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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2015 18:08:36 GMT
As a kid, I was raised on hand-me-downs, and as an adult, I have continued that habit. When I was young and working, I had my older sister living nearby and she always was generous when cleaning out her closet. When she moved away, I made friends who shopped a lot and then had buyer's remorse... I always took their rejects! Many with the new tags still in them! Now that I am anti-social and isolated, I frequent Goodwill. LOL!
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Oct 19, 2015 0:25:05 GMT
Oh, yeah, my favorite days were when my aunt brought over my cousin Linda's outgrown clothes. My mom made all my clothes (she was a very gifted seamstress), but it was like Christmas to get to go through clothes that were store bought! Kind of like how I was raised on home baked bread, but Wonder bread was a soft, squishy treat, lol. Of course, now that I'm an adult, I love home made artisan breads, but I still love to shop for "hand me downs". When I first had babies, I discovered the joys of garage sales and thrift stores. We had very little money, but my kids had all the baby equipment and tons of clothes, all things that I could never have afforded new. It even turned into a side line to make a bit of money, as I'd buy baby stuff that was a bit dirty, scrub it up and then resell it for 10 times what I paid for it. And since babies spend so little time in their clothes before they outgrow them, the clothes I bought for .25-.50 each were in perfect condition. I thought that as my kids got older, they might object to wearing used clothing, but the opposite was true. They liked going garage saling with me. I'd give them a dollar or two to spend on whatever they wanted, and they could make that bit of money go a long, long way. They knew from the toy aisles at WM just how much the toys they were getting for next to nothing sold for new, and soon became thrifty little shoppers, especially my girls. As I was shopping for clothes for them while they were right there, they could give me a quick thumbs up or down...and on the days I went with my bff and didn't take them, they were always excited to see what Mom brought home, be it books, toys, clothes or furniture! I think starting them young was one of the reasons my kids were so accepting of buying used. As adults, my boys are always looking for a good deal on a second hand vehicle or tools, trailer, boats, etc. My older dd has shopped very carefully for several used vehicles, and loves to shop with me at the Goodwill Outlet stores, where you buy most things by the pound. I know I've mentioned this before, once or twice, lol: For those of you that have already found garage sales and Goodwill, look on line and see if Goodwill has any outlet stores in your area. While I've seen Goodwill clothing prices rise to the point where you could by them new for not much more, I've found things like Carhartt jackets in perfect condition, name brand jeans, prom formals and of course, lots of clothing and bedding (my favorite are down comforters and pillows, which launder beautifully in the washer/dryer). You do have to sort through all kinds of junk, but there are so many like new treasures mixed in that it is well worth the sorting. Hand sanitizer and or gloves help if you're not fond of handling soiled items. At the local to me Goodwill Outlets, if you buy at least 25# of goods, it's all .89/lb. That Carhartt jacket, for example, maybe weighed 4-5#, so it was less than $5 for a jacket that sells new for about $80. A 4# down comforter, less than $4, retails new for $200-$400, depending on size. Again, with good buys like that to be found, you can buy items to flip - fb groups like local-to-you classifieds give you a great place to advertise your items for free. I find myself looking for ANY size name brand clothing. Heck, I even bought a snowboard by the pound...it's nearly ski season, and I'll post the snowboard when the snow falls. I've already looked it up and it was over $200 with bindings, so I figure I should be able to sell it for at least $50, well over 10x what I paid for it.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2015 18:02:59 GMT
Hubby and I haven't bought clothes in over three years for ourselves. The clothes we did buy were work uniform stuff for him and business casual for me when I worked. Our kiddo though who is turning 7 in a month is growing and so we buy him clothes every year. Pajamas, summer clothes, winter clothes. The summers here are so hot he needs shorts and sleeveless. The winters are so cold he needs full pants and sweaters and/or shirts with full sleeves. We've found jackets and shoes and socks will last for 2-3 year spans if bought a smidgen bigger. The other clothes not so much. That's probably because I hate putting clothes too big (or too small) on him. Being the 2nd one in our family I would have to wear my sister's hand me downs and she was always a bigger girl, while I was a smaller one and I would hate it.
