Dear God. I am hemorrhaging money.

I just bought a 'third family car' for Teen Midlo to drive and paid the balance of Grandpa's funeral and am paying to have our backyard hardscaped.

I can't believe how much everything is costing me. Good thing I need to lose weight, because there won't be any money left over for food. :cry:

...:hug:

I promise to bandage as soon as I get enough to pay my mortgage:P

I look at our family salary and I tell myself that we should be alright, but the money just seems to fly out of wallet. :shrug:

Especially food. I feel as though I am going to the grocery store all the time and dropping $200 each time.

I just went to the store to pick up a "few" things and I left $50.00 poorer. WTF?!

Take your butts over to the Frugal Living group and check out the coupon 101 and links included thread. Any other questions feel free to ask me. You can save some decent money if you know what you're doing. No sense wasting money that way!

IF I were solely willing to feed my kids mac and cheese, I could save a bundle, but I choose to do the fresh veggies, fruit, etc. thing.

I am about the "frugalist" person I know, always looking for more ways to save a dime. Just how I was brought up. The old waste-not philosophy. Sort of became a necessity along the way I'll be reviewing past posts to see what goodies I can unearth.

Just had to buy a third car...and I already need a fourth!! It's no so much the cost of the cars..it's the insurance! On top of that, the oldest started college this year and the younger will start this coming fall! ACK!!!
Thanks for those (puny) tax cuts Bush...too bad the cost of everything else went sky high!

If you have a taxable income of $10,000,000.00 your taxes went from $3,887,110.15 in 2001 to $3,480,469 in 2005. $406,641 is hardly puny. That's more than the salary of the President.

You're right....how could I forget!

:rofl:

I hope you have some resources to fall back on, or family.

I'm unfortunately on my own.

:hug: I've had times like that. :( I'm really sorry.

I'm having a tough time of it myself

Why on earth did we have 3 daughters???!!! Two down and my checkbook bled for months at a time with both of them. I'm hoping the 3rd stays single.

I feel your pain!

I'm an event planner and have done dozens of weddings. In my experience, it's a lot easier to talk about the estimate to the mother than the father. And then there are those parents who stare at me with the "look" and I just sit there uncomfortable while trying to figure out what to say. lol

laying around, we could fix the garage and make it into a carriage house, have all the painting done, redo the hideous 70s accident that happened to theliving room and fireplace before we bought the house, etc. etc.

right now the plan is a new furnace and paint the garage so it doesn't look like a haunted house....

it does seem like things do cost a lot more, though, doesn't it?

:hug:

Techniaclly the third in 16 years, but nobody's perfect. :7

Things will get better.

I'm not trying to be judgmental or demeaning in any way, but isn't there a way that a teenager could be taught that stopping global warming begins with the kid taking public transportation when a parent's car is not available??

This household has been car-less for more than five years. Sure, it's a drag to wait for a taxi or carry groceries home from the market, but the cost of keeping even one car is just too much compared to bus fare and an occasional taxi ride. The health benefits of walking are great, the knowledge that you're not contributing to war for oil is comforting, and it's just all around good liberal policy.

I encourage you to reduce your dependency on gasoline-driven transportion if at all possible.

It is what it is.

I doubt the taxi company a couple towns over could even find me out in the woods.

...however "carless" wasn't the matter in question. The matter in question was a THIRD car. A little inconvenience for a family seems a small price to pay for slowing global warming. Those of us who are carrying our groceries and slogging through the rain would rather ride too, you know.

I drive a minivan, my husband's car is a company car, so she can't drive it.

She has field hockey, SCA and chorus pretty much everyday, which means I would have to be schlepping her everywhere in addition to her brother and sister.

To me, it's simply a necessity. I'm the only one who can drive here for the next 90 days because of my husband's surgery and he's in New Jersey during the week.

Having her be able to drive is going to be a huge relief to me.

Please be sensitive to the thousands of us who are sacrificing comfort and convenience in our daily lives so that our country can free itself from foreign oil, and I'll try to understand your lifestyle, too. But I want you to understand how hard it is on this end. I gave up my car five years ago as a matter of ecological principle. Our three-generational household walks, bikes, rides the bus and school bus, and takes a taxi when absolutely necessary. Rain, snow, heat, off we go. Tired, sick, short of time, whatever. School and church activities require the same kind of car-less plan for our teenagers. The minister in our household walks to work at the church, takes the bus to perform weddings, and a cab when coming home after 9 p.m. The senior citizen in our household gets around by city bus, which stops four blocks away. Our handicapped young adult does the same. This weekend required three trips by cab to a regional hospital for IV antibiotic treatment; there's a hundred dollars that wouldn't begin to pay for the cost of keeping a car. There are some things we just can never do anymore, such as take a Sunday ride to see the scenery or hop in the car for a quick impromptu trip to anywhere.

You probably can't understand this lifestyle anymore than I can fathom yours. But I hope you will realize that those who are sacrificing are sensitive to complaints like yours. That's all. Peace.

There is NO public transportation here. There is NO taxi service like there was in CT or like there is in NYC. It simply doesn't exist.

As far as buses go; there is one bus that has a stop about 1 mile away and it only goes downtown. I really think traveling an hour on the bus each way to get groceries is a lot to ask.

I do a lot of other things to conserve and since our cars do pretty well on gas and we drive as little as possible, I don't feel guilty. At. All.

If you are able to use public transportation, more power to you. I am always amazed when I go to NYC and see the available transporation. It isn't available here and won't be anytime soon.

And, when my FIL was alive, there is no way he could have walked to a bus stop. He could hardly walk to the dinner table.

Take comfort in the good you do. I'm sure those you've helped are paying it forward, and it will never be forgotten.

Thanks, doll. Much appreciated!!!!!

I feel for you. Not meaning to ignore your pain with a stupid question, but what is "hardscaped?" It sounds interesting.

we are bleeding out as well. Sigh.
I tell myself this too shall pass...and I bought a ticket for tonight's Powerball - yes, I know it's a waste of money....:P

expensed? If not I hope he/she truly appreciates what you have done. There were seven of us and not a one had a car given to them by mom. Those kids that wanted one got a job and paid for EVERYTHING on their own. I never was into cars at all and had a bike in Springfield Illinois where public transit existed but sucked big time.

If there is anyway I could assist in directing the hemmoraghing of money in my general direction be sure to post here.

I'm not going to be one of those families with 5 cars in the driveway. The kids will have to share it.

They're really excited, so I don't think it will be an issue.

I'm moving next month to a slightly bigger, much better place in a much better neighborhood than mine has become and the money is just flying out of my checking account. Not to mention the furniture that I still need to buy (I've been without a dining table and chairs for two years, but as a newly single guy that wasn't a priority back then).

Soba noodles (more expensive than ramen, but much better) along with a bit of chicken will be a great budget stretcher!

Added: and yes, plenty of fresh veggies and fruit, that much is non-negotiable.

I lived through it too!

Even though I have to pay for a car for her?

That bitch. AND, she got her homecoming dress today, $62.... It never ends.