Pinching Pennies When You Are Poor

Day Twenty-one of my 30 hubs in 30 day challenge

The economy is in turmoil. Jobs are scarce. How is one to survive the chaos?

My sister-in-law recently lost her house when she lost her job. I helped her this weekend pack up her belongings in preparation for the upcoming auction. She shed a few tears as she boxed up years of memories. This was the last thing I expected to happen to someone that was a workaholic. I am sure that was the last thing she expected.

Her brother, my brother-in-law, also fell upon hard times and had to temporarily move in with us. His downfall was a job loss and a divorce. He was finally able to find a job as a truck driver and after a few weeks, moved into his own place.

It was an eye opener to look at the lives of these two people and wonder what went wrong. Both of them were dedicated to their jobs. If there was an opening for overtime, they were all over it. How could they have lost everything now?

I took a moment to reflect on my life and the things my family has. What made our lives so different from theirs? We also fell on hard times, but managed to make ends meet.

It had to do with the way we spent our budget. I try to be a penny pincher when I can, but mainly I give my problems to the Lord to help guide me through these tough times.

Here are a few things that a person can do to cut down the cost. Most of it deals with common sense.

1. I make a budget and stick with it.

2. I look for sales and if coupons are available I use them.

3. I ask myself if I need that satellite TV or if I could get by with a months worth of movies. (For example: Netflix or Blockbuster) I will even purchase our favorite movies if I find them for $5.00 or less.

4. I have a cell phone which allows me to eleminate the need for a house phone.

5. I try to find ways to save on my light bill. (Examples would be to make sure all the extra lights and computers are off. A clothes line is handy to save on the dryer bill.)

6. I am picky about my groceries. I try to stay away from too many processed foods, so I try to can or dry my own food. (It really isn’t as hard as it looks.) I love to shop at our local farmer's market.

7. I try to buy in the bulk if I can. Sometimes it is cheaper.

8. I make most of my food from scratch so I can cut down on the cost of eating out.

9. If it is nice out, I try to walk to do my errands. This helps to cut down on the cost of gas.

10. When buying clothes, I will shop for clearance items or see what nice things are at the good will. (I have found that occationally I can buy something on clearance cheaper than good will.)

11. Our entertainment consists of hanging out with our children playing card/board games, games on the computer, at home movie night, or fishing, hunting, and camping.

We own all of our vehicles and don’t pay much for a house payment. I don’t use credit cards since it is too easy to overspend. If we can’t pay for it with cash, we choose to do without, or save up for those nice things. I watch for clearance items whether it is for cloths, food, or necessities. For years the local library has been my friend. What a better way to spend the day than by a fire reading a good book?

I try not to fret about our future. We try to live life as my great grandparents, grandparents, and parents did…simple!