No Income Until May... help!

I work a seasonal job at an amusement park, since I'm in college. I'm finding out that my student loan refund money is running very low, and my job won't start until April 30th. Therefore, I won't get my first paycheck this year until May 6th. I've got exactly $931.01 in my bank account. Rent will come out twice before that paycheck, totalling $650. That leaves me $281.01. My water bill (after being split with my fiance) is always below the minimum usage for the month, and will be $10.50. Paying that twice more, will take me down to $260.01. Next is cable. We have only basic cable, because we live in the mountains, and can get no signal without it. I would cut it off, but they charge a fee, so keeping it is the most cost effective for now. That may come out twice before my next paycheck, and will total $29.24 for two months. That leaves me $230.77. Next is the electricity bill. We rarely have the heat on. We use sweats and gloves and such instead. The lights stay off unless absolutely needed. Anything not being used is always off, or unplugged if it won't be used for a while. My electricity bill usually ranges (my half of it) from approx. $23-$31. If I assume the average, which may be payed twice before my next paycheck, it will leave me $176.77. Finally, my cellphone bill. It is rather expensive, but we have no landline phone. The plan I have allows me in-network calling that doesn't use minute. It allows me to call my parents, brother, and fiance without using minutes. I don't have text-messaging or any of those charges. My bill is usually approx. $53.50. That leaves me $123.27. Right now, I have a full tank of gas (bought it the day before yesterday, when I found a gas station about 5 cents cheaper than the rest, because I knew it'd go up, which it did). Though I don't do a lot of driving, I do have to drive to tutor twice a week, and I may need to travel once this month about 2.5 hours away for a school project. If I can manage to only fill up 1-1.5 times, I should spend around $30. That leaves me $93.27. I still have yet to buy food with this money. Currently in my apt., to feed two of us, I have 1 box velveeta shells & cheese, 1 small can veg. baked beans, 2 packs frozen chicken breasts (3 per pack), 1 box rice-a-roni, about 2.5 cans of vegetables or beans, 4 small cans of peaches, about 1/4 bag animal crackers, 4 nutri-gran bars, 2/3 box of generic cheerios cereal, 2 packets of wyler's light sugarfree lemonade mix, and 1 piece of sugarless gum. All of this food was bought at least 2-3 weeks ago, so we haven't bought groceries in a while. Do you think this could possibly be stretched for the next 7.5 weeks between 2 people? The bad part is, I'm hypoglycemic and have to eat about every 2-3 hours, or I pass out. I've gotten good at eating small things, just enough to keep my blood sugar up, but this still puts a dent in the food. Any ideas for ways to save money/stretch this food? Thanks for the help!

[PennyPincher]

Can your fiancee help a bit too? ~ at least there are two of you!

Are you getting paid for tutoring? If so, that should help offset some costs, and I'd try to pick up some extra sessions. If you're on a college campus, I'm sure there are students that need help, as well as surrounding schools. Lots of middle schools and high schools are getting ready for exam time! I've been tutoring 3 times a week lately!

I'd find a local store to post signs at to offer your tutoring services, as well as anything else. Maybe you and your fiancee are available to babysit, walk dogs, clean house, etc.

Is a job an option with your course load? I waited tables in college and made GREAT money with tips. The cash was immediate. Since I'm a saver by nature, it wasn't tempting to spend it all, but just wonderful to be able to pay bills quickly.

Good luck!!! You can do it...

[gakline]

As much as I hate to say it, but this might be one of those credit card moments. Make sure you get a low interest rate before you start charging it up, and just use it for the necessities, such as food. As soon as you get your first paycheck, pay it off.

[MrsChambers]

what part of the counrty are you in?

[loveofpets]

Do you have internet access also and paying high price for that? (eg., AOL vs. netzero or something less expensive?) Or, are you accessing internet through school library? If you are paying for internet access and paying high cost, switch to something less expensive....or choose a separate level of service to decrease costs.

How much will the cable company charge to disconnect cable? If it's less than paying the fee for two months, it's something to reconsider (if it makes sense).

Also, if you have internet access, is there anything you can sell on ebay that you don't need/use anymore?

>Penny Pincher: He pays half all the bills already, except cable. He insists on having Netflix since I made him reduce the cable, so I told him he'd have to pay for all of Netflix. He's way more of a spender than I am, so I know his finaces have to be worse than mine. The difference between him and me is that he owes over $1500 on a credit card, and all my balances are $0. As far as tutoring goes, I am required to do it 2-3 days a week for one of my classes. I have to tutor at an elementary school, for the "experience"... since I plan to be a teacher. Last year, I did work while going to school and it went terribly. They kept trying to schedule me when I had classes, and even when they didn't, I get so much homework and projects that I was slacking on them because of work, and my grades suffered. I know some people are able to work while in school, but I think I'm taking too big a course load for that.

