Seriously, is there ever any way to get ahead?

[kuntrygirl]

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Uh oh. You're a bad girly.

Still trying to rebuild my flock from the massacre in early November. Those layers paid the feed bills from egg sales.

Well in that case, WAY TO GO!! Good luck.

I hope you are able to rebuild your flock to where you need to be.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Rule #1 - Let DW handle the finances. If it was up to me, I'd BUY at every horse auction I attend!

 

[debilorrah]

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Still trying to rebuild my flock from the massacre in early November. Those layers paid the feed bills from egg sales.

Well in that case, WAY TO GO!! Good luck.

I hope you are able to rebuild your flock to where you need to be.

We now have more ducks than we lost, which is good because we can sell eggs AND ducklings (Calls and black Runners), but the chicken population is still behind. I have managed to replace 13 of 24 lost, and I have 11 in lockdown right now.

 

[debilorrah]

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Are you and my DH related?

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

It's a GUY THING!

 

[kuntrygirl]

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You really have hit the nail on the head, because one day on TODAY one of the girls went to her house with some sort of measuring ele. output gadgets and it showed what she was using when she left everything on, and then when she went through the house and unplugged everything they weren't using, it was absolutely AMAZING what she saved. Made a believer out of me, and the expert that went with her said to use the power strips, and then its just one click of a button to turn everything off . . .want to do this, but cannot get anyone else in the house to help me, and I am tired of doing it all by myself. DH is good as gold, but that man has never turned off a light in his life.

Let DH pay that bill and maybe he will start turning off the lights when not in use.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

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See a guy after my own heart

If I want to impress DH, we go to an auction and I do everything in my power to NOT bring something home. (we no longer attend animal auctions, too hard on my nerves

) Gosh it is soooooooooooooooooo hard at time.

 

[Wifezilla]

Debi, you think your taxes are bad...hubby and I own a business. You have no idea how much we pay in

Gardening....As for the crappy soil and trying to garden, bag gardening is a good idea. I tried it in an area where the ground was really hard and had loads of weeds. I covered the ground with cardboard, put the soil bags on top, cut open the tops and poked some drainage holes. I grew lettuce, carrots and spinach. This year that spot is weed-free, I dumped out the bags and let the duck compost age on it over winter. It will be a bed of greens this year.

As for the kids, can they qualify for work study? I got work study when I was in school and it really helped. Other income options for kids who can't get a full time job... pet sitting, baby sitting, chicken sitting (I made a little extra doing that last year

), dog walking, yard work, pooper scooping, etc... They can put a free ad on Craigslist or even post a notice to all their facebook friends. "Please tell your parents I can do xyz for $?...."

Sell off anything not being used or gathering dust in garages and attics. Craigslist, ebay, Etsy, etc... Are their other families you can get together with for a big garage sale? The more involved the better the draw and the better the sales.

Processed foods....don't buy them. Ever. It's cheaper to make your own. Beans, yogurt, chicken, fruit snacks, etc... always cheaper and HEALTHIER to make it yourself. Lots of recipes, etc.. over on sufficient self. My crockpot gets a good workout weekly and saves me a ton of money. Soups and stews are cheap, filling, nutritious and delicious. Check the kids' food intake. Are they eating snacks? Drinking sodas? These are luxury items, not necessities. Stop buying them. If they insist on having them, they will have to find ways to buy them all by themselves. Collect cans, sell plasma, wash cars.....

You do the same thing I do with the London Broil. When I don't get it ground, I take it home, cut it up and make beef stew. This week I scored a lot of "reduced for quick sale" chicken thighs. I have chicken thighs with curry and coconut milk simmering on the stove right now. Just added some frozen peas. Mmmmm. That will be dinner for us. I can check all the sale ads for the local supermarkets online. The new ads come out wednesday. I have an idea which stores to visit and which to avoid after checking the ads. If something is on ridiculous sale, I buy all I can. When you first do this, sometimes you end up with a lot of something and not enough of other stuff, but once you do this for a few weeks you start to have a stash and can usually put together a great meal without a side trip to the store.