Secondly, while I wouldn't mind used clothes for myself or the hubby, I have a mental barrier that holds me back from putting them on my son. I feel like babies and kids are new and to put old clothes in them. It's like putting on a fresh pair of laundered clothes before you take a shower. If that makes any sense? When we shop sales for the kiddo we have found 99c-50c corduroy pants, leather jackets etc from Target, granted these "deals" are occasional, seasonal and not so easy to find. While I have never looked at thrift store price tags for him, I would imagine they would be the same price or close to it there. Between shopping those sales and my parents giving us clothes for him we haven't had to spend a ton ($50+) on him clothes-wise, except last year when he went to school and we had to buy his uniforms (school policy). This year due to homeschooling him we haven't done his clothes shopping trip yet. I wish I could get past my mental barrier for him but it is for certain holding me back.
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Post by countryjo on Oct 20, 2015 2:40:11 GMT
Rachel, It sounds like you are doing a good job with sales. Do what is comfortable for you. That is good you are home schooling, no pressure for fad clothes.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2015 4:55:39 GMT
We don't shop, saves a lot of money, time, gas and energy. "Shopping" is "spending". We replace what breaks or wears out, usually bartered at the little "junk" store. IF Bi-Mart doesn't have the rest, on sale, we can live without it. Otherwise, Amazon online. A years worth of "essentials" are gathered/on sale and in season and "stored away".
We know there are a lot of things out there we have not seen, we can and have lived just fine, without them....James
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Post by barefootfarmer on Oct 20, 2015 14:02:48 GMT
We don't shop, saves a lot of money, time, gas and energy. "Shopping" is "spending". We replace what breaks or wears out, usually bartered at the little "junk" store. IF Bi-Mart doesn't have the rest, on sale, we can live without it. Otherwise, Amazon online. A years worth of "essentials" are gathered/on sale and in season and "stored away". We know there are a lot of things out there we have not seen, we can and have lived just fine, without them....James Kind of along the lines of what James was saying- Whenever I have to buy things from the shopping areas "in town" and by that I mean a larger city area compared to "in town" at our farm, I notice that I have a tendency to put more things in the cart that I normally wouldn't buy. Wouldn't even think about buying, let alone actually buy it. So did I need those things? No, probably not. I noticed it last month when I took my son shopping for school supplies and clothes. It was a lot easier to stop at the near by stores to pick up groceries and odds and ends. And my bill for groceries was so much higher than normal- because I added in a lot of things that aren't available where I normally shop. Sure, we enjoyed having those things on the menu. But it did make me take notice of how much money I normally save just by not "shopping"- and staying away from tempting stores.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2015 17:46:22 GMT
Rachel, It sounds like you are doing a good job with sales. Do what is comfortable for you. That is good you are home schooling, no pressure for fad clothes. It's so true, the swap to homeschooling has saved us many an expense. There has also been a mental switch flipped because there is no need to dress my son to impress. Even when though all the kids at his school used to wear uniforms. I would painstakingly iron his clothes and go over the pants (they were dark blue) with a lint brush every morning. It was very important to me that he "looked right". I can only imagine if there were no uniforms, what I would have thought I would have had to buy to keep him looking right in public schools. Apart from all of that, homeschooling in and of itself has been a huge blessing for us. I will be forever grateful to the kind people on these forums who helped me stay on that path.
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Post by mollymckee on Oct 21, 2015 16:23:38 GMT
We had a regular path we sent and received clothes for the kids with our friends and neighbors. None of us saw any reason to buy new clothes for country kids, or good clothes for church when they wore them a couple of hours on Sunday. Several of the families could have easily bought the factories making the clothes, it was not a matter of income, but simply being practical. Our kids grew up knowing that "clothes don't make the man", and a totally unimpressed with expensive clothes, they know you might not have bought them at Macy's! Several of us had mothers/mil's that bought really nice clothes for presents. It was great to know that they would be well used.
