Originally Posted By peeaanuut How the heck do people do it? I have been brown bagging it for a week and am living on the barest of finances possible. Well maybe not the barest(I still have Internet and a cell phone) but I am not buying any music, movies or eating out or going anywhere unnecessary. And man is it killing me. The focus of course being Money Market Accounts, IRA accounts and general savings accounts, bill collectors and current bills. Its just a struggle. Anyone else had to go through this or are going through this right now? Tell me how to survive....lol
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I've been through financial ups and downs over the years -- and when the finances are tight, like you mentioned, it is tough. But, you just keep plugging along and take it a step at a time. What is it they say about eating an elephant or something... Hang in there, p-nut.
Originally Posted By peeaanuut Thanks Jim. On the upside, not stopping and getting my Big Rig Amp, Doritos and cinnamon rolls for breakfast and taco bell for lunch has helped me drop a few pounds.
Originally Posted By ajnhollysmommy We have lived this way for over 6 yrs. We made a choice for me to stay home with the kids. Hubby only gets paid once a month. He has a commission only job. Sometimes it gets very tough! But you save alot by not eating out, What we do is anytime we want to eat out we take that money out of our pocket and put it in a brown bag. And go home and eat. Then we count how much we saved over the month. And we put in the $$ into the savings account. So far we have saved enought for me to take Andrew to Disneyland in July!!!! (This has been in the course of a year) Another thing we do is when he gets paid we sit down and deduct all the bills - they are written down in a book so we know what goes out exactly every month. Then we do a happy dance if we have enough for food. This month is going to be, I think the toughest month ever! So far hubby has only sold 2 cars YIKES! Our family of 4 survives on a tiny budget. But we have put away for when the month was good. We only kept in our checking account the actual amount of our budget. We do splurg once a month. I watch a couple of kids on Monday and Friday to pay for my internet and for extra stuff the kids need.
Originally Posted By peeaanuut see and I dont even have kids. I guess its just tough to break my cycle of half of my check gets blown on stuff every time. The cutting of the excesses just becomes a pain. Oh well. Guess I will deal with it.
Originally Posted By ajnhollysmommy I can tell you I get really jealous of the pizza delivery guy going to our neighbors house! The last thing I want to do after spending the day running around with 2 children is going home and cooking dinner! It never tastes as good when you drive by Arbys and it smells out of this world, then take your tired run down self and cook
Originally Posted By alexbook You have to take it one day at a time, just like anything else. One practical suggestion: Write everything down. If you have to stop and think about every penny you make or spend, so you can write it down, you'll be more conscious. I highly recommend that you go to the library and check out the book "Your Money or Your Life" by Dominguez & Robin. It's helped me a lot.
Originally Posted By 4Disnee We have been thru that also and I know that it is very hard. We bought a new home and a new car had a baby and then my DH lost his job YIKES so he found one right away but it barely paid the bills. Thank goodness my parents live very very close and we ate with them sometimes and did the brown bag. Now that he has worked his way up in the company he still brown bags it to save money. When he started his job he made a little over $8 an hour Yikes again with a house payment but we made it thru. Hang in there!
Originally Posted By MissCandice I have been struggling for about a year with this very issue, Joe. I live in a small town so the jobs are limited and they don't pay well. I have cut everything extra out and I still can't get by. I am working overtime just to make ends meet, and it sure doesn't help that my rent was just raised. Hang in there, man! Maybe we can rob a bank or something.
Originally Posted By beamerdog Been there, Joe. Be sure to look around for things to do that are free - if possible, don't give up your photography. Using your mind to make the most of what you see will make some of those other things seem less important. You have a real talent that's always been great to share here on lp.
Originally Posted By peeaanuut hmm, rob a bank. Sounds fun. Beamer: The photography is definately staying. That is part of the going broke. I am going to be the official team photog for the Armada again and am going to get paid this time. Not very much of course but my work will be seen in more newspapers and in print more. Especially to the prospective sponsors and stuff. So part of the being tight money wise is purchase of new equipment. I just got the lens I had been wanting and am working on the flash and a new camera body. Having a 2nd body is always going to help me out. Also looking at a laptop. All of this of course depends on how much extra work I get and right now I just have a few portrait jobs but that is a short list and not growing at the moment. its ok, times will be tough but I will get through it. Also if I didnt mention it I am saving for the wedding as well. But that is still a bit away.
