~ from my home to yours, living the Working Pantry lifestyle ~ surviving today's economy ~ a can-do spirit and attitude ~

Friday, March 27, 2020

Facing Financial Hardships, Day 4


Facing Financial Hardships, Day 4

 by Patsy Norwood

(c) by patsy norwood  All rights reserved!

Day 4 finds you in a better state of mind. You’ve contacted your creditors, had a family meeting to decide what needed to be cut in the way of expenses, and talked about some things you could sell. You’re being proactive and it feels pretty good. You're enjoying a few minutes of quite reflection when your hubby comes in the door with a scowl on his face and you know immediately that something is wrong. He turns to you with a dejected look and informs you that his vehicle won’t start. He goes on to explain that he has tried everything he knows to do and he can’t get it to run.


What are you going to do? Spend money to have it repaired? Let it sit for a while? What?

Some ideas are:

Research on the Internet for possible ways to diagnosis the problem and fix it

Barter with a mechanic to have it repaired

Reach out to friends/neighbors for help in diagnosing and fixing the problem

Sell something in order to get the money for the repairs

Use public transportation if it is available

Purchase needed parts from a salvage yard or pick and pull type place

What can you add to this list?

patsi

Sharing 42 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

A Working Pantry

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine 

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE

6 comments:

  1. The thing that always helped me was remembering that this was just a season and it would not be forever. I also found it really helpful to serve and pray for others. Today a close friends' daughter in law had a stroke. She is only 25. How could my situation be long term worse than hers? Praying for her would take the focus off myself and just about never failed to bring me peace.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thankfully a car issue wouldn't be a huge problem for us. My son is currently in a mechanic program to become a mechanic. Hubby has always worked on our cars. He literally has taken a car apart. We do have a car fund so we would just have to pay for the parts. If he is out of work then he would have the time to fix it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Making Cents of It All, that's a blessing indeed!

      Delete
  3. Another option is to car-pool with someone. If you need the car to get to work, you could ask co-workers if you could get rides in with them until you can fix your car. If someone is willing, you could offer to give them some gas money for their troubles. If you do not need the car to get to work, ask family, friends or neighbours if you could grab a ride to the grocery store when they are going. A close friend or family member would probably not mind taking you to scheduled appointments, if you ask them ahead of time, too. Another option is to walk or use a bicycle to get to where you need to go, if you don't have physical limitation. It's good for your health and the environment!

    I wanted to share a couple things I did to stretch what I had. There was a single orange and a single clementine in the fridge that had been there for a while, and no-one seemed interested in eating. The orange was still in half decent shape, but the clementine had seen better days. I also had frozen cranberries in the freezer (I'm ashamed to say how long they had been there), that really needed using up. So, I found a orange cranberry muffin recipe on Pinterest to use them up! It called for 1/3 cup of orange juice plus orange zest. Between the orange, clementine, my husbands muscles, we were able to squeeze out 1/4 cup of juice, which I topped up with water to make it work. The 1 orange provided plenty of zest the recipe called for. They turned out really nice, even with how old those cranberries were, and I'm so glad those things are now used up in something that everyone is eating!!!

    The second thing I wanted to share is a recipe that my daughter absolutely loves. It is a super healthy and cheap pantry recipe, that most people might have (or could get) the ingredients for, even despite the Covid-19 panic buying. It's called Mujadarra, otherwise known as Lentils & Rice with Fried Onions. Here is the recipe link, for those who might be interested: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/mujadarra/. I hope this might help out someone who is struggling with meal ideas and money issues.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rhonda, I love your comments. They are always chalked full of prudent useful information. I hope others read and glean from them! Thanks for contributing!

      Delete
  4. We were told today that new cars run their batteries down fast if not started daily.. they think it's tech stuff but not sure... was from a used car dealership.

    ReplyDelete