Our youngest DD was 12 when she really needed a good jacket. On the way home from shopping she told me it was the first brand new clothes she'd had. Not only did she have two older sisters, her sisters best friend was the youngest child and her best friend was an only child. With all the hand me downs she had a big wardrobe,just not new. I did remind her that her grandmas had bought her new things and we brought her home from the hospital in a new outfit! Our kids trade clothes all the time now. I think it was surprising to our dil but she got into it quickly. If she needs something for one of the kids she asks before buying. Better to put the money in college funds than wear it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2016 1:50:08 GMT
You guys are so inspiring! :-) One of the things that some of you mentioned is health insurance. Am I right in thinking that's something of a necessity over in the States? I just re-read this entire thread (too much spare time on my hands perhaps..) and didn't see anyone answer this, forgive me if they did. Our president Obama passed the Affordable Care Act (sometimes called Obamacare same thing) which had the intention of providing affordable healthcare to all. Prior to this I do not think healthcare here in the US was mandatory, now it is. You have to pay a fine every tax year if you were not health insured, there's a box that asks. If you don't check it, I'm not sure how they would know, but yes it is mandatory here now from what I know. Someone did post that their state doesn't require them to, so maybe it is just most states where it's mandatory. Like traci mentioned there are other exceptions where if you are Native American like she is, you are exempt. The Act itself also made it so anyone employed over 32 hours I think it is, which is considered "full-time" has to have the employer provide health care as an option for the employee. So whaddaya know tons of employers started slashing hours so full-time jobs are a luxury now, but that's a whole different story lol. At least with LIFE insurance you are paying a premium that someday your spouse or family member will receive a check to help pay for funeral and pay bills off when one passes away, so your money is there not just tossed out the window.....
For multiple reasons I have a huge aversion to life insurance. I hear so many stories about how people pay and pay and then if they die the companies try and do everything to get out of it and usually don't pay out. It's almost like rolling the dice paying into it then. Furthermore, just for myself I would hate to have to deal with life insurance if my spouse or children died before me. My husband's new job offers life insurance for free as part of his benefits, he can put down a beneficiary and they would pay me 2 years worth of his salary. I didn't want it. I mean you hear your loved one died, then you mourn then. Then a person shows up either saying "sign here" and you have to re-mourn their death or they will "explain" why they won't pay you the life insurance. It all sounds so sad. I would rather the money if it's a free life insurance like my hubby's just go to one of his brothers, even though I would be in dire need of it, I wouldn't want money for his or any of my children's death. Then when I think about if I want to insure myself, I think what if one of the beneficiaries goes crazy and kills me for it lol. Too many forensic files episodes for me... I was just curious if people here have an aversion to Medicaid? I was reading the incomes posted by a lot on here and it seems they could all qualify for it, is it just a choice not to do it? Is it shameful to have the government pay for insurance you can't otherwise afford or something? Here in CO the last time I was at the office the lady told me until our family reaches 50k a year we will get Medicaid, which we don't make that much. I see here people are making 30-40k a year so they would qualify based even though they are counted as 2 or 3 family households versus our four? So I searched out this thread just to re-read it since it was such a joy to follow it while it was going. Have you all stopped living/trying to live for under 1k a month suddenly Or is there a new place this discussion is taking place? Now that I know how the tightwad thread works (current one is open, then locked when the next month arrives), I did look at that, but this one just has different information than stuff on there. Any updates @lindamarie, or anyone else?
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Post by richnc on Jun 12, 2016 2:17:58 GMT
Oh dear Ms. Rachel how will you pay to either cremate or bury your husband or child, is it ever sadly comes to that, and what if they have a long passing as my wife did from cancer, at which point I retired with a small pension, but the medical bills oh my goodness, if it wasn't for the life insurance she had I would have had to sell my house and land.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2016 2:25:30 GMT
For multiple reasons I have a huge aversion to life insurance. I hear so many stories about how people pay and pay and then if they die the companies try and do everything to get out of it and usually don't pay out. It's almost like rolling the dice paying into it then. I'm of a similar opinion re life insurance. Given a choice, I would rather pay into a funeral plan - cheaper and more chance of being paid out - but my first choice would be to just put money aside for my funeral.
Buying insurance is pretty much always a risk as far as I can see. While we've had really good service from our house, car and farm insurance company, if the balloon went up and they had to fully pay out on our replacement house policy, I suspect there would be so much red tape to go through and the chance of being declined by something we may have inadvertently omitted to tell them is quite high. That's why we regularly keep in touch with them whenever anything changes, there's new information from Council about our property, or we buy or do something.
Health insurance is another thing entirely - the potential for having claims declined seems much, much greater as if even the smallest detail you might see your doctor about isn't disclosed, a claim can be denied. But the fees, particularly as you get older, are getting way out of control here to the point that many people simply can't afford private health insurance any more (unless it's an employee benefit), and have to rely on the public health system. That's why our Accident Compensation set-up is so good. It's a no-fault system that everyone pays into one way or another (e.g. through vehicle licensing fees, employment deductions, employer levies etc) and even though we grizzle from time to time about how people rip the system off or get paid out for their own stupidity, it's a fair way of ensuring that, by and large, people get a fair deal.
