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Here's where the rubber meets the road!

45K views 378 replies 70 participants last post by  joyofsix 
#1 ·
The stockpile is in place, the EF is doing better than it ever has. The snowball has been rolled forward.. and the layoff slip came in today.

So now it's time to see how all of this works out.

Wierd attitude probably, but silver linings and all that.

In theory he'll be off work until August 15th and then will go back to work full time.

So essentially we're going to lose approximately $1800 over 6 weeks in income.

I'm starting this thread because I intend to keep track of the parts of the frugality plan that work, the parts that need work, and the parts that I never even thought of.
 
#120 ·
Happy Birthday to you! Glad you're having a great day and meal yummo! Enjoy the memories that's what we live for!
 
#121 ·
I always try to keep that in mind..

Somehow I can't see myself lying on my death bed and being quietly pleased that I paid the phone bill on time, ya know??
 
#124 ·
Thanks Everyone!

And thus endeth the season of prosperity.

And lo, as the days of winter darkened steadily the people did creep and shuffle out into the wet and dark void searching for the beam of light that was.. the mall. For thus did they sacrifice to the holiday Gods all that which they had earned through toil in the preceding year.

To spend was their lot and their life, to spend endlessly and mostly selflessly on those things which they hoped would bring cheer to those they loved in this darkest and most woeful of seasons.

Until each one, each tired and financially ragged one of them, would offer unto their friends and family members and acquaintences at work, and even unto people with whom they once shared a table at a PTA meeting, all that comprised the fruits of their years labors wrapped in bright and glittery paper.

Thus did they financially abase themselves before their holiday gods , in the hopes that as the days began to lighten so too would their financial burdens and they could begin the good work of securing financial safety anew.

OR

OMG Christmas Shopping!
 
#125 ·
Sorry.. can you tell I had to go tot he mall for something that day?

It was really odd. I haven't been doing much shopping lately for obvious reasons, and so it was kinda strange being in target anyhow. But as I was looking around I found that I wasn't looking at the STUFF so much as looking at the people.

And it was CREEPY!

They had these kinda fixed stares and the oddest assortment of facial expressions.

One woman was looking at the knick knacks, you know the pretty shiny things, with the most bizarre scowl. As if the stuff was upsetting her. She was putting some of it in her basket, but still looked cheesed off.. wierd.

Another woman looked like she was ready to throw up while picking out toddler clothes.

It just struck me that while they were at the mall, buying stuff, engaging in the universal American pastime.. very few of them looked happy.
 
#127 ·
Another woman looked like she was ready to throw up while picking out toddler clothes.
ah, the joys of pregnancy... ?
 
#128 ·
I'm not putting a judgement, or even a solution to the strangeness. For all I know the one woman was picking out toddler clothes and was 1st trimester and DID feel like throwing up.. or she ate at the food court which has much the same effect..

And maybe the other one had to pick out a wedding gift for her brothers new horrible-mistake of a fiance'..

It just struck me as odd, because all the people on this board seem to really enjoy it when we "get to" or "allow ourselves to" go shopping. Because for us it's the forbidden fruit, sort of.

And so it struck me as really odd that here were a bunch of people who looked like they'd rather be getting a root canal..
 
#129 ·
Nah, I didn't interpret that as putting a judgement. I was merely trying to make a funny comment (which I'm notoriously bad at, but still won't hold back). :)
 
#131 ·
I was just clarifying.. I didn't really think you were putting a judgement either.

Typing makes it hard to read a facial expression or the lilt in a voice. Can you imagine how many people ended up hating each other over a misunderstanding before the emoticon was invented!!!

I wish we could all just get together for coffee somewhere!

So.. on to the un-endingly boring saga of the eternal unemployment beast..

Dh and I are really nervous by now, we thought we'd planned pretty well, but it was only supposed to be 6-8 weeks of being unemployed. As we head into month 5 things are stretched pretty thin.

It's getting easier to look back and see where we did plan well and where we really missed the mark.

The fact that we're not behind on any of the bills is a flippin' miracle at this point. But it's also proof that the whole "we're gonna be laid off, let's throw a few extra hundred dollars at each bill" was not just a good idea. It was a GREAT idea.

Sure, we could have kept the money in savings and paid the bill with it when we got the bill, but we'd never have had the financial stamina to keep our hands off of it until now. ( I realize that may just be us)

Not that we would have spent it on anything overtly stupid.. but it would have gone by now for groceries, or some other bill, or something. Instead, we hit the food bank, and we have food (albeit not the stuff we normally buy) AND the bill's paid.

Ordering half a cow last spring, turned out to be a bigger gamble than we thought it would be. The cow turned out to be bigger (and therefore more expensive) than we'd planned. And given our strapped financial status, it was tough to come up with the extra money (about $250).
But since we ended up winning the toss.. it turned out to be wonderful, and may just "save our bacon" in lowered food costs over the next few months, if you'll forgive the mixed meat metaphor.

Buying the new car.. Okay, that may have been inherently stupid, actually. It is saving us about $50 a month in gas costs, but that doesn't exactly offset the $167 car payment. Obviously if gas prices skyrocket it could be nearly paying for itself, but they haven't so... lost that little bet.
 
#132 ·
continued....

Over stockpiling turns out to be really working out well for us. But that too is situational. I think a lot of it might have gone stale if we hadn't been unemployed this long, because we might not have gotten around to using it, which would have been pretty tragic.

