*~*~*2012 Low Income Support Group*~*~* - Page 16

[zebra15]

I;m thinking of contacting Book Samaratian to see if they have anything that DS would use for 'school'.  He is reading books so quickly and he is really wanting to 'keep' them.  I can't afford to buy them at this rate.  He is also going to need books for upcoming CTY classes (high school math and science) so I figure it's worth a shot.

Also DS, a newly minted 12 yr old has decided he now wants/NEEDS adult books.  Book #1 is 'Douglas Adams' The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe'   This one won't last him a week.

I guess I can try Book Sam and see what they say.

[happyhats]

i havent posted on here for awhile.  in most ways webarendoing better than ever.  we are no longer on food stamps, we could afford to move to a bigger apartment, and we were starting to save.  but now we are just having a run of bad luck.  first, the vacuum died.  then, our car started giving us issues.  its now a pretty paperweight in our parking lot.  we live in a rural area so having a car is necessary.  now we have to figure out whether to put in another engine or to try to get another car completely.   we are looking at financing, but we have no idea what we will be offered.  in the meantime hubby has rideo work and i have rides to the store.  also right now my kids are technically uninsured since our application for renewal still hasn't been approved.  my husband was approved for a medical credit card when he wentnto the dentist, but didnt use it, so worse case scenerio we have that, and hospital charity care.  hopefully that is resolved soon.

[Smokering]

Well, one of DH's business cronies has been recommending DH to his clients, and now we have a lot of work coming in. Which is GREAT! It'll take me a while to get used to his working longer hours again, though. :)

In other news, our supermarket is doing a 50-cents-a-litre-off-fuel-if-you-spend-$400 thing. So we're going to do a massive shop, enough for the next several weeks (minus fresh veggies and dairy, of course). It's quite exciting. We'll go on Tuesday, which is the cheapest day. I'm making an enormous list... the hard part will be being frugal, not using it as an excuse to buy a bunch of luxury items.

What else? I'm trying to step up my freelance writing a bit; I have a pitch half-written for an Australian parenting magazine which pays more than I'm used to being paid. :p I've always been a bit nervous about pitching to overseas magazines (and the few times I've tried it, it hasn't worked!), but they do tend to pay better. New Zealand isn't exactly the hub of the magazine world.

Found out one of our power meters is uncontrolled when it should be controlled - no idea what that means, but according to DH it goes some way towards explaining our massive power bills, and may mean we get a rebate. Yay!

Hope you're all doing well. :) Christmas is looming up fast, isn't it? I have all these gradiose plans for homemade gifts, but I REALLY need to get onto them...

[journeymom]

Originally Posted by Smokering 

In other news, our supermarket is doing a 50-cents-a-litre-off-fuel-if-you-spend-$400 thing. So we're going to do a massive shop, enough for the next several weeks (minus fresh veggies and dairy, of course). It's quite exciting. We'll go on Tuesday, which is the cheapest day. I'm making an enormous list... the hard part will be being frugal, not using it as an excuse to buy a bunch of luxury items.
 

Our supermarket does the same, 50 cents a gallon if you spend $100. It's been a real help. Dh and I manage to squeeze a lot out of each coupon.  We take both cars at once and fill them up on one coupon.  It's been effective for the grocery store, too. It's the more expensive store with lots of unnecessary services that I don't use.  Without the coupon I'd shop someplace cheaper.

Sadly, they're increasing the threshold to $150 next week, and they eliminated milk from the list of applicable items. 

[Smokering]

Wow, that's not bad! We shop at the dirt cheap, pack-your-own-groceries supermarket, and usually you get either 4 or 6 cents off a litre. 20 cents as a special promotion. The only reason they're doing 50 cents off is because it's their 20-year anniversary.

We did it, anyway. DH came along, we used two trolleys, and he carefully added everything up on his phone as we went. He still managed to get the total wrong by $11, mind you! :p The sad part was how EASY it was to spend that much. I was kinda hoping we'd hit $300 and be all "Well, we have everything we need, let's stock up on 8 more roast chickens"... but no. We got plenty, but we'll still need to be careful to make it last four weeks. Oh well, it was kind of fun!

I have a bit of Gainful Employ looming. A few shifts next week at the Academic Dress Hire place, handing out truncheons to graduands; and then in November, a few weeks of scrutineering end-of-year exams at a high school. I'm not sure whether or not it's actually worth it, stress-wise; DH hates having to watch the kids for 4 hours at a time, and while it would have been a no-brainer when he was short on work, he's now swimming in it. (Which is grand, don't get me wrong...)