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Post by Skandi on Jun 12, 2016 10:26:59 GMT
The thing with insurance is that the company always wins. on average most people will pay in a lot more than they ever get back, the oompanies, after all, have to make a profit. However if you are one of the unlucky ones, then you win. (odd how being unlucky is a win in this game) The last time I had life insurance was when I had a mortgage, it was required, other than that, it's a total waste of time imo. I cannot comment on health insurance as it's not needed here.
My car is insured as it has to be, the same with the dogs (liability is compulsery) the house is insured against fire and flood, (need to get it reaprased now it has a new roof and add storm damage) it costs 20hours worth of wages a year to insure it, so that one I consider worth the loss.
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Post by horseyrider on Jun 12, 2016 10:35:13 GMT
For multiple reasons I have a huge aversion to life insurance. I hear so many stories about how people pay and pay and then if they die the companies try and do everything to get out of it and usually don't pay out. It's almost like rolling the dice paying into it then. I'm of a similar opinion re life insurance. Given a choice, I would rather pay into a funeral plan - cheaper and more chance of being paid out - but my first choice would be to just put money aside for my funeral.
Buying insurance is pretty much always a risk as far as I can see. While we've had really good service from our house, car and farm insurance company, if the balloon went up and they had to fully pay out on our replacement house policy, I suspect there would be so much red tape to go through and the chance of being declined by something we may have inadvertently omitted to tell them is quite high. That's why we regularly keep in touch with them whenever anything changes, there's new information from Council about our property, or we buy or do something.
Health insurance is another thing entirely - the potential for having claims declined seems much, much greater as if even the smallest detail you might see your doctor about isn't disclosed, a claim can be denied. But the fees, particularly as you get older, are getting way out of control here to the point that many people simply can't afford private health insurance any more (unless it's an employee benefit), and have to rely on the public health system. That's why our Accident Compensation set-up is so good. It's a no-fault system that everyone pays into one way or another (e.g. through vehicle licensing fees, employment deductions, employer levies etc) and even though we grizzle from time to time about how people rip the system off or get paid out for their own stupidity, it's a fair way of ensuring that, by and large, people get a fair deal.
Perhaps I've just been really lucky. My DH had three life insurance policies, two of them term, and one whole life. It's common knowledge to have a few months in living expenses to tide a person over until the claim is paid, so we did that. The whole life policy was an old one we got when we first got married. One was something his employer offered. Then, after he was diagnosed, employees were offered an option on an additional policy. I asked if there were any exclusions, and DH said no. I asked if there was a time limit, like you had to hold the policy for two years before payout could occur, and he said no. So I said "Buy it!" Then when he passed, all I had to do was send a copy of the death certificate to his workplace, and they made everything happen. I got two checks within six weeks. The old whole life policy took a little longer, but nobody gave me any hassle. I do know a woman in a neighboring town that had a bad experience. Her husband had two large life insurance policies, and he developed leukemia. Renewal came up and they wanted a physical, and he knew he wouldn't pass; so he didn't go, and the policy lapsed. And he never told her. She thought she'd have a cushion, one she'd paid on for more than thirty years, and when the clinch came it wasn't there. Her panic and heartbreak were terrible. I told my DH about it and begged him to make sure that this would not happen to me, and I thank God that it didn't.
