Financial crisis!

[Lexiesmom]

Delete please

[brunt]

Key word in your post - "entertainment". These costs can literally be zero. Use your local library for books and DVD's. Ditch cable now. Cancel magazine and newspaper subscriptions.

[Natalka]

brunt - that's where I was going to go, too - it's amazing how much those things add up.
About making extra money, that's a toughie with you having a full-time job already - unless you get into something which has home parties, which you can do occasional evenings and weekends like Avon, Tupperware, etc.
Have a yard sale, or sell things on Kijiji.

I wish you luck! We've been in dire circumstances many times through the years, and have been able to do it on one income (not high, either) with me being a SAHM.

[lalita1985]

What you'll need to do is look at your budget and figure out ways to cut some of your costs down. Since I have no idea what your budget is like I can only offer some suggestions that have worked for me. My situation was/is similar in that I am basically only able to pay my bills and we have nothing left over to pay down debt or save money. But since joining this site I have been able to pay off over 1/2 of my debt load.

Each week I have a grocery budget and I plan my meals out based on that budget with sale flyers. We don't really buy any pre-packaged foods and we make everything from scratch. We can buy cheaper cuts of meat and marinade or tenderize them and eating 1 meatless meal a day saves tons of money.

Of course I use as many coupons as I can each trip to the grocery store and I stock up on things that are an amazing price.

You can also look at things that you are perhaps splurging on or buying that you don't really need. I used to drink pop everyday which really adds to my grocery bill at the end of the week. I've stopped drinking pop and drink water instead. It's free and if you add a little bit of lemon to it or cucumber slices it's not so boring.

If you are using a bank account that you pay fees to keep open every month you can try switching to PC financial and getting a no fee account. It's not very convenient to switch everything over but in the end you can save alot of money every month.

I really had to look at my budget in terms of a dollar here and a dollar there really adds up.

[lekate]

I hit rock bottom recently, I had to start tracking *everything* I spent, made or got through rebates/money owed/tax returns. I keep every receipt, and they are put into an excel spreadsheet under 6 or 7 catagories (depends what you need, you'd need a baby/kids, I don't) then input each receipt, it gets annoying when you have multiple catagories on one receipt, so if it permits, you could get into the habit of separating those purchases at the store.

I only have a month so far, but I can see where i need to cut expenses, small runs to the grocery store, I ended up spending an extra 100$ last month from 10-15$ purchases. This way I know where I can work on savings

Next, for entertainment, i agree with the above posters, try and find as much for free, free days at museums, libraries, etc. But don't deprive yourself completely, you need some fun, so throw in 25$ that could be spent on cheap Tuesdays at the Movie theatre, that's about 4 movies, twice for you and your husband to go out.

Coupons! don't forget coupons

[lekate]

If you collect Airmiles, add the toolbar, if you redeem them for Metro gc's that's two 20$ gift cards, I'mma use 'em for fresh produce

Swagbucks, you can earn Amazon gc's and use 'em to buy dvds for entertainment, or use to buy gifts, making gifts free on your budget

[Angela273]

If you know other people with young children (which I bet you do), you could make arrangements to exchange babysitting services. Neither of you charge and that way you can go out with your husband without the added cost of a babysitter or have a needed break.

You could also look into occassionally doing some babysitting on the side to earn a little extra money. If you decided to start working with a business that does home parties I would strongly encourage you to do a lot of research about it first. Also consider how many people that you know who might be interested in purchasing these items from you (which is particularly important when you are starting out).

I do not know what your living arrangements are, but if you are a green thumb you could grow a few plants so that you have some cheap veggies.

What does your husband do for a living? What other skills do the two of you have?

[Lexiesmom]

Thank you so much everyone! I'm loving the ideas! keep them coming.

I'm trying to start a version of the "jars", as seen on "til debt do us part". I think this will be a good way for both my husband and I to keep tract of where we spend. I also downloaded a spreadsheet from that website to help us keep track of some things.

I am also starting to meal plan, and find already that its helping to make sure we don't go out to eat, and I think it will eventually save us money.

Coupons...I need to start using them more!


For some more background...One of our biggest expenses (other then our mortgage) is "child care". Hubby pays child support for 2 children from a previous marriage, daycare is starting soon. Then we also need to be saving for one of his children to go to school next year (we have to pay half - although I think she have to get a loan...but thats another story), and then I am putting a tiny amount of money into an account for our daughter ($40/month) So that total is about $1400! And other then the $40, there is nothing we can do to change that.

[ontgal33]

I sell Epicure and Tupperware to make extra money, as we are on a strict budget as well, it does help, as you get 25% commission on both. Plus i save on my spices since as an Epicure consultant you get a dsicount, and it makes me really want to cook at home instead of eating out. Love it. If you would like any info on Tupperware or Epicure let me know.

[Cheap]

With government maternity and parental leave you get top ups of up to 93% of the difference between your regular pay and your EI.

If people on welfare can afford to have and raise children then why are some government employees struggling with payments when they have children?

[Lexiesmom]

With government maternity and parental leave you get top ups of up to 93% of the difference between your regular pay and your EI.

If people on welfare can afford to have and raise children then why are some government employees struggling with payments when they have children?

wow I didn't expect to get slammed here?

I'm not topped up to 93% by the way, but I'm not going to reply to that.

[Litesandsirens911]

we cancelled our 120.00 a month subscription to satellite and opted instead to use Veetle:
www.veetle.com
it's a website (yes for Canada that is FREE without any popups or any ads, etc...basically made by someone like Boo who started SC)
we watch tv shows, movies (old and new, and even has movies that are still in theaters like RobinHood;Prince Of Persia; Shrek4, etc...)all sports, etc...FREE...
what we did was we hooked up our computer to the tv with a cable and now we watch everything on the tv....
I will NEVER waste $$ on satelite or cable again...
Another one we watch (basically the kids do) is www.casttv.com that is a Canadian accessable website too...my DH likes the discovery channel, A&E, History channel, so all the shows he enjoys watching are on there, all in alphabetical order...
I save 120.00 a month and it was the first thing I cut when we had to really tighten our belt...good luck.

As for other entertainment, we go for lots of walks, don't go out for dinner anymore, but we do entertain friends here once every two weeks for dinner and a movie (yes, from Veetle) and they bring their own beer if they want one, as we don't drink...
As for what someone else said, your local library is a great place to borrow dvd's, music cd's,books, etc...

[Lexiesmom]

Oh, I love those ideas...I'm going to look up that veetle right now...never heard of it before.
Thanks!

[trucks12trucks]

With government maternity and parental leave you get top ups of up to 93% of the difference between your regular pay and your EI.

If people on welfare can afford to have and raise children then why are some government employees struggling with payments when they have children?

Please keep it friendly. If the thread doesn't interest you or if you have nothing positive to add, please dont post. The OP is asking for friendly advise, please dont make judgements against her family. Thanks.

[Insane]

Child care is such a high expense. I can totally relate. Have you looked into subsidized daycare? It's income based in my cities. It's usually sliding scale. It's worth looking into even if you don't think you'll qualify.

I know very, very little about support payments and paying for schooling, ect.... but has your husband considered going back to court to get it adjusted if his income or situation has changed? Is that an option?

The other thing to consider is to not go back to work and open your own daycare at home. You save the cost of daycare and you'd make some money!