree..

5th We've canceled the Florida Trip, as well as another U.K. trip which was going to be in late spring.

6th This is actually the one that stings a bit, we were closing in on very cool land out on the peninsula and were going to start getting busy one the new house. Well that's been pushed back a year or so which means we'll have to find a different "perfect" spot for the our Barbie dream home.

So, While I am aware these things are a bummer and not really household shaking it's still frustrating.

Nothing but my utmost sympathies for families out there really hurting. The wife and I are really lucky that she's got a career she loves that pays well enough to support us both. I definitely feel fortunate, it could be so much worse...

 

[runeight]

We have cut back on dinning out and my internet shopping is just about nill. I have found some really great deals in department stores but tend to think twice on purchase.

Income is still the same due to me. I could make much more but choose to relax instead.

r8

 

[Dino]

Or we could all take a clue from big business... Charge up them credit cards then ask for a bailout....

 

[Wag]

Or we could all take a clue from big business... Charge up them credit cards then ask for a bailout....

It's called Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Go for it!

All kidding aside, credit card debt is going to be the next big killer. Citi is already in serious trouble. Next is . . . ?

As a tangent to the original question, is anyone here living off their credit cards?

--Wag--

 

[Projekt]

Well, I have been on a "sabbatical" since leaving Iraq in April. Now, I am due to go back next week. To be honest, I kept frivolous spending to a minimum during this period save for the time in the states during cross country travelling to the spring bash. Luckily, I could do this because of zero debt and little need to purchase new toys (living frugally). I do want a nice higher end car which means I should return to making the big bucks in Iraq. Glad to be able to do this and not feel a slave to my financial situation.

 

[HillbillyTom]

So far everything is stable for me.. so far. We have NO work at the shop, pushed a broom all week. Metal fab business is always "feast or famine" and we're in a famine right now. Been there before and survived, but it's still scary when it happens again.
I watch what I spend more now, and any mods to the Busa are on hold. Worse thing so far has been the beautiful little black '08 GSXR600, who the dealer is really (REALLY) wanting to sell, has been put on the "afraid to buy" list.