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Post by kawaiitimes on Jun 12, 2016 14:39:49 GMT
I used to sell life insurance (man, I've had a lot of jobs) and although I understand the mistrust of most insurance companies, life insurance is pretty cut and dry. It is absolutely important to understand exclusions and requirements as horseyrider states, and it is absolutely worth the few extra bucks a month to get a policy that has no exclusions so that you don't get caught in the trap of getting sick and losing your policy like the couple she references. For us, we didn't know that MIL had written us as beneficiaries on her life policy. When she died, completely unexpectedly, we couldn't work. Hers was in a string of 4 deaths in 8 weeks and we were just non-functioning then. We were so surprised when FIL submitted her death certificate and we got a check. It saved our business for another year (we ended up closing eventually anyway because of change in the market and DH's health, but it would have been SO much harder to have to do that right in the middle of grieving). @rachelmcmurtrie, if your DH's work is able to provide insurance at no cost to you, then I urge you to please take advantage of it. The insurance is not a label of worth on your husband's life. Should he pass, it would be a gift from him to you so you can afford to take the time to grieve and discover the next path in life. I understand wanting to simply put money aside in case of emergency on your own as well and that is absolutely important. But I speak from experience when I say that when you are in the pit of despair after losing someone, money is rushing out the door to cover expenses while you are immobilized by emotion, receiving that gift of financial security (even if it's only $500) will give you relief. For us, it wasn't a celebration of, "Look! Free money!" It was a rush of calm knowing that MIL was thinking of us and wanted to make sure she could do one last thing for us when she passed. I'll get off my soapbox now.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2016 15:20:11 GMT
Oh dear Ms. Rachel how will you pay to either cremate or bury your husband or child, is it ever sadly comes to that, and what if they have a long passing as my wife did from cancer, at which point I retired with a small pension, but the medical bills oh my goodness, if it wasn't for the life insurance she had I would have had to sell my house and land. I am so sorry for your loss, my condolences. Is it illegal in the United States to bury your loved ones with a shovel, in a grave you dig, in your own land? Since people do this for pets all the time, I just figured I could have this done for myself as well, perhaps under a favorite tree, far away from the home. If it's something where I need to be hooked up to a machine to breathe or have my brain going, I have already told my hubby to just pull the plug even if there's a chance I'll wake up. There's no reason to prolong my family's misery on earth and I know where I'm going to wake up when they pull that plug. Now medical bills we would just have to tap into savings, is the plan at least. kawaiitimes , Thanks for sharing your experience with life insurance. Sounds like it was a real godsend for you guys at the time! I will think about what you told me about my stance on ours. Hubby stubbornly put me down as the beneficiary even though I said I didn't want it, so nothing to think about there lol, but the rest of what you said I will. I guess I never really compared it to health insurance, car insurance, or home insurance, since those are mandatory here (home insurance you have to have if you have a mortgage I believe), but I can see how the same theory could possibly go into those things. I would say it slightly differs because life insurance is much more of a rarity and only happens once (the death) versus in those instances it's more common to get sick or a car crash and have those as repeat occurrences. I have been naive in thinking if there were issues with those (car/home/health insurance), the companies would just pay, not try to find exceptions/loopholes that they could get out of. Makes sense though. Guess the only real fail-safe then is to save while you are able to, instead of living large when income increases, and hope to have enough in there to cover/tide-over time spent recouping the loss(es).
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Post by mollymckee on Jun 12, 2016 19:41:46 GMT
Yes, in most states, if not all, it is illegal to bury a person not in a cemetery. In some places you may be able to designate land a cemetery so you can bury someone, but it will take time. You can't just bury someone, you have to have a death certificate, an unattended death has to be investigated.
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Post by richnc on Jun 12, 2016 20:26:58 GMT
Ms. Rachel, I think the part you are missing is, not so much the burying, though you are right you can't just go dig a grave in your back yard for your husband if he died tomorrow. But the fact that if he died leaving you $100,000 in debt due to medical bills, and you having no job and children to take care of and rent to pay, food to buy, if he had a life insurance policy that could help keep you and your child, soon to be children from being homeless, would your rather trust the policy that he may take out or live on the streets in a card board box for a few years?
Sometimes you need to look out for your own best interest and STOP being scared of EVERYTHING, not everything is a conspiracy to rip you off!!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2016 21:53:11 GMT
I guess it's hard to picture ourselves in that situation since we have never been even remotely close to that much in debt, nor had that close death to deal with. I have friends and family who would take me in so I don't think it would come down to living in a cardboard box. But you are correct, if that was the situation where I was that much in debt and it was a choice between taking life insurance money or putting my kids out on the street literally, I would probably opt and wish for the former to bail me out or tide me over. I don't think LI policies are so much a conspiracy, now that kawaii, horseyrider, and you have weighed in on the experiences with them actually paying out. I do think there are still a lot of dishonest LI (and other) companies, but my biggest qualm is in how I view it I guess. It seems like someone we love so deeply dies, but it's a little okay because here's this money. I've also been told I'm not logical or realistic with my thinking and I'm too much of a dreamer/emotional thinker, so maybe that's it kicking in here. Even though all the logic states it would be the sensible choice, I wouldn't feel right nor would I want that money. Then again I have not been in that situation like you all, so I can only speak on what I 'think' I 'might' do.
