Putting a Hold on Impulsive Jumps

The economy is not improving, I don't care which paper you are reading or which expert is in your ear. There may be a few real estate deals to be had for those with spare funds, but rents are remaining the same in my area. Gas, groceries, insurance, and many other living expenses are inching up each month yet everyone lucky enough to still have a job has the same wage as before.

My son is weighed down by student loans, an uncompleted education, and the stresses of retail management. Eldest daughter is balancing full time work and motherhood. Youngest daughter has returned home stressed after a failed attempt to share a home with friends. It seems a perfect time to revisit an old post.

Handy Hints For Communal Living

When you are on a frugal path with a goal you have to stay the course until your goals are met. If you jump too soon any small setback can put you right back where you were before. Keep your skills fresh, remember these times will not last forever, celebrate small victories, and plan out your future without losing sight of your goals.

Things are working out so far here, everyone is pitching in to help out, and someone is always here to entertain Grandbaby. Side note: every time I try to write a post, or do any reading on my computer Grandbaby comes into the room, gives me a kiss, smiles, sits next to me, and says, "I watch," next thing I know I'm clapping along to "Yo Gabba Gabba."

Realistically I will be here for up to two years until everyones goals are met. I'm reworking my room a bit now and turning it into more of a retreat for my husband and I. This doesn't involve money as I am just deep cleaning and moving furniture about. I'm getting rid of some furniture that just takes up too much of the limited space. Next I will tackle the common rooms, before attempting a massive garage clear out. Reorganization of our small house will make it easier for all to get along.

My one remaining debt is shrinking, and my savings are growing gradually. We'll just be that much further ahead when everyone else catches up. If you are paddling toward shore and feeling discouraged don't stop and try to stay on the lilly pad. The lilly pad will crash, keep on paddling all the way until you reach shore, you'll be glad you did. Plan, and be ready for the better times ahead.

Slim Pickings

I have a theory that due to this never ending recession more and more people are turning to coupon use as a way to save money on their grocery bill. The manufacturers and marketing people are onto us. They know we look for BOGO(Buy one get one free) sales, and match two coupons with our purchase to get the items for a third of the original price or less. There have been less and less usable coupons each week in the Sunday newspaper. I've looked online for coupons as well and haven't found one worth printing for months. With the shorter expiration dates they usually expire before a good sale comes along.

I don't put all my time into chasing sales but I am determined to pay the least amount possible for those items we use in our home every week. If eggs are $2.00 in one store but $1.00 in another, I will pick them up for $1.00 when I go past that store unless it is out of my way. I will stock my pantry with non-perishable items that I use when they go on sale. The money I don't spend on household and grocery items at full price can go towards car repairs when needed, or savings, or debt reduction.

I really like a certain brand of stain remover for my laundry. It sells for $2.99 a bottle. I ran out but I knew it goes on a BOGO sale regularly. Sure enough the following week it went BOGO. I also had two store coupons for $1.00 off and one manufacturers coupon for 50 cents off. It would have cost $11.96 for four bottles. The BOGO sale saved me $5.98. I also had $2.50 in coupons. My final price was $3.48 for all four. That's only .87 cents per bottle. That was worth it.

On another note, I gave away all my large cooking pots, thinking I wouldn't need them in my empty nest. My largest pot was three quarts and that was fine for the two of us. On one of my previous trips I stopped by the Le Creuset outlet store in South Carolina and bought one pot to try. It is now my favorite piece of cookware. I've made the best soups and bean dishes ever in my little green pot. I just received a postcard from them advertising my green color on sale for 30% off. I just had to go, I love that store.

My daughter and grandbaby went to visit youngest daughter and my husband and I went to Orlando to find the Le Creuset outlet store. I love the one in South Carolina. It's in a quiet stand alone store with big trees all around and a gas station nearby so I can browse while my husband gases up. The Orlando store is located in the Orlando Premium Outlets on International Drive. It is a bustling metropolis of it's own. There are places for currency exchange everywhere, buses and trolleys, and a train ride and games for children. It took forever to find the store I wanted.

There were people rushing about everywhere with massive amounts of shopping bags from all the upscale boutique outlet stores. Some were dressed in the latest fashions and others were dressed in workout shorts, tennis shoes, and fanny packs ready for a full day of it. I noticed one major thing. We were the minority. I heard lots of voices, and heard many snippets of conversations but very very few were in English. I can't imagine shopping on holiday. I hate shopping. There were large groups of people from France and Brazil and Japan but very few from America. Is this a sign of our continuing recession or just a coincidence?

