Loss of One Income

good luck S..

I am too am without an income as my contract of 14 years just ended. Being a widow with 3 children I am the only care for my children. I decided to take the summer off with my as they have never been in day care to date and I don't want to start now.
Looking for employment next month but this month trying to enjoy the time with them on a low budget.

You will find how many things you really can do without once you adjust to a more simplified lifestyle.

Best of luck

Hi S.! You can do it. One way to save money is to NOT buy a new wardrobe for your school age kids this year. I get each of my girls a new outfit and a new pair of shoes for school...and that's it. I think its rediculas to buy them all new clothes when they are allowed (and do) wear shorts to school until Nov. and Christmas is right around the corner anyway. Plan your shopping for thanksgiving & christmas dinner so you can take advantage of great sales. Plan your Christmas gift shopping ahead as well! Make a list, check it twice and don't impulse buy!! Keep to your lists at all times...that way you'll only get what you need and you won't overspend. Good luck and Best wishes!

If you haven't discovered Aldi yet for your groceries, run! There is a new, very nice one behind Northway Mall. Really helps, you won't find everything there, but you can do most of your shopping and it helps your budget. I really like their Grandessa and Fit and Active lines of products. Bring your own bags or boxes for the groceries, and a quarter for the cart. (You'll get it back.)

Yard sales, consignment shops, Pennysaver, craigslist.org, and I love Gabriel Brothers. Shop discounts at Landsend.com, you can get free shipping, return to Sears if doesn't fit, and get higher quality clothes that will last longer.

You can start to clean green and help your bottom line, lots of info on the net with that, by mopping your floor using vinegar and water. (Bonus, ants don't like vinegar.) Baking soda, bleach, borax, and I found that I love that my eyes no longer burn when I clean the bathroom. (I did buy a multipurpose cleaner called "Greening the cleaning" that I really like in the bathroom. There are a lot of products out there now.) Tiolets do need more chemicals, I've found, to keep mold and stains in check.

Someone mentioned feeling old fashioned, and I know what she means, and I kinda like it too. I think people used to do things much better. I'm not an environmentalist, but I feel good not using all these chemicals for myself and the kids, and it is cheaper. My cleaning supplies involve:

Two huge vinegars at Sam's, Murphy's liquid soap for my wood furniture and cupboards, some bleach, some amonnia, Borax, and that's the extent of our cleaning products. (You can make an awesome ant poison with Borax -- 2 Cups water, 2 Cups sugar, 2 Tablespoons Borax, mix, apply with an old medicine dropper to where they are coming in, and they take the poison back to mama and no ants in 24 hours! Keep kids and pets away.) Oh, Barkeep's Helper for our ceramic sink.

There are lots of things you can do. If you wait to buy things that you need, too, you can always find something less expensive, as long as you are willing to wait and let the price come down. Thinking ahead helps. Two summers (or maybe last summer) I forget, I bought two matching maple twin bed frames at an estate sale, and painted them myself. I didn't need them at the time, but they were very inexpensive, and I know it is difficult to find heavy, sturdy wood furniture now, whether you have money or not. I now have beautiful beds for my boys that I am confident they are going to have trouble destroying. Stuff like that.

It takes an adjustment, a way of changing your thinking, but you can do it. Fortunately, we live in an area where there are lots of free or inexpensive things to take kids to for activities. But, don't forget to pack your lunch -- a lot of these places, you might get in cheap and then they get you on the food. You will be fine.

Hey S.,

I just wanted to share with you some of the things we do to save money as we are on one income also. These are things we enjoy doing, some are eco-friendly and they all save money:

1. We try not to buy prepared foods. Make most everything from scratch. I make bread every week. We hardly ever go out to eat.

2. Hang clothes out to dry on the line in the summer. Our gas bill (we have a gas dryer) went down significantly.

3. We have a vegetable garden.

4. As Denise said, find free stuff for leisure. Library, parks, biking, etc.

5. Really make an effort to turn lights off when not in use. We do not use our air conditioning unless the temp. outside hits 90. We have fans and have developed a lowering the shades at different points in the day system that really works at keeping the house cool!

