Frustrated - Financially drowning

[Gibs]

MONEY IS SOOO TIGHT, I am soooo frustrated, and I need help getting back to the basic bills and mortgage and student loan.

Due to my hubby being off work sick for quite a few months, we are in such a bad financial state, it is ridiculous!

I found this site a short while ago and I have been trying to learn all I can about couponing, stockpiling, reducing debt etc.

We make very little money. I am a sahm. My husband brings home about $1500 a month. And where we are a low income family we get about $920 a month child tax benefit and universal tax benefit which is for families that make under a certain amount.

It is not worth it for me to go to work here, I will get about 8-9 dollars an hour, have to find a baby sitter for 3 kids loose at least $400 off the child tax/universal tax benefit because I am working, and then have to pay out pretty much what I make to the baby sitter. There are no daycare centers here. So at least being home I know how my kids are treated, fed etc.

so that is about $2420 a month, all sources of income, not including any overtime that hubby might get, he cannot work overtime very often because of the type of shifts that he works.

Here are some of our bills: (this will be the approximate cost of bills once we get back on our feet because of him being off.)
Car insurance per month: $57.51 September - May (pay down payment and then pay a payment for 9 months, and then get three months with no payments)
mortgage: $180 every 15 days (Aprox $360 per month)
Phone bill: Approximately $70.00
Electric bill:Approximately $120.00 a month (cheaper or more expensive depending on time of year)
cable/internet:$80.00 a month

Once a year bills:
bus fee for lunch time busing for DD for school: $38.00 (sept or October) Has to be paid by October Th
Donation to Children's hospital for their telethon (both dd and ds have used this hospital, dd more so due to sickness so I will not be cutting this) $20.00 Usually August
stickers on car: $140.00 July
renew car insurance: $200 August (pay so much down and then so much a month for 9 months)
Back to school things
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Debt:
Student loans for both DH and me
APROX: $16000 each
Approx: $32000 all together maybe a little less....
(UGH UGH UGH)
We are currently not paying on this....
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Something stupid on my behalf:
columbia house DVD club
membership fulfilled, owe them $91.07 and then they can bugger off LOL

Lawyers fees from buying house (my brother paid some of it for us and we have to pay him back, house is in his name as we were bankrupt about 4 years ago) so this is what I owe him: APROX: $1000
I also Owe him: $600.00 in back rent (where hubby was off getting paid very very little)

Grocery store here: $300.00
Garage for car stuff: $300.00

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We do not get income taxes back it goes automatically to pay off student loans.

These are approximates for the amounts of other things:
Gas: $250.00 a month (depending)
Groceries: I really don't know for sure but at least: $500.00 (will budget in September and see)
Baby: $60.00 (diapers and wipes)

MISC: Need to buy a new "T" for our Chimney hopefully we can get the part if not we will have to replace the chimney.

Cost of T approx: $200.00 Have to get this done this month or early October.

Okay so. My hubby got paid Yesterday. He got a little more money because of over time.

He got:
$853.36
-$150.00 Electric Bill
-$ 59.59 Internet/Cable Bill
-$ 57.51 Car Insurance
-$180.00 Mortgage
-$ 87.32 Gas
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$318.94

Then I gave my Nan $20.00 for her 92nd birthday
Spent $24.75 on a few groceries
DH spent $20.00 on a few things for work, and withdrew $40.00 to keep in his wallet in case he needs it.
There was a bank fee that came out.

So that gives us a total in the bank of: $207.52

This is what we have left to pay on those bills to be up to date: Not including any new bills that will come at the end of the month.

These are the current totals on my bills that I owe:
columbia house: $91.07
Telethon (children's hospital): $20.00
Hospital: $25.00 (deductible, insurance paid rest)
Internet/Cable:$100.00
Phone: $75.99
Electric:$129.34

And the other totals for the store and the garage, my brother etc.


We are in quite the state!

We don't eat out Hardly ever at all.

I use coupons, keeping in mind that we cannot stack coupons, our stores do not double or triple coupons, we cannot use printable coupons. I buy things when its on sale, I buy things in bulk when it is on clearance, I buy a lot of generic brands unless its something we don't like or I have a coupon where I can get a better deal then generic on brand named stuff.

I use coupons on clearance items to get things for free or next to nothing, this works really well on hba things, shampoo etc.

I go to dollar stores and buy things there if it is something I need.

I have cut down the whole way around on how much laundry detergent I use, shampoo, dish liquid etc.

I recycle: we get back .05 cents per beverage container.

We cut our own wood for the stove for the winter.

If we had everything paid up to date we would do good each month money wise, we could start paying on our student loans again.

We have no emergency fund. No savings. Nothing to even take to get back on our feet.

I am so very frustrated, down and depressed, and I am just tired of it, we need to get on our feet, badly! The prices of everything keeps going up and up and up and my husbands pay does not. It really sucks.