I returned home with a five quart oval pot in blue. It had a bigger discount than the green and my husband liked it. When my daughter saw the receipt she gasped. I said, "Hey, we're older and we can afford to splurge occasionally on items we really like and these pots will last forever. We'll probably pass them on to the grandbaby one day."

Funny How Things Work Out

Still busy, but I'm able to see things falling into place around here. The mold has lost the battle and the dust is slowly subsiding. The library is busy sorting the two carload donation and the local thrift shop is busy pricing their new items. Soon I will be able to sit and write in my home with no distractions, um well, that was until I received a phone call today. Things are changing again.

I was doing all of this extra cleaning and organizing, first because I let some of the regular chores go too long, and second because I knew there were changes ahead for me. We have an empty nest and the economy is bad. I was looking forward to a move and a new job. I wanted a new state and new opportunities.

My son asked to come home for a few months so he cold save towards getting his own apartment. We told him we'd be glad to have him and he has been dropping by before or after work to clean and move his stuff into the extra bedroom little by little. He bought new curtains yesterday, and tomorrow he will help me clean the carpets.

My eldest daughter has asked before if she could stay with us but has always changed her mind. This time her lease was up and she hadn't found work and she finally had enough. Ten minutes after I spoke with her my brother called me for a recipe. When I told him the news he immediately volunteered to drive up to get her. He was able to take a few days off on short notice and leaves in four days.

Now on top of completing all of my cleaning projects I have to get the house baby proofed in a few days. My daughter has to pick through an entire house of belongings and pick just a few bags and boxes of the most important bits that she can shove in the back of a small hatchback car and leave all the rest. We have our work cut out for us.

I have to rearrange my house and my thinking. I just bought two big office chairs. I was going to just keep them at the kitchen table since I usually do my writing there. Sticky fingers however, will ruin them, so I have to move them to the bedroom if I can fit them. I also have to clear the bottom book shelves, place the knife block out of reach, and make sure no cleaning supplies are on lower shelves anywhere.

Goodbye empty nest and hello recession style living. There will soon be four adults and a baby in a two bedroom home. There is a possibility that the youngest may have to come back as well. We can make it work, we just have to be organized and thrifty. We also have to communicate often and well.

"Is This What We're Reduced To?" or A Conversation Overheard

I'm still not seeing this recovery we are supposed to be in. None of my customers are feeling it either. I haven't once had someone come through my line and say, "I'm buying extra for a party to celebrate my promotion. My company can't find enough people to hire for all the work that needs to be done." Nope, that's not going to happen.

I have a regular customer, probably in her late fifties to early sixties, who used to work at a store in the next shopping plaza. I think they went through some management changes and the entire crew lost their jobs for new hires at one point. This is something that some companies will do occasionally instead of letting new management work with the group already employed to see who their good employees are. The last time she was in she told me her unemployment ran out and she was desperate. She said she qualifies for some program that will give her $325.00 per month. Can you live on $325.00 per month?

A cook from a restaurant spoke with me yesterday. He said he was grateful for a job in food service because people are still eating. Several of his friends and family are about to lose their unemployment benefits.

Two women, most likely in their mid fifties, stopped in front of my counter to converse a few days ago. They told each other where they had applied, how many interviews they had been on, and how many resumes they had sent out. Each was involved with a very extensive job search. They were professional and they definitely were not slackers. One told a story of how after the interview she was offered a position helping to unload a truck when needed. She was told that she would only be called in when there was a need for extra help and she would only get two to five hours if they needed her at minimum wage. She said, "Is this what we're reduced to? Are we just occasional stock boys to them?"

Tonight I overheard a loud conversation by the exit door. One young man who I know has been on unemployment was almost pleading with another man. "I don't care, it's a job." he said, "I'll do anything. I'll work for five dollars an hour."

Empathy for the Rich

In addition to clipping the coupons I always enjoy reading the Sunday newspapers. This Sunday the following headline from the St Petersburg Times caught my eye:

No Longer King, Queen, of their Castle

This family made all their riches in the building trade when it was booming. The husband probably did a lot of the work on their staggering 7000 square-foot home with some help, but they still had a mortgage, RV, boat, pool table, golf cart, etc. They weren't keeping up with the Joneses. They were the Joneses. Anyone with half an an eye for furniture can see the pieces in the background of the video and know that money was no object when they were sprucing up their nest. Of course his business was bringing in three to five million in better times.

