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overwhelmed & have questions - please help!

5K views 27 replies 19 participants last post by  jamie79 
#1 ·
My husband's hours just got cut and we're suddenly going from him earning $500 to $360 a week *before* taxes and child support are taken out. We were trying to save up for the last cell phone bill before we cancel, but all of a sudden I'm overwhelmed with trying to figure out what to set aside for gas and food...

Here's our expenses:
$100 a week in child support - will state work with him to lower this temporarily due to extreme low income?

$150 a month for cell phones - going to cancel this today because ever since Verizon bought out Altel a couple of months ago, we get next to no signal down in the valley where we live, hoping this will get us out of the $300 charge for early termination.

$40 a week for gas - we live an hour from town, hubby has to drive this and I tag along once a week to get groceries and save a little gas this way

$30-40 a week for food (we have hubby 7 year old son every other weekend but don't buy junk food, just staples) - we can lower this I know, but I need help with recipes and websites to plan dirt cheap meals

$50 a week for tool payment (hubby is a auto tech and had to get some tools to be able to do his job)

No rent or utilities right now because we are living next to his parents in a rural area. Our trailer is hooked into their electric and they're not charging us for the $25 a month that the meter shows that we use right now. No water bill, we use water from their house as needed until we can get our well pump bought and hooked up. We were trying to fix up the mobile home for winter because it leaks here and there but now can't afford lumber and stuff. Heat will be wood stove, provided we can scrounge up enough wood, but we have an electric space heater if we need it.

I make most of our food from scratch if at all possible, and we're trying to eat the bare minimum but stay healthy over the next few weeks. I applied for food stamps today, but my interview is at the end of the month which is the soonest they could get me in. We have some food at the house and might be able to make it through next week with just a few things from the store. I quit my daycare job right before we got married because the boss told me that I was being transferred to their daycare in the next town over. We couldn't afford paying extra gas, so I became a stay at home wife which actually saved us more because we didn't eat out or spend on much aside from basic essentials. But with hubby's pay cut, we can't make it and I can't find a job fast even if we tried. I have an accounting degree but no work experience related to that (stupid I know but I wanted try being in childcare for a while since I enjoyed it).

Please, give me your advice. The next month will be especially hard for us and we're willing to listen to anyone and try anything that we can. Help me brainstorm ideas because I just can't seem to think of what else to do. Thanks.
 
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#2 ·
your budget seems really bare bones to me right now, but just a few thoughts that might help -- plan meals down to the last scrap to ensure no waste, eat every last bit. beans and rice, rice and beans. Also, as long as you're home and have internet access, do what you can online to make money. Mypoints and swagbucks both let you redeem points for giftcards to help with necessary spending.

good luck! Hopefully others will jump in with more ideas!
:cowwave:
 
#3 ·
You need to get on the child support right away. If you can document that his income has dropped he can probably get his support payments lowered, but it has to go through the system first.

You are rural? Is there someplace you can go to collect/cut wood for winter? It may not be too late to stack and dry some.

Can you get a seasonal retail job? Is there someplace that might be hiring for Christmas workers? This is generally unskilled work. Is DH willing to work nights or evenings unloading a truck or stocking a store?
 
#4 ·
check on your local craigslist & freecycle for supplies that might help you with winterizing your home, you can put in requests on each site too. I've seen free firewood on these sites before.

how about a food pantry visit til you get your foodstamps.
since you are cooking from scratch already, when the weather turns colder, use your oven more often. You can bake & get the house warmed up at the same time.

could you do in home child care? maybe just before & after school even.


sounds like you are managing on a tight budget already & are willing to do what it takes to get by. hope you will update on your progress!
wishing you well.
 
#5 ·
I feel for you. We are in a real tight spot this month ourselves.
I don't even know how we are making it and I do the budget.

First thing you want to do is to see if you can get the support lowered. I think it goes by percent of income, but not sure.

See if you have a food pantry in your area. Maybe you can do a online search for food pantry and your city, state as the search terms. Call up the churches and see what they have. Call the food stamp people back and see if they can get you in any quicker. They should have emergency help available.

Social services....see if you can get HEAP money for this winter to help with fuel costs.

