My Middle-Class Struggle: Survivalist Mode

Friday, July 01, 2011

I can’t believe it has only been a week since I last posted; it seems like a lifetime ago!    It seems Mr. Struggle and I have done nothing but write résumés and fill out job applications.  I feel guilty even taking time out to write this blog post, but then you have to decompress a bit somehow.

I am calming down inside and feel more positive about our situation after working hard to update Mr. Struggle’s résumé and getting several good job leads.  Mr. Struggle is mostly positive, alternating with occasional bouts of anger.  We both wish he had looked harder for a new job months ago and gotten out of there earlier.

I also feel guilty that I haven’t really looked at the checkbook register in a week, which is unusual for me.  I guess it is just too stressful.  There’s not a whole lot I can do, as far as financial planning, until we get some answers to questions like whether Mr. Struggle’s unemployment will be approved and whether our request for additional financial aid will be approved by Struggle, Jr.’s university.  I feel like we’re in financial limbo-land, kind of going through life with blinders on.

We have been extremely careful with the spending this week, only paying bills, buying just a few groceries and some gasoline.  I babysat for a neighbor two days and bought most of the groceries out of that.  I also called my doctor and had a prescription filled for anxiety, after Struggle, Jr. got lost on an out-of-town trip and called home for directions.   Normally I could have handled this, but with everything else going on and in my sleep-deprived state, it just seemed like more than I could take.  The prescription was only $11.99 and can be used for daytime anxiety or at an increased dose for a sleep-aid.  I have only taken half a dose since I filled it five days ago, so I’m feeling a bit foolish for spending the money.  Still, it reassures me to know I have it if needed.  Ironically, I have slept much better  this week.  And that’s a very good thing!

We have started to have some discussions about spending priorities and where we need to make cuts in order to survive on our drastically lowered income.  Of course we can be even more frugal on the food budget, but we have also asked the two older kids to pick up their own car insurance (which I was planning to do anyway, as they each just finished college).  We have decided to suspend the monthly church contribution and we trust that the Lord will understand and forgive.  We cut back the Netflix to the cheapest plan available, and have this earmarked for further reduction if need be later.  Ditto the cable, although it is only $11.42. (We have older television sets that would need a converter box to receive a signal---not sure how much those cost.)  Mr. Struggle and I really don’t watch much TV and could do without, but the kids would be pretty unhappy.

We might decide to sell a car and make do with one, but not sure we wouldn’t take a beating on this deal when we had to buy a new one in a few months, when hopefully both of us will have jobs.  We are in a rural area with no public transportation, so that is not an option, and neither is cutting off our land-line telephone, as our cell phone signal is so weak. (You should see us trying to text---literally out on the front porch, waving the phone in the air, trying to pick up a signal!)  I have gotten several great budget-reduction ideas from a personal finance blog I read: Beyond Dave.

Here are the figures for the past week or so, since I last updated:

Carryover balance: $623.24

Income:                 $1885.74 two weeks pay, Mr. Struggle’s former job

                                    169.52 last week’s part-time check

                                    169.54 this week’s part-time check

                                      80.00 from Ms. S1 (AAA membership* and play tickets**)

                                      30.00 from Ms. S2 (AAA membership)*

Expenses:   $ 85.92 groceries

                        45.12 gasoline

                        17.22 clothing***

                        44.00 car repair (front-end alignment)

                      174.00 car payment

                     162.17 life insurance

                     126.28 home owner’s insurance (bi-monthly)

                     233.00 power bill

                     124.00  AAA (annual dues)

                       40.00 professional license renewal*

                       20.00 cash (pocket money)

Ending Balance: $ 1886.33

Looks like I'm hoarding money, doesn't it?  I had originally planned to pay off the Visa this week, and set the rest aside in savings. The new post-job-loss plan is to hoard cash and make minimum payments on everything until we find jobs.  I'm pretty sure that's what Dave Ramsey recommends in an emergency.

The money from the girls was to pay their share of our AAA policy.  I thought of canceling this altogether, but we all drive older cars and the girls are constantly on the road.  Ms. S2 came back from the beach just last week, and is leaving today to visit friends in the mountains.  Ms. S1 is planning a trip to Canada later this month.  I worry a lot less knowing they have someone to call in case of a breakdown.   Hmmm, does  AAA even extend to Canada?

