May Chit Chat - Page 15 « Back to Group Discussions

[CDsMom1031]

Originally Posted by jbk21 

Nicole- we survive on significantly less than 50k.  Pretty easily, too.   And this is the west coast, where things are way more expensive than the midwest.   Without knowing what your budget looks like, it is hard to say where to cut back.  There are 4 of us and a dog, and we just know that we can't spend a ton of money on shopping, toys/gadgets, etc.  We budget a lot for food, but that is our favorite thing to do- eat good food!  :-)  We are careful with our resources (i.e. gasoline, electricity) so those bills aren't out of control.  We are just really mindful of where our money is going.  

We are also paying off debt from school.  We pay a SIGNIFICANT portion of our monthly income toward debt.  We hope to be debt-free in 3 years or less.  

Would it be possible to stop working for a year or two, until you are finished with school?

I'll be done with school in December, so I don't know how plausible it would be... Especially since we JUST moved into our new house, I'm not sure how the bills are going to be yet. I.E., water, trash, sewage, electric, etc. We don't have MUCH debt, but we have enough that... If we didn't have it, I could not work, LOL. My checks pay our debts, basically. I think it'll be easier once I ONLY have a job and not school, also, but it still sucks and I feel really bad for Conner.

[TalkToMeNow]

Wow, so much to respond to! (That's a good thing... it's been quiet!)

Joanie, I'm glad your dad is feeling better. Hoping he gets to go home on Saturday!

Abra, wow! Can't wait to see more pictures.

Becky, dd1 didn't sit up until 8.5 months. I remember that she was within the range of normal; it wasn't a big deal to her dr. 

Katie, nice on the sleeping. Jasper still prefers to sleep with a nipple in his mouth. Pure awesomeness. Sigh. Also, no way to the baby fever. At this point, I have to schedule peeing. Seriously.

J, having to go gluten free is one of my nightmares. That is all. 

Nicole, I feel for you. You are a good mom, though. When I had dd1, we were living off 29k. That was 10 years ago. It kinda sucked. Lol. A lot of my meals involved potatoes. How many different ways could we eat potatoes in a week? We never got any new clothes, no cable, no going out. At this point, I am embarrassed to admit how much money we make and yet can't make it. I'd say maybe 70k? It's super variable... that's my rounded estimate. Last year it was 95k I think...?? But we have 4 kids. And the older they get, the more expensive they are. We never have enough to get through the month. But we have smart phones, activities for the kids, $1400 per month rent (4 bed, 3 bath), medical stuff, etc etc. I think once you get used to a certain standard, it's tough to cut back. It was very easy to live simply when I was 21 and didn't know any different. It's such an adjustment to lower your standard of living. I have no idea how to make that happen. I've cut out all the frivolous things I used to do (pedicures, new clothes, eating out), but it's still tough. Blah. Anyway, again I feel you. I stopped working, and we feel every penny of it every month. However, I'm not going back to work anytime soon. Of course, in my situation I'm looking at $1400 a month in child care. 

AFM, I've been so crazy busy it's unbelievable. School is out, so my nice quiet routine with Jasper is gone. I finally got in to see a therapist to start family therapy for dd1's issues. Well, said therapist said it sounds likely that dd1 has Aspergers and that I need to get her diagnosed to start with. But that she can help me with coping. So I am back to square one; the family therapist said she can't really help dd1. I'm looking into testing for dd1, but I keep reading how it won't be covered by insurance. Sigh. I'm starting to have a new perspective with dd1, so that's a start anyway.

Tomorrow is dd1's birthday. She will be 10!! Wow. We are having a sleepover party for her, and I'll be taking all the girls to the pool. It will be a stressful day for me. To save money, I'm making homemade mini-pizzas. I'm going to set up a "pizza bar" for the girls. Later, they will have a dessert pizza bar as well. 

Okay, random funny example of my dd1's weirdness: I had her pick a movie off Netflix for her party. She chose the 1974 version of Where the Red Fern Grows. I'm sure the other girls will be *thrilled*. What could be cooler? 

Anyway, the girls will be picked up from the slumber party at 10 on Saturday. Then, at 3 pm I have the bridging ceremony for my Daisy Girl Scouts. So I'm still trying to put together the ceremony stuff for that. Blah. This is why I am still up at 1:20 am. 