Yes on getting rid of that cell phone bill. We use tracfones, and buy the $ 20 card for me, and the $ 30 card for him every 3 months. I think Walmart has the tracfone for $ 30 or less right now, that has the double minute lifetime promotion. That's what we got, and they are really nice phones. No problems. He has to have one because of his job.

Do some online google searches for food ideas. Lots of food recipe websites out there.

Maybe you can put a request on craigslist for some free wood.
And maybe a request for surplus garden produce.
We put in a garden this year, and I been canning and freezing a lot of stuff. If you don't have a garden, try for one next year.
I also go to thrift stores a lot. If you need stuff to put food up, see if the thrift store has a request list. I just got a dehydrator through the one we have for $ 5.00.

Hope things work out for you. (( hugs ))
 
#6 ·
Thank you all! I put a request on my local Freecycle asking about food banks/pantries and have a ton of information received in just a few hours from helpful folks. I'm going to gather whatever wood I can find since I'm home most of the week and stack it for winter. We're in northwest Arkansas, almost to Missouri, very rural. In home childcare isn't possible because of how far we are from everything, but I'm searching the want ads daily for anything that I might be able to take on part or full-time.
 
#7 ·
Some good info on the posts here.....do what is mentioned, especially with the food pantries and CL.

If you belong to a church call and see if there is any help from them. Also get the posts on CL.

I have gotten rid of LOTS of free wood on my CL. Also have listed free garden stuff. You have to check it DAILY and it goes fast so be ready to jump on it!
 
#8 ·
You need to go out and find an entry-level accounting job NOW!!! If you have that kind of training, it is your best bet toward LONG-TERM financial stability. With DH only earning $500 per week in the best of times, you probably cannot afford to be a SAHM right now.

My heart goes out to you, and I am praying for you today.
 
#9 ·
Thank you. DH was the one who wanted me to be a stay at home wife and mom, he wanted to be the provider, and $500 a week gross was enough to pay our bills and still leave us a little for fixing up our older mobile home. I'm hunting for an entry level accounting job because I have no work experience in accounting but a bachelor's degree has to be worth something right? Trying to learn Quickbooks and any other software stuff that they didn't teach us in college is a bit hard though.
 
#11 ·
I have a few other suggestions not listed here. See if your MIL/FIL has any "excess" in their pantry they can lend you right now to cut down your food bill, if that's possible. I purge my pantry every few months and send the excess off to friends/family that might need it. I only give it to the food pantry if that doesn't seem to be true. See if your MIL would like you to help her do a purge perhaps?

Re recipes. Look for depression era stuff and cheapo vegetarian ones. like the link below.

http://home.swbell.net/jonceram/cheap.html

IHTH!

Judi
 
#12 ·
Couldn't hurt to sign up of freebies & samples. There are links here & on company sites. Plus, Walmart sends samples really fast. I know it isn't much, but its free & delivered to your mailbox.
 
#13 ·
wow - I have no real suggestions other then what has already been said but I wanted to let you know that you are in my prayers. I'm glad that there was so much help for you on Freecycle re the food pantries.
 
#14 ·
Can you touchtype? Maybe you can call a hospital or lawyer's office and offer to type? I've never done it myself, but I understood that they will send you dictation tapes or sound files, which you then type out and email back to them. They may lend you a computer, tape recorder, headset, foot pedal, etc. Maybe you can do a little internet search to figure out what to charge.
 
#16 ·
The problem with doing the hospital or lawyer stuff is that the language used, ICD9 codes for example (medical diagnosis codes) need to be learned to do it easily and well. The idea has merit, but the specialized vocab. of both those fields would need some studying first I think. I've done medical data entry for a service bureau and that's how I learned them. See if there's a service bureau in your area perhaps?

Judi
 
#15 ·
This time of year here locally, we have 2 companies that do taxes and now is when they offer courses to find new employees, to get ready for January. Maybe you can look into this kind of job ? I realize it is only seasonal, but it's a start.

I don't know if Jackson Hewitt charges for the course, but I do know they charge for the books. Theirs was one night a week when I took the course some years ago. http://www.jacksonhewitt.com

H&R Block wants $ 200 to take their course. Theirs is two times a week.
http://www.hrblock.com/taxes/planning/tax_courses/index.html
They have a 800 number on their website.

I was looking into this for this year but would take the courses locally and not online.
 
