I am trying so hard to get back in the blogging mode so I have something interesting to write about but to be truthfully honest, that is turning out to be a bit harder than I originally thought, not cause I don't spend much time on the computer because that definitely isn't the problem, I just don't seem to have anything that I think is that interesting to share, so why waste both our times...but I promise, life will be getting interesting very soon I do believe, take this week for example.
i won't lie to you guys--we are beyond poor. I remember as newly weds filing taxes and thinking 'we are so poor, we only made $42,000 this year' or something like that, but now that I am disabled, unable to work, no longer receiving my lovely check from the heartford and my husband is the sole provider his employer 'salaried' him at $17,888 a year--I say 'salaried' him because he gets paid hourly, and because he can get overtime when available, he is also on call a lot and gets paid extra if he gets called-in, but the point is, we are definitely poor.
Oddly enough though, we are much better at living within our means now then when we make $42,000 as newly weds because we ate out all the time, I didn't know how to cook and when we did eat at home it was always a boxed meal that came practically prepared for us, and don't get me started on our bills--2 cell phones, 2 car payments, 2 insurances, 2 mortgages, cable TV, the best internet, eventually a home phone (but not dropping the 2 cell phones), a dog that was pampered (I remember paying about $300 to get her fixed, I made it a point to send her to a vet that would keep her overnight) we also had a cat that got the most premium cat food. Yes, we definitely spent what we made and never had a penny to our name which is why I had numerous credit cards that were all maxed out.
Now jump forward 6 yrs (we have been married almost 8 but 6 yrs ago my son was born and that was when John lost his first job) thanks to generous family members that love us we have 2 vehicles that are paid off (both of which just happen to be in the shop this week but I will get into that later), we have both of them fully insured, but only pay about $100 a month, we have Cable internet and phone which costs us about $50 dollars a month, we pay about $500 a month in rent, and our utility bills fluctuate but we usually pay less than $300 for all 3 of them combined (we have gas, power, and water--which includes trash pick up and sewage and other city things) My husband is currently making monthly payments to student loans which we brought down from $108 to about $60 this year a lone and have paid it half off to get back into good standing with them after we went severely into default. I have one credit card for a hardware store which is currently maxed out to buy us a new fridge but we are slowly paying it down--it has a $500 limit which is nothing compared to the cards I use to have maxed out.
Now, I must say life without cable TV with a child can be difficult at times, but over the years we have collected a rather large supplies of DVDs and VHS movies--we don't buy them as soon as they come out like we use to (when they would be $15) instead we wait to find them for less than $5 at yardsales/2nd hand stores or buy them out of the $5 and less bins at the stores, occasionally we spend a little more on a special movie for a special occasion but thanks to HULU.com, fancast.com, and our library (not to mention the TV channel pages that show their shows) we haven't missed cable too much. We don't own a flat screen TV, one of our TVs still has dials to change the channels, so we definitely are not 'high tech' like I use to be--always had to have the biggest and best--but as I have matured I have realized that even the newest and biggest thing eventually become 'old school' and so why spend the money when it first comes out when eventually you can find it used for even cheaper, and if you can't find it used, then better for you, obviously it doesn't last and would have been a waste.
My husband does maintenance and janitorial work, turns out, he is often coming into contact with items being 'thrown out' that he is allowed to bring home--I can't begin to tell you the awesome items he has brought home, including the laptop I am typing on, both our i-pods, multiple other laptops, projectors, projector screens, furniture items--and that is just to name a few--seriously, he gets hooked up!!!! most things need a few minor repairs but that is when him being so handy comes in handy.
Anyhow, this is turning out to be a lot longer than I thought it would, but I just wanted to say, It is funny how the more money you make the less you seem to have and yet the less money you make the more you pay attention to where every penny goes so that you might be able to find a way to stretch a little further.
As time goes on I will hopefully be able to share some of my money saving methods with you, like how shopping at Sam's Club can be beneficial even for a family of 3 (which 9 pets), little home remedies to not only save a trip to the doctor but also trips to the vet. How a few extra pennies here might save you a fortune later, and how sometimes you have to give a little to get a lot.
I know my grammar is horrible and not everyone will like my way of thinking, my ideas, or the way we choose to live, but I am not out to make everyone happy, if nobody reads my blog then so what, but just in case someone can learn something from my experiences then at least it will be here for them
for now I am going to sign off and go pull dinner out of the oven--keep posted, more thought to come