I have even thought about going bankrupt on my student loan, when I was bankrupt before I couldn't because it had to be 10 years old, now it is 7 which will soon be up...SIGH

I need suggestions, etc, I am sure there are things I need to add to this, but Right now I can't think of any I will add them once I think of them.

Thanks in advance for reading this.

[frugal_cavy]

gibler,

Do you have a landline, cell phone or both? Bell has a new thing called phone lite for 17.95/month...land line only and it's available to existing customers (I know 'cause I just signed up).

Are you near a college or university or hospital? Check out their job postings. They pay better than minimum and once you're in, you're in. Check out your city's website for their job postings for the same reason.

Check out Canadian Tire Financial Services...they have a promotion on right now...open up a bank account with them and they'll give you $20. You can do it over the phone. Free money is always good!

If your husband is home on weekends...how about cleaning someone's house once a week for 3-4 hours for $60. I did that for a while and one client hired me to work as a receptionist in her husband's family practice. You never know what doors someone's toilet will open, LOL!

Sorry to hear you're going through such a tough time right now! Take it one day at a time. This too shall pass!!

frugal_cavy

[Darlene]

If I were you I'd be working a shift opposite my husband. It would be good for your self esteem, your pocketbook & more .
No more eating out at all.
Internet and cable, I'd pick one
I'd wait on the telethon $
Glad you are cutting your own wood for heat
Glad you are getting rid of columbia house & won't be doing that again
Bankrupt before?
Good Luck on your journey.

[MoonMommy]

I would also find a job to work on a shift that your husband doesn't, even if that means third shift. Check with colleges, hospitals, etc. If you don't have to pay for a babysitter due to your hubby watching the kids, then $8-9/hour is pretty helpful. I know....I did that myself. Worked pt at Bath and Body Works for about 4 years. It helped with pocket money, fun money, and some months really helped with the bills.



See if there is anything you can pick up at home. Maybe babysit? I like the cleaning houses idea or even a paper route. If it is one that you can walk, then you could take the kids with you.

I know it is hard to do, but I would TOTALLY get rid of cable and internet. These aren't NEEDS, they are wants. One month of that payment pays off your columbia house. Try to think of it as a reward. If and when you get out of debt and can once again afford it, you will get cable and internet again.

Also, before you default on your student loan, I would call them and see what can be done. They would rather get something than nothing at all.

[Maine Girl]

Have you read our Dave Ramsey thread under section money. He has great suggestions. Do you have a library near you that you can check out his books. It is time you take control over your money. Do you have things to sell? Taking it one day at a time is good advice and I find that this site helps me so much.

[Susanscraps]

Sorry you are having such a tough time. If your DH does not need internet for work, I would cancel the cable and internet. Use a library if needed. Try and cut your phone bill down and work on your grocery budget just a bit harder ( i know, easier said than done!) Unplug EVERYTHING that is in an outlet, unless being currently used to help your electric bill. Can you use cloth diapers several times a day? Disposables can be budget busters! I don't understand $300 for the garage?
Good luck to you, just keep plugging along...

[Gibs]

Frugal_cavy:
We only have a land line. We do not have cell phones at all, knew we could not afford them, so we never bothered.

I am 45 mins to an hour away from Hospitals or colleges or even places to grocery shop.

My husband is home one weekened and works the next. His hours are totally different so it is extremely hard to get a job that will revolve around his hours. This is his schedule....monday and tuesday 8am-8pm, wednesday and thursday off, then friday, saturday, sun, 12pm-12am, off monday off monday and tuesday, wednesday and thursday 8am-8pm, off friday,sat, sunday,, then monday and tuesday 8-8 overnights, its constantly changing, and he works 12 hour shifts sometimes longer. Plus any overtime he picks up, work is 45 mins to an hour away so it takes an hour for him to get home, If he had worked overnights he has to sleep when he gets here, so its kinda frustrating.

And I know that a lot of this is self induced, the fact that we are struggling. But a lot has to do with him being off work.

Darlene:
the work thing I explained above. Might try the cleaning or babysitting if i can find something tho. The bankrupt before was major stupidity on our part, young, very young. I got pregnant, got taken off work because I had complications the entire 9 months.

As for internet and cable I think we are cutting the cable, keeping the internet and see how that works for a while, we don't watch a huge amount of tv anyway, the kids can watch movies or whatever that they already have.


moon mommy, thanks for the suggestions.


Maine Girl: I have not read the Dave Ramsey thread, but I will certainly check it out. As for selling things, I have sold a few things lately, baby infant car seat, highchair, exercaucer and we did have a yard sale in the summer that generated a little extra money to help pay stuff, we bought the paint for our steps and patio out of the yardsale money, and out of the baby items, we bought other things the baby needed.

