Since Jared lost his job a couple months ago, we've been watching our budget. But the last couple of weeks we've been on money lock down. Seriously. We buy nothing. I've been using body lotion on my face, old make up samples for eye shadow, spray leave in conditioner for my hair, windex to clean my kitchen counter, baby detergent for all our laundry needs, & mooch flour & butter off our parents. Who can live w/o butter? Good thing for WIC. We'd be living off our food storage & large collection of Pasta Roni.
So why is it when we do so good, other things happen?
Like our brakes needing full replacing=$230.
We need 4 new tires & alignment=$105 a tire & $60 alignment.
And no we can't wait on this. Our mechanic (in whom we trust) says not to wait more than a month. Eeek! That's scary.
A Periodontist bill for $250 which our insurance won't cover. Just for the Doc to tell me I can't have surgery. You PUNK!
You know how many groceries I can buy with this money??
Don't get me wrong. I am so grateful for the things I have. A beautiful healthy family, a roof over our heads, 2 working cars, food storage, reduced COBRA payments, friends with fruit trees, a husband who makes great bread, no debt, things lying around the house we can use. I had no idea how many samples & trial sizes of soaps & lotions I had under the sink. I've made it a point to use them all. Some really stink. If you think you smelled something funny at church on Sunday, it was most likely me. Rasberry mint shampoo. Cool cucumber conditioner. Cranberry body wash. Some fruity lotion which stank so bad that after putting it on my arms I threw it away & continued to put mango melon on my legs. Yup, that smell was me.
Sometimes I feel like we shouldn't try at all. Just rack up our credit cards & get what we want. On the other hand, I'm a little interested to see how far we can go using what we have. Don't worry, we have plenty of toilet paper & diapers.
7 comments:
Boooo
We have that same scenario like every few months. Ebbs and flows in time with the CA budget crisis.
Come over for dinner next week- how about Tuesday??
I thought I smelled fruit salad on Sunday! jk. Don't give up or get too discouraged, it will only be temporary. It's amazing how if you're doing everything you are supposed to, and have a little faith, Heavenly Father is there watching over your family the entire time.
I'm sorry for what you're going through. I had no idea that Jared lost his job. I hope he can find another one soon.
I have more veges in my garden than I know what to do with if you want some. Give me a call if you want some and I can drop some off. My cell is 916-527-4289
Sorry to here he lost his job, hopefully he has luck finding something quickly! Thats great that you don't have any debt thought... that would be a real pain in the side. Can he pick up some part time job or something while he looks for something more permanate? At least some money would come in to help.
A few tips :) (We had two house payments for almost a year so I know how you feel!)
*Vinegar and water makes excellent and cheap window/everything cleaner. Scented oil if you can spare the $$ makes it smell better.
*If you don't already, make EVERYTHING from scratch. tortillas, bread, pasta dishes, crackers, ect.
*skip the paper products... well except the tolet paper. I'm making cloth napkins and use rags to clean dishes/floors
*Hunt down a local produce stand or farm, farmers market. Cheap food! Have a winco yet? THey have a wonderful bulk foods section!
Hang in there!
Rough times sucks huh?! I totally know what you mean when you say bad things happens all together! I know you are just venting but your blog inspires me to do better! Like food storage...You are doing such a great job as a mother and a wife!!
We're right there with you... on all of it, except the no debt part--being that this is Spencer's 2nd lay off since last year. But doesn't it give you a good feeling every once in awhile to see how well you had prepared without even trying that hard?
Who's this Julie person? Would she share veggies with us too? :-)
And don't worry about the fruit salad. There are plenty of people who wear things they think smell good, and they're just wrong. At least you have a good reason.
P.S. Water and Vinegar 30:1 will clean just about anything. And it smells like EASTER!
Sorry things have been so rough Jen. It seems like everything bad happens at once. I hope it gets easier soon.
: )
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