These are just a few things we do. Some of them I'm sure you are like, "yeah right I'm not doing that!" and that's okay :0) I feel kind of old-fashioned doing some of the things and it's kind of neat. Don't worry, we still have indoor plumbing! haha

M.

Here are a few of the things we do to afford living on one income. Many of them pertain to finding deals on purchases. They aren't big windfall type things but I've been doing this for a few years and can really see a savings.

1) we subscribe to the $9.00 cable package. The kids enjoy PBS and their videos. My hsuband and I like to watch a few shows on the regular networks (CBS, etc). And considering that we spend so much time outdoors, we don't watch much tv in the summer.

2) I cut coupons for groceries and buy as much as I can on sale. I buy in bulk and stock the shelves. I use www.couponmom.com for coupons and for special deals she lists in her blog.

3) we have a stand-up freezer in our basement so we can stock up on meats and frozen items when they go on sale.

4) I look for free/cheap entertainment. I take my kids to the local library for free programs. Also, I bought a membership to the Carnegie Museums. We have unlimited access for one year to go to 4 different venues. South Park Children's theater offers shows for $2.00 a person.

5) I buy gift cards at Giant Eagle or Shop N Save for places we frequent - Home Depot, Toys R Us, Barnes and Noble. We get the gas discount and I use the cards to shop during sales.

6) I set up an email account specificially for company newsletters and coupon services to send me emails. I get coupons, special offers and "birthday" benefits from places like Eat N Park, Toys R Us, TGI Fridays, etc.

7) As much as possible, in the fall I look for online sales with free shipping and start buying Christmas presents. I have 2 kids and 12 nieces/nephes that I buy for. I found a lot of good stuff at over 50% off last year at sites like Toys R Us, Walmart and KBToys.

8) As each light bulb burns out I switch it over to a compact flourescent bulb. So far, I'm happy with the results.

9) I buy greeting cards at the dollar store. In fact every October I write down all the birthdays and anniversaries that I buy card for during the year and try to purchas them all at once. I buy some extras to keep on hand as well. At home I put them in monthly folders so I know where to find them. I've save a lot of money doing this.

10) I take my childrens outgrown clothing and toys (good condition) go to a local consignment sale twice a year.

Good luck to you.

You've got some great tips/advice already, so I'll share some websites (if this place will let me) that are helpful:

thefrugalshopper
stretcher
modcottage
thefamilyhomestead

All end with dot com.

Good luck!!!

I remember the feeling! You will be amazed at how thrifty you can be! We totally buckled down for the first month, not spending a dime we didn't need to. At the end of the month, I wrote down every expense in a list on a legal pad and we discussed where we were spending our money. After that first month, we could relax a little, and we had a general idea of where our money was being spent. When you have two incomes, you waste a lot because you just don't pay attention as much! Clip coupons, watch sales, visit the dollar store often and each time you want something ask yourself, "Do I really NEED this," or "Does (whoever) really NEED this?" Worked for me! Best of luck, you can do it!

S.,
You will be amazed at just how much money you DON'T spend when you are at home with kids. Just stay out of the malls as a leisure activity (although with 4, it probably isn't!) My husband and I earned equal income before my son and after his birth, I decided to go PT. Guess what? We still made ends meet. Then I got laid off. Guess what? Still OK. Then I took a PT job earning less than half of my previous hourly rate. Yep--still OK. Now I am back at my old job (great pay!) PT and we're fine. When you consider child care costs, clothing, gas (did I say GAS??!!), etc. you'll be OK and will most likely love it. I cannot imagine now working 40 hours per week. Be thrifty with groceries, activities (free stuff!) and you should be OK. And the Number O. Rule: NO CREDIT CARDS!!! It would be financial suicide to go into debt at this point. If you find you really need some extra--just find a little something PT around your husband's schedule. Glad to talk to you more about this if you want. Good luck!

Hi, S.~

I also decided not to go back to work and it's been 11 months! We also try to stretch our dollar, but the truth is, we wanted to be able to still do fun things as a family. I found a great company that allows me to work part time from home and it's been great! There's no selling, no stocking inventory, and no risk to get started. I'd be happy to share more info with you if you're interested.

Good luck to you!
D.
www.yourfamilyfreedom.com
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