I thought we were going to be ok...

wmramsel

I am sitting here bawling because DH just called and said that his after school teaching application got denied, along with the other 2 best teachers in the school.  Not sure why, but that means $400 less per month that we will have to live on.  We literally cannot make ends meet with his regular salary.  He has done after school Tuesdays through Thursdays for $30 an hour since he has worked at this school.  He works in the summer to make up for that lost income.  We go 2 months out of the year (August and December/January) where we don't have that extra income- my financial aid covers us for August and we skip a car loan payment (we have the option twice a year) to make it through December/January.  I was in such a great mood finances wise because things were finally looking up- my income waitressing is all being put towards our car loan and we were going to be able to pay it off by the time the baby is born.  With out the car payment or TV bill, we would be ok when our insurance hikes up to $300 a month after the first of the year.  Now I am terrified because we have a baby on the way and can no longer make ends meet on a regular basis, what happens when the baby comes?  Right now we are in a month to month lease with our house, so we are looking at either having some friends of ours move in with us (which is against our lease) or move into a two bedroom apartment- with 2 dogs and a cat.  Which sucks because we are really happy right now where we are at- Nice house for the money, big back yard for dogs, plenty of room, nice neighborhood.  I'm seriously scared right now and don't know what to do.  We are going to cancel our internet ($27 a month) and ask DH's parents to pay half the phone bill since they are on our plan ($50 a month).  The rest of our bills are basically mandatory- rent, vehicle insurance, school loan, auto loan, etc.  I turned off the A/C.....

Ugh, thanks for letting me vent ladies!! 

nohalo21

Paying bills is never fun. That stinks about your hubby not getting the position. Is there anyway he could tutor? I know a couple teachers in my grade level make good money doing that during the school year.

maltwin1

I'm sorry you're having to go through this. Hang in there and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that things work themselves out soon.

Is there any way that you could ask you landlord to reduce your rent if you sign a long-term (multi year) lease? Sometimes they are willing to do that for the security of knowing that they don't have to worry about renting the place out again for a while.

wmramsel

I literally LOLed at tutoring in this area...and he's a PE teacher....so idk if thats an option or not because he is only certified in PE and health.

As far as my landlord- the month to month lease is his choice.  Thats all he does and we've already asked for a reduction in rent.  He refused- even when he thought we were going to move out in July. 

nohalo21

wmramsel:

I literally LOLed at tutoring in this area...and he's a PE teacher....so idk if thats an option or not because he is only certified in PE and health.

I can't tell you how many kids fail gym. I am sure he has stories for you.

kbuns

I'm sorry ( Any chance you can pick up more hours? or can DH work a second job for awhile?

izzourclue

I'm sorry you guys are having a hard time.  I would look into your school loan.  If its a federal loan (not private), you may be able to apply for some hardship relief.  Since you are still in school and have a dependent on the way, you may be under the income level that allows you to defer it (maybe until you are out of law school) or at least refinance it to a lower payment.  I'm sure you guys will figure it all out once you get over the shock and are able to sit down and crunch some more numbers.  Good luck!

MicheleR96

I'm sorry that you are going through this, but it will work out. I definitely would look into your husband getting a second job. Even if it is not something he would normally do, it could help. If you think about getting a second job, I would really just look into something a little less active since you are already serving. Maybe you could find something working from home. I know when my brother was going through a hard time, he did one of those at home call center jobs. He just answered customer service calls for Barnes and Noble and I think made $10 an hour. 40 hours per month could make up for what you're losing. It's a thought. HTH

MrsYam

Blah. Money problems always stink. When I got pregnant with Olivia, hubby was locked out (on strike) at work for 6 months! They dropped our insurance and I had to pay about $300 a month for private insurance to get me through the prenatal care. But, it all worked out in the end. Don't worry, you will find a way, even if its really tight for awhile.

Honestly, babies are not THAT expensive. I was nervous about the added costs we'd have to endure, but diapers and wipes aren't too bad, especially if you find a store brand you like. 

midnight*sun

I am so, so sorry you are having to deal with this right now.

