surviving with very little money

[St. Theresa]

I couldn't survive with dial-up. It's not just matter of preferring high speed. I need it for work. We have extended basic cable for TV and most of my favorite TV shows are on channels I would not get without extended basic. I don't do much for fun, so TV is really it. Plus, if I downgrade my TV package, I'll have to pay more for my Internet service. Oh, how I love Comcast. Can we have some competiton in this market, please??

The $100 phone bill is truly the best I can do. It's a business phone. If I don't use a business phone, I don't get listed in the yellow pages. It gives me unlimited local and long distance calling. Without the plan, it would be much higher. All the extras come with the plan and although I do have answering machines, voice mail sounds much more clear to my prospective customers than the machines do.

And I've kept track of everything for years in Quicken. Still do. And yeah, I don't worry too much about college because a) my son will probably not go - he's in a tech school and he will graduate with certifications and be ready for work. My daughter gets good grades and will probably end up with scholarships and as long as our government stays relatively sane, there will be grants and loans.

I'm about as frugal as I can be with utilities, heat, water, and everything else you can imagine. When the kids are with their dad every other weekend, the heat goes WAY down, most of the lights are off, and I'm quite happy with a package of Ramen noodles with a scrambled egg cooked in and a small can of peas. I also have a fireplace, so if I do have a chance to curl up and watch TV for the night, that works as a heat source for the livingroom. I don't mind bundling up.

There's very little to cut. What I need is more income. I'm working on big time web sites as we speak. It ain't easy work. PHP, MySQL, XML, Ajax, Flash, Java, Javascript. What's infuriating is that no matter what you do, your sites are going to look different depending on the screen resolution, the OS and the browser. Just when you think something's perfect, you look at it in another browser and, well, head meet desk. I'm trying to steer away from these tedious projects and focus on the easy money. For example, I have a client who will pay me to come "find" his email. He'll open Outlook and see the "Outlook Today" screen and think his email "disappeared." I go over and click once and his email is back and he'll give me $20.

I also have many domains but I have to work on my own sites to attract differnent types of jobs. Right now, I'm only found for real estate web design, which is what I really need to get the heck away from.

I've herniated my second lumbar disc (had surgery on one a few years ago) and now it's back to doctor's app'ts, an MRI on Saturday, prescriptions. Even with heath insurance, the co-pays are killers.

[jasanderson]

I resisted for years to go high speed and paid 9.95 a month with netzero. Once I finally upgraded I would get a part time job if necessary just to pay for it. It is an incredible time waster and if you need to be online for your business why put that in jeopardy?

You may pay more for your internet if you were to downgrade your TV package but do you realize you can watch a lot of shows online now? Our cable was disconnected a year ago and we lived until this fall without when DH had it connected one day. I find that with it I waste a lot more time glued to the TV and have a harder time getting things done. With 2 small children my new favorite is to spend a few hours on the weekend when they are sleeping catching up on my favorite ABC shows. I can watch at my leisure and sometimes catch up on the past 2-3 week worth of shows. i no longer plan my life around missing Desperate Housewives! If you only had internet you could save quite a bit of money per month.

I would recommend checking with your utility company to see if they offer energy audits. I'm not sure how much square feet you are heating but we live in Minnesota, heat 1000 sq ft house and 1200 sq foot garage and our highest bill was $250 for gas & electric. I scheduled one this summer and it was eye opening for sure. Our house was built in the 50's and it leaks horribly. Little things like caulking around the windows, resealing your windows, covering windows in plastic, resealing your doors and kick plates and putting insulation foam pieces behind your electrical outlets has made a HUGE difference in our house.

It is very important that you routinely have your furnace serviced. I always thought that was hooey but after having it done this fall we cut our furnace run time down to half of what it was taking. You also mentioned a fireplace. If this is wood fireplace they are a HUGE energy waster as your warm air goes right out the huge hole in the wall if you are not using it. Make sure your flue is closed and it may look silly but have someone measure a piece of wood that would fit in the hole and then tack that pink styrofoam insulation to it. You could use that to cover the hole when your fireplace is not in use.

