Friday, October 12, 2012

As the Budget Tightens

Yesterday, my husband received word that lay offs will start next week. Our shoestring budget just got smaller! How will we make it if/when he is let go? He hasn't worked there long enough for unemployment. We are blessed that we know the lay off is coming so we can prepare for it.

Here's what we know. He was paid today and he has at least one more paycheck. That should be enough to pay our rent for the next month. My checks will go directly into savings, instead of "fun" money.

How to tighten an already tight budget:
* I will get one full tank of gas, when it's gone it's gone. My goal is for it to last close to two months.
* I'll go back to strict once a month grocery shopping. If I need to make another stop it will be on our town days.
* Two town days a week. We are active in our church and our local home school coop so our town days will be Wednesday and Sunday. Once a month, my son also has Generation Joshua on Mondays.
* No eating out. My son goes out to lunch with the teens from our coop every Wednesday so that will become his "paycheck" for doing things that help me with the farm. Total spent weekly $5.
* Purchase a few easy and quick meals, so I'm not tempted to eat out.
* I won't be purchasing any new livestock.
* I'll take a load of outgrown clothes and other treasures to Once Upon a Child and use that money to fill in the gaps of our winter needs.
* Hang all laundry to dry. I do a load a day so that should really cut the electric usage!
* Begin really using CVS again, to help reduce our household budget.
* Meal plan and stick to it!!!
* Purchase only what we need at the grocery store...not what we want.
* Hubby will be out deer hunting as soon as layoffs happen. We are hoping for at least two deer to put in the freezer. If that happens, we'll be pretty well set in the meat department...we'll have an entire hog, two turkeys, 80lbs chicken breast, and 6 whole chickens.
* We process our own deer meat so the only cost is his tags.


Ways I earn a little extra cash:
* I offer gluten free baked goods during the holiday time.
* Swag bucks ( if you haven't already signed up, there's a spot on my blog that will take you there!)
* Offer drop off daycare. Or be available as a back up sitter.
* Pet/farm sit
* clean others homes

If you knew there was a layoff coming in your future, how would you prepare?

This post is linked to:
Frugal Friday

8 comments:

The Prudent Homemaker said...

If you can avoid grocery shoppping this month, I would. Plan to shop next month for turkeys, potatoes, carrots, and celery. Plan to buy hams at Thanksgiving.

We have had more than a 90% cut in income, so this is a normal thing for me. The turkeys and hams will be most of our meat for next year. We buy several hundred pounds of potatoes at .10 to .20 a pound on sale in November. They keep well in our garage (if you have a basement that works well too) and we eat those through January/February.

Plan on making Christmas gifts using items you already have on hand. This may include repurposing clothing to meet some of your clothing needs.

See what you can do now to reduce your utility bills. Cut ANYTHING that isn't essential--cable, Netflix, eating out, etc.

Amanda said...

If I were in this situation, I would look at these things:

You might be able to let your landlord know about the layoff and see if there are any barter arrangements you could make to reduce your rent.

Some pet shelters will help provide pet food for a short time for cash-strapped families.

Maybe look into cutting/selling firewood, since you get the wood for free.

Jenn in Indiana said...

I came to your site from the prudent homemaker but I would go over her site and glean any info possible. Also, and I don't want this to hurt your feelings but I would consider selling any farm animals that are not doing a "job". I know your chickens are producing eggs and eventually can be slaughtered for meat but feed prices are so high and will most likey only get worse so get rid of any animal not earning their keep. Will your husband be looking for more work? Not sure what state your in, I know some places are worse than others right now. I will pray for your family, but keep in blogging cuz I gleaned some really useful info from you!

The Farmer said...

We are very blessed that my parents own a 75 acre farm that has corn planted this year. We are able to glean whatever corn is left after the harvest. I'm hoping to be able to feed chickens/pig that for awhile.

He will be looking for a new job, however he does struggle a lot with depression and we are entering into his dark time. I am prepared to do as much as I can to keep things going.

Jenn in Indiana said...

I understand what you mean about depression. My husband works in a steel mill and even though he makes 6 figures, he also deals with depression, mostly because he HATES his job. No amount of money is worth how he feels. I am praying that in the next year or two we can move and have no mortgage but we will see where the Lord leads us. I will also pray for your husband, and I think that's wonderful you can get all that free corn for your animals.

Mrs. Settles said...

It looks like you are making some wise choices and my fellow "commenters" have given wonderful advice too. I have you on my prayer list tonight. Please keep us updated how you are managing. We all could use tips and advice on frugality. You are very fortunate that you have a freezer full of meat.

Blessings,
Marcia

Unknown said...

Those are great ways to make some extra money. I would advertise on your local Craigslist too. Maybe you could offer to do some holiday shopping or make some gifts for sale?

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