I'm about to cry . . .

[BLTN_Mom]

I've pawned my wedding ring to fix my car . . .
sold comics at the flea market for gas money . . .
Hubby got his last paycheck 4 days late but we are having to go to the bank to cash it because the gentleman who cashes the checks for hubby (no checking account) is holding his 12/31 paycheck that had bounced . . . if his paycheck can't be cashed we're sunk! I owe electric and phone. I want my ring back . . .

[Txchef_fran]

I am so sorry you are down on your luck. Have you spoken to any credit counselors and financial advisors? they can help you re-evaluate your bills, your finances and your future. What';s the story? Why is your hubby's paychecks bouncing and coming late??

Do you work? Do you have fmaily close by that can help you out?

[Jenna]

Oh, sweetie, I am so sorry,

I agree with Txchef_fran, about credit counselling. It may be just the thing you need right now. I have never participated, but I know couples who have and they said it made a big difference for them. They were able to make a plan and get back on track with their finances. It helped them deal with each other in a crisis too.

Have you contacted the employer who's check bounced? This is illegal and should be dealt with immediately. They are not allowed to just not pay your DH!

Do you have anything you could sell on eBay or to local consignment or antique stores? A couple of years ago, I made over $2,500 selling knick-knacks and Christmas ornaments on eBay. It is rather time consuming, but quite profitable. You could have money in as little as 3 days depending on how long you set the auction for.

Please give us an update on how things are going,
I will pray for you, hon,
Jenna

[BLTN_Mom]

Went to the bank this morning. The teller didn't bat an eye when he cashed it. Called the friend and told him to beat feet to the bank to see if he could cash the one he holds . . .
Paid storage (Dad's and mine), electric, the phone, and got my ring ! Got $41 left and I have insurance to pay. Next paycheck is the 29th.
I've talked to credit counselors and the first thing they ask about is how much credit card debt we have. We have none. Neither of us have established any credit. They quit talking to us after that.
Pooky had left one security guard company because they shorted him on hours. I am checking into a class action suit that is being brought against the company right now using the fair wage and labor act. Now this company he is employed by is having problems meeting its payroll. The checks that were supposed to come out the 15th were held up supposedly due to the printer being down. Then the friend had called this morning saying he had called the bank and the check he had wouldn't clear. It's possible the bank cashed the check then will, in turn, charge the company. That makes two that have bounced on Pooky and other guards have had theirs bounce as well.
I have the basic bills and two that aren't really essential but are money savers in the long run. I have a special price on phone ($6.69) a month since Sean is on state insurance and a special education program, electric and gas are now on monthly average ($84 total), rent ($535), storage ($115 - will consolidate to one making $65), accident insurance covering Pooky (company doesn't)($15.10), my insurances ($60 a good cancer policy, accident, and an old life), the cell phone ($60)(lifesaver!), water is free, cable ($37.50), and then gasoline. I have some yearly bills AAA (saved money on wreckers), Sean's Gerber Life, and Jiggs the Pug vet goodies. Grandparents handle my car insurance (Love them! )
I have loads of stuff I can sell - but most I don't want to part with. I have a few more comics, some knick-knacks, some clothes I can't wear , and a few books that I can sell. The rest I can tell where/who/when and I will not part with them. I'm busy going through my stuff at Dad's and we can combine together to have a garage sale when it warms up. I've tried to sell a friend's expensive watch on e-bay for him and in the long run it's cost me $7.80 . . .

[BLTN_Mom]

Of course I have over $1200 in ER bills to pay on myself from the day after Thanksgiving so they may talk to us now . . .:p

[Jenna]

How are things going now, BLTN_Mom? I have been thinking about you and your situation and wondering how things are working out for you.

I hope things are looking up.

Blessing to you,
Jenna

[BLTN_Mom]

Got February rent paid and turned in a MO to get insurance restarted because three policies were lapsed due to late payment. Was aproved for $145 worth of food stamps as long as Hubby makes less than $1645 gross a month. Have yet to get them.
Good news is I finally got Pooky's W-2 form and was able to use TurboTax on the Web and e-file for free like we did last year :D . . . made only 19,656 . . . good news we are getting a 4 figure (:D ! :D !) refund back from federal and a 3 figure back from state . . . bad news is every penny is allocated towards paying bills . I allocated some money to get Hubby's accident insurance and our cancer policy (both families have a history of cancer) to pay them up for a year to cut our monthly expences. Might even be able to squeeze a family membership to the aquarium and the zoo to cut down having to pay each time we go; it is $37+ to go the aquarium once! Getting some needed items, like tires, and two loans to relatives paid for.
I'll still have a $1000+ bill that still goes to the hospital but if I were to start paying they would only allow 18 months of payments at $84 a month. If I wait for it to go to a collection agency I might be able to offer to pay a smaller amount over a longer period. That will be the ONLY bill left except for the monthly ones!

[Jenna]

Hi, hon,

I am so glad to hear that things are beginning to look up a bit for you!

DH and I have been in a position where we ate Kraft Dinner for two weeks in order to make sure we paid a bill, so I know a bit about this subject. That was a number of years ago, when we were in the early part of our marriage, but I will never forget it.

Recently, Dh was unemployed for almost 2 years. We came up for the challenge, since we had done it before. It wasn't easy, but we managed to not go into debt. We used our savings and were REALLY frugal.

I sure do understand! Hope things will continue to go well for you! Thanks for sharing.

Blessings,
Jenna

[BLTN_Mom]

You were lucky to have savings! Since we got married in August of 1999 we hadn't been able to save anything . . . the warehouse where we both worked closed that December and the Cobra (contiuation of our healthcare) was cost prohibitive.
We tag teamed work until he landed the first security job and I was doing temp work for four agencies up to July 2000. Dad had been visiting Mom daily in the nursing home until they barred him from coming in by falsely accusing him of abusing Mom . . . so I started going in each day to feed her (and if the food they providied wasn't edible, I had some baby food I brought in each day she liked). I ran up a $400 cell phone bill keeping in touch with Dad so he could sweet talk her into eating for me. But the breast cancer and the MS was too much. The hospice was able to get Dad in on October 4th, his birthday, and 90 days to the day I first went in, she passed away. Had her funeral on my birthday on the 20th, and on November 1st my son was born. His hopital bill was $45,545. Thank God Medicaid stepped in.
I haven't worked since. Been taking care of Dad and working to fix up his house - painting and various repair - and chasing the boy to and from his preschool and speech therapy. Will apply to the Scottish Rite (a Masonic affiliated organization Dad belongs too as well as the Shrine) to get Sean on the list for their Aphasia Clinic - they have the best speech therapy (I am blatantly biased). Pooky has applied for other jobs but gets the ole "we'll call you" spiel . . .

[Darla253]

You're living the way so many of us do. Paycheck to paycheck.
I use to find myself short on money and finally started doing a budget. I had checked into a credit counsler program and they say it won't hurt your credit but it does so I opted to do it on my own. In three years by sticking to my budget I paid off over $60,000 in credit card bills. I called some of the credit card companies and talked to them and they lowered my interest rate. However, sit down, make a budget and stick to it. Go through your entire kitchen and make a list of all food products you have in there and do your best to live on just that for at least two weeks. Amazing what you'll save. If you find yourself in a bind again with electric call your church or Salvation Army, they'll do their best to pay it for you if you have kids. My neighbor has done it in the past. They'll also give you a list of places where you can go and get food really really cheap.
I'm a major spendaholic and still get side tracked from time to time but it's easier to catch up on one bill than six so I do "try" to really watch it. And there's money in the bank now. Whew.