October Frugal Chatter - Harvest the Savings

[Angela273]

Hiya Ladies, I am afraid to say I am having a pity party , dh called from the nearest town (needed supplies) and it took everything for me to not cry. I am really financially overwhelmed and don't know where or how to cut anymore meat off the bone so to speak. I called to get a quote re: our vehicles - dropping the car but still have not made up my mind, thinking that dh can drive it over the winter but if it breaks that's it, can't afford to fix it. The seal around the trunk is done, so when it rains it goes in the trunk and the snow will as well, the body is shot and thinking positive that I will save on veh. maintenance, insurance, plates and everything else. On the other hand the truck guzzles more gas but I think in the end we will still be further ahead with only the truck. I got the numbers from the pension office and I am sick to my stomach, I have to repay almost $19k in deficiencies (over 132 months = 11 years) and have to pay for med. coverage and dental coverage and +++++lots of other stuff. So I need to save $400.00 a month so that our lifestyles which are extremely frugal in my opinion won't suffer. Any ideas???? PS I feel really badly now because dh is probably worrying about me and the whole situation, I tend to go into hysterical mode and cannot see other possible solutions.

I'm sorry if I may have missed something, but why do you owe $19K? Did they not charge you properly to begin with?

[MrsSunshine]

Oh Jas.. so sorry hun.. when it rains it pours huh...
not sure what to suggest.. what about cutting out internet.. unless your out in the middle of no where you can't exactly go and visit your nearest library..

[coupon girl]

oh hey jasper -don't worry we are your friends we are here for you-is there any coupons you may need right now -let me know and if I have them I will send to you to no trade required -just because you are you always here with a kind word for a lot of us when we need it

[jasperandchar]

I received a phone call this afternoon. I will be teaching pre-K for two mornings at the end of this month. It is a good thing because I didn't have any other days of work booked this month. This will be my first time teaching pre-K, but I have literally taught every other grade from K-12...so I'm sure it will be fine. I am now up to 6.1 days this month. I still have a lot of days available, but I am glad to get what I have.

My LO still isn't feeling very good. I'm glad that he likes my home made strawberry smoothies because the daycare wasn't able to get him to eat anything...even when she offered him some of his favorite foods. Here's hoping he continues to get better.

Hope your lo feels better soon, congrats on the days you have booked so far.

[jasperandchar]

oh hey jasper -don't worry we are your friends we are here for you-is there any coupons you may need right now -let me know and if I have them I will send to you to no trade required -just because you are you always here with a kind word for a lot of us when we need it

thanks for your kind offer and words. I'm good on the coupons front for a while, just need to get creative and figure this out.

[jasperandchar]

Oh Jas.. so sorry hun.. when it rains it pours huh...
not sure what to suggest.. what about cutting out internet.. unless your out in the middle of no where you can't exactly go and visit your nearest library..

the library is 25 minutes away (each way) and I wouldn't get to chat with you lovely gals, I won't comprise on the internet or tv as I do need some things to keep me sane.

[jasperandchar]

I'm sorry if I may have missed something, but why do you owe $19K? Did they not charge you properly to begin with?

I worked for Health Canada and have been on medical leave (leave without pay) since Nov. 2007. During that time I could have or should have been paying my superannuation contributions while off but with only 1 income for 1 year, then dh going on WSIB with his back, surgery, retraining and everything else I could never scrape up the monies each month. So now that I have qualified for early retirement on medical grounds I need to pay back the superannuation since I will be receiving a monthly pension and I don't want the lump sum payment option. It's interest free but I need to repay it over 11 years and it's just discouraging because if I don't repay my monthly pension will be 50% of what it is, so I have my back to the wall.

[jasperandchar]

Does anyone make there own soap bars? I've been reading on the cold process soaps...sounds interesting but there are so many different recipes I don't know which one to trust or try.

[Insane]

I worked for Health Canada and have been on medical leave (leave without pay) since Nov. 2007. During that time I could have or should have been paying my superannuation contributions while off but with only 1 income for 1 year, then dh going on WSIB with his back, surgery, retraining and everything else I could never scrape up the monies each month. So now that I have qualified for early retirement on medical grounds I need to pay back the superannuation since I will be receiving a monthly pension and I don't want the lump sum payment option. It's interest free but I need to repay it over 11 years and it's just discouraging because if I don't repay my monthly pension will be 50% of what it is, so I have my back to the wall.

I was going to guess you worked for the government. It's the same way for me everytime I went off on mat leave. I think you have the option of paying your benefits over the same time period. Or like you said, you can elect to not count those years as pensionable. When you think about it, 19K over 11 years is like $143 a month. I was also told they are very, very, very behind on processing the payback stuff. I came back from mat leave in April and they told me the automatic withdrawls on my pay likely wouldn't get processed until Jan!

[Crochetlady]

So sorry, Nancy. As someone said, please let us know if we can help in any way.

[Retiree]

Nancy, I did a stint in the payroll department at the school board. One of the projects I worked on was the implementation of pay-direct retiree benefits.

There were a number of retirees who found the benefit premiums a financial burden. When they wanted to reduce their benefit premiums, some chose to drop the dental plan, which was an expensive part of their benefit plan. The reasoning was that a dental check-up every 6-9 months could be budgeted for, unlike the medical/drug benefits that could/would cover some pretty expensive drugs over which they had no control of when they might be needed. Would this be an option for you?

[Crochetlady]

Had my eye scan done today. Doc was really pleased. My eye is back to normal. I may have to do a yearly maintenance injection but we`ll see when I go for my next checkup in Feb.

[LuvToUseCoupons]

Hi All,
Here's hoping that everyone have a good short week!

[sweet sparrow]

I called to get a quote re: our vehicles - dropping the car but still have not made up my mind, thinking that dh can drive it over the winter but if it breaks that's it, can't afford to fix it. The seal around the trunk is done, so when it rains it goes in the trunk and the snow will as well, the body is shot and thinking positive that I will save on veh. maintenance, insurance, plates and everything else. On the other hand the truck guzzles more gas but I think in the end we will still be further ahead with only the truck. I got the numbers from the pension office and I am sick to my stomach, I have to repay almost $19k in deficiencies (over 132 months = 11 years) and have to pay for med. coverage and dental coverage and +++++lots of other stuff.

Do you know how much the car costs you per week, adding in all the maintenance, insurance, plates, etc.? $19,000 over 11 years actually works out to $33.22 per week. With not having to pay for the car costs (plus all the costs of winter tires, wiper blades, washer fluid, ...) you might have more than covered the cost right there. With couponing, a rebate program like Checkout 51, and a rewards credit card, you might have some extra.

If you still need more, is there a special hobby or skill you have? Sometimes, there are ways of making money that you don't even think of. My sister-in-law came from another country, had a high school education, no formal training, but she was able to cook. My brother would open his lunch at work and his co-workers thought it smelled much better than the lunches they were out buying. Soon, they were paying $5 per packed lunch that my SIL made. It was an extra $25/week, per person, and she had a few customers.

Do you like to walk dogs? Clean houses? Garden? Deliver newspapers? Wash cars? Bake? You could also look into soap making to sell at local craft shows. I hear they're very popular and sell for top dollar.

[cath007]

2 nights of insomia for me since monday,I am sure it is because familly and brother (and helping him)visit and all questionning about life and projection of life....I think I will have to writhe this all to get this off my head and shoulder....maybe tommorrow
@JasperAndChar: so sorry for you,money problem suck....