Half the income: My story
I was married for 14 years before my income was reduced to a little less than half because the marriage ended and we separated. Thankfully, I still get money from alimony payments. It is considerable less than what I was used to getting. Even though I knew I would survive, I did not know how I was going to pay the bills. Racking up credit card bills and payday loans were not the answer, even though I was in a financial mess. There must have been another way that I could survive without racking up more debts. A better way existed, even though these loans can help in a pinch.
Cut back on housing costs
During the split, I was involved with another for a small period of time, who lived in Middle America. It was because of this situation that I decided to move the kids and myself to Small Town USA. For about one fourth the price of the house in the big city, we managed to find a nice three bedroom house on a three acre property. This helped tremendously to bring down my living expenses to a manageable level. If your income is reduced by half, you need to reduce your housing costs by at least half as well.
Cut back on transportation costs
About the time that we split up, we were also struggling to keep up with a huge car payment on a brand new vehicle that we bought in 2004. Eventually, the car had to go back for lack of car payments. The car I now have is old and ready to die. It did not take a lot of money to buy this car, thank goodness. Buying gas once per month is all the expenses for transportation that I pay now. How was this possible? I work at home as a freelance writer and only use the car about once per week for groceries and laundry. As I live in a small town, I do not travel that far to do these activities. There is no need to take out payday loans for gas since I do not drive very much.
Decrease Utilities
Moving to a smaller house automatically lowered my utility costs; I was able to increase my cable and internet. By doing a few things to the house, I decreased my heating bill. On the windows that were drafty, I covered with plastic. A thick blanket now covers an unused door. The cold drafts under the kitchen counter were sealed with a special foam made for this purpose. Cold pockets are now warm because of the space heaters I bought. Because of this, my heating bill is over $ 100 less each month.
Decrease Food Costs
One of the biggest items in a budget, besides housing, is the food budget. It used to be that going out to eat was preferred to cooking at home. We mostly did that while I was still married. Less money means that I now cook much more than I ever have before. It is only for special occasions now that we go out to eat. I stopped buying junk food, which helped to decrease my food budget. We were able to save money as well as get healthier. Trimming the budget further, I stopped buying pre made food and started cooking from scratch.
The end result
In the effort to bring down my expenses to meet my income, I have effectively come way under budget. This has helped me save money every month so that I can buy a decent car. If you have been wondering how much money I am really getting, I will tell you. The budget I set up allows for only the $ 2,000 per month I get from my ex, so the extra $ 800 goes to savings. My monthly expenses have been slashed to about $ 1,800. If you make more money than I do, there should be no reason why you have to go into debt. Payday loans and credit cards should not be relied on when your income is cut in half. It is now time to see where they can slash their expenses.
