I have to ask how many of you are affected.....

[SirenSongWoman]

Like a lot of others mentioned, DH and I live paycheck to paycheck. We made the choice a few years ago for DH to stay home with the kids. He is British and didn't have a work permit yet. Neither of us were used to living on any kind of a budget so we found living on only my income impossible. Soooo, we used credit, and used, and used, and...well, you get the idea. We are now in debt up to our eyeballs. We have a mortgage that we can easily afford on our incomes but because of the debt we accumulated, we are always short. I am currently refusing to turn on the heat. I just want one month with no AC and no heat bills! It gets down to about 57 in the house at night (BRRRRR!!!) but I am holding strong...mainly because my fingers are too frozen to let go. I think a lot of us are in the same boat. Every time I think we are doing alright and we can start to make larger payments on credit cards, something comes up (i.e. brakes on car, kitchen faucet/pipes leaking, etc.). I even tried getting a home equity line of credit to pay off the debt and close the cards. No one is lending at this point. It is so very frustrating!

Add to all this, I decided to start Weight Watchers (online only since that is the cheapest way) and eating healthy is EXPENSIVE!!! I am doing the Core plan which is mostly clean eating...fruits, veggies, whole wheat pastas, etc. Why is it it cost $2 or $3 for a teeny tiny box of whole wheat spaghetti but I can get a box 3-4 times the size of the bad processed stuff for 99 cents.

Gee! After typing all that, I am sure in a good mood now!!

Carrie

Yes, the cleaner you eat the more it costs - and I totally relate to waking up in a cold house. Then you go outside and it's not cold at all. I'm digging out the sweats and my cats are burrowing under fuzzy blankets. I know they're trying to tell me something but at least THEY have FUR!

 

[carres1973]

I am glad when my cats burrow under the blanket...they keep me warm!

I bought a pair of fuzzy socks from Bath and Body last Christmas. It isn't QUITE cold enough in the house to get those out yet but it is getting close!

Carrie

 

[SirenSongWoman]

I am glad when my cats burrow under the blanket...they keep me warm!

I bought a pair of fuzzy socks from Bath and Body last Christmas. It isn't QUITE cold enough in the house to get those out yet but it is getting close!

Carrie

Yea, it's pretty funny when they jump off my lap and I'm like, "No... COME BAAAAACK..." They're my little purring heating pads. I can't do a thing whenever they lay all over me but they really keep me warm.

 

[PhyllisG]

I also saw the O show yesterday with all the ideas for savings. I actually did go around unplugging things that weren't in use. My electric bill was over the top! It should have been one of the lowest of the year covering July and August but the rates had gone up significantly this past summer. I switched from Verizon to a TW triple play which has really helped. I got my final Verizon bill today which was $7.80 and I questioned some items on the bill. The woman told me the bill was wrong and they actually owed me $13.20! I would receive a check. Crazy. I thought I was being petty for asking questions--this is the second Verizon bill that was incorrect in the past 2 months. My property taxes may go up because the town's income from mortgages has gone done drastically, prices are up, and we wouldn't want services cut would we?! Sure cut the existent services--highway and police that's it. I pay for trash pickup and for town water. We are a small town with a low crime rate and the police drive around here--3 cars at a time--with little to do. You see them parked in various spots waiting for who knows what. When my income goes down and prices go up I cut back and I think that is what the town govt. should do and not increase our already staggering burden.

 

[EricaH]

My DH was just laid off last week. I've been a SAHM for almost 18 years (my youngest is 6). We've had a lot of unexpected expenses this year - mostly car repairs - over $2,000. My DH was just in a car accident last month and the driver at fault was underinsured, so we ended up having to pay our deductible to have his car repaired. It's been a terrible year for us financially.

The easiest way to cut back on groceries is to buy junk unfortunately. My kids are loving it.

The worst part is that my DH probably won't find a job locally and we'll have to move. My oldest ds is a high school senior who just sent out all of his college applications. He wants to go to school fairly close to home (3 hour drive), but now we don't know where "home" will be next year so we don't know where else he should apply.

I'm trying to keep things in perspective. We're all healthy and we should be ok financially for a little while at least.