The play tickets we bought were actually our Christmas present from the kids---tickets to a Broadway musical.  I paid upfront and the kids reimbursed for a portion as their gift to us.  We bought the tickets at a discount booth that sells leftover tickets on the day of the show and got in for about half price.  It was one of the highlights of our recent trip, and I don’t regret it, but yeah, the balance is still sitting on our Visa bill...

The $17.22 clothing entry was for three belts we bought a few days before Mr. Struggle lost his job; otherwise we would have skipped them.  One  was to replace his worn everyday belt, and the other two were cute, decorative belts marked down to $2.00 each, that I bought to save for the girls as Christmas presents.  Mr. S. has been wearing his, so it can’t be returned, and it hardly seems worth the gas to return the other two.       

The $40 license renewal was for my real estate license.  While I haven’t used it for sales in years, it has helped me obtain jobs in public housing, real estate appraisal and property management.  I decided it was a good idea to hold on to it, and worth the renewal fee.

And speaking of work, I’d better stop this and get back to my applications.  Wish me luck!

My Middle-Class Struggle: Pet Net Worth

Tuesday, June 7,  2011

How much is your pet worth?  How much would you pay to save a seriously ill pet?

Our oldest daughter's cat had surgery this week, for the second time, to remove a foreign object the animal had eaten.  The cat had been sick for nearly ten days, and had been taken to the vet and misdiagnosed initially.  On the second visit, upon determining the problem, the vet quoted possible surgery costs from around $4000 to nearly $6000!  (Thankfully, it turned out to be closer to the lower number.)  Miss S1, owner of said cat and earner-of-her-own-paycheck,  had already approved the surgery when she called me to talk it over.  I have not sent her any money to help out, but was ready to assist with a loan if she had asked. 

Actually, my first reaction was to tell her just to have the poor cat put down.  This is, after all, the second time this animal has eaten something that had to be surgically removed, and she just finished paying off that bill.  (Sigh!)  Then I remembered that the vet told her young cats are prone to doing this type of thing, and that he should grow out of it.  So starting over with a new kitten wouldn't guarantee lower vet bills.  But the real thing that convinced me was the hysteria and panic in my daughter's voice.  I remembered how far away from home she is, away from friends and family, and that this beloved cat is her only tie to home. So instead of telling her she was crazy to spend so much on a cat, I tried to be positive and remind her of her recent promotion and raise, and that she would be able to pay off this surgery sooner than last time.  (I also offered to help her pay some on her school loans, to free up her money for the vet bill.)

Please join with me in my hopes and prayers that this animal stops eating (non-edible) things----and that he doesn't get sick again until my daughter has a husband and children to dote on, because I really think it would break her heart to lose this cat now, while she is single and unattached.

And please tell me, are we crazy?  How much would you spend to save your best friend?

Medical Bills

Payday!

Income:   $1883.12

Expenses: $275.00 church donation

                    200.00 home equity line payment

                      49.92 water bill

                    200.00 oven payment

                    118.40 disability ins (semi-annually)

                      11.42 cable TV

                    256.43 mammogram clinic       

                      70.58 radiologist

           

I hated to send the mammogram money in, thinking as I wrote the check that I could have paid off the last of Visa if not for that stupid fiasco. I’ll be finding a better mammogram clinic before I ever go for another.  Or waiting for an alternative test.

We also paid half of our son’s college service club dues at $30, asking him to pay the rest.  We paid $50 to attend a Boy Scout banquet next week, in honor of our son and other boys in his district who earned Eagle rank during the past year.  We bought a tank of gas at $53.02, got $40 pocket-money for incidentals, a big load of groceries for $205.37 and a case of computer paper for $49.99, with a $25 online rebate, which I promptly completed.

We almost had an emergency over the weekend, before this check came in.  We had a balance of $4.66 when our youngest daughter, Miss S2, called from the highway with car problems. After several calls back and forth, a panicked father and a rescue from AAA, it was determined that the transmission was not bad, but that Miss S2  had bumped the gear shift stick into neutral by accident!  Whew!  Before realizing this, I had transferred $300 from our emergency savings into the checking account, in case it was needed.  I was thrilled to be able to move it back to savings today.  Dodged a bullet!