Has anyone here used either Safelink or Assurance Wireless? I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to cut my costs on phone. I don't know weather it would be better to keep the lifeline program on the house phone and just do a walmart $30 unlimited phone, or to go with safelink / assurance and just buy extra minutes.
I have got to cut down our expenses, between cell phones and home phone we're spending close to $150 a month and it's too much.
Thystle: sorry about your layoff, that sucks. I hope you qualify for some sort of unemployment insurance...
frugalmama: I've been selling a lot of books too, but on Amazon. I should check our half-price books, I wonder if the cut is any better.
mamayogibear: I hope your ex pays up- that is so wrong!
mamaofprincesses: I'm sorry about your mother...that's when I feel poorest, when something really awful and unexpected happens, and there's no margin of error financially...costs can add up so quickly :(
As for me, compared to the last few months, it's looking like June and the summer in general will be better for me. I was seriously running out of things to sell (the last thing I'd resorted to was half my cd collection, but fortunately it was stuff that was mainly my ex's and he didn't bother to take when he moved out). Anyhow, about a month ago I came into a bit of money that an uncle of mine had left me in his will. It's not a fortune, but it was enough to let me pay off a couple of my smaller credit card balances, plus put a dent into the biggest one, which is still over 20K, ugh. This now means that not only do I don't have to do the credit card shuffle anymore, but I can start paying off more than the minimum on the one that IS left.
The other really great thing is that it looks like, after a year and a half of negotiations, my separation agreement is done. Once it's signed, the amount of support I've been getting will go up. Things are still going to be tight, but not vise-grip tight that they've been over the last year and a half.
Unfortunately I don't have much happening on the job front. I am getting a few hours of work over the next few weeks helping out with a friend's business, but then once school is out for the summer I'm pretty limited in how much I can work for her. In September I'm going back to school part-time to do a post-grad certificate, which should take me a year to finish. My job prospects once I'm done are good. I can't wait to not need spousal support from my ex. He lords it over me every opportunity he can get, and even though I'm entitled to it in spades, I loathe the feeling of being dependant on him.
Has anyone here used either Safelink or Assurance Wireless? I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to cut my costs on phone. I don't know weather it would be better to keep the lifeline program on the house phone and just do a walmart $30 unlimited phone, or to go with safelink / assurance and just buy extra minutes.
I have got to cut down our expenses, between cell phones and home phone we're spending close to $150 a month and it's too much.
We just got Safelink. It is a Tracphone, and you have the option of three plans. It was really easy to sign up for, since we have FS and other state aid. They didn't require any documentation from us, so they must have alternate means of proof. We only have it because Dh is a route driver and so it's our only means of communication during the day. We're not really cell phone/texting kind of people, so it works for us. I will take it with me on days that I need to go to town to shop, so I have it in case of emergency. As for house phone, we have bare bones on that, too, and only spend $17-18 a month.
I found a way to frugally phone. My mom, sister and I have a family phone plan that we got when my sister and I were in high school so it costs my mom only $40 a month. We only have 200 minuets to share but we added our google voice numbers to our 'in' list. So when we call out through our google voice number or get a call in to our google voice number it doesn't use any of the minuets. I make about 800 minuets worth of phone calls a month, mostly on hold with companies, and only pay $10 to my mom for being in her family plan. I think this works with any family plan but I'm not sure if you can get any for cheap now a days...
We screwed our tight budget with unexpected expense (had to put our dog down), and then the $50 in spending afterward meant to cheer the kids up. And having to defer from our WIC milk because the baby's diaper rash was not from teething. And we only found out after a sippy cup of milk left her with 11 bleeding blisters on her bottom. :( Yay allergies! The rash is almost gone, just light red dots now, and we're going to have the Dr write a note for goat's milk for WIC.
DH and I went and FINALLY turned in our application for medicaid/fs. We had the paystubs and all with us, so now just waiting for cards, though she couldn't tell us how much we'd be getting in fs. Anything will help, though, so we'll take whatever!
I had to stop my hyperemesis medicine because it was contributing to my anxiety. The Dr wrote me a new prescription for both anti-nausea AND anti-anxiety meds. I have to wait for the medicaid card to come since they're $73! But just being off the nausea meds has helped greatly. And as I'm getting closer to 20 weeks it's moving from vomiting to just nausea, which I can deal with more easily.
We have paid MIL back almost all of what we owe her, and are beginning to put aside for paying the 4 mortgage payments we'll owe once July 1st runs around. We should be able to make a payment by the end of this month, and 3 in July. If we can stick to our budget, that is. And DH is picking up extra shifts as he can, which is helping us pay back the advance we had to take last month. It's due by the 27th, but I don't think ALL of it will get paid by then. :/ I hate that we've had some hiccups, since we're so close to being "ok". And we're worried about possible evacuation from local flooding, though that could still be weeks away.
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Hubby got his job back with a lovely 
pay cut and we are having to move again. The two sets of bills and two rents were pretty stressfull to say the least!
Good luck vibes to you all!!!!!!
