Mine? No concerts, less eating out, driving less, cheaper eats, no A/C, stopped buying newspapers.
I’ll be debt free in 3 months.
I may be job free in 3 months too. It’s getting slow.
Set our taxes so we won’t get a return, but will use the money for our needs.
Don’t answer the phone if it looks like a telemarketer or politician.
Tithe
Anyone that uses a credit card and doesn’t pay it off in full every month deserves to lose big.
Been pondering a question, maybe someone could help...would it be better to take money from savings in to pay the card off in hopes of replenishing savings, or should we just keep plugging away at the credit card assuming the small amount of savings is going to get grabbed by the depression?
Eating out a couple times a month instead of couple times a week, coupons, and just generally being a lot more conservative than I used to be. The house and cars are paid off, and minimal credit card balances (I still run all I can through them for the points though).
I can’t imagine 40k in credit card debt, but there was a time when I was 40k underwater with my home and had insane law school tuition bills for my wife all while I was unemployed when the oil field had crashed.
To get out of that, I worked 18 hours a day drivIng a cab and then worked as a bartender.
Eat a whole lot of Ramen and peanutbutter. I was spending more money on food for my dog than food for me.
Rented out rooms in my house.
Not rocket science and it works, if you have the guts to stick it out.
The government is a criminal enterprise, so have no compunction about playing outside their rules. Their rules weren't written for you any way, so do what you have to do.
Get out of debt. Buy a really cheap place in the middle of nowhere in a county with low taxes and without building regulation offices. Situate yourself to avoid driving, and hypermile, when you must (tuneup, driving technique, air pressure in tires,...). Build the lowest cost heating systems possible. Garden. Raise livestock. Preserve food. Avoid buying anything that you don’t need for survival.
My savings is gone. House paid for. Nothing coming in (been self employed in.....real estate!). Hanging by a hair. Family helping out enormously. No gov assistance (I’ll kill small animals before I beg the Feds for food.)
ridiculous....
Lost my job in April 2010 (a little over a year) but thankfully I have a husband with a good job. Dentists rock. lol However, I don’t shop like I did before (hardly at all now) and we eat at home every night. We have no kids so no school supplies or student loans. We have 1 credit card that gets paid in full every month. We buy only necessities, no “goodies”. I use coupons when I can. We have 1 car payment & 2 mortgage payments (1 equity line). Definately no concerts, newspaper, music, eating out. A/C is a must-have in the South but we’re on Budget Billing w/power company so it’s the same every month.
It’s tough on everyone, except people like Trump, Gates, etc. Hang in there! Hopefully the next Pres. will have a clue and NOT be a socialist/communist.
ZERO might be in the White House but that was/is my credit card balance—including store cards—before the great imposter’s arrival and after.
Mortgage and one vehicle loan, that’s it. What I used to pay on the other vehicle loan goes into savings every month on the old due date.
I was raised that you “saved up” for big purchases.
Thanks, Mom & Dad. RIP.
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No debt, no credit cards, sold the condo, moved to a tiny rental, converted most savings and cash to gold, silver, ammo, and food. Have 6 months food on hand. Don’t spend a dime on Hollywood. Don’t spend a dime anywhere I don’t absolutely have to. Cook all my own meals. Cut my own hair.
For 25 years I made up to and over 6 figures and paid all the taxes that came with it. Now, I make absolutely as little as I have to to not eat into what I have saved and invested. This government, and this gimme gimme society it has created can kiss my ass forever.
First thing I did when I got laid off was to review the bills. We trimmed an amazing amount of 'fat'.
Strip the budget down to essentials (food, shelter, fuel/utilities), really wants, and stuff you can readily live without.
Cut the stuff you can readily live without.
If there is room in the budget, keep a couple of 'really wants' because life is pretty rough if you don't have a treat of some kind, provided you can afford it.
Morale is important.
I found spot jobs for extra cash, worked part time to augment the UI, and finally found a job that would (barely) pay the bills, even though it was gross underemployment.
I passed on the COBRA insurance (too expensive, and I don't take any daily meds), banking that my health would stay good enough that I could afford a little out of pocket to see a doctor if I needed to. That stretched the savings considerably, and I kept the high deductible catastrophic care policy I have kept for years because the employer provided (well, half-provided) plan did not seem to be solidly guaranteed working for a small company.
Those cuts and about 20K in savings bought me the time I needed to start my own business, and things are going pretty well so far, but I'm in the middle of the Bakken boom, and I've been in the oil patch for over 30 years.
There are jobs up here still for those so inclined, but housing is at an absolute premium, and even places to park a camper are hard to come by.
Right now, no mortgage but paying rent. I'll be looking to cut unnecessary expenses, so the newspaper will be canceled (doing my part to put liberals out of work), the phone and long distance will be canceled, and I'll be looking at dish rather than cable if only to watch sporting events. My car is 11 years old but still running pretty good and is still under 100K in mileage, so no need for a new car. And, despite the fact that I'm single, I'll probably be cooking more meals at home and eating out less.
My wife and I are paying off all our credit cards and loans ( about $30,000 ) on a two year plan. We are about one year into it and we are close to half way there, the loans are done and two cards are wiped out and next month another one is paid off. By this time next year we should be debt free. We cut back on everything and have discussions whenever we have to spend money that is not budgeted out. It’s amazing how much money we were wasting away on crap.
Just can't do it.
I have 5 acres an hour away from my house. Crops that can look after themselves go on the land, and my family agreed to let me build 3 big garden beds at the house. I recently got a new job and have been using a big chunk of my paycheck to pay down debts, with a percentage budgeted toward self-reliance investments. I have a pressure canner and a dehydrator to put up the harvest with. There are lots of rabbits in the neighborhood, and bolas aren’t covered by the local hunting restrictions >:)
I know where the nearest stands of hickory nuts are, and where the crabapples are big enough and sweet enough to eat fresh. The front yard is full of strawberries and wonderberries.
I’ve been studying self-sufficiency since I was a kid. Not because I was afraid of some kind of disaster, but simply because I think it’s fun. I’m weird that way. I’m looking forward to having my house built on my land, so I can live that way just because.
(PS: for those of you who are looking for a job, my employer is hiring: http://www.alpineaccess.com )
Lots of good advice here, so I’ll add only one suggestion: burn wood for heating if you can. If you can’t get wood off your property, people often give away small quantities, which you can accumulate over time. Check the “Free” section of craigslist (which, btw, is good for all manner of freebies). Also, the National Forest Service sometimes offers low-cost permits for taking wood from National Forests.