[SoCaliMommy]

 Abra ~ What a cool looking bus.

 Becky~ Harlan still will topple either backwards or to the side or to the front when sitting. He's recently been sitting sorta stable for longer periods before he starts to get wobbly.

Nicole~ I've always been a SAHM since my daughter was born she'll be 9 in August. Right after she was born DH was jobless for the first 6months of her life and we somehow managed to survive living in a studio apartment and living in a high cost of living area ( long beach,ca) it was tough though. Right now we are lucky in that my van payment is our biggest payment each month. We've been working on paying off credit cards.  What about working out a budget ?

I know that if my DH was to ever get laid off that we would still be able to live off unemployment while he looked for another job and that we would still be able  to make my van payment ( which will be pay off at the start of 2013). 

Katie ~ Yeah i have a little baby fever, but it usually disappears when the 6 yr old and almost 9 year old start fighting with each other lol.

[CDsMom1031]

I told DH I was going to budget, work my ass off for a month, pay off as much as possible, then quit until I get my "real" job in Jan. He said, "Good. I've been telling you to quit since we've been together".

I just hope it can actually be done. I miss my son.

[Becky Wheeler]

Originally Posted by CDsMom1031 

I told DH I was going to budget, work my ass off for a month, pay off as much as possible, then quit until I get my "real" job in Jan. He said, "Good. I've been telling you to quit since we've been together".

I just hope it can actually be done. I miss my son.

It can be done. We've cut back a lot on stuff we don't need and I'm putting away what we were spending on unnecessary stuff for saving. In a month, I've collected $300. I did this by taking the extra money we were spending in 30 days and dividing it into 1 day increments and taking it out of the wallet everyday. We're paying debt with half of the money I set aside and saving the rest for a wedding next July. Every penny adds up. I became obsessive about picking up every penny since last summer and even that has made a difference. Buying stuff 2nd hand or using store brands, hanging clothes to dry, using natural light instead of house lights, etc.

[Becky Wheeler]

Originally Posted by jbk21 

Nicole- we survive on significantly less than 50k.  Pretty easily, too.   And this is the west coast, where things are way more expensive than the midwest.   Without knowing what your budget looks like, it is hard to say where to cut back.  There are 4 of us and a dog, and we just know that we can't spend a ton of money on shopping, toys/gadgets, etc.  We budget a lot for food, but that is our favorite thing to do- eat good food!  :-)  We are careful with our resources (i.e. gasoline, electricity) so those bills aren't out of control.  We are just really mindful of where our money is going.  

We are also paying off debt from school.  We pay a SIGNIFICANT portion of our monthly income toward debt.  We hope to be debt-free in 3 years or less.  

Would it be possible to stop working for a year or two, until you are finished with school?

We have 5 in our family and make 34K a year. Our rent is $550 for a 2 bedroom.

[TalkToMeNow]

Things are actually really bad right now for us financially. Dh's income is largely based on commission. Recently, his commission has been awful. His company was bought by another, which has lowered confidence in it. We are having to use savings each month to get by. There are so many things we can't cut back on. We can't just pack up and move. Even if we could, it would be tough to find anything less. It's a higher cost of living area. Our utilities are pretty fixed. I'm careful, but it only goes so far. Our water bill is $100 a month!! What?! It's the fixed county rates... Super high here. Dh drives a ton for work. He has to have home Internet, he has to use his cell phone for work. His car payment is high, also.

I've tried very hard to cut back where I can, but so many expenses are fixed. We set these up when we could afford them. It's gotten to the point where I will probably finish off our savings this month. I'm not sure what will happen next month if things don't change... Dh is working very hard right now on starting his own marketing business. I'm hoping that will start paying off soon. Money is a huge source of stress for me right now. I wake up at 2 in the morning thinking about it.

[Becky Wheeler]

I'm sorry, Amanda. :( That's a tough spot to be in. I hope his business takes off soon.

[Jaimee]

Time for a new thread!

[seraf]

Abra, sweet bus.

Nicole, that is no fun. I live in a rural area and our family lives on $400 a week, except that I used my tax refund to take 3 months off work and pay medical bills.

Amanda, I'm sorry money is so stressful. And most of them probably haven't seen that movie, so they may love it.

[birdhappy85]

Oops, I'll repost this in the June thread!