Now he gets to work every other week or so and they still own too much in property to qualify for food stamps. In order to try to keep their house, they retreated to just a few rooms, and rented as many rooms as they could. They still may not be able to keep their house.

They must have never heard the phrase, "Live simply so others may simply live." After all, she paid $14,000.00 for the front doors alone. Another $10,000.00 went towards curtains.

I can understand their pain. They are letting strangers live in their home just so they can afford food and electricity, for the work is gone. Their daughters have to share bedrooms for the first time. Coming down from a three million a year business to wanting public assistance must be quite a blow to them. However, the poor person in me is wondering how they could see such lavishness as a necessity. I also wonder how they plowed through their savings so quickly.

It's weird this brief glimpse into another way of life. If I won the lottery tomorrow, I could never see myself spending $20,000.00 on a piano, or needing all of the play toys that they had.

The economy is rough for everyone to some degree. From what I've read about the Depression the very poor were sometimes better off than the newly poor, because they already knew how to survive with a lack of money. It proves true with our recession to some extent too.

I know of people in my own poor neighborhood who once made their living in the building trade. Some collect unemployment, some keep afloat with odd jobs, and some have carved dinky apartments out of their already small homes to rent to others who are even worse off. One of these apartments I saw was no bigger than a walk-in closet, but the extra $50 a week was sorely needed by the out of work painter.

I hope this family learns some frugal skills, and pull through this trying time as better people. While I can find empathy for them as this is a real ordeal they are experiencing, I also see many ways in which they may have made poor decisions.

There are many news articles lately about the rich, or formerly rich, who feel impoverished. Some readers may become angry, while others understand. I want to bring these people into my home, serve them a dinner of salad, vegetable lasagna, or roasted chicken and homemade rolls. We can eat at my card table which serves as my formal dining room table in my dining room which is also my kitchen. After dinner I can share a few recipes from my cookbooks (bought used) from my bookcase (handmade, yet still serving the same purpose as their $3,700.00 bookcase.) We could talk of several subjects. I could try to convince them to give up a few cell phones. Are you sure every member of your family has to have one? Before they leave I can show them my budget and let them know that they can survive on less. Really, it's not as bad as you think.

What's your initial reaction to the story? Empathy, anger, astonishment, or something else entirely?

Trudging Through the Recession

I read somewhere that the recession has not affected those who were already poor as they are carrying on as usual. The ones who are truly affected are the newly poor. Those who have been laid off and haven't found new employment or those who have used all of their savings or retirement are the ones who are affected the most. I agree that it must be a new experience for people in that situation. I can sympathise with those dealing with poverty for the first time. What I disagree with is the idea that this has not affected the already poor. I can tell you we are worse off than before.

The main way this has affected us is with jobs. A few short years ago jobs were more plentiful. You could leave one low wage position and be in another within a week or two. Individuals are hanging on to even the worst of jobs at this time. Sure some people quit, due to their addictions or problems, but most workers are staying put until a definite replacement job is in their grasp.

I have also noticed that many managers, at least in my area, are reluctant to fire at this time. They are aware that unemployment benefits may be paid out for quite some time. They also know that there aren't many other places to find employment. They are more willing to work with the staff they have and retrain people or even transfer them to other locations instead of firing.

Some businesses seem to be using the recession as an excuse to take advantage of their work force. Benefits are being slashed, raises denied, unsafe working conditions ignored. When you were treated like this a few years ago you could just go pick another job but now many are stuck dealing with it.

My husband is one of those dealing with it until something somewhere opens up. He is working on his third year with no raise. He has been told that he would get one after a sales goal was met and then he was told to wait a month, then he was told all raises were held because of the recession. When hired he was making above minimum wage. When our state had the minimum increased all the workers were dropped to minimum wage. He worked for the same company, different owner, years ago. He used to get a raise every three months and a holiday bonus. Now he gets minimum wage and the run around.

I just wanted to say that the economy has affected the working poor by taking away our choices. There are fewer jobs and more people applying for whatever does open up. We may have always been poor and already had the skills to survive but it is harder now.