As a pet owner myself I know the thought of ever having to be without my pets terrifies me, but I can't imagine feeding 2 dogs and a cat is inexpensive. Do you have any friends that would be willing to take care them until you get back on your feet? You might be able to find another place for less without having your pets. If that absolutely is not an option you could always post on craigslist for tutoring. Lots of college kids do this for extra money and many parents don't want to pay the extra money for someone who is certified, just someone to help their kid get back on track.

MsixelA

I'm so sorry about all the money issues. Have you thought about having your husband look into coaching even? In my hometown coaches get paid at least a little extra for what they do. It doesn't even have to be at his school, just somewhere near(ish) by. We had quite a few coaches at my high school that were teachers at surrounding area schools. Private tutoring is a good idea too, like the PP said. I did that during high school and college and made some good cash from it because people didn't want to pay for certified help. Something to think about, but everything will work itself out. I know it doesn't seem like it right now because you're stressed out and worrying about it. But keep your chin up and once you guys get over the shock and can look at everything calmly things will fall into place.

wmramsel

Well, after a few hours to actually calm down, talk, and crunch some numbers- 

I don't **think** we'll have to move.  Our basic bills not including gas and food come to just under DH's base salary.  He also has the second job that will be Monday's and Fridays that should cover us for gas and food and doggie food.  He is also going to look into a soccer coaching job that is open at a high school in his district which would start in the spring.  We should be able to pay off the jeep in 4 months max putting all my serving money towards the loan, so that will help.  Then in the Spring, we will take out the maximum amount in a grad plus loan.  Ugh.  What is more debt when you are over $100,000 in the hole to the dept. of education??  That will be able to make up for the jump in insurance and child care, and help out in other places.  I was really looking forward to being able to put some money into savings....

Thank you ladies for all the encouraging words!  Pregnancy hormones make everything so much worse.... 

atownpreggo

Oh no!  So sorry to hear that.  My best friend is a teacher, and also makes extra doing afterschool...  she'd be in trouble as well if she lost that. As a PP suggested, what about coaching?  Or maybe teaching like kids sports stuff (like for 5-ish year olds)...  I know our Boys & Girls Club has stuff like that after school and on weekends.  They have soccer, kickball, whiffle ball swimming, etc.  Could he maybe look into that?

COBB1103

What jumped out to me is the car insurance (I work for an insurance company) Call them and review your policy.  Let them know you're in a tough situation and have them go through it line by line.  They should be bale to provide you with some recommendations on how to save, and if now, call around and see if you can get lower rates with another company.  $300 per month seems high to me.

te amo

Maybe your husband could refferre, there are some fall baseball leagues, football is starting, and before to long there will be basketball games.  I know a few guys that make extra money doing this.  Hang in there.

Molluskwrangler

I think the coaching thing is a great idea, I know that pop warner and stuff like that always need coaches, even cheer leading...I was looking into teaching karate for a company that specializes in sports for kids and they were paying 25-35 an hour, the offered the same for cheer leading etc and were desperate for coaches and teachers.

mchupie

I'm really sorry, I hope it all works out.  Are there any other part time jobs he could apply for?

WestCoastMommy

I'm so sorry to hear this. I know exactly where your coming from though. DH has had a bad year at work and we've had to claim exempt on taxes just to make ends meet. While his office is finally picking up we know we have a big bill coming the beginning of next year. We finally got ahead of all our debt and almost had it paid off and then we go and have a bad year salary wise. I feel like we can never get ahead.

I hope something good comes your way. I know it's stressful dealing with money issues while pregnant. This pregnancy has been so different from my first. I had the money to splurge on DS and now I feel guilty that we are doing the minimum for DD but that's the way it goes. Thankfully my mom and MIL have bought most our stuff for us because they are aware of our situation. We are very fortunate to have them. I hope you guys have someone to lean on as well.

