by minimus 47 Replies latest jw friends
I'm just starting my own company so of course I have no income at the moment.
My husband does well but I hate feeling like I don't contribute so I do my part to ensure the lights are not left on, the heat is down etc. I try to find sales and buy lots of cheaper food for meals. We used to eat out all the time but we are definately cutting back on that now.
Of course when my company takes off (I refuse to think any other way) then I will be contributing again so I'm looking forward to that!
MMO
I have a house for sale in Michigan. Moved to OK for a job... wife went to work here making a bunch more than she was making up north.
The house has been up for sale since last fall. I re listed with a agent a week ago. I will sell it at a loss at this point. At this point bankruptcy would be a plausible option for me.
Hill
I remember in 1999 my car cost me $18 to fill up. Yesterday it cost $58!
The trickle down effect hurts everyone.
And look at the price of rice! They say that staple will be ridiculously expensive. Dairy prices skyrocketed. Metal prices are through the roof.
I haven't filled up lately, but my 2006 F150 would likely cost about $100 to fill at the latest prices, which are about $1.22 per litre. I'm not driving it much lately, but using the subway to get to work. Lately a tank of gas lasts me about a month.
W
Funny, Im at the best point financially ever in my life.
My work pays for my vehicle and practiaclly all of my fuel though. Otherwise I'd prolly not be able to afford to drive to work
Learning to live on unemployment benefit of £60.50 a week (about $115). That has to pay for electric, gas (methane for heating & cooking, not car fuel!), water, food, phone, travel costs, loan and for the moment, council tax (which is £60/month so 1/4 of my total monthly benefit is gone already!) - hoping to cease paying that soon though. My mortgage is fortunately covered by insurance so I won't get reposessed, plus I have a lot of equity in my property, it will never drop down to what I paid for it so I could sell up as a last resort - there are people here who will buy your house instantly at about 25-30% below market value, not ideal but...
I'm eating a lot of rice and pasta to keep the food bills down, I'm growing my own veg but they wont be ready for harvest for a few months yet. I've discovered freezer packs of meat which usually consist of cheaper cuts but you get a lot for your money! Greengrocers here often sell fruit and veg cheap when its going past its best or if they've had to trim bad bits off, also good bananas if they've become single! I check the reduced sections at supermarkets and we have food clearance shops too where they sell top brands really cheap when they're close to the best before date or if a batch wasn't up to standard but still useable! For other foodstuffs and groceries I buy the 'no frills' value labels. Takeaways are out now!
And I confess, I collected disposable napkins to use for hankies - there's something rather endearing about blowing your hooter on an image of Colonel Sanders lol!
Since we were Bushwacked I lost a 50,000$ a year job making tools and have found a job for half that much working in a jail.
The State I live in was also Bushwacked and they have a hiring freeze on employees.
So today I worked 16 hours starting last night at 10 till 2:30 this afternoon.
The govenor of my state also let my home owners insuance get bushwacked and my home owners insurance has been taken over by the state costing 8 times what it cost in 1981, or 800%. But my wages since 1981 have gone up 22%. Wait a minute the govenor of my state also was a Bushwacker.
Fortunately back in the 80's I realized I was a former JW with out a decent education so I paid my house off by the time I was 40 and I stayed out of debt and healthy.
So this week I was able to make ends meet. But I think the Bushwakers and other leaders of the United States Government want to eliminate the middle class which I used to think I belonged to.
Plus my investments in the stockmarket have made about 1% for the past 8 years.
The last year of the Clinton Administration I made 43% on my money. Almost as much in dividends and growth as I make today working full time for a year.
But I still have 150$ a week to take my wife out to dinner and what ever else that will buy.
Actually I usually eat cheap and take her out to 3 or 4 dinners.
I'm doing ok today. But I have been having to work a 16 hour day. And I cant or wont quit because the next job out there for me will pay half as much and probably still work my but off.
Also my wife has to work full time and she provides my health insurance.
When I saw Mr. Weedwacker steel the presidency. I sold my Ford pick up truck that was getting 15 mpg and bought a Dodge Omni which got 30 mpg until a drunk smashed into it at 3 am while i was at lunch from the jail. Now I have a toyota tercel which gets 27mpg. And my wife got rid of her Nissan fronteir and bought a Toyota Corrola which gets 30 mpg.
With gas costing 3.50, its been costing me about 23 Dollars a week to go to work and to the gym 5 days a week.
I miss the days when the stock market averaged 15% a year and America made things.
I just made a big pot of minestrone, using soup stock I regularly keep in freezer. With a thrice weekly splurge of Truckee Sourdough Company Kalamata Ciabatta (sells out quickly though stocked 7 days a week), I eat soup for lunch and dinner.
Forget the antepasto and entree!
CoCo Cucina
Not really ... but we have made some adjustments in our lifestyle.
The big gas-guzzler SUV (13 MPG) that I used to drive to work (25 miles each way) now gets driven by my wife since she is only about 5 miles to her office.
On most days, I now drive her diesel car that gets about 45-48 MPG .... that's about a gallon of diesel daily for me to go to work. Not that bad.
Rub a Dub
We're doing okay but always trying to save somewhere since work is reduced to 4 days instead of 5 days a work as a direct result of the price of gas. Fewer days = a loss of $$. We drive slower in order to conserve gas and noticed a lot of people out there doing the same. Little things can save over time as well. Scrap the long distance plan on your phone if you don't use it and get a magic jack or calling card instead. Scrap the expensive cell phones and contracts if you only need it for pleasure or emergency - get a simple trac fone and 500 minutes good for the year for about ten bucks a month total. Automatic withdrawls for payments of things like utilities often come with an admin fee - those add up. Paying things like car insurance monthly usually cost an admin fee so if you can afford it - pay it all at once. Shop online if you can't get out - some places like Amazon have free shipping over $25.00 so you can save the gas and time if you can do it online. Shop for food in bulk if you can to make the trip count - even if it's just for things like canned goods etc, watch all the 2/1's especially if you live in Casino country.....a long list. sammieswife.