Erica

 

[ldy_solana]

erica and others let me say i am so sorry to hear of layoffs. its such a sad state of affairs. companies send jobs overseas or just shut down with what seems like NO thoughts on the little man who was expecting to wake up and go to work.

phyllis i feel ya i am so scared are taxes will go up. they just raised them but there is nothing stopping them from doing it again.

honestly not to go off but we just need jobs here and make our own products and grow our own food. don't know why we deal with so many countries that HATE our guts and want to destroy the US. my feeling is if you don't like it then the US can leave your countries and fend for yourself. the US can sustain itself if government would allow. i don't pick party sides but i must say we need a new congress and shame on government as a whole for letting jobs just float away and then wonder why some ppl can't keep their homes or make their bills. meanwhile CEOs of failing companies get a parachute. dang most companies reported losses yet the big wigs somehow were getting big bonuses but hey they need the bailout more then the average joe does.

dh and i are hanging in there. we have a low rate on our home and we bought at the right time b/c it was priced way under $100,000 even though that is the appraised value. things are going to be tight for the holidays but dh is working some evening gigs as a bouncer making about an extra 300-400 a month and putting a little away each check. we are doing the little things like unplugging all appliances not in use, not using a/c(and making use of ceiling fans when we do use them it helps a lot), watch how much we drive and i try to get all appointments in on one day if possible so i am not driving across town several times a week but just for those one or two days.also easing up the gas pedal has help get another 20-30 miles out of my tank. we rarely eat out and if we don't have something out for dinner(i forgot to pull something out of the freezer at least 2x a week LOL) its cheaper to go to the grocery store and buy something,b/c you have extra for a meal the next day whereas paying the same or more at a restaurant and just waste it. i shop sales,discount stores, local produce when possible, markdowns,etc.

work clothes i shop goodwill, not ashamed of consignment shops or second hand places that sell gently used clothing or even rugged ol' thrift stores. for viola i am not ashamed of wal-mart or target b/c most clothes for her are under $10 an item. plus she is getting so tall now she can wear some of my shirts(and i have enough for the both of us LOL). i have been on a no buying fitness ANYTHING spree(not even magazines) i make use of my two little legs to get me around if its close buy as well which is great add-on exercising. i also try new combinations of my the videos i have and use magazine workouts i clipped out over the years to just learn to do it myself and that i don't always need a video to workout, just will and a little creativity.

i am stretching things out as far as i can but i still fear things are going to only get worse, but i am trying to hang onto faith the good and strong will survive while the greedy and evil will fail and expose for who they are.

hang in there ladies i feel for ya and at least we can have good friends to turn too and healthy families the make us smile, the only riches one cannot take from us.

kassia

 

[pink_fortitude]

Our company is a small company, but it makes more than 250,000 a year, so could really be impacted by a raise in taxes, and that could cause lay-offs, or worse folding.

That is where we are right now, too. DH runs a computer shop (that someone else owns) and while we are very fortunate that he has a great reputation as a hard, fair worker so he always has work the business will really take a hit if taxes go up... which means that they will have to lay people off, all of whom we have close relationships with, and that DH will have to pick up extra days and longer hours (he already works over 45-50 hour weeks) to pick up the slack w/o a raise in sight, or the owner just might go ahead and decide to sell or dissolve the business so that he can pursue his current interests. (if he does decide to sell we wouldn't be able to buy it, no matter how able we are, because of all the other crud going on in the economy, so we are screwed all the way around this one)
We bought a house that we could afford, not that the lenders said we could though our property taxes have gone up over $150 a month in the past 3 years, we have a 401k that has taken an enormous hit, we don't buy what we can't comfortably afford yet we are really struggling because of the rise of groceries and gas... even if gas is down it is STILL TOO DARNED HIGH!!! Gas is now around $88 a barrel and is around $3.15 a gallon here when around two years ago it was $74 a barrel and was only $2.23ish. Something isn't right! Anyways...
Yes, we are feeling it. I really don't know anybody who isn't at this time. It isn't comforting to know that we are all pretty much screwed, but at least we are in this together and can support and comfort each other.

Missy

ETA my prayers and thoughts are with everyone who has lost their jobs, homes or more through this. My heart goes out to you and yours ((((((hugs))))))