Hopefully he can adjust his work habits so he catches up on his work later at night instead of watching ER with me; which will free me up for sewing Christmas presents. That'd be good, really. I always mean to sew at night, but when DH offers to flop on the couch with me and stare mindlessly at a screen, I don't generally have the oomph to be virtuous.

And my little income should pay for DH's Christmas present... if I can figure out what to buy him.

[Nursingnaturalmom]

How is Christmas planning going for everyone??

[justmama]

Christmas will be small this year again.  Smaller than last year.  But last year was a beautiful Christmas even though it was smaller.  We had a lovely homemade breakfast, spent all morning hanging out playing with  toys, and enjoying each other's company.  This year will be a little smaller probably but I plan on doing the same homemade cinnamon rolls and decorating a small real tree and hopefully it'll be a white Christmas and we can enjoy time outside in the snow.  I'm yardsaling for presents right now and have a small amt of clothing for each child already  Need some fun presents too of course.  

The fall garden is coming right along with lots of kale and carrots and potatoes and peas.  My broccoli fell prey to cabbage loopers unfortunately though.  I managed to get a good amt canned and frozen from the garden and wild foraging and farmer's market deals this summer so we'll eat well this winter hopefully.  And my school year babysitting job(before school care) started back up again which gives us a little more cash.  And I was pleasantly surprised to see that when I got out the bins of winter clothing, each child was already set with clothing, snow boots, snow pants, and a winter jacket.  I made them each a hat and mittens last Christmas so we are set there too.  Feeling awfully blessed and cared for in that respect.  I won't have to worry about anyone being cold which is nice.  

[happyhats]

i was able to get most of the childrens gifts for free, thanks to a referral bonus from our bank.  i have a good deal of other presents bought as well, thanks to shopping throughout the year and yardsaling.  we have a pretty nice sized list of people to shop for though (about twenty)  so it gets pricey fast.  oh, and both my childrens birthdays are a week before christmas.  i am hoping to get a few more gift cards from our bank rewards and swagbucking, so that will help hopefully. 

our car has been out of comission nearly a month now.  we have been going through the stress of trying to finance something new.  my husband doesnt have the best credit but has a stable job and my parents, with perfect credit, have offered to cosign.  it is still hard going though, and finding money for downpayment ane taxws, plus insurance, is weighing on me hard.  i am seriously considering buying my sisters clunker from her until tax time, but there is family pressure to buy now.

[greenmamato2]

The Holidays are going to be stressful/hard for us this year with everything going on, and not much money.  We're expecting a baby any time over the next 3 weeks, so that is going to be a big change.  We're using cloth diapers and I am breastfeeding to help lower costs of a new little one, but as we all know, money still goes fast with a new baby.  I'm also going to have to take time off work with the baby so that will cut into what we have available to work with significantly.  I'm trying to get in as many hours as I can now, but it is hard with so little energy in my last month.  We also have TONNNS of birthdays: hubby, mom, my best friend, 5 of my friend's kids, my daughter, my MIL, and my FIL, all before Christmas.  Then of course there is Thanksgiving too!

I've been shopping at our local thrift store now and then to find little things we can wrap up for gifts.  I've found a few things.  I got MIL a Thomas Kinkade collectors plate that hangs on the wall.  When I wrap it up pretty she'll probably love it.  I am going to re-paint a frame, and print some photos of my friend's kids to give her for Christmas.  I'm planning to make some baked goods as well, though I always feel the pressure to do more than that. 

I'm working on doing some trades for items, but we'll see how that works out.

[happyhats]

well, just talked to the hubs.  we crunched the numbers and its not possible for us to finance a car at all.  so now i have to talk my sister into letting us buy her old van.  we can pay for that in cash right now, but we have to see if it will pass inspections or what it should need.  i am bummed but also relieved to not have a large monthly payment looming over my head.  we have accomplished a lot financially this year.  we have gotten off food stamps, we are working in a budget, we have gotten our grocery budget under control.  now after the car issue is temporarily resolved we can work on savings so when taxes come we can buy a car outright.  ugh, we have had lousy luck with cehicles but we live in a rural area.

[Nursingnaturalmom]

Christmas is always an interesting time around here.  I am blessed with kids that know sometimes they are blessed with  a gift or 2 and sometimes not.  They don't seem to mind much.  We focus so much on our faith and family time toys seem to just be an added bonus.

