Update

Well it has been quite a while since I have posted an update on my financial situation. We have not been able to get out of the lease on our house early. This means we will be here until at least the end of September. Unfortunately we are still working on getting our bills caught up and are getting there very slowly because of this situation. We have cut back drastically on everything. We have no cable, no home phone, and limited cell phone plans. We rarely eat out and I have drastically cut our total grocery bill by combining coupons with sales. When we are on the go and are forced to eat out, we eat from the dollar menu. All clothes that have been purchased in the last several months were from the thrift store and only when absolutely necessary.

I have tried looking for a second job recently without much luck. I have applied for dozens and have not had even one interview. Hopefully something will come up soon.

Whenever I feel like we are finally starting to make progress, something big hits and sets us back again. Because of this, I have decided to move on to step 1 and save up an emergency fund of $1000. I have set up a $50 automatic transfer from my checking to my savings the day after my payday (biweekly). If I calculated that correctly, it will take me 9 months to save up $1000. Hopefully I can build it up much quicker than that. That is just a starting point until I feel that I can increase this amount.

Dave Ramsey would probably not approve of this, but let me explain to you why I have made this decision. Our monthly bills add up to more than we bring home. This does not even factor in food or gas. Because of this we basically have to prioritize what gets paid and what doesn't. We are constantly getting threatened with disconnection of one of our utilities. Sometimes we have to write a check when the money is not there (electricity for example). Usually we do this about 2 days before payday hoping it won't clear until payday. Unfortunately for us, it usually clears the next day. And all of the smaller debit charges that go through the same day get posted after the large check so that the bank can charge more insufficient funds fees. I have lost up to $300 in one month because of this. Even though if that one check had not gone through nothing else would have bounced. But the bank will automatically put everything else after that check and charge 5 or 6 fees instead of just one. It sure makes it hard to dig out of a hole when the bank is just digging it deeper and your monthly bills exceed your income.

By forcing myself to automatically put something into savings we can take the money out of savings with no fees when an emergency comes up instead of letting the bank get rich off of us poor people.

I urge anyone reading this to never allow yourself to live beyond your means. I let my husband talk me into something that I knew we could not afford and I regret that every day. I do not blame him for this. He already feels bad enough for getting us into this situation. I mostly blame myself for not standing my ground knowing this would be a terrible move.

I will end this post with a plea to anyone reading this. Do not allow anyone to talk you into making a mistake as big as this. I can tell you my husband might have been upset for a little while, but not nearly as upset as we both are now.

A Better Alternative to Getting a Second Job

I have been stressing about getting a second job for a while now. Since I am a single mother, it would be very hard to work another job. Then I realized that I don't necessarily need to do that. I can work by saving more money instead of making more money. This would essentially create the same effect towards paying off my bills. Since I enjoy saving money, this will be way more fun than working a second job.

Here are just a few tips for saving money for yourself:

1. Groceries

Start by shopping at a discount store such as Aldi. Try to buy generic foods as much as possible. Also try combining coupons with sale items at your local grocery store. Check out couponmom.com for free weekly lists which combines coupons and sale items. Many of these items turn out to be free and sometimes you even make money. Be careful with this though. It can be easy to get too carried away and end up with way more toothpaste than you'll need for the next year! Also when using this list, consider your alternatives before buying. I usually sort the list by percentage saved and mainly focus on items that are more than 50% savings. If there are certain name brand items that you frequently purchase consider buying coupons from a coupon clipping service. You can buy multiples of the same coupon that way.

2. Don't eat out! I know this is easier said than done. This is my biggest weakness because I hate cooking. Is there such thing as a restaurantaholic?

3. Consider canceling subscriptions or services that you do not use.

4. Shop around for insurance, cable, internet, and anything else that you can't completely cancel. I recommend doing this annually.

5. Shop at thrift stores or consignment shops for clothing. You would be surprised at what you can find in these stores.

6. Save on electricity by turning off lights and televisions when not in use. Also unplug small appliances, laptops, etc.

7. Think before you buy! Whenever you are about to spend money, ask yourself "Do I really need this?" You will be surprised how often you will put it back when you do this.

Feel free to share your money saving ideas below.