Nice to come here and feel support from other mama's dealing with the same challenges. I am currently in grad school and my dh is working full-time as a barista and finishing his undergraduate degree after being laid off from a managerial position in January. I struggle with feeling demoralized by things like using WIC checks at the grocery store while the person behind me sighs impatiently and the SNAP card. I am appreciative of these programs, including Mass Health and Fuel Assistance and support their existence but have a hard time to feeling a little bit of shame. I grew up in a higher income bracket and my older sibling is a professional in NYC and dh's family is quite well off so sometimes those economic differences within a family feel funny. Anyway, that's all-just trying to resist old spending habits and really trying to be frugal and remind myself that once I am done with school hopefully I will find a good job and dh will too.
Hello. I haven't posted in quite a while, but I'm back now. I'm a sahm to a two and a half year old daughter and a six month old son. Hubby has been plucking away at the same job for about two years now, without raises and with them cutting more and more corners to up their profit margins. Usually we eek by okay, with the help of snap, wic, and medicaid for our kiddoes. But now our car is on the fritz again and that makes things harder. Thankfully the hubby has been doing rides to and from work anyway and we can borrow a car from my parents on the weekends for trips to town. However we cannot take the borrowed car very far because it has bad tires and we live in a rural area. I'll have to get more creative with my grocery shopping for a while since we used to take monthly trips an hour away for costco. And we won't have very much disposable income at all until the car issue is resolved one way or another-we're having a friend tow it to town for us this Saturday to get an estimate.
Luckily we have what we need and friends and family to lend a hand when they can. My kids have clothes in sizes ahead, and I have some credits to different groupon type places to save up for birthdays and Christmas gifts. We were trying to fix up our apartment a bit (it's been a slow progress since April of this year) but I don't know how much we'll be able to put into things now. This place has always sort of been a mixed blessing-it's close to family and in a good area, but it's falling apart slowly but surely. I'm going to get back on the diy wagon and maybe we'll be able to afford just a little at at time once our budget is worked out.
whalemama I know exactly what you mean about being appreciated but somewhat imbarrassed when using WIC etc... Nothing like a cashier that acts like they have never had a WIC voucher before while the line builds behind you. I always feel my face grow hot as I blush.
DH may have a chance to go back to his old job but I am feeling very conflicted about it. We REALLY need him to but he will have to give up his real estate business and he feels very defeated doing this. If he doesn't take this job I really don't know how we will survive but I also feel guilty saying much about it because I could/should go get a job too. Positive thoughts that we work it out 1 way or another would really be appreciated!
Tomorrow I'm counting coins. I've gone hard core about not spending money and I have a small jar of coins that I need to count.
In equally depressing news my mother is coming to visit the end of July for 10 days or so. That just makes me crazy.
I'm still deciding if I want to go back to school in the fall- some type of Masters program. Probably masters of counseling at Ottawa unless I add classes to my MBA. But honestly that dang MBA has not been helpful in the past 12 yrs, I can't see more classes added on being helpful.
Maybe I've hit summer depression, like people who live where it snows get winter depression? Its just so dang hot here I feel trapped inside.
wow Hi, I just wrote out a long re-introductory post and then for some reason decided to x out of the tab? brilliant..... be back later :P
Well today I went to get the mail and I was approved for the LIHEAP assistance so there should be a small decrease in my electric bill for the next 12 months. I also received a letter from the attys on the Trans Union Litigation case. (you had to sign up last year) and the offer was posted online. I don't remember the details but there was some issue with the credit bureau, settlement is $200-$400. Whatever the amount, whenever the check comes the $$ will go towards either bills and/or DS birthday/Christmas items. Of course the mailbox held the usual assortment of bills as well as junk mail.
Woohoo on the LIHEAP!!!!
I found mold in my/our bedroom again. RIGHT under LoveBug`s bed.
Maaaan, I hate this!!! What the crap am I going to do now. Last time (august 2010) I found A LOT of mold and nastiness behind a big closet in our only bedroom. It took my landlord TEN weeks to fix it, so we had to live somewhere else for 2,5 months. Utter annoying and hell.
Today I found it again. Just a little this time. Yet. But it was clearly mold, on two walls. :(
Aaaaaaaaaaarrrggghhhhh!!!!!!!
I hate having no money..
I found mold in my/our bedroom again. RIGHT under LoveBug`s bed.
Maaaan, I hate this!!! What the crap am I going to do now. Last time (august 2010) I found A LOT of mold and nastiness behind a big closet in our only bedroom. It took my landlord TEN weeks to fix it, so we had to live somewhere else for 2,5 months. Utter annoying and hell.
Today I found it again. Just a little this time. Yet. But it was clearly mold, on two walls. :(
Aaaaaaaaaaarrrggghhhhh!!!!!!!
I hate having no money..
Is there any law saying his responsibility for the mold? Maybe he should hire an inspector to see if there is mold brewing anywhere else.
Can you move into another apartment owned by him while they work on the mold again? Or not pay rent while they do?
