How Are You Doing It?
 

Making ends meet, that is.

I know we are a diverse group of people with equally diverse incomes and outgoes...but surely most of us are feeling the butt-f*ck in the mouth that is the current grocery/gas/mortgage/various sundries squeeze.

How are you and your family making ends meet? Are you doing things differently than, say, two years ago? How do you downgrade a lifestyle?

I'm not. :(

I'm thinking of selling a kidney.

I'm thinking of buying Infi's kidney. It's what's for dinner.

Selling crack, anyone interested?

Cutting everywhere and anywhere. Adjusting the thermostat. Planning purchases in advance, not buying many frivolous items. . . . Fixing things instead of replacing when available. Simply doing without in many cases. . . .

I work. We spend less than I make.

My wife has been a stay at home mom for about a decade. She's going back to work in the Fall. About 25 hours a week. Perfect job, a permanent substitute teacher at my son's elementary school. She'll float around from classroom to classroom, wherever they need her. And be home around the same time as the kids get back from school.

We had been doing the belt tightening for so long, there wasn't anything left to tighten.

Dipping into savings

beer in cans instead of bottles

OK, damn you. That made me giggle. Stop it, I wanna be pissy. :o

All of you belt tighteners are crippling the economy. Spend, spend! Take out a loan from Guido, if you have to.

Haggis!

starting a new business during a recession with no money up front

I'm not.

I've living back with my parents and looking for a part-time job - ANY part-time job - to supplement my income. But I am up against many, many, many other people willing to take part-time work, especially including teens looking for a way into work, Mums looking to come back to work and both genders above 50, needing still to work before retirement and far more flexible than I am.

And note, I am looking to top up my income so I can continue to pay off my debts, afford dentist & prescription charges and look after my boy. I can't even imagine earning enough to live alone and manage all my utility bills.

I get no benefits or income support because I have no children and am in a "safe" living situation. Both of which are true of course and both are actually blessings. It's just I'm £10 a month better off now I'm working. Cash-wise. Meaning I now get no concessions, free prescriptions, free dental or optician care.

I would be better off volunteering.
But I'm SO much happier working.
And I'd rather be in my right mind than at my leisure.

It's just I'd rather be working and in my own place than at my parents. And the truth is I don't think I will EVER afford it now.
I'm not quite on the breadline yet though.

ETA: White bottoms, white bottoms, talk about breadlines my girl's got'em :)
'cept the original was more accurate!

Funny you should ask, just this morning I did an estimated budget through September, using Excel, so I could modify amounts as they come in.

I am not on public assistance. I pay all normal bills and have no credit cards or time purchases. (I have not factored in the student loans yet *cringe*) What is left over is what I spend on food, gasoline, etc.

I think I could save money in the food department. I am an impulse buyer but stay away from processed foods, mostly. I find I do the best working from a menu but I am either lazy or I suck at cooking or both, since I lack the motivation for it.

Just cut back my Comcast bill in half by disconnecting land line and taking a cable box back.

Stopped buying coffee/lattes out every day.

Bringing lunches and breakfasts to work instead of eating out.

Trying to pay cash for everything even though tempted to charge to feed my retail therapy.

I work two jobs - full time social worker, part time college professor, but I don't teach in the summer. Money is always really tight in the summer and the social work job is getting the 3% pay cut in July. Should be a fun summer, but I'm thankful every day that I have employment.

I just found out my friend at work puts her WHOLE check into savings and only puts $100 into checking for spending. My jaw dropped. Lucky cunt has Mexican parents who let her live at home and pay for everything, including her car insurance. She's saving up for her own house. I asked "Why, why would they do that?" Her, "Thats just how Mexican parents are."
FUCK. I want Mexican parents.
Thats how I'm want to do it, get myself some Mexican parents!

No cable tv, no dating, peanutbutter sandwiches for lunch, haven't even plugged in my air conditioner yet, militant about unnecessary lights being on, fast showers, do laundry at my parents' house, and working on average 64 hours a week. My normal shifts are 8am-midnight, with a couple 12 hrs thrown in there, and only one short 8hr day a week. Off, 16 hours, 12 hours, 16 hours, 12 hours, 8 hours, off.

No cell phones , no cable TV.

You know all that money gushing from the US to China? China throws a lot of it at Australia, in exchange for lots of rocks of various kinds. That money sloshes around in Australia a few times before going back to China in exchange for cheap clothing and stuff. Somewhere in there it comes and visits me.

