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Discussion Boards => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Azanne07 on April 08, 2018, 02:46:06 pm
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have you ever had your budget so tight that going over with any part or having a bill higher than normal would throw everything off and you have cut out all the "fat" and still couldn't get a hold of your budget?
I am so feeling the pinch
But I believe I got my insurance reduced by about $40 per month
and ill have another bill paid down in June and my boyfriend will have another bill paid off in June!
YAY
On the other hand anyone have any tips on making your food budget stretch as far as possible. $200 doesn't go very far with a family of 4.
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I know what it's like living on an extremely tight budget. It's hard! There is only 2 of us here ... me and my spouse.
Both of us are on disability with health problems, But you just have to do the best you can. :-\ :-\
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There are a lot of frugal living sites that have tips especially on how to feed your family on less. My son works for an assisted living facility and he gets to bring food home which I am not altogether crazy about the food but it is free and that helps us. Well best to you I know it isn't easy to make it these days.
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There are some things you can do to cut down, making your own laundry soap and fabric softener saves money every month and it is very easy and very cheap. A batch of laundry soap can last for months and only cost about a dollar to make. Pinterest has a of frugal ideas to save money.
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I can totally relate to a tight budget. Living on a fixed income and when a unexpected bill comes along it does throw everything off. I learned to check the weekly sale papers for food and only buy exactly what we need. I make a grocery list and really stick to it. Check all the coupon sites to help reduce your bill. Make a some casseroles or larger roast that can be used for leftovers. I also always pay with my debit card and keep my credit only emergencies.
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I can recall back in the day right out of college and getting married we saved everything we had to save for a house. We had tight months that when new bill or unexpected money had to be given was so hard. You live on a tight budget but life always throws things that require money outside the budget.
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It's really tough to live on a tight budget for sure. Cut everything you can and hope for the best. I wish you lots of luck.
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My husband is off work for 6 months due to rotator cuff surgery, so I hear you. We're almost to the potatoes and ramen diet.
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If you have room to plant a garden grow your own food.
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Yes, I have lived like that before, and it is awful. Thankfully I didn't have to do it for longer than about a year, and I've always been able to supplement those times with FC (and other gpt sites) or selling things on ebay. Life sometimes throws us curveballs and I try to save when I can so I don't ever have to go back to that. It's miserable.
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I am on "partial" Soc. Sec. It is $600/mo. Took Soc Sec early to help my single (now deceased son) raise his four kids when his wife left. You never get full Soc. Sec. after that.
I have learned to buy buy coupons and match it will sales. When products I use all the time are on sale, I buy extra. Terrific with a sale, and just get to the point you can be ok for a few wks if necessary.
It's a learning process. Watch Walgreens, Wal-Mart for sales, and be wllling to drive a few extra miles to take advantage of a sale. I actually bought 6 pkgs of my fave coffee that is always half price at the turn of the year in a certain grocery store. Had $1 off coupons too, so got coffee cheap. Almost $60 of coffee for $28. A year's supply. If you do that with enough of your basics, you will have extra cash.
Just a thought, an idea. It has worked well with me.
:rose:
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I don't see how a family of four can make it theses days. I definitely feel for you. There are just 2 of us and we feel the squeeze every month and with every bill! :(
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no amount of money goes far these days but fusioncash certinaly helps thank you
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I hear ya. I've cut back on everything I can to make ends meet, but our life insurance kills me. For the 2 of us, I'm paying over $200 a month and because of our health problems in the past, no other insurance will touch us with a 10-foot pole or the payments are the same amount or higher. So it's either drop it or pay it. It's only for $25K, too. I've sold a couple things but even that doesn't come close. I've applied for an SNAP card and qualified for $15 a month. Whoppee! For 2 of us! Hubby refused to use it so they canceled it. We cut way back on food. i used to spend $150 a week plus we used to get a half steer and half pig every year. Now I spend $150 a month if possible. Sometimes none at all. We applied for Liheap (heat/electric) program but we're over the income guidelines by $50. I'm already on the budget plan for electric service and that goes up every year, too.
Sometimes I feel it's not worth being frugal all your life and paying everything off before retirement because you're still stuck with living expenses and property taxes which go up every year. We've already cashed in our IRA's to pay the taxes.
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I can totally relate to a tight budget. Living on a fixed income and when a unexpected bill comes along it does throw everything off. I learned to check the weekly sale papers for food and only buy exactly what we need. I make a grocery list and really stick to it. Check all the coupon sites to help reduce your bill. Make a some casseroles or larger roast that can be used for leftovers. I also always pay with my debit card and keep my credit only emergencies.
