Anyone feeling the financial crunch, or have advice?

[MissChessy]

Use coupons, coupons and more coupons. Go to Hot Coupon World and get signed up. You can download coupons that are printable or trade with other folks on there. I used almost $24 in coupons on groceries alone. Laundry soap--had a $1 off coupon on that, toilet paper, cleaning supplies for the bathroom, biscuits, soups etc..... Get a Sunday paper and start clipping away. They are a huge help.

My husband lost his job in September and still hasn't found anything as of yet. I'm hearing impaired and have limitations finding jobs where I live, we live in a rural area and everyone wants you to be able to use the phone.... that ain't gonna work for me. So, we both are out of jobs. Our sons have jobs for now which is a huge blessing for us. God is still in control and He is on his Throne.

 

[Mahonri]

Well the 2nd Great Depression is upon us.

My wife, (who is seldom wrong) says that we must remove almost all of our money from the banks.

I told her that if the banks fail, our cash is worthless.

She thinks the banks will soon fail.

Gas was $1.85 today. Corn has gone way down... and that is positive because 50 lbs of layer mash is now down to $13.

I have more and more clients canceling appointments because they have been laid off and have lost insurance. I may soon have to let an employee go. I don't want to but it's looking inevitable.

Problem is, I think it's all snowballing and feeding on itself. This country is built on spending on credit and when folks lose jobs, the spending stops, credit gets tight and the snowball continues to increase and pick up speed.

I can see us moving into a barter economy. Eggs and chickens may come in handy. Flour and other foodstuffs may be worth more.

I need to buy some garden seeds. SOON.

 

[Mortimer]

Crab cakes or crab patties would be a good bet for your crab meat if you don't care for crab -- like was said above, just kindof a generic "fish" taste when you cook it that way.

As for the venison we substitute it for ground chuck pretty regularly here. If you use it to make hamburgers or meatloaf the gamey taste comes through a bit but for things like spaghetti, Hamburger Helper, beef & noodles, etc. it tastes pretty much the same. Add a bit of veggie oil or a slice of bacon to get some grease in there, it's VERY VERY lean. Or if you have some ground chuck on hand just mix it up 50/50.

We're preparing for the worst here too. I'm self-employed, a software developer, and scared my work will dry up any day now. I've worked in technology most of my life and know that when money gets tight, IT spending is one of the first to go. Most of my clients are smaller businesses and I'm sure they're feeling some heat right now. I've got a decent permanent job offer from one of my clients, but I've been my own boss for nearly 3 years now, hard to go back to working for someone else. But at least I'd get some decent benefits and a steady paycheck I can count on every month. Hard decision.

We've had a few bad ice storms that knocked out power for days the last few years, I've taken to keeping a good stock of canned goods, MRE's, generator, 5gallon gas jugs, water jugs, etc. so we can get through a week or so without power if needed. We had a great garden last year and canned like crazy as well. I must have 5 gallons of bread & butter pickles in the pantry. I'll soon be getting a pressure canner as well so we can start doing meat & veggies.

One thing I would recommend is to get some cash and keep it in a safe at your house. I realize the FDIC is protecting all of our bank-held dollars up to $100,000 but if my bank were to go under how long before the FDIC steps in? What if Visa/MC goes belly up and my debit card doesn't work anymore? Dunno about anyone else but I rely pretty darn heavily on the use of my debit card. What if the Automated Clearing House (handles all bank-to-bank paper check funds transfers) goes down? I feel good knowing I've got some cash on-hand for emergencies.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

Soak your venison and any other wild game in white vinegar over night. Cook your venison with Zesty Italian dressing or if it's the tougher pcs. use a meat grinder and sub it for hamburger or use your pressure cooker. As stated above, it's lean. If you have dogs/cats use the 'burger' to stretch their food--mine love it.

Use your crab to make a bisque, use as protein on a green salad, boil and dip in garlic butter, make a spice dip! I love crab! Learn to barter for other things for your crab, as well as other things you may have on hand..

 

[country lady]

Many of us understand because we've been there. We never had a big income so we learned right after marriage to always live beneath our means. It's not always easy but the web is a big friend. I use their recipes all the time. To me it is how many meals I can get out of a piece of meat. We trade with our neighbor; he shares venison and we allow him to hunt on our land, and we share eggs throughout the year. The food bill sometimes seems to be the only place to cut.

We have always used the public library. I am not renewing our two magazine subscriptions. The Mother Earth News now allows a tobacco ad, which I consider hypocrisy. We've loved the magazine since 1973 and will miss it. I really admire your spunk, and you will get through this a stronger person--we did.

 

[Black Feather]

I hear ya! With inflation and prices the way they are it's going to be a bit of a lean Christmas materialistic wise. Mind you I think a successful Christmas is just being able to get together with family and friends

I've gotten to the point where getting 'stuff' doesn't seem so important anymore.

I try to cut financial corners by driving slower and combining trips to save gas.

A friend is an expert coupon user and cuts a lot out of her grocery bill by using coupons in conjunction with sales. She's even gotten cash back from the stores! This is something I should learn to do much more of.

I also use energy efficient light bulbs and turn the lights out when I leave the room. I also turn the thermostat down when I'm not home.

Hmmmm...what else. I try to sell eggs and I rarely give birds away anymore. Even if I sell them for only $5 a piece I get a little bit back and cut my feed bill. I was able to cut my flock down by 35 birds in two weeks by doing this. Mind you it wasn't fun selling them for what I considered undervalued, but I needed to trim back.

That's all I can think of right now.

Urban Coyote

 

[Ellie_NY_chick]

I know people are losing their jobs left and right. I'm a little dumbfounded by reports of mad rushes at stores today. Do people still not understand? I paid off everything I could in case I get laid off. I think people just automatically assume there will be a bailout in place for them now when they default on their credit cards and loans. It makes me mad...

We always eat cheap, and if I see meat on sale I stock up. Our local grocery store does these great meat family packs for $7 or $8 that has a small roast, 4 small steaks, and stew meat. It works out to about $2 a pound. I buy them up when I see them and freeze everything. We eat lots of spaghetti, which is cheap. Eggs are free of course - and a crab quiche? YUMMY.

Soups and stews are always good and cheap and perfect for cold weather. Love the idea of crab bisque.

Next spring I may do meat birds. I can't process them myself (no guts), so I'll have to find out how much the local guy charges and decide if it's worth it or not.

And we burn a lot of wood in our woodstove, which has made our propane bill practically nothing compared to other people's. We spent about $400 last winter over 6 months for heat, cooking, everything. That stove was the best thing we ever bought.

PS - the wood comes off our land, so it's free

 

[Chicabee19]

My advice is to make this rule:

One central gift per person under the Christmas tree.

This leads to more carefully thought-out gifts, nicer gifts because everyone pools their money, and it gets family members together deciding what each person will receive.

This doesn't preclude stocking stuffers and the usual under-$5 gifts scattered under the tree.

 

[AngieChick]

Our crunch is self-imposed as we are saving up to buy a house. But, before now it wasn't self-imposed, so we got used to penny-pinching. I sew a lot, and am often able to get good scores of fabric at goodwill. We also get most of our clothes from there (we have a very nice collection of second hand stores). I bake our own breads and other baked goods, which really cuts down on expenses. For cleaning we use a mixture of vinegar and water. It works extremely well, and is much less expensive than having a gazillion different types of cleaners. Plus, most of those cleansers are pretty toxic.