>gakline: Unfortunately, that's what I was afraid of. I've been trying to come up with some other way. I've never carried a balance on a credit card, because I always pay it off as soon as I use it. I did this initially to build up my credit rating... but have kept in the habit of doing it. I guess that could be a last resort. :\

>MrsChambers: I live in Boone, North Carolina.

>loveof pets: I do have internet access at my apartment, but it's provided by my rental company and is thus, included in the cost of rent. I'm not sure exactly what they'd charge to disconnect/reconnect cable... but when we went down from expanded basic to basic cable (from over $55 to $14.62), they charged us a $20 fee to do it, and that's more than our bill is now. I'm having a hard enough time trying to stand up against my fiance because he's pressuring me to get satellite (which would put us at around $40/month), which is cheaper than expanded basic, but more than plain basic cable.. He never had to work until he got into college, and his parents still help him out sometimes, so I don't think he quite grasps the concept of saving rather than spending. He's completely unfrugal and gets frustrated with me whenever I talk about money issues. I'm considering the ebay thing. I atleast have some books I don't read that I'd like to sell. I've never done it though, so I'm just wondering if it would even be worth the trouble of getting things shipped. I guess I'll try that first.

Thanks everyone for your help so far.

[loveofpets]

Got cha! I had the same situation - for 10 years...I was a saver, my othe half was a spender (resulting in collection calls on a regular basis, etc.) Needless to say, I took control of the finances until the relationship ended.

If you have books you want to sell, use half.com vs. ebay - it's easier, and you're more likely to get the asking price. do a price comparison using a pricebot about the normal price of the book (used) and use that to determine your asking price. In many instances, there is a set fee that you will get reimbursed for shipping, so when you calculate the pros/cons, take that into consideration.

Also, I think there is a site that sells used textbooks - you might want to check into that as well if you have any textbooks that you want to get rid of. (I still have mine from the 1st half of the 80's and they're doing nothing but collecting dust!)

[PennyPincher]

As I'm sure you're aware, money issues can be huge obstacles in any relationship. It's important to feel comfortable with your partner's choices and approaches. I have struggled for years on this one, and he's not even a real spender. Mine just doesn't quite grasp the importance of credit rating and postponing 'wants'. It would be much easier to be with someone who had a good example growing up. He's a late frugal bloomer because of it.

Anyhow....I would still suggest tutoring. You're getting great experience doing it for free, and you'll get the same experience getting PAID. At least that would only add an hour or two here or there, and leave you plenty of time for studies. Depending on the subject and grade level, you could easily earn upwards of $20/hour, I'm sure. I charge between $30-50 here in Virginia. I did it when I was in NJ in college too, and the family ended up keeping me for a year after I had graduated too! I've been tutoring for over 9 years now, during various careers ~ great extra income.

Ebay is a solid idea too ~ or consignment, flea markets. Anytime you can get rid of stuff and earn a little bit, it's great! Don't be intimidated by ebay...it's easy. Just look at how others are selling similar items. You don't want to undersell or shoot too high.

Keep being frugal ~ cut coupons, search sales, etc. It does help. And stretches your money further.

Is getting a roommate an option?

>loveofpets: Thanks, I'll try half.com. I think I have some videos I could get rid of too actually.

>PennyPincher: Yeah, he's gotten better, in that he cuts off lights more and buys generic items, but he's an ebay addict and buys tooooooooooo often. The tutoring I have to do is organized by my Curriculum & Instruction Lab Professor. She is in contact with all of the schools in the area and sends them tutors from the students in the classes. None of us were allowed to choose what kind of tutoring we did, nor where we did it at. I'm actually wanting to teach Calculus in high school, but she has me tutoring five 4th graders at an elementary school. Go figure. :P I'm looking into the ebay thing, thanks. I actually get my parents to send me unused coupons as often as they can spare them. I of course don't use them on things I don't need, but they help occasionally. Since I live in a college town, and it's the middle of the semester, nobody is looking for a place to live, but many are looking for roommates or subleasers, if they're moving out. I'm gonna try the ebay thing though. I think that's my best bet for now. Thank you.

[34saving]

You can probably bargain with your cable company if you have to. They've tried to charge me many times for various up and downgrades . . . I've always been able to get them to wave those fees.

Since you're an education major . . . Tutoring is great esp. if you can do math and/or science. If tutoring doesn't work you could probably pick up pretty good money babysitting a few nights (they usually feed you too). Even some of your younger professors might have kids that need taking care of every now and then.

As for food . . .I guess it all comes down to one word . . . .Ramon . . .or even better the generic equilvalent (I think Walmart's version sells for 11 cents a pack.)

Good luck!