If you use store cards they will also send you coupons for things you purchase a lot, plus I can go on line and add coupons right on my card so if I forget them at home or stop by unexpectedly I still get the discount. Several in my area also give you discounts on gasoline. WHENEVER there is a sale for items I use a lot or can stock the pantry with I always try to buy as much as I can. I also get some things I am not crazy about (like powdered milk) just in case I get in a real money bind for a few days or weeks I can live out of the pantry and freezer .
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I am on a fixed budget and things were already tight now I have 2 new medications that are on the higher tear of my insurance and I am trying to figure out how to pay for them
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If you have room to plant a garden grow your own food.
we grow a few plants on our balcony but its not very big and we do what we can.
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I hear ya. I've cut back on everything I can to make ends meet, but our life insurance kills me. For the 2 of us, I'm paying over $200 a month and because of our health problems in the past, no other insurance will touch us with a 10-foot pole or the payments are the same amount or higher. So it's either drop it or pay it. It's only for $25K, too. I've sold a couple things but even that doesn't come close. I've applied for an SNAP card and qualified for $15 a month. Whoppee! For 2 of us! Hubby refused to use it so they canceled it. We cut way back on food. i used to spend $150 a week plus we used to get a half steer and half pig every year. Now I spend $150 a month if possible. Sometimes none at all. We applied for Liheap (heat/electric) program but we're over the income guidelines by $50. I'm already on the budget plan for electric service and that goes up every year, too.
Sometimes I feel it's not worth being frugal all your life and paying everything off before retirement because you're still stuck with living expenses and property taxes which go up every year. We've already cashed in our IRA's to pay the taxes.
We get $196 in food stamps a month for our family of 4. we used to get more until I got a better job and we have really had to change the way we eat.
The biggest hardship for us is the car insurance. with living in a small town and my son having to be hospitalize every so often for breathing problems we have decided that 2 cars is really must.
some days thou I wonder if it would just be cheaper to let him drive me back and forth to worth. but at 5 days a week I would be then spending $10 a night on gas that adds an extra $100 to gas for that. and the extra insurance is $188.
It just seems like society today makes it hard to get ahead if I work more to pay for other stuff our food goes down so the extra money from work is for food. blah!
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budget tight for me most months but god has got me through so far.
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Yes, like right we need to change our roof so we are really in a tight budget so that we can do it. Every thing is budgeted and not going outside to eat.
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I lived like that for a long time, but I made it through. God will always provide a way to see you through anything you need.
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Yes during Black Friday last year it was cutting it so close that I was worried and ask a family member to help out.
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We have been in your shoes as well. Picture 2 adults & 3 kids all still in grade/jr./high school in a 2 bedroom apartment. We scrimped and shaved everywhere. From limiting grocery trips (to aldi only) using any monies from survey sites at amazon/wal-mart for bare min. basics. I did laundry by hand for about 2 years only going to the laundromat 4-5 x's a year. To make it smell better I would add a cap of body spray to the "rinse cycle". The body spray was free after seeking out for it on yahoo freecycle. No eating out. No entertainment. Nothing fancy. We had 1 working vehicle between the 2 of us and it only fit 3. We also have a budget of $200 for our now family of 4. 3 adults 1 child. It helps I work for a grocery store and can utilize company discount on company food. I use ibotta/saving star/ sale ads & coupons. We eat lots of tuna, pb & jelly on $0.85 psst bread. No bottled water. Dave Ramsey's podcast is great - as is his book Total money makeover. Oh and if we run out of gas in the fuel budget... I walk to work.
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We have to live on a tight budget or we would not have anywhere to live, but on the streets. It is very hard in this world just to survive these days. :(
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Coupons help some, I enjoy making meals in the slow cooker that we can have maybe 2 more times. Its not easy but it can be done!
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So sorry to hear about these tight budgets. I am a complete tight wad with my life coupled with being a workaholic. My budgetary constraints are self imposed and every cent earned from two jobs goes to my family of spenders (two kids and a wife). My wife is headed up to the mountains to party this weekend with friends. I am pretty certain that she will spend well over two hundred dollars. I will be working all weekend with a break to go out with my son for wings, beer and a movie with a total cost of under fifty dollars. My wife will ask me to itemize my expenseswhile I will not ask her about hers. This is why I like doing fusion cash and a few other sites. The money earned from these venues is mine-I do not feel guilty keeping this money and I use it for nothing more than investing.