We need to diversify our stockpile a lot more when we do it again though. Loss leaders rule, but there's a point where we're just sick of eating the same dang thing week after week, no matter how much you like it.

It occurred to me that when we're Ok for money we tend to go out to eat at restaurants where we can get things that we don't normally make at home, like greek food, or chinese. Or, I'll have an idea for dinner and go pick up the two extra ingredients that aren't on my normal shopping list. Now that we aren't doing those things, our meals are getting to be pretty boring.

Yeah, I thought a couple costco packs would be enough, but trust me, buy more toilet paper..'nuff said.

Surprisingly, all that larking about in the first six weeks has really worked out pretty well. By now I was sure I'd be hanging my head in shame for having been so frivolous with our money early on.

But instead, it delayed the desperate horrible feeling we tend to get when he's laid off for far longer than we were actually doing it.

He'd worked for nearly two years straight without longer than a week off, so he was really ready to decompress and it was super nice to feel like we were actually having a vacation together. And it eased him into the new "slacker schedule" in a fun way, which sort of kept the "moping around" from happening.

And by the time he was getting antsy.. he was already used to the new schedule so it wasn't such a huge transition from 6 days a week, 10 hour days to zero days per week, zero hours. Much nicer to live with when it's suddenly 24/7 time together.

And after the 6 weeks of "vacation" my construction man was more than ready to tackle all the little chores that had been piling up over the last couple of years. Instead of it being a "honey-do" list, it was something we enjoyed doing together and it gave him something to focus on besides not having a job. That lasted another 6 weeks or so.

Eventually we ran out of projects to do, and more importantly, ran out of stored up supplies to do them with. It's been about 4 weeks now, and as I mentioned last week, he's really starting to feel the strain. Solution.. stockpile more project supplies next time?

So out of the 16 weeks or so that we've been together 24/7 and he's been unemployed.. we were really HAPPY for about 14 of those weeks. Not too shabby!
 
#133 ·
I really hope things look up for you guys. Thanks for sharing your journey for the rest of us to learn from. I'll be diversifying my stockpile of rice/beans/canned spam/ramen/pasta. Of course we have some other things but I really need to add more variety. I can see how longer than a month of that will become extremely boring. ((Hugs))
 
#134 ·
Oh no I didn't think a thing of it either:) That would be great if all us villagers could do coffee :) I had to go to Target after work today and I thought ............hummmm I wonder how grumpy I look since I hate shopping LOL


Your posts are so well thought out and so interesting to read! I really learn a lot. Dh found out the freight satellite division will be reviewed again in Jan too see if they are keeping it going so we are going into preparation mode just in case. Your post gave me a few things to add to my list. Thank you!

I pray thing things look um for you and hubby very soon!
 
#135 ·
Thanks for the good wishes!

Thanks for all the good wishes guys, we're keeping our fingers (and toes,and eyes, and parts you don't even want to know about) crossed and hoping some work shakes loose too!

:jug:
 
#136 ·
I've just caught this last page, and will be going back to read from the beginning. Mahalo for sharing such invaluable information (I always knew you could never have too much tp)

Prayers and aloha coming your way - to keep you strong and help you find your way and to let the good things come your way too!!
 
#137 ·
I'm just wondering if you're out there foraging for food? Most nuts should be ripe by now, or maybe even past it. And have you foraged in the past weeks? There's free fruit and veg out there!

"So far there's been no money for our anniversary, and Saturday my birthday, and Nov. 12th his birthday too.. and Christmas is looking pretty grim."

Singing, dressing yourself and the house up nicely, cooking a favourite meal, going on an extended walk, etc. are all (nearly) free. Check the Little House on the Prairie books for ideas (and maybe copy one of their celebrations, including dressing-up?).
 
#138 ·
I'm just wondering if you're out there foraging for food? Most nuts should be ripe by now, or maybe even past it. And have you foraged in the past weeks? There's free fruit and veg out there!
We foraged for apples earlier in the year and put away about 2 bushels of those, and also 10 gallons of blueberries!

We got a free bucket of walnuts (english not black) from a local guy who was cleaning up under his tree. By the time we shelled them, and cleaned them and roasted them we probably had a couple pints.. which we promptly ate.. have to do better next year.


With the 1/2 cow now in the freezer, we're just flat out of room to store much more food! We may end up homeless.. BUT man, there'll be one HECK of a feast for the whole block if those freezers have to go!
 
#139 ·
Thanks for the heads up though.. I just arranged that if the worst should happen we now have a place to store all of our food and supplies until we can get another place. Hopefully it won't happen, but you can never have too many of plan F.
 
#140 ·
Another crazy day..

There's a rumor of a hint of a promise of some HOPE!!
Sounds like one of the big refineries is gearing up to do some serious work.
 
#141 ·
OH girl I so pray this happens for you . You have been a real trooper thru this never a oh poor me post continue to keep your chin up. I am praying for you
 
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#144 ·
Man, wouldn't that be fantastic!!!...Got my fingers, toes and eyes crossed for ya.
 
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#145 ·
I hope you have some good news really soon. Saying prayers for you.
 
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#148 ·
I gotta buy a turkey...

Good news is I've already got everything else for Thanksgiving.. Thank you Pantry!
All right now !!!! We're coming to your house for dinner...long drive from Florida to Washington. I'd better start packing and fill the gas tank.

I'll bring desserts !!!

You sound in good spirits. PLEASE post asap when the good news comes. We've followed you thru all this and want to be able to able to do the happy dance celebration with you and yours.
 
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