Facing Financial Hardships, Day 1

Today, I sat down and paid our bills and thanked God that I could do that, so many in our area aren't able to because of losing their jobs.  

With the idea that more and more are facing financial hardships I'm ready to introduce the material from the 'Facing Financial Hardships' class that I wrote and taught online a while back.

Here's the first entry ...


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Facing Financial Hardships
Day 1

 by Patsy Norwood

(c) by patsy norwood  All rights reserved!

In order to get the most benefit from this class I want you to mentally place yourself in this situation during this scenario. I want you to feel all the things you would feel and find ways to work through this situation as if you were living it in real life.  Let's get started ...

You or your husband, whoever has the bigger source of income, goes into work on a beautiful Monday morning and are directed to go to a specific area for an emergency meeting as soon as you or he arrives. Once there, you, see several other employees as well. You look around, greet your fellow employees and wait for what you assume will be the usual ‘staff’ meeting. Only it’s not, you’re being given your ‘pink slips!’ The company is closing its doors and you are now unemployed. You are in shock; you didn’t see this coming. After hearing some talk about how sorry the company was to have to do this and mention of being able to draw unemployment insurance you are wished well and told to go clean out your work area and leave the premises.

For those whose income falls under the heading of retirement funds, social security funds, disability funds, etc … you have just lost your largest amount, you will no longer be receiving it. Your pink slip came in the form of a letter informing you that your ‘check’ disbursement is being suspended until further notice.

The bottom line is this; regardless of where your income comes from, for the purpose of this class, you have lost your largest source of income. What is this going to mean to your household?

Has your household income been cut in half, more than half or is your household without income?

Personal note: when something similar to this happened to us some 30 years ago, we became a zero-income household except for unemployment insurance. We lost our health insurance, dental insurance and our income all in one fell swoop without any warning. We had 3 children, a mortgage, 2 vehicle payments and other financial obligations, it was tough, but we survived! My husband had a good job and made a good salary, we were living the American dream until it all came crashing down. And boy, oh, boy did we learn a lot while picking up the pieces that will be the basis for this class.

I hope through this class and discussion that we can form a plan of action should any of us be experiencing a reduction in income now or anticipate one of any kind in the future.

We might not be able to prevent it, but there are things we can do to make it easier to get through!

Here are some ideas, what can you add to the list:

Take an honest look at where you are financially, what you owe and what your expenses are … every single one of your expenditures.  Write them down on paper.

Develop a survival budget that includes shelter, utilities, food and transportation.  Make sure these are taken care of first, then allocate what you have left to the rest of your bills, contact your creditors and explain the situation.  Don’t put this off until it’s too late.

Call the mortgage company straight away and explain the situation.   Don’t bury your head in the sand, miss too many payments or let it go too far.  There are more than likely options available to help you through this lean time.

Keep detailed records of conversations you have with your creditors, who you talked to, the time you talked to them and what you were told.

Cut your expenses to bare bones. 

Keep detailed records of where your money is going.  Track every penny.  It’s vital that you know where your money is going, it also is a good way to find areas that can be further cut.

Try to develop multiple income streams regardless of how small they are.  Look for part time work, develop side jobs.  Don’t down play your skills - while you may not earn a huge amount or a steady income using them, even a small amount is enough to help keep the wolf from the door.  Some examples are mowing yards, handyman, babysitting, sewing, dog sitting, dog walking, growing a garden and selling excess produce, blogging, Youtube, etc.  Never be so full of yourself that you won't take a menial labor job to provide money to the household. Even if it means going out to shovel snow or rake leaves in the neighborhood, it is still income.

Grow as much of your own food as you can and stretch what you have by not being wasteful.

Utilize every form of help available such as food banks, food stamps, food pantries, help with power bills, etc.  This is the kind of thing these programs are for.

Utilize coupons if it’s something you use.

Sell things you have.  Turn everything you don’t use or that is not applicable to the season of life you’re in into cash.

Barter when you can.

Glean when you get the opportunity.

Stay home as much as possible; be wise and prudent with the amount of time you spend on the go.

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 

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