DH lost his job - help me trim my budget

Mominator · April 2009

I think that we are already fairly barebones, but I'm hoping that maybe some of you can suggest some things to help me cut things further. Other than getting rid of cable and cell phones, any suggestions?

mandymack · April 2009

OMG, I'm so sorry!!!

Have you used my Auto Insurance tip? If you and/or DH drives less than 7,500 miles annually you *should* qualify for a substantial discount on your monthly premiums. Maybe you could look at your deductible as well... see if you can raise it in order to lower your monthly premium.

Can you have a garage sale or put some things up on Craig's List maybe to generate some income?

I'm sort of grasping here because I'm not really sure what you can cut or what you already have but I hope some of this was helpful.

megan2654 · April 2009

Unplug anything and everything you can...I know its a pain in the butt (my husband bitches about it) but anything plugged in uses "phantom" power...so its not using as much power as it would take to run the light or charger but it is useing some power...when you add up all the things that are constantly plugged in in your house ..its alot...lamps,tv's,computers, cell chargers, toasts, coffee pots etc. It will save you money.

Expecting0207 · April 2009

You are lucky in that at this time of year you probably don't need heat or A/C yet. Cut out the obvious - eating out, ordering in, no new clothes unless he needs a suit for interviews. Send lunch to school with DS1 so he isn't buying. I don't have many other suggestions b/c I know you already did alot w/ your grocery budget.

tmrtink · April 2009

I know you don't want to cut out your cable bill, but depending on where you live and who your cable provider is, you can do what I just did last month, which is call, and ask them if you can save money each month by signing up for a 2 yr contract. they were thrilled, and we are saving $27 A MONTH just by doing it! the catch-you can't downgrade your plan for the next two years (but we won't be doing that anyway) if you do, then you have to pay a $150 fee or something. But I'd call and ask-definitely worth it for us and we didn't have to do anything other than ask!

mom2binKC · April 2009

When we analyzed out spending, I was AMAZED at how much we spend on food--both eating out and at the grocery store. Before I was SAH, and we had two incomes, we just bought whatever sounded good at the store. Deli turkey for $8.99/lb? Great! Organic everything = $$.

Often when we're eating out, we do it on the cheap, so I don't think eating in all the time is necessary. It is easy to spend more on groceries than meals out, if you're not careful. So I have gotten a lot better about comparison shopping at the grocery store. For the first time, I now know what is a good price to pay for meats, produce, etc. I look at the grocery circulars in the paper, and plan meals around what's on sale. When there's a good price on something I can freeze or something non-perishable, I stock up. It's great to have some things on hand. I buy store brands whenever possible (with a few exceptions).

Another idea: any chance you can refinance your house, if you own? We did that once, and they waived closing costs because we have been with the same lender the whole time, and they didn't want to lose our business. So with just a couple of phone calls and a few signatures, we dropped our rate and saved about $150/month.

We have friends who dropped cable altogether. They watch their favorite shows online, joined Netflix (for TV series and movies), and use Redbox for movies. I'm afraid that was not a sacrifice I've been willing to make, but I would in a pinch!

jerseycaptive · April 2009

Go to the dollar store, but never get anything from the dollar store that you could get for $0.79 at the grocery store or walmart.

Garage / Yard sale - unclutter and make $.

Dare yourself to live with half your income. Even if you can only do it for a month, you freed up money for a month that can go towards something else.

mrsnemitz · April 2009

I've been thinking about this all day, becuase like Expecting, I know you've trimmed a lot of fat from your grocery bill. The only things I've come up with are small things - make your own cleaning products, use reusable rags & towels instead of paper towels, cloth napkins instead of paper, even washcloths instead of wipes. I think you already mentioned cancelling cable and cell phones... the library is a good place to check out for kids videos & movies for yourself.

I don't know what school lunches cost these days, but when I was in school it was much cheaper for me to buy school lunch than bring my own (it was less than $2).

Good luck... I'm thinking of you!

K-K-K-Katie · April 2009

oh i'm so sorry! i haven't made the leap to cloth diapers yet, but we are going to start in the next couple of weeks. regular prefolds are only like $1 each and then you can reuse them! you need diaper covers which are a little more depending what you buy, but it will eventually save a TON on diapers. they have things called Snappi's now which you can use instead of diaper pins and make it much easier. even though you'll spend more $$ on water to do more laundry, water is cheaper than diapers all the time...

i know that's a big committment though, so maybe not that helpful... good luck!

EDIT : ok looking at the pics of your LO's, they might not need diapers anymore, in which case this is not very helpful... sorry!

mrsnemitz · April 2009

I thought of one more... .if you're making payments on 2 cars, could you live with 1 car for a while or trade one in for a car with a lower payment? (I realize that this might not go over as a very popular option...)

missamy713 · April 2009

I don't have any ideas that the other ladies haven't given you. I just want to say that I am so sorry and I understand how you must feel. DH has been out of work for a month now. I've been trying to find a job, and he has as well. It's not looking too promising.

I hope your family good luck and you're in my thoughts.

rowanthefrog · May 2009

Have you tried couponing? I recently got into that and I'm saving a lot of money every month, I've saved up tp 75% on a single grocery bill. ?Buy EVERYTHING on sale - if you keep an eye on the circulars you can buy all your essentials when they go on sale and you should really only pay full price for meat, eggs, milk and produce. ?www.couponmom.com is a great free website that can tell you more about doing this effectively. ?grocerygame.com charges a small fee but you might want to check into it.

Take shorter showers, make sure you turn off the lights around the house if you aren't in the room, don't leave electronics plugged in, even if they are off - that can reduce your energy bill, start carpooling to save gas and try to do as many things in one trip as possible.

Is there anything in your house you can sell on craigslist?

I'm sorry your DH lost his job, I really hope he finds another one soon.

A?

Blackvelvet · May 2009

I have been selling everything that we odn't need on craiglist since I was let go in Febuary, I'm running low on things now but it has really helped us get by for now. DH's company is closing this summer we just don't have a date yet so we are out two incomes. We have been watching the trips in the car and consolidating them as much as possible. I have also been using the discount grocrey store and avoiding anything we don't HAVE to have though DH doesn't always understand needs and wants.

DH lost his job - help me trim my budget

Re: DH lost his job - help me trim my budget

eclaire 9.10.06 diggy 6.2.11

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