[34saving]

I just got your latest response. Wow!! Calc. is a GOLD MINE. You can probably make a ton without even leaving the campus. If you don't have peers that will pay you the parents of high school students certainly will. ($30-$50 an hour depending on area). Go for it!

I'd love to tutor for money, but the problem in this area is, since this is a big education college, and all of the education majors are required to tutor for free every semester, so many people can get free tutoring, so they wouldn't even think of paying me to tutor them when they can get it for free on campus. I've never really done the babysitting thing other than for family. I don't know how to even start doing it. Signs that I see posted by people wanting sitters all require references, or need tutoring during the day, while i'm in classes. Yeah, ramen is a good way to go. I think our grocery store runs a lot of 10/$1 specials on it, so I may stock up the next time it's that cheap.

[button48]

Originally Posted by loveofpets

Got cha! I had the same situation - for 10 years...I was a saver, my othe half was a spender (resulting in collection calls on a regular basis, etc.) Needless to say, I took control of the finances until the relationship ended.

If you have books you want to sell, use half.com vs. ebay - it's easier, and you're more likely to get the asking price. do a price comparison using a pricebot about the normal price of the book (used) and use that to determine your asking price. In many instances, there is a set fee that you will get reimbursed for shipping, so when you calculate the pros/cons, take that into consideration.

Also, I think there is a site that sells used textbooks - you might want to check into that as well if you have any textbooks that you want to get rid of. (I still have mine from the 1st half of the 80's and they're doing nothing but collecting dust!)

If you do decide Ebay, you can use the shipping calculator to approximate the shipping and include it in the cost of the item you are selling. Remember though, that you need to check on the fees that Ebay will charge. Doing your cost research before will give you a better idea as to how to price your items. Good luck!

thanks!

[34saving]

I bet you don't have very many education people tutoring calc though . . .unless your college is a lot different than mine was! It looks like the signs you're seeing for babysitting are for nanny type positions. You don't need anything that formal. Do you have any younger professors that like you? They might have a need for an occassional babysitter or have friends that do. If you go to church you could probably find people there too. You can make it through this position without credit cards . . .it will just take some creativity Good luck!

[Momof3grls]

yes babysit or sell stuff on ebay or have a garage sale if you cant have one where you live maybe do it at a friends house or something I am sure you can make it threw this ok!! For some reason thier always seems to be something to sell when you really need money KWIM

[kashi]

You could put up signs around campus and around town for any service that you think you could do:

Dog Walking (if you don't mind dogs)
House/Pet Sitting for people going on vacation or out of town for the weekend
Tutoring (as everyone else has recommended)
Typing papers for students who don't type all that well
Computer lessons for seniors (simple things, like Word or Internet Basics)

etc etc etc. Just think about simple things you could do that wouldn't require lots of driving around and not much time, and get paid for. You'd be surprised how many older people want to learn how to email thier grandkids or feel more confident about their computer skills, but are too shy to take a class.

[kashi]

Another thing - maybe you should ask your fiance to help out a little more with groceries until you start getting paid again. I know if I told my boyfriend I couldn't afford groceries, he would go out and fill up a cart without me asking him to, even if we weren't living together. Eating is definitely something you shouldn't skimp on, especially if you are hypoglycemic. Check out the book "Miserly Meals" from the library if you can...there are lots of cheap meal ideas in there, and it may be helpful to you.

^ The only problem with that is, he's in more financial trouble than I am. His credit card balances total over $1500 and he works the same job as me, so he has no income right now either. The difference is, he can ask his parents to help him out if he gets too low on money, but mine are on the verge of bankruptcy and can't help me. I went to Wal-Mart last night. We both had some change in a cup we had saved, so we bought a few generic things, spending under $7. I got a generic brand small package of peppermints to help keep my blood sugar up since I can't eat as often as I'm used to. I'll look for that book at the library. I also got an e-mail today from a grad student here who's continuing a study that I started participating in my freshman year here. They were paying $5 to the people who came to do the study, to entice them to come back each semester to re-do the survey to see how the results change. Anyways, that's coming up next week, and they've upped the payment to $10 for coming, so I'm definitely gonna go do that. My fiance has his own side videography business, but it's just getting started so we haven't done anything much yet. However, last night he had his first job. He let me come and operate one of the cameras for it, and payed me $100! I wish he'd get more jobs like that haha. I'm still gonna be careful though. He made about $400 off of it, which I know he'll need, seeing as his bank account is worse than mine and he owes on his credit card. Thanks for all of your tips though. Keep them coming if you think of anymore.

[Russell]

Eating peppermints to keep your blood sugar level up is no good.

If its a choice between feeding yourself and going to school I would take a semester off and go find a full time job.

Also, are peppermints cheaper than a cup of Ramen noodles ?

Goodluck and keep us posted.