Personally, I have a fairly good job and no dependants, so income currently excedes (normal) outgo.

I'm not too confident about the future, though. Either the US will stop belching money, or China will burst their residential real estate boom (what they are doing with all those rocks) or record-high commodity prices will fall. Sooner or later, this golden burst will end.

What makes you think it is her kidney she's selling?


Depends which crack you mean, sweetheart ;)

chyeah - like you got picky all of a sudden?

Well, I'm not sure the thyroid scar would really work, ya know.

<spittle>

this except I don't have a job lined up yet

and this. srsly.

Trying to find work that I can do to supplement my SSDI which is pathetic or get off it completely. There's a program which will pay for me to go back to school for retraining, but I honestly don't know if I can make the grades.

I want to move to Durango which has all sorts of part time jobs I could probably manage, but I need to come up with moving costs first. Meanwhile, I do without cable TV, buy my clothes at thrift shops, make do with second hand furniture, do my laundry for free at the motel, etc.

I draw a good salary, but I haven't had a raise in three years--nobody at my facility has.

Some things I do, that haven't actually changed in the few years:

Pack breakfast, lunch, coffee, and water--I never buy food on a work day.
But all my clothes at thrift stores--I never buy clothing for retail (well, underwear).
I'm fine with one smallish TV and stereo A/B sound--I don't do HDTV, Blu-ray, or Surround Sound.
I don't subscribe to cable or satellite--I do everything through Netflix through my Wii.
I don't smoke.

On the other side:
I do drink, usually something every day.
We go out to eat more than we should.

Basically it's all business during the week, and then a few poor choices during the weekend. Although we try to get a few memberships (the Zoo, the Museum) for kids activities and stick to those rather than always blowing money on onesy twosy outings. With the kids, we don't do "spendy" things, and they get their clothes and toys at the thrift store also.

this too. But we'd still do most of this in a good financial situation.

We are trying very hard to keep up with the bills while having my wife stay home with the kids until the youngest is in school. To make that work, I've had to go shake the trees to find more work. I've found two composers who are hiring me to "ghost" for them on their TV contracts (I write the music, they get the credit, I get paid in cash with a wink and a nod), and I've started taking extra session work playing for (gasp) children's musicals for a publisher in Nashville. I do remote recording sessions over Skype for young, eager, horrible singers all over the world (seems like a lot of them are in the UK) who are getting their demos together. I've started teaching lessons again.

Not exactly the glamorous life of an LA rockstar, but it does pay the mortgage. I'm putting in 10-14 hour days pretty much every day, most of it staring at a computer screen in my garage, and I'm pretty sure I'm becoming an alcoholic.

Last week I revisited the crappy neighborhood where I grew up from age 0-13. It was comforting to realize I'm not downwardly mobile - I'm just returning to my roots.

sure I will take a sniff

It is said that a successful man is one that earns more money than his wife can spend....

Are you kidding or half-kidding?

I've heard that said...in 1952! ;)

I grew up in Sharon Hill, PA. Beat that.

getting by and with a little help from a wiseman?
 

ok, try this for the ladies, egg donations,for the men, seed donations, for those willing and really needing,get preggers,give up, get 25grand,{there are overseas parents looking}

Dude, do you have a link for that? I'm totally interested. :cool:

Half-kidding.

I'm drinking more than I should, but I don't think it's time for 12 steps just yet.

Not trying to beat it, but I did just see the house I was born in - Damn stuff looks a lot smaller than I remember.
Cranston Street, Cranston, RI

Infi, you're too old :eek:
I looked into egg donation when I was 34.
Over here you only get travel expenses, and it's long and drawn out with lots of visits to the hopital and having to inject yourself.
But I figured I wasn't going to have any natural children, so why not try to do some good. There are a lot of tests and screenings and I failed at the first hurdle. I wasn't available until I was 35 and that was TOO OLD.

I was genuinely gutted.

Men are okay.
Thwap, thwap, thwap into a container and £40 - kerching!
Women disrupt their whole lives and get their train ticket refunder.
As is once, will always be....

Too old? TOO OLD?

:mecry:

Oh wait...I AM too old! :jig:

:lol:

Home sweet home...

http://cellar.org/2011/camp.jpg

But that way only until we moved on up. Well, moved the garage on up, over a kitchen and indoor plumbing.

http://cellar.org/2011/campup.jpg

Of course we had to go outside to get to it, but it was indoors.