Lunches....pack your own. Some of that chicken curry will be lunch tomorrow. I put one or two lunch portions away BEFORE I put the food on the table. Also the guys know that moms lunch containers are OFF LIMITS!!! Woe to he who touches my tupperware! Hubby grabbed one one and ate it. The next day I had no lunch. I forced him to go buy me something to eat and he was not happy with how much it cost him to get me something I could eat without getting sick or blowing up like a balloon. Lunches this week include Chili, Beef Stew, Chicken Fajitas, Vegetable Soup, and Ham and Yellow Split Pea soup. All home made, all from the batches I made for dinner. It doesn't take any more time to add a little extra in to the pan for lunches.

Money.... the person who is bad with money DOES NOT GET CONTROL OF THE CHECK BOOK!! Put that person on an allowance. In my family, hubby used to be horrible with money. Then he saw the light and now he is WAY BETTER THAN ME

So he deals with the bills and I get the allowance. We both know where the money is coming in and going out and can easily look up each other's accounts, etc... but he has his area of control and responsibility and I have mine. We are both happy with this arrangement and things are going ok. (Would be great if all of our customers weren't broke...)

The economy blows BIG TIME and since none of the conditions leading up to this mess have changed, it is foolish to think it will get better anytime soon.

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

I guess I am a bit confused.....
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Yet you are ready to go out and purchase a Costco membership which costs $50.00/year, and soil bags for a garden plot which (with CAs inflated costs)will cost well over $50.00 + seed and such. Instead of replacing overpriced rent-to-own appliances.

Confusing....

I know your feed bill must be high...since I doubt you have much pasture for the horses and you have ducks and chickens...I know we spend a lot on hay and grain for our 2 horses....about $100 every two weeks...that does not include chicken feed. I am really not sure how you can afford all these critters with only $49.11 left after household expenses???
Yet...
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After reading many threads on this form....it is very unusual if you are breaking even selling eggs verses the cost for feed and upkeep.


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http://victorville.jobs.topusajobs.com/

Any extra income is helpful....and possible. The adult children need to help support themselves!

The title of this thread is 'Seriously, is there ever any way to get ahead'...the answer to that is yes, but you have to be willing to make changes....which at this point, I really do not think you are willing to do.
I have read every post in this thread and for every suggestion there is an excuse of why you couldn't possibly do it.
The simple truth to getting ahead is to cut costs, yet if you are completely satisfied that you can't cut anything...then I suppose you are satisfied with the way things are.

 

[Raiquee]

Deb) I hear you!!! I know times are super tough right now. Me and my DH are newly weds, and starting off with new things (ie: our first cars, first home, first appliances etc etc). We bought our home 4 days before we got married, and two months later we BOTH got laid off! Ok, we were getting the new home buyers credit for 8k. NOPE! Because we bought it off DH's parents, we weren't eligable for 8k. So, here we sit..unemployed with two car payments, a house payment, all the electrical payments etc. You know what we did? Got a room mate. IT SUCKED. Just buying our new home, and having to share it with someone again. But it helps a bit.

I was in school full time, and now I am in my clinical rotation. They stationed me 80 miles one way to my rotation. I don't get paid for this, but I get to shovel out extra $$ in gas to get there each day. It's almost over, but it's really straining our budget

But, I've had two job offers fall in my lap, so i'm staying opprotunistic.

How we saved money? Garden helped a lot, heated with wood helped, but not a whole lot, room mate helped, making my meals smarter. I love a steak and some taters more than anyone else, but right now why do that when I can cut it up to use in fajitas, and then in beef stew? I can make a two meals instead of one, with leftovers for lunches, rather than just a one dinner thing.

Our goals for the future? When I get working (should be in March, fingers crossed!) we are taking all my additional income (we figure I make 7.50 on unemployment right now, and should be getting around 16-17 bucks on my new job) and pay off my car. Pay off my dental bill. Pay off some credit cards. Pay off what we can, then put a lot in savings. Then look into setting up our retirement funding. We have nothing for investments/retirement and a little voice has been chatting away that when I get this job it should be the first thing I line up.

Things will be better! They may get worse before they get better, but they should get better.