CAB'smommy

Is your income low enough for you and baby to go on Medicaid until you are more on your feet?  Sounds like you've done all you can to cut bills.  

CAB'smommy

izzourclue:

I'm sorry you guys are having a hard time.  I would look into your school loan.  If its a federal loan (not private), you may be able to apply for some hardship relief.  Since you are still in school and have a dependent on the way, you may be under the income level that allows you to defer it (maybe until you are out of law school) or at least refinance it to a lower payment.  I'm sure you guys will figure it all out once you get over the shock and are able to sit down and crunch some more numbers.  Good luck!

 

Yeah, this is good too.  We looked into this once.   

wmramsel

COBB1103:

What jumped out to me is the car insurance (I work for an insurance company) Call them and review your policy.  Let them know you're in a tough situation and have them go through it line by line.  They should be bale to provide you with some recommendations on how to save, and if now, call around and see if you can get lower rates with another company.  $300 per month seems high to me.

Oh, the $300 is health insurance!  We have $133 a month on car insurance for 2 cars- DH's is the minimum and we have to carry full coverage on the jeep because of the loan.  When the loan is paid off we will drop it down to the same as the car.  We get a group discount from being graduates of Ball State, a good student discount, multi car discount, a college graduate discount, and an educator discount through Liberty Mutual.  I've looked at other companies and no one can ever match it!  

I didn't think of the refereeing, thanks for the idea ladies! 

honey740

wmramsel:

I literally LOLed at tutoring in this area...and he's a PE teacher....so idk if thats an option or not because he is only certified in PE and health.

As far as my landlord- the month to month lease is his choice.  Thats all he does and we've already asked for a reduction in rent.  He refused- even when he thought we were going to move out in July. 

What about coaching? My sister's husband coaches, he's a PE teacher. Or, he could go to some gyms and see if he could do some personal training after school? 

 

ETA: I didn't see your comment about the soccer coaching but he should look outside the district too for some Fall stuff 

KeyRyn320

If you are currently in school, you should be able to get an in-school forebearance on your student loans. I had one every year I was in college. All that happens is they keep adding on interest but you don't have to pay it until six months after you graduate. And once you have the baby, if you can't get a forebearance, they have different deferrments for when you have a loss of income or additional bills.

I would also shop around for car insurance. Are you able to get car and renters with the same company, which would actually lower your bill? Is your Jeep brand new? If both you and DH's cars are used, there is no way you should be paying $300 a month. DH and I both have used cars and renters insurance through Allstate and we barely pay $200 for everything.

Everything is going to work out for you guys!

wmramsel

KeyRyn320:

If you are currently in school, you should be able to get an in-school forebearance on your student loans. I had one every year I was in college. All that happens is they keep adding on interest but you don't have to pay it until six months after you graduate. And once you have the baby, if you can't get a forebearance, they have different deferrments for when you have a loss of income or additional bills.

I would also shop around for car insurance. Are you able to get car and renters with the same company, which would actually lower your bill? Is your Jeep brand new? If both you and DH's cars are used, there is no way you should be paying $300 a month. DH and I both have used cars and renters insurance through Allstate and we barely pay $200 for everything.

Everything is going to work out for you guys!

MY student loans are in deferment, but DH's aren't. I am very reluctant to change the amount we pay because the Dept. of Educ. does this thing where if you are in a public service job (teaching and the military qualify) and you make "qualifying payments" for 10 years, after that 10 years anything left on the student loans are forgiven.  We make qualifying payments now, but not if we lower the payment.  And if they change the law and we aren't making qualifying payments at the time, we won't be grandfathered in- meaning if we then started making qualifying payments, we wouldn't be able to do the public service program.  After I graduate, I will be working until my Corps training just to save money to pay my loan payment every month.

Insurance is health insurance, not car insurance- see pp!  We do have renter's insurance through them also, and I am going to call them soon to put the motorcycle insurance under it also (thank goodness DH can drive the motorcycle every other week to school and save on gas!) if it is cheaper.