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Post by countrymom22 on Jun 12, 2016 22:09:16 GMT
Rachel, we do have life insurance. Actually we have 2 policies on my husband, as he is the main provider here. Were he to pass away, that money would keep a roof over our heads until the kids and I could regroup. That was the plan. Now that our mortgage is paid off, that money could sustain us for quite some time. Or, when he passes, it will go into a trust to support our youngest son with special needs.
Life insurance is a way to help those left behind. It is a gift from your dearly departed family member. Take it as such.
You might not want it, of course, given the choice you would rather have your loved one back. But that isn't an option. It is just another way of prepping for the future. It could be used to pay medical bills left behind, or pay off a mortgage. Either way, it gets you a little peace of mind. Both for the beneficiary and the person just trying to provide for the needs of his family should the unthinkable happen. And it will happen to all of us eventually!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2016 22:34:06 GMT
I'll just pray to be the first one to be gone and won't have to deal with any of this
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Post by kawaiitimes on Jun 13, 2016 0:43:40 GMT
While we're on this subject, I'll add that it is always a good idea to have a policy on a non-working spouse as well. This allows the working survivor the financial ability to take time away from work (many jobs only offer 2-3 day grieving periods for the death of a spouse), and it also can help them hire childcare, home maintenance and home management that their non-working spouse would have taken care of prior to death. A lot of people don't think about insurance on a SAHM, for example, but with daycare costing hundreds of dollars a month it is really a good idea.
/back off the soapbox.
To get back to the original post on this thread, we are hoping to be living below $1,000/month beginning in August. I think I have the finances all worked out, but we'll see how it goes. I am hoping to get the money we get out of selling our house to last 2 years after settling all of our debts. That's the goal, and now that it's typed out somewhere for the world to see, I'm going to have to stick to it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2016 17:32:42 GMT
To get back to the original post on this thread, we are hoping to be living below $1,000/month beginning in August. I think I have the finances all worked out, but we'll see how it goes. I am hoping to get the money we get out of selling our house to last 2 years after settling all of our debts. That's the goal, and now that it's typed out somewhere for the world to see, I'm going to have to stick to it. That's awesome! Please keep us updated on how it goes from August on and if/how you are able to stick to that budget.
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Post by jangirl on Jun 15, 2016 2:05:11 GMT
@rachelmcmurtrie, Here in Colorado, and I think in about 30 other states, there is a thing called "My FIVE WISHES" You can download the forms and they don't have to be notarized. My mother's doctor told us about it and gave us one for her. The forms are legal and binding and inform medical personnel of your wishes to either be put on life support or not, and to what extent you wish to have measures taken to keep you alive. Also there is a card you can pick up at some of the city fire stations and post on the fridge which EMTs look for. This is if you do not wish to have CPR, etc. You cannot have your husband just unplug you, he would go to jail and I'm sure you wouldn't want that.
In my case, at my age, 67, if my husband were to die suddenly, I would either have to spend all of his life insurance to pay off the house and help me pay expenses, or get a job of some kind. I didn't opt to take much on his retirement as we'd have had to pay out quite a bit for me to have that larger amount. I'm glad to have the policy on him that we do, it will help give me some time to do what I need to.
You CAN bury ashes or scatter them if you wish and don't have to tell anyone, so that saves some costs. That is our plan for each other and also my Mom's wishes. If you have your cremated ashed buried in a cemetary, most here require you to have a vault, smaller than for a casket, but still, an additional cost. Many people take their loved ones ashes to a special place and either bury them or scatter them.
I wonder if your reluctance to have the insurance policy is really your fear of having your dear husband die and I fully understand that. He wants to have you and your kiddos provided for.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2016 3:58:53 GMT
I wonder if your reluctance to have the insurance policy is really your fear of having your dear husband die and I fully understand that. He wants to have you and your kiddos provided for. You know I you really hit the nail on the head. When kawaii said "You might not want it, of course, given the choice you would rather have your loved one back." I was screaming inside yes that's it. So I think a large part of it IS not wanting to lose my hubby or my children, or even thinking about that. Kind of like the ostrich which sticks it's face in the sand instead of facing the world, not smart. But it gives me more peace right now to not have to think about it, if that makes sense. It's easier to just say no life insurance because that means I don't have to think about the dying. That was a lot of helpful information though jangirl,, thanks so much!!