[greenmamato2]

I just wanted to say that you have done an awesome job happyhats!!  We've made progress this year too, and it is incredible to look back and see what has changed.  I don't have to go to the food bank anymore, and that is a wonderful feeling. :)
 

[zebra15]

I have no idea what I'm going to do for Christmas.  DS is 12 and while he doesn't really have 'wants' anymore.  He has expensive 'likes'.  I haven't had good luck with employment since moving back to AZ but it was best for our mental health.  I still can't afford our own apartment.

[happyhats]

thanks greenmamato2,  i feel pretty blessed.   seriously, when the hubs and I got together we were literally homeless.  Even after getting an apartment there were the food banks, the ekectrical assistance, even tanf for a few months.  Myhubby didnt have a job the first seven months of dd's life and we lived off 500 a month.  Now hubby has stable work, we are almost assistace free (we still have state ins for the kids but we have to pay a premium), and we did end up financing the vehicle after all. So now things are a bit tight but we will be fine as long as we budget more strictly.  

Doesnt help this year but next year i am so getting a christmas club account.

[greenmamato2]

Zebra15 - have you checked out slickdeals.net?  I have to be careful because it is hard not to spend $ here and there on really good deals, but if you are judicious with it, you can find some nice things.  For example, two of our friends' kids are boys just a bit younger than yours, and both have pretty expensive likes as well.  We usually do Christmas morning with this family, so we always do nice gifts for everyone, but are really tight on funds this year.  One of the things they're really into right now is Call of Duty for XBox.  Of course everything Call of Duty is expensive, and they don't want a lot of the cheaper stuff.  I noticed on SlickDeals today that there is a set of $100 headphones for $12 with free shipping.  I'm going to talk to hubby and see if that can be our big Christmas presents to each of them, since I know they have MP3 players already that they could use them on.  It can be worth it to check that site for deals, because you never know what you'll find, and sometimes things that "seem" expensive can really be pretty cheap if you find the right deal!

[justmama]

Originally Posted by zebra15 

I have no idea what I'm going to do for Christmas.  DS is 12 and while he doesn't really have 'wants' anymore.  He has expensive 'likes'.  I haven't had good luck with employment since moving back to AZ but it was best for our mental health.  I still can't afford our own apartment.

UGH.  Right there with you.  My oldest girl is 12 too and has the same thing.  My only saving grace is that she adores reading and drawing.  And those things are fairly cheap.  I can get Barnes and Noble gift cards through swagbucks for nook books and there's always ways to find art supplies cheap.  It was so much easier when she was little and easily impressed.  She's a good kid, don't get me wrong.  She understands lack of cash flow and she's not a brat......but I know she'd love some of the fancy expensive things her friends have like tablets and ipod touches and such.

[Smokering]

Do any of you mystery shop? I've gotten so many nice Christmas presents and "extras" from mystery shopping - and there would be a billion more opportunities for it in the USA, I imagine.

So far my mystery shopping haul for DD includes:

-a fancy notepad with scrapbooking-type paper from kikki.k

-a marble game

-pack of undies

-a few lots of hairties

-a comb

And I got two nice button-up shirts for DS last week, on deep discount and through mystery shopping, for $2. Also a free bottle of rum. :p

So yeah, not so good for expensive wants - I doubt you could get an iPod Touch! - but good for stocking stuffers and general homeware-you-couldn't-otherwise-afford, or free meals, and that kind of thing. I did some grocery store ones awhile back that got me $20 or so of free groceries. And I replaced some teatowels, which I wouldn't have otherwise done... and bought some lettuce seedlings from a hardware store mystery shop... stuff like that. Fancy Vitamin D for the kids, once.

It's not "good" money, but it's fairly easy to obtain... you know?

[justmama]

HA!  She's not getting an ipod touch.  I don't even have an ipod touch!  I have my sister's old nano for when I go running.  It's like one of the very first ones.

[maciascl]

Anyone still around? I think I have given up on the idea that we will ever get out of this hole. I think we will be 'low income' forever, even if I went back to work. Kind of sad!

[micah_mae_]

Originally Posted by maciascl 

Anyone still around? I think I have given up on the idea that we will ever get out of this hole. I think we will be 'low income' forever, even if I went back to work. Kind of sad!

I feel ya. It's Christmas time, Our van has cracked motor mounts and the truck has a blown gasket. Sigh.