Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Middle Class Gets in Line for Help With Rising Heating Bills

ngdawg · 12-01-2005, 11:10 AM

We smoke-get ours from a reservation for less than half-price. Quit twice-stress keeps bringing me back to it.
We have basic cable.
We have cell phones as the home phone is for local calls or call in only(the kids don't have cell phones and I refuse to get them) Spouse will be turning his phone back in-that will cut the bill in half.
We don't allow soda or candy in the house as a matter of course or part of the shopping-they are considered treats and rarely bought. I do, however buy my daughter flavored water-it's the only water she will drink and she dehydrates very easily.
We don't go out anymore, except to Wendy's as a family. At least there we can feed all of us for about $20-there's something wrong when a fast food dinner is cheaper than a homemade one. (I use a lot of hamburger meat-meatloaf, spaghetti and meatballs, chilli, etc are at least cheap)
Many of the things we do have we acquired when the living was good, like our 2 pc's and the cars, which we own outright.
In our case, the need for a new roof last fall and the subsequent loss of my part-time income, along with the loss of spouse's constant overtime, put a major dent in expendable income. Couple that with the exorbitant rise of fuel costs, which of course comes reflected not only in our own expenditures, but in food shopping expenses, etc and the downward spiral is apparent. We won't touch the retirement fund or insurances, although that's an option.
In September, my student loans came due, adding over $200 a month to our already stretched budget. Filing bankruptcy was not something I wished to initiate-luckily we live in a very overpriced housing market so we've applied for a home equity line of credit. That will pay off the major student loan and two credit cards at least, reducing our bills by over $200 a month.
I was given contacts for applying for reduced utility bills, but have not yet called. Many of these centers go by your gross income, which is not a reflection of what you actually live on. Retirement fund, health insurance, etc., eat a big chunk of the base pay; it was the overtime that truly paid for living expenses. We missed the school free lunch program by less than $100 a week.
Too many times, the criteria used for determining who is eligible for what is faulty-using federal standards in New Jersey is unrealistic at best. We could live like kings in Arkansas....here we can barely get by and in talking to neighbors and friends, we are not alone at all. Those that were doing so well a year ago are either playing bill-paying bingo or have filed for bankruptcy.

12-01-2005, 11:10 AM	#37 (permalink)
ngdawg peekaboo Location: on the back, bitch	We smoke-get ours from a reservation for less than half-price. Quit twice-stress keeps bringing me back to it. We have basic cable. We have cell phones as the home phone is for local calls or call in only(the kids don't have cell phones and I refuse to get them) Spouse will be turning his phone back in-that will cut the bill in half. We don't allow soda or candy in the house as a matter of course or part of the shopping-they are considered treats and rarely bought. I do, however buy my daughter flavored water-it's the only water she will drink and she dehydrates very easily. We don't go out anymore, except to Wendy's as a family. At least there we can feed all of us for about $20-there's something wrong when a fast food dinner is cheaper than a homemade one. (I use a lot of hamburger meat-meatloaf, spaghetti and meatballs, chilli, etc are at least cheap) Many of the things we do have we acquired when the living was good, like our 2 pc's and the cars, which we own outright. In our case, the need for a new roof last fall and the subsequent loss of my part-time income, along with the loss of spouse's constant overtime, put a major dent in expendable income. Couple that with the exorbitant rise of fuel costs, which of course comes reflected not only in our own expenditures, but in food shopping expenses, etc and the downward spiral is apparent. We won't touch the retirement fund or insurances, although that's an option. In September, my student loans came due, adding over $200 a month to our already stretched budget. Filing bankruptcy was not something I wished to initiate-luckily we live in a very overpriced housing market so we've applied for a home equity line of credit. That will pay off the major student loan and two credit cards at least, reducing our bills by over $200 a month. I was given contacts for applying for reduced utility bills, but have not yet called. Many of these centers go by your gross income, which is not a reflection of what you actually live on. Retirement fund, health insurance, etc., eat a big chunk of the base pay; it was the overtime that truly paid for living expenses. We missed the school free lunch program by less than $100 a week. Too many times, the criteria used for determining who is eligible for what is faulty-using federal standards in New Jersey is unrealistic at best. We could live like kings in Arkansas....here we can barely get by and in talking to neighbors and friends, we are not alone at all. Those that were doing so well a year ago are either playing bill-paying bingo or have filed for bankruptcy. __________________ Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.