I am not sure what kind of insurance drug coverage you have but check to see if they offer an option of mail in service. Our company drug plan offers this and you can 2 months of prescriptions for one co-pay. Also, Walmart now has a list of generic drugs that they give for $4.00 I am not sure how intensive the list is but maybe there are alternatives to some of the stuff you are taking that are on the list.

The only other advice I would have is to check with your doctor/physical therapist to see if you can buy an inversion table. They are relatively inexpensive, maybe $200 for a decent one. My friend has disc problems and her husband hangs her upside down on the clothes line with these moon boot looking things to stretch out her back. It's hilarious and she feels like her own freak show but she swears by it. If you ever watch HSN and see Jack Teeter on there he talks about his Teeter Hangups inversion tables and what a difference inversion has made on his life. You can find his story on their company website as well. I am NOT any type of spokesperson or salesperson or anything else for this company but in theory the idea is super and my chiropractor actually has good things to say as well. I think the Teeter ones are kinda spendy and I have seen cheaper versions online so you would want to do your research first but it may save you a fortune in doctor bills.

[leggzz66]

i dumped thee ole landline altogether, so no dial up for me, not that id want it anyway, after the feel of dsl/cable, i couldnt deal with it. I saved 70 plus dumping my phone, costs 55 approx for my rr turbo. I think it would be cheaper if cable here wasnt a monopoly. I hear ya on the comcast comment down there, we have time warner only here, nothing else. Theres still major freeway construction going on here so dsl cant be even laid yet, they said 2 more years, so no competition in sat,cable, or phone. Sure you could get dish network or direct tv here, but we live in the flood plains, how often do you want to look at searching for signal? Its all trees around here, so forget about the 80+ percent signal too. Here it is Christmas time and its like seattle out there. Id like to know where all this rain is when the farmers need it! oy! Even still with sat's, noooo internet availabilitys, cause freeway redo's, no dsl optics have even been laid or expect to do so for 2 years. I have seen comcasts offers, seems loads cheaper then im paying for tw. My cable bill/internet, is approx 120. thats for basic extended cable, heck ours charges 2 dollars for just wgn and tbs!

[St. Theresa]

Well, the other problem with dial-up is that you have to use your phone line. I need to be online while I speak to clients on the phone.

And yeah, if I miss an episode of something I like, I know I can find it online somewhere. But I spend so much time in front of the computer, I like watching TV in the living room or my bedroom. Last night was so cozy lying in bed watching the movie, "Castaway."

As far as the inversion table, a former nurse suggested I find a cheap, flat door to rest up against a sofa or a bed to get the stretching effect you get from inversion therapy. I spoke to my neurosurgeon about the whole concept and while he agrees that stretching can't hurt, there's no way it's going to put a herniated disc back together. It's not just protruding. The disc material has busted out. That is the point of no return.

As for my scripts, there's nothing expensive that I'm on for a long period of time. Like Percocet...I need it when I need it, which is now.

If I do end up on something long-term, I'd look into mail order for sure!

My furnace...oy. It's probably older than me. It just needs to be replaced. I'm on the verge of being eligible for a forgivable loan for home repairs. I may just get some much needed stuff done around here that will make the house more energy efficient.

*crosses fingers*

[boomeyers]

Sounds like you have it under control as long as nothing disasterous happens! You might want to join the online survey things, like Mypoints. I used my points from Mypoints to buy gift cards to give as gifts. Also good for getting GC to Home Depot for the house fix ups.

[jasanderson]

I love mypoints. It's very easy to click and you can put in parameters on how many emails a day you want.

[filifefc]

Originally Posted by momma4

`ok ppl might not think that $1900 some times more a month is very little but with 7 ppl 3 adults and 4 kids ages 9,7,4,2 (still in diapers) it has to go really far.

costs:

Rent:$686
electric:$240
phone/internet/unlimited long distance: $120 (our phone bill was way higher without internet and unlimited long distance) considering doing a cable plan with cable tv, phone, unlimited long distance and internet for only $145
food: aprox $120 per week not including dh eating out durning lunches I keep my eyes open for lots of buy one get one frees, 10 for $10 deals, I am a coupon nut LOL, and OMG freebies are my friend LOL.
dh's cigs: $60-$100 a month
creditor we can afford to pay: $50 a month
blockbuster online: $16.04 per month (it is the only way we can afford rentals it saves ALOT on gas.
water: $40
car insurance: $123

this comes to an average of $1855 a month

stop spending on the cigs! that's money down the drain along with his health!

