The Weeks Without Money

My wife and I never can make it to the end of the month with money in our pockets. I'm sure this is a situation with which all too many of you folks are familiar. It's relatively new for us, within the past several years. We pay as many of the bills as we can at the beginning of the month and try to lay in food supplies that will last. We know that by the 20th or the 23rd there just won't be anything left.

This month it was the 15th. Today is the 27th. The pharmacy loans us prescription pills and gets paid on the 3rd. But there aren't any credit supermarkets, or credit gas stations, or credit anything else. And we don't have any credit ourselves. There's less than a quarter of a tank of gas in the car and my wife has medical appointments today and tomorrow. I have a medical appointment on Thursday and then T on Friday. If there's enough gas to get there.

Money arrives next Monday. Wonder how long it will last. Until then, no milk, no eggs, stuff like that. Am I complaining? In a sense yes but in a sense no. I was raised and lived all my life in reasonable comfort. This is all a first for me and my wife. It kind of puts us in touch with probably the majority of the human race, which to me isn't a bad thing at all. It's good knowing how most people live, instead of living in the little, sealed-off prosperity bubble so many Americans have enjoyed until now. I'd give quite a bit to have had to put up with circumstances like this when I was a kid. I would have lived my life in a very different way.

I'm still in there trying to find a job. We really don't need all that much more to pay all the bills and have some left over. We've never lived high, just comfortable. But the job search seems neverending, like the job searches of millions of Americans and billions of people worldwide.

Not to worry. We'll always have enough calories, though they'll be from pasta and rice (after we get the bugs out). And we always manage to pay the power company so we'll always have hot water. It's quite strange not being able to just jump up and go out for a pizza. Or to the supermarket to buy something for dinner. Or take a drive somewhere. Is this the Real World?

I am right there with you!!!

I sympathize with you Ygrec because I have lived on a very tight budget for the last 3 yrs. I'll give you my tips and you can pick and choose what applies to you. I shop at a lower end grocery store - which basically means you pack your own groceries - the quality of the produce is the same if not better than the more expensive stores - I've saved hundreds by doing this. I make a list and plan meals for up to 10 days, then buy almost everything on sale or the lowest brand. If I'm buying Ketchup, I look at which one is the cheapest. For example - if I buy a whole chicken for me and the girls - I can make sandwiches the next day and then make a dish called Chicken A La King for dinner....that's 2 dinners and 1 lunch from one chicken.

I don't buy store bought pizza - I buy the dough and make it myself. It would cost $23 to buy one with all the toppings but a homemade one is about $7. We rarely buy fast food and never go out for dinner. Don't buy unnecessary foods like deserts, chips or junk foods - I buy them occasionally if I'm ahead a bit. I look what meats are on sale and won't buy the ones not on sale. I cancelled satellite and all unnecessary phone extras like call waiting, identicall, 2 lines etc. I don't run to the store several times a week and I plan other errands on the same day as shopping, so I'm not using too much gas. Make a list of everything you buy and really ask yourself what can you do without - I know your wife likes to drink - so maybe you need to cut down on this and opt for the milk and eggs....just being honest with you. Stick to the list of necessities and buy them all at once rather than buying a few items and then going to the store 4 days later. Hope some of these tips help.

Im sorry you are going through this. I am looking for a job too since I can't seem to handle my job anymore- you are right it's crazy there is nothing out there.

I also get this. My fiance lost his job, but decided to resign instead of being fired -- we both decided that would be better in the long run. But because of that, we can't get unemployment. I'm currently working two jobs and looking for a third, especially since even with two, I barely work 15 hours a week. We're looking into getting food stamps, but we're double checking to make sure that won't affect me going back to college (hopefully next semester), or follow us around. I already get free "family planning services" through planned parenthood which helps a LOT. The state website said I might even be able to get help with heating and electricity, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

We also plan meals, usually a week at a time. We do buy frozen pizzas; usually there's a deal where we can get four for $10, or 5 for $10 if we're lucky. We eat a lot of pasta, and try to watch sales and coupons (I really hate how extreme couponing is all about stock piling -- I just want to have enough food for the week, not for the next year and a half). We also buy a lot of store brand stuff. We actually go to two different grocery stores. One is cheap, but doesn't always have everything we need. The other is more expensive, but has everything. We also make sure we don't go to the grocery store hungry.

We also canceled our cable. We looked into lowering the phone bill, but if we did, we would lose our "locked in" internet price, so we decided to keep the phone bill as is so not to risk paying more for internet. We're also trying to figure out how to lower cell phone bills.

Lynn, if you have any other tips (especially cooking tips, but keep in mind, I'm not good in the kitchen by any stretch of the imagination...), I'd love to hear them.

Anyways, we're off to go get some job applications. Take care everyone, and good luck through this difficult time... It's like that new song by the Script, "For the First Time"....

I have the same situation. It is somewhat better now though because my sister bought me a refrigerator so I no longer eat fast food all the time.

Are there any food banks where you live? Or if your income is low enough you may be able to get food stamps from the DHHR. After my stepdad died my mom did not make enough as a teacher to support herself and her two daughters and got food stamps.

I sympathize too. But Ygrec, your attitude is so beautiful.
It's no fun when money is tight and so much thought ends up being about money - just money to have enough and to not have to worry so much about it, and to not live in fear of something costly happening.

We are also witnessing the money we do have go a shorter and shorter distance. I wonder how many people are going through this but are too ashamed to say so. It seems to me that people often take their financial condition as a personal failure or success, but I think right now it isn't personal so much as the times. If no one admits they are hurting how can we know this?

Just a small example: We eat almost no meat now (which is good) because in just the past few months it has become unaffordable. Last summer I bought bratwurst regularly. It was $2.99 for a package of five. Now the same package is $5.99. That's nearly double in a year. Figure the same with about half the foods in the market and you've got an alarming trend.

We also eat a lot more starch now. It's what we can afford.

Yes, pgrundy, same situation here. We eat lots of beans, rice, pasta, potatoes (white and sweet) and vegetables we grow ourselves. It's pretty boring. And, as you say, you can almost stand in the supermarket and watch the prices rise. If and when we do get meat of any kind, we cut it into small pieces and freeze all of them separately so we can take two out and make it go farther that way. I don't know about your area, but some of our neighbors are hunters and they'll sell us venison or wild boar for a dollar or two a pound. That makes a nice change. There's almost zero meat of any kind being sold in supermarkets around here for less than four dollars a pound, on sale. And fish? Forget it. Take care!

Yes, you also! We'll get through it!

Ramen noodles are my favorite inexpensive snack. When the water is hot, you can crack a couple eggs in it for the added protein. I also add frozen vegetables, and I can go ahead and stick the bag back in the freezer with a twist tie. As a vegetarian I do not add canned tuna, but the overnight manager at the grocery store where I buy my vegetables suggested it.

Chopped walnuts from the baking aisle are high in calories - and a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. I get raw, unsalted almonds there, too.