I think I qualify for a 'Safelink' phone. This may solve my issue of DS needing a phone but me being too cheap to get him one. He only needs it as a back up and would hardly use it as all.
He has been going to more activities and being a bit more independent (damn those kids that grow up) and I don't like not being able to get a hold of him.
Anyone have 'safelink'??
I was just talking to DH about us signing up for an Assurance Cell. He thought it was pointless until I pointed out when we don't have money to pay for our metroPCS phones and they get turned off, at least we'd have SOMETHING if there was an emergency. 250 free minutes a month. We shall see.
DH has a job...we just don't know what job. Clear as mud, right? He was getting hired where I work to be a civilian staff kitchen worker. Slightly less pay that I get, but do able. Plus he has his foot in the door for when they start hiring officers again (he gets first "dibs".) The day he did his hiring paperwork at my prison, the male prison called him asking if he still wanted a job. They evidently have some opening that will be available soon. The hiring sgts. are getting together to see if they can transfer his paper work over so he can be an officer :D I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Either way its money we aren't getting now! I just can't wait to be able to leave my job and never look back.
hi mamas I'm where to whine.... I read the whole thread, ((((hugs)))))
I've been working at home, and now that all of my kids are home my hours have been cut a lot. But we were supposed to take this trip by car this month, with a lot of my extended family members being there at the destination or along the way, and now DH says we might not be able to afford it. I'm tired of being the flaky one who can't do anything at the last minute. This is related to my work, too.... and it will just look bad if I don't go.
:(
Hi all; I am new to the thread! Sorry to hear, carmel23. Those kind of situations suck, and I'm familiar with them (disappointing work/important people because of low $$$). We normally try to make those situations work when we can, because my hubby's job is one of the most important things we have going right now (no kids), but sometimes we just need to politely say no.
I don't really want to explain our whole situation and/or answer a lot of questions about how we got into this mess......but basically right now, we are feeling the pinch of only being able to have one income since I am too disabled to work (except for some minor at-home computer stuff) and living in a very high cost of living city. We want to have children, but don't, because we simply can't afford it....like even the "bare bones" style of raising a baby wouldn't work, because we have 0 extra dollars in our budget. I feel like that is really sad, and it stresses me out a lot. I have had one miscarriage already (unplanned pregnancy, and also our $ situation is worse since then), and I worry that by the time we'll be able to afford to start trying, I will only have time to have 1-2 children, when really I'm hoping for at least 3. There aren't many things we can cut to make children possible, basically nothing, which scares me. Hubby's salary will have to increase, and we'll have to work hard to pay down student loans, because the payments are killing us.
Can anyone relate to that feeling of wanting a child, or wanting more children, but just not being able to afford it (like seriously, no money in budget at all. I do realize you can have children frugally)? I just worry that later on I'll regret not just going for it. I am not yet at the age where I'd have to do it "now or never", because if I was, we'd try for a baby despite the money situation. (ps---we don't qualify for any aid). The drama of all this stresses me out. I feel like my heart is being torn. I can't bring myself to stop our birth control measures, knowing that if for some reason I had a child and couldn't BF, I couldn't afford formula. I think about the dilemma a lot. I am sorry if I'm offending anyone who is saying, "well guess what....I had a baby with no extra income, so stop whining if you aren't living it!" I don't know if I'm just in my head too much or not. It is hard to relax, when you worry things won't get better, or that in 8 years when they are better, you'll be infertile. Sorry if this doesn't make any sense....I'm just really tired and stressed.
My health is bad too, so even though I put a lot of pressure on myself to find work, the truth of the matter is that I have a hard time getting out of the house because of weakness and sleeping a lot. I am really dealing with a double-edged sword of multiple things preventing me from feeling ready for children. I would give anything to at least "have my health." I take a lot of flack for sitting on my butt all day (not from hubby, because he sees how ill I am), so that is stressful too. I hate seeing the money situation, and not being able to contribute. I worry if things will ever get better, either financially or health-wise. I am not sure which is worse, but right now I am solely focusing on finances as the main problem, because if I thought about my health, I'd cry all the time. I feel I could possibly handle a baby if my health gets a little better, but of course I'd have my hubby's help too.
I just pulled my electric bill up online. LIHEAP was applied. 14% discount for being 'poor'.
I can not wait for this heat to break (3-4 more months).
Food stamps were applied for the month this week as well. I need to pick up a few things at the store tomorrow, mainly produce for the weekend.
I also called in some RX, most are on auto fill but DS 'forgot' to tell me he needed a new inhaler 
.
I'm still waiting for the official word on the cell phone. I 'think' it was approved, does anyone know how long Safelink takes to deliver after an online application? This is a secondary phone for DS so its not an emergency but we don't have a house phone.
Kids start back to traditional school mid August here so hopefully subbing will start w/in a week or so of school starting. Last year I had jobs that 1st Friday.
No luck getting a 'real job'. Teaching, banking, call center or otherwise.
Trying for grad school in the fall. If I can't work, I may as well learn something ya know?
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