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Post by AD in WNC on Jun 16, 2016 0:45:04 GMT
I think we have been talking around the edges of how to live on less than $1000 per month. Here is my version of a summary: 1. Buy only what you need. Compare prices to pay the bare minimum for necessities. 2. Simplify your life so that your entertainment does not involve the sport of shopping. 3. Focus on the people you care for, spending time and creating good memories with them. 4. Learn to recycle, reuse and repurpose what you have to get what you need. I used an old goat fence and old shower curtains,to make chicken tractors. Total cost: $5 for the fasteners. 5. Plan your expenditures. Know what your monthly food menu is, and only buy what you need (and what is not stored from previous sale purposes), preferably only on sale and with coupons. 6. Make not spending money a game. How long can you live off of what you grow without going to the grocery store? How many coupons/deals can you stack to reduce the price of the items you have to buy? This doesn't just apply to food, I once stacked 4 discounts on a freezer and saved almost $200 at Sears. 7. There are a series of percentages defining what range you should keep your spending in. For example your mortgage costs should not exceed 2-2.5 times your yearly salary. In this case $1000 per month is a yearly salary of $12,000. That means your mortgage should not exceed $24,000 to $30,000. Can you build a tiny home from recycled/free materials on a small lot? Similarly your transportation expenses should be less than one week's pay (aprox $1000/4). If you buy a car with more than 100k miles, it might need a few repairs like tires and brakes, but if you can fix it yourself, you can get great deals on cars that more wasteful people are "afraid" of breaking down. 8. Earn extra money doing things you understand. Buy at yard sales and then resale online, put hems in uniforms ($20 for 10 minute's work), fix other folk's cars, sell animal cages, rent out your basement to cut your housing expensed - the possibilities are endless. 9. The single most important thing is to keep a list of what you spend. The best way to keep your spending to $1000 per month is to know exactly what you spent money on during the month.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2016 3:58:24 GMT
The single most important thing is to keep a list of what you spend. The best way to keep your spending to $1000 per month is to know exactly what you spent money on during the month. I took your advice and started a budget planner last night! It's just a simple excel spreadsheet outlining the money coming in on a sheet, then keeping track of monthly expenditures on the other sheets. I can see how it really does help now that I've finally gotten down to setting one up! I don't know if it was cause and effect of starting that last night, but today we ended up saving $160 per month between a rent decrease, car insurance decrease (switching to Geico really DOES save $$ lol!), and a change in my phone's plan. I mean in a year that's almost 2 grand we would have normally, unwittingly spent. So if it was cause and effect, thank you!
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Post by AD in WNC on Jun 18, 2016 10:45:49 GMT
@rachelmcmurtrie I am so glad you found money to save! If you don't know where your money is going, its really hard to reduce your spending. Good job!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2016 18:29:49 GMT
Agreed and thanks again!!
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Jun 23, 2016 22:04:24 GMT
AD in WNC, you hit the nail on the head. Excellent summary of how to live frugally. Making a game out of not spending, but rather figuring out ways to do something for little or no monetary outlay, becomes fun. I have such a sense of pride in something I've been able to re-purpose into something useful. Not only would I not have that feeling of accomplishment, but I'd be so much less able to live my life if I had to buy new.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2016 1:13:59 GMT
Yes, in most states, if not all, it is illegal to bury a person not in a cemetery. In some places you may be able to designate land a cemetery so you can bury someone, but it will take time. You can't just bury someone, you have to have a death certificate, an unattended death has to be investigated. In MO, you can bury your dead on your own land - not in suburbia or in most cities, though. As you state, you do have to have a death certificate. You just need to call the coroner out, and once he hands you that piece of paper, you make your funeral as plain or fancy as you like. Life insurance is critical. If you can get it through work, great. If not, buy term and invest the balance of what you'd pay for whole. My first husband die quite unexpectedly, quite young. The life insurance he carried through work, as well as the State Farm policy, made it possible for the kids and me to not have to worry. Sadly, I was too inexperienced to know how to handle all that money, and had no family to advise me. Still, I had enough to stay home and raise the kids for a while before I returned to paid work.
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