[leggzz66]

hey, whos charging 145 for package deals?
ive seen comcast commercials, at&t commercials and time warner here, have a deal where each item, 2 or more together as a package for 33 each, totaling 99. thats for phone, cable and internet. mines only higher cause i get the turbo 8 package which isnt included in thier deal, u can still get the 5, which is still fast, but we got the 8 cause we had multiple computors online at same time. which im gonna change here, and real quick. now that cassey left us. Ill have to go to the package deal or id not be able to keep what i need here. which is good, still, cause 5 is fine for myself and will get digital cable in place of basic.

[St. Theresa]

Originally Posted by filifefc

stop spending on the cigs! that's money down the drain along with his health!

I smoke, too, although one of my New Year's resolutions is to quit. My problem is that I have panic attacks when I try. There's a new drug on the market which blocks the nicotine receptors in the brain. So while you smoke, you're actually NOT feeding the addiction. Some people are finding this extremely helpful in quitting. They taper their smoking levels down, until they're ready to go totally smoke free, with much more ease. You get the nicotine addiction out of the way and then just deal with the habit.

I'm hoping my doc has free samples!

In the meantime, I always look for deals. There are lots of BOGO's, plus cheap generic brands. At least you can save if you can't get him to quit.

[JanH]

Originally Posted by St. Theresa

I smoke, too, although one of my New Year's resolutions is to quit. My problem is that I have panic attacks when I try.

Not to be nosey, but I'm just wondering if the smoking helps to compensate for the panic attacks. Perhaps you could also talk to your doctor about how to take care of them when you quit. I feel for you. Panic attacks are something my DD and I have had in the past. I've had family members quit forms of tobacco. It isn't easy, but it is good for your health to quit. Good luck! We'll root for you!

[St. Theresa]

Originally Posted by JanH

Not to be nosey, but I'm just wondering if the smoking helps to compensate for the panic attacks. Perhaps you could also talk to your doctor about how to take care of them when you quit. I feel for you. Panic attacks are something my DD and I have had in the past. I've had family members quit forms of tobacco. It isn't easy, but it is good for your health to quit. Good luck! We'll root for you!

I don't think smoking prevents my panic attacks. I've had them as a smoker, too. It's just stress and when I have one, I feel like I can't get a deep breath, while, in actuality, I'm hyperventilating (found this out the first time I went to the ER for my "breathing problems.") And I get these yawns that sort of get stuck in the middle. It's disconcerting. Klonopin zaps 'em away when they hit.

I get panic attacks more severely when I try to quit because of the stress of quitting. For that reason, nicotine patches are the worst thing for me.
I haven't set a target date yet, but I definitely shouldn't wait until December. Holiday stress!

[Aleta]

I quit smoking in 2001. I started cutting down on my cigarrets a little at a time. The less nicotine that you have in your system seems to make it easier to quit later on. I would allocate so many cigarrets a day and sometimes I wouldn't smoke that. The patches also helped. I also used sublimial tapes for relaxation. Good luck!

[jasanderson]

My DH tried Chantix and it helped him cut down but he got SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cranky that he had to quit before I kicked him out.

[HelpMeFriend]

Everyone thinks they have the sollution to your money problem by having your DH quit smoking. Yes, that would be best for all, but it is hard. I think about all the money I spend on nails, hair, cigs, liquor, and other non-esentials. What the hell? Can you just quit something you have done everyday of your life, at least 20 times a day? NO. You couldn't stop eating, drinking, or speaking could you. Don't harp on someone for their addictions. It is easier to harp about someone elses, but I am sure that you all have a vice or two that you aren't proud of, even if it is free to do.