How many days can I go without spending money???

[frugalmom]

I'm afraid we received some terrible news last week about huge debt we were unaware of (Real Estate fees from my husbands company.) We are talking THOUSANDS. Its amazing though how much we just cut out of our budget over the weekend.It seems like my coupon addiction or hobby has now turned into SURVIVAL. We are still working on our budget.Right now we are questioning life insurance. How much is too much for a family of 5. If you have a family this size and care to send me a message stating what your family was convinced they needed I would be so grateful. We are paying an outragous amount and I think our insurance investor is taking us for a ride. We will get that worked out too. So in the meantime I'm going to see how many days I can go without spending anything. Right now our house is full of food and because of all the deals I learned on SC I really can't complain. Thank you so much for your help. Appreciate you all more than you'll ever know.

[katysmuma]

Sorry to hear about your situation. I can relate with a big family and a sub contracting business times are hard. I wish you all the best!

[pamjcoupon]

Over Christmas I might have spent a big too much(oops), so I decided the first week of January, I would only spend the money I have left in my wallet-$10. I was able to make it last a week and a half!! Basically for milk and a couple other things. It is totally possible... good luck. Hope your situation improves.

[Shwa Girl]

Right now we are questioning life insurance. How much is too much for a family of 5. If you have a family this size and care to send me a message stating what your family was convinced they needed I would be so grateful. We are paying an outragous amount and I think our insurance investor is taking us for a ride.

Maybe an independent insurance broker who shops for life insurance for you, at the best rate, may be the answer right now.

Good luck with everything.....

[Taurus]

It really is incredible how much money you can trim out of your budget when you need to isn't it?
I wish I could help with your insurance question, but you can get free quotes online from different companies. Maybe spending some time calling around to different insurance providers would give you a better idea of what's fair for your family.
Also don't forget to contact your phone/internet/tv providers and ask for discounts if you haven't already-I'm saving over $20.00 a month from what I was paying.
I hope everything works out for you!!

[$avvy$hopper]

sorry to hear of this news frugalmom. I hope things work out soon. Re the insurance, I'd also suggest speaking to an independent broker to help find you the best price.

[MrsSunshine]

so sorry to hear Frugal..hopefully things work out fast for you.

I know personally although we should, none of us have life insurance. due to disabilties it would cost us all a fortune.

[coley3]

So sorry to hear Frugalmom. Times are hard. Especially after Christmas. You are doing the right thing by tightening up the purse strings. Make it a game or something fun. Posting on here how long can you go without spending money is a good start. We will all help you out.

[carebearhamm]

hope everything gets figured out - i'm trying the no spending too - just food, no extra's i don't need them. I can't believe how much junk i buy $5 here $5 there.

[frugalmom]

I certainly appreciate all your comments.

[mrsfd]

Every once in a while we have a "Make Do" week. We "make Do with what we've got in the house.
Thinking that I could stretch this out for a month of I had to, but it would be scary the last week or so...
As for your insurance ...find out what type you have "term" or paid up. Term means you pay for a certain term (years) and you are insured for this time only and once the term is up, so is your insurance. Paid up policies often reach a point when you can go on "payment forgiveness" and the money built up into the policy will pay the premium for you !!!
Be CAREFULL ..if you cancel a policy, it will always cost you more $$ or it can be impossible to get re-insured.
I'd cut out a lot more before I'd give up on our insurance. Cable, phone, not driving etc.

Good Luck

[frugalmom]

Every once in a while we have a "Make Do" week. We "make Do with what we've got in the house.
Thinking that I could stretch this out for a month of I had to, but it would be scary the last week or so...
As for your insurance ...find out what type you have "term" or paid up. Term means you pay for a certain term (years) and you are insured for this time only and once the term is up, so is your insurance. Paid up policies often reach a point when you can go on "payment forgiveness" and the money built up into the policy will pay the premium for you !!!
Be CAREFULL ..if you cancel a policy, it will always cost you more $$ or it can be impossible to get re-insured.
I'd cut out a lot more before I'd give up on our insurance. Cable, phone, not driving etc.

Good Luck

You mentioned "make do week" I started a thread last week entitled "Make do Month" and almost named this one "Make do YEAR"

[CouponLadybird]

It is totally possible to live for a long time without spending...We too are in a similar boat after an unxpected expense....at first I was terrified, but really we've been stuck before and always made it work. I too would try to cut other expenses before canceling insurance. I would definitely suggest you seek out an independent broker to shop around for the best rates possible.

Here is what we've done to cut expenses and free up every penny...

-reduce/cut cable pkg (as long as you have internet you can stream pretty much anything that is on tv)
-as someone above mentioned call your phone/cable/internet providers and ask if they have any promos or discounts -it never hurts to ask, and sometimes you find something great!
-limit long distance calls -all of our family is a distance away, so instead of calling we skype
-cut down on hydro usage (hang clothes to dry (no dryer), only run oven when necessary (it's amazing what you can make in a crock pot for a fraction of the cost of running the oven!), adjust the thermostat a few degrees
-also if you have an deposit on your account with your hydro provider you can ask them to apply it to your bill (if you are in good standing with them/meet some other criteria) I got this bit of advice from someone else, when I called to see if 1) we had a deposit and 2) if it was possible- the hydro company had no problem with it at all -it allowed us to avoid this expense for a couple of months/freed up a bit of cash
-cut down on driving, we walk or bike everywhere we can. We no longer drive 20 minutes just for a loaf of bread, we do one big trip once a week -that's it, no exceptions
-grow a garden. If you have the space, it's easy to grow lots of veggies all summer to keep your family going. We started doing this out of necessity, now we love it!
-coupon! (of course you are here, so there is loads of help in that department!)
-de-clutter, it is amazing how much stuff we had sitting around that we do not need/want/use...kijiji, ebay and yard sales reduced the clutter and made some much needed $
-cut all unnecessary extras (it is amazing how much a few cups of coffee add up to in a month!)
-seek support -it is great knowing there are other people out there in the same boat, it can be daunting at times to be facing it alone

I truly hope everything works out for you

[avrose]

last year we cut down to basic cable and added Netflix, it's only $8 a month and totally worth it, especially after the chunk gone off the cable bill! Also when I go money free for a while I use SDM point to buy milk.

[supamama02]

Awesome advice Ladybird! Those are great suggestions. Thank you frugalmom for being so honest in your post. We all struggle from time to time although I think 99% of people wouldn't admit it. You will get through this, it is just a setback, a time to realize all the great things you do have in your life and home. Keep on keepin'on. As for the insurance, we have term and it is fairly inexpensive for our family as insurance goes, it really makes a difference which kind of policy you have. Good luck.