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.