#18 ·
If you know accounting, you should be able to figure out Quickbooks. Accounting class shouldn't be about how to use software, it should be about how to apply Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. That way you can do it w/ or w/o computer software.
 
#20 ·
Exactly! I've found an online tutorial for "bean-counters" that reviews the basics and it's all coming back to me, terminology and rules and all. I found a tutorial showing some of Quickbooks features, and it's pretty self-explanatory, so I'm sure that I could use it right off easily enough.
 
#19 ·
Even in hard times, I've been able to help others! I got a few requests for the food bank info that people sent me off of my local freecycle, and was able to compile it and send it on to some other local people to help them out. That made me feel pretty good. :)

Dealing with Verizon to cancel our phones is the major headache right now. They claim that unless their techs can verify that we don't have service in our area (down in the bottom of a valley in the country) then they'll hold us to the early termination fees, which are about $200 per phone. Regardless of what they decide, we can't afford to pay the fees, but can't afford the cell phones anymore. My in-laws live just 250 feet from us in their home, and have to keep their phones in certain places in the house so that they don't miss a call due to no reception. And their home is a large cabin, whereas ours is a mobile home, so material of the walls can't be an issue I think. Verizon's just being a booger to deal with, wanting to get their money if they can.

The local phone company (CenturyTel) is putting in a land line today and it'll save us a ton each month plus we qualify for a discount because of our income level.
 
#21 ·
Some times local community action programs run courses for tax prep if you volunteer to help with taxes for the elderly on a fix income etc. however, I do not believe there is any reason that you would not be able to use that knowledge on your own time to make some money.

Also, they have weatherization programs and LIHEAP programs for those who are income eligible.

Hubby's hours are cut, so he may need to take on a part time job or two especially if he is dead set against you working outside the home.

My BIL heats with wood, he will offer to pick up peoples fallen trees and/or cut down if needed. If you have a town garage you may be able to get wood trom them that they were going to chip anyway. Speaking of towns, pretty much all of them have a general assistance program, that will help with food and such.

Best of luck to you.
 
#22 ·
Tightwad Gazette - see if you can borrow it from a local library - tons of ideas in that book .. I have it and love it!!
 
#23 ·
More ups and downs, not sure if this is life or a roller coaster...and I'm not a fan of roller coasters :p

Hubby may lose his job entirely, the boss has orders from higher ups to cut payroll AND increase revenue...I'm the accounting person and I could tell them that's not possible. There's just not enough business coming in right now. So he's job hunting, and I'm job hunting as well. We've discussed it, and much as he wants to be the provider and is doing his best to do so, I'm looking for one to keep us covered in case he can't get one (winter is a bad time for an auto tech to be job hunting because things are slow). One of his coworkers needed a babysitter for his 1 year old for a while, which works out great as a short term solution. He can't pay me much, but as long as I can keep up with housework and my family while the bills get paid, I'm enjoying it. Life has a way of working things out a little at a time. And next time I'll have a stockpile and emergency fund to keep us from worrying so much. :)
 
#24 ·
That's awesome you found a short term solution. Are there other kids nearby that you may be able to babysit for?

Sounds like you're doing well considering the "murphy's" that keep getting thrown at you!
 
#25 ·
Craigslist has a listing section under jobs for accounting. You should have a look there and see what they have. You might be able to offer work to people who run their own small businesses and don't want to hire a part time accountant.
 
#26 ·
well everyone has pretty much said it all. u r in my thoughts and i hope ur situation works out.but once u r back on ur feet try to stockpile what u can. food,tp,anything. i like to take dollar bills as well as loose change. it adds up fast when u cant see it. thats saved us many time when we fell short.
 
#27 ·
Re the accounting...when I first started working in business, my boss at the bookstore had a bookkeeper who came every month, doubled checked her balancing of the checkbook, and made out the check I think for the sales taxes. Nothing major, just made sure that things were getting done and done correctly.

When I started my business I had someone who was I thought going to do the same, but some how the bills got bigger every month, no matter how much of the work I did, so we parted company. But I could have used someone to come in and talk to me about my money and what was what on a regular basis.

If/when you can get around, you might see if you can get some local small businesses who want to pay you a minimum (like $20-$50 a month) to come in and look at what's going on for an hour or so and talk to the re what's going on? In this economy, two eyes are better than one, and they may (or may not) see the value. I sure would have loved that, but never found someone.

Judi
 
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