Susan scraps:
The 300 for the garage bill, my hubby worked at a garage as manager before he found this job which is better because the pay was more and we got medical insurance with it (dd has asthama and is on different med and dh has epilepsy) they let us charge money to them to get our vehicle fixed

The unpluging things, I never think of that, so what do u unplug, Everything??

Cloth diapers, not sure if we can even get them around here....

I am in a very very very small town probably 1500-2000 people at the most. So it is extremely hard for us to get work here, or whatever.

[Luv2BeFrugal]

You've gotten some great suggestions so far.

I think I would go through the house and unplug EVERYTHING. That could cut a bit on your electric bill.

Do you have a washer/dryer in your place or do your use coin-op? Either way, hanging your laundry to dry would really add up in savings.

I'd keep looking for more things to sell...that can add up...

Do you scratch cook/bake? Beans and rice are usually pretty cheap to eat...and nourishing. Also, unless you have a bakery outlet or something similar nearby, making your own bread is easy and CHEAP. You don't need anything fancy...just flour, salt, yeast, water...and a pan to bake it in...and that doesn't even have to be shaped like a loaf of bread.

Good luck to you!! And keep us posted!

[kita]

Cloth diapers can be made at home. Search for patterns online. Fabric can be old t-shirts and towels if that is all you have. I have seen a site that even gave directions for making diaper covers from old wool sweaters from Goodwill. Even if you made up ten over the course of a week--esp from old clothes, you would be coming ahead in the diaper department at least.

[MoonMommy]

As for unplugging, I have a lot of my appliances on powerstrips, then at the end of the night, I just flip the switch on the powerstrip. So, the TV isn't on all night, same with radio. You can even unplug the microwave. Any of our new appliances that are plugged in seem to draw even a small amount of electric. If you consistently unplugg (or turn off the power strip) than you will save some money over time. Also, as you need to change lightbulbs, look for those florescent ones to replace the old tungsten ones with. Those can also save you some electric. Also, turn off the computer when it isn't being used and unplug it totally at night (or use power strip).

Hanging your clothes out is a great idea. See if there is a place you can put a line or two inside (basement?) so that you can dry stuff all year round.

Try to cut down showers to 5 min or less.

[Gibs]

luv2befrugal: My computer uses a power bar as well as our tvs and stuff. I will deffinately be turning things off to save money.

I have my own washer and dryer, I use the clothes line as much as possible.

I have never baked bread from scratch, I have made bread with a bread and roll mix or something like that, but I am very very new to this frugal living stuff.

I cannot see the link that u posted this is what comes up:
It is better fried than typedspam!

kita:
I will deffinately check out the cloth diapers idea. Thanks

moonmommy: My showers are very very short. Dh on the other hand loves his shower, so it is a little harder to get him to cut down, but at the same time he is doing better then he was before.

I already use the clothes line as much as possible.

Thanks everyone for posting again.

[stevie]

Start putting up notices that you will pet sit, house and babysit. Around here you can get $15 a visit to pet sit or go by someone's house while they are out of town and pick up mail and water plants not sure how much you can get for babysitting. You can also watch kids after school.

Can you have a garage sale or sell stuff on Ebay to make a few extra bucks?

Call the phone company and internet provider and see if their is anything they can do to lower the bill.

You can buy cloth diapers at Walmart.

Do you have a library close by? Check out the Tightwade Gazette and the Dave Ramsey books as well as DVDS.

Good luck!

[frugalbabe]

--Go through every single room in your house with a pencil and notebook and write down ever single place you could be saving on. (Is everything weather tight? Are there outlets that have a power "vampire" attached? interesting side note microwaves use only 20% of the power they output on cooking the rest is used by the clock! Make a resolve that the dryer is now off limits clothes can be hung inside on rainy days. Anything at ALL you could sell?)

--It's called beans and rice baby! Get to know scratch cooking. There are lots and lots of resources on-line. Mixes and anything prepackaged are no longer options. Learn how to make your own laundry detergant.

--Cable is gone. Eating out is a thing of the past. You use the car sparingly.

I don't mean to come across as harsh at all I have just BTDT and you have to get fierce if you're really determined to start turning things around financially. Not having an EF is just downright terrifying. Seriously think of this as a fight and you are going to WIN!! We've all got your back and there are many many here who have walked the path you are now on.

[missmanny]

Gibblerkelly.

you have come to the right place.

There are tons of ideas here and plenty of people who are doing it tough just like you.

Keep in mind that it takes effort to live a simple life but the reqards are amazing.

Good luck with everything. we are all here anytime you need advice

[LexTysMommy]

I would sell lots, anything that you do not need, old kids clothes, household stuff, etc. Try to make at least $100 a week. craisglist it? free ads in newspaper?

Good luck! come back here often and try for no spend days? lots of good ideas.