Hello from KY!

[mickee311]

The state, not the jelly. I'm new here, I am so glad I found this site! I'm a SAHM with 3 kids and one on the way. I would love to work to be able to have the extras and all that, but just can't, due to childcare costs being so danged high. It takes a whole paycheck just to pay daycare and pay for gas to and from work. So, I'm looking for tips to help us sta on a budget. Or start one, anyways. We've never really had big money problems before, but lately, finances are becoming increasingly tight. You never realize just how much you rely on a check coming in until it's gone. My son's child support isn't coming in anymore, and although it's only 360 bucks a month, when that disappears, things go to hell! We always did just fine with our bills and the like until that happened. Now, we are having a hard time buying groceries, a couple of bills are behind....We don't have any creditcard debt or medical bills, but our mortgage is almost 1100 a month (around here the cost of living is lower than most places, so this is a lot), our electric bill was the highest it's ever been this month at 150 bucks and because I didn't pay it 3 days ago, I already got a notice in the mail raising it up to 175!! They work fast! I know, people would say well, just sell the house....Not gonna happen. We just bought it last year and DH will not sell, not to mention the market here is crap. There's lots of things we could do without, but DH won't compromise. I could do w/o cable for a while, till things got back in check, but he can't live w/o it. So, it's just me trying tofigure out how to save money. We are military, so you would think going to the commissary would save money on groceries. Not so. It's 30 miles to post and the commissary, so the gas spent going back and forth there after DH has to come all the way home to get me and go back on post, blah blah blah, not too much savings after all that gas. I don't drive, I have a license, but I haven't had the money to get the registration renewed and that's 70 bucks, and then the time to do it again is in october. Even if I had tags for it, I can't drive it. The brakes are bad and there's other stuff wrong with it that would cost more than the darn thing is worth to fix. DH's credit is maxed out with the house and his car, so we can't get a car for me and my credit is soooo terrible and can't be fixed becuase I can't afford it. I would love to get a job when school starts, but I have no way to get there and this city doesn't have public transportation. Ugh.

Yeah, I wrote a book. But I can't tell all this to anyone else, they look at me like they want me to STFU and I had to get this all out somewhere. Sorry if I bored you, I'm just here to pick up tips and make some new friends. I hope to find some people in similar situations that I could learn from. Being late on bills is a whole new thing to me and it's only gonna get worse from here!

[Mom23boys]

Hello and welcome to the Village. I know you will find some great tips for saving money here.

[FrugalMomof3]

Hi and to the village! As for cutting costs, I would have a nice long talk with your DH and let him know the true circumstances or maybe put it right in front of him in writing. We were doing ok and still are but money now is even tighter than ever, we have $800 less per month to work with since DH became unemployed but I luckily am very frugal and DH knows it.

We dont have cable but we do have cell phones, which I wish we could cancel but we would be charged $150 early termination fee per phone so that's $300 we just can't afford to pay out right now (or in other words 4 months of cell phone bills).

I say just make a budget and stick to it, cut down on food costs, driving, electricity (use natural light or use candles), unplug all appliances not being used, limit showers, turn off water when brushing teeth, cut down the phone to the basic, possibly cut off or atleast cut down on cable, run the dishwasher when FULL only, line dry clothes instead of using the dryer, etc..

Just doing these things month after month will lower your bills and free up some extra cash.

I wish you the best of luck but really have a talk with your DH about things.

[Darlene]

Welcome to the Village!
Hey, who's that in your avatar, what a cutie! My first thought was- Oh how sweet, a panda pooch, lol!.

[Neeley]

[sdrjeolsen]

Welcome! I'm sure you will find plenty of tips here to improve your situation.

[mickee311]

Thanks, guys!

Darlene--My avatar is one of the puppies my Shih-Tzu had 4 weeks ago. They're not as big as that one looks in the pic, I was right up on that pup to take the pic. They're adorable. And how we're going to catch up our house bills and getour pantry back up to par when we sell them.

[GMA21]

Hi & to the villlage

[JustJoy]

Hello & to FV!

[Domestic Gal]

Welcome to the village.

Ways to save money.
If and when you have little ones in diapers use cloth. Since you are a SAHM anyway it can save you lots.
See if you qualify for WIC
Use coupons if you do not already.
If you have a Walgreens or CVS near you do there monthly rebates and ECB deals and you will not have to pay for health and beauty products.
Cook from scratch.
Use the Library for entertainment get books and movies from them.
Wash full loads of laundry and hang dry them instead of using the dryer.
make a menu and shop with a list
match up the grocery adds with coupons and make your menu by what is on sale.
If you do these thing it will save you. It does take a little bit of work to plan and make a menu and match up coupons for sale items but it will save in the long run.

[baxjul]

Welcome to FV, and the puppy is adorable!

[Its_Donna]

[PrairieRose]

to the village. Just read, read, read the forums here. You can find the help you need but you have to realize you didn't get into this situation overnight and you won't get out overnight although you can do many things that will cut you some slack fairly quickly. Hang in there.

[jacqueline]

LOL your first line is hilarious. my friends and i joke and call KY - Kentucky jelly. Hate to hear about your downs, but loved your intro. There's tons of tips here to help you along with the nicest people. And don't feel alone I can sympathize as I'm sure a lot of other people here can too. Go ahead and vent - it's better out than in!!
Check out the freebie part of this forum and send for some free samples. They sure do come in handy at times. Esp the samples of deodorant and shampoo.
Hope you like it here

[bumplett]

I would sooo agree with the "freebies" mention - it's amazing how much $ you can save by using samples instead

In my opinion, you can't do this all alone, hubby has to be willing to compromise also - such as the cable.... there are so many things that we tend to "think" we "need" -