What were the toughest times?

[sdshorty]

I know most of us have gone through times where we just didn't know how we were going to pay for the next bill and were just praying for a miracle from the sky. Some may still be struggling with this now especially with the way things are going with the economy. So if you feel comfortable sharing...

What were some of the toughest times you ever had to endure financially? What happened, how bad was it, and how did you get through it? Or how are you getting through it if it's happening now?

[Imagineyouandme]

I'd have to say that right now is the hardest for me EVER.
I'm busting my ass working 2 jobs, but it still isn't enough. If the kids dad's would help out some I probably wouldn't be hurting as much!
My mom is my lifesaver right now.
She's been helping me set up a budget expense..and she helps me out with stuff with the kids.
I really don't see how I'll be able to get out of this hole right now.

Uhh.. My life is really hard right now. I'm not happy at all!

[Berkley]

When Zachary was first born and right now. We're so broke we cannot even get Ashlee bday presents for her bday coming up.

[dollface]

We are having a hard time right now...I've been in worse situations but now with a family, possessions, etc. there is a bit more at stake. I haven't been able to find work and we are really struggling right now. We have a roof over our head and food so it could be worse but my personal financial responsibilities are in jeopardy unless I find a job. I've had some days where I didn't have enough gas for an interview and had to borrow but we seem to somehow make do. I am trying to keep my childcare because I know I will eventually get a job but we are down to the wire right now. I have 11 yrs executive/legal assistant experience yet I can't even get a job at the damn supermarket or startbucks...I feel like I'm in a twilight zone...lol. So..like I said..I've been in worse situations (no food, no heat, etc) but my current situation is more stressfull than anything I've experienced thus far.

[Amy]

When we first got married. Devin was making less each paycheck (about $1200, with BAH, living in Hawaii) than we were paying for rent. We had no car, I was unable to find a job, and neither one of us knew how to live within a budget. Because we had no car and lived about 45 minutes from base, we couldn't access the base facilities like the commissary and BX- $7 gallons of milk and $5 boxes of cereal REALLY add up. Two months in a row our rent check bounced, and we had trouble paying just about all of our bills. I remember trying to buy food with about $20 left in our account (but no idea how much we had, because I was afraid to look). The card was declined and I had to take out item by item and try the transaction again to see what we could afford. It was so humiliating.

How did we get through it? I ended up finding a job about 6 months after we moved, and every penny of every paycheck went towards savings and bills. I also took control of finances, got a cheap car (like $500) and started shopping at the commissary, which made a HUGE difference...things got a lot easier after I got my job- a lot less hopeless, and I was less scared to look at and take charge of our financial situation.

[sdshorty]

I think after college was the worse for me. I had racked up so much credit card debt and didn't have the means to pay for it. It took a long time but I finally was able to pay them all off. But it was just me back then, and I think a little easier to handle.

Right now its tough, although not the worse, still kinda tough. With J having a hard time finding any steady work, just what he gets from the Reserves and part time measily work they give him for security, and then moving, and regular bills, the stuff that was easily under control before, is now getting tighter and tighter by the day. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude, but as credit cards max out and savings dwindle, its getting harder to keep that positive outlook. I think I've been a little in denial about it in the past few months, but its definitely time to buckle down and start making more tough choices, ugh

[Berkley]

to everyone going through tough times!

[Amy]

Originally Posted by sdshorty I think after college was the worse for me. I had racked up so much credit card debt and didn't have the means to pay for it. It took a long time but I finally was able to pay them all off. But it was just me back then, and I think a little easier to handle. Right now its tough, although not the worse, still kinda tough. With J having a hard time finding any steady work, just what he gets from the Reserves and part time measily work they give him for security, and then moving, and regular bills, the stuff that was easily under control before, is now getting tighter and tighter by the day. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude, but as credit cards max out and savings dwindle, its getting harder to keep that positive outlook. I think I've been a little in denial about it in the past few months, but its definitely time to buckle down and start making more tough choices, ugh

Can you cut some costs? Switch to netflix instead of cable, switch to a lower cell phone plan, etc? I'm going to have to make some SERIOUS financial changes when we move to IL because of the huge cut in pay (about $1000 less per month, between COLA and sea pay that we won't be receiving).

[antenney]

Right now is pretty tough for us. We're not quite desperate, but we're not secure either. We have what feels like a mountain of debt (it's not that bad, but it's not that good either, and any debt at all is a mountain to me!). DH and I have been married for 3 years, and adjusting financially to each other was one of the hardest things we've ever had to do. We talked about this stuff before we got married, but I really had no idea how differently we view it. It's been a work in progress. Right off the the bat we had some bad luck, and then we made it worse with some bad decisions.

As far as how we deal with it, well, we haven't done that very well yet. I'm determined to get on a written budget. For the moment, we spend as little as possible and put every last cent at the end of the month towards our credit card. Not very good planning, but that will be changing.

[sdshorty]

Originally Posted by Amy Can you cut some costs? Switch to netflix instead of cable, switch to a lower cell phone plan, etc? I'm going to have to make some SERIOUS financial changes when we move to IL because of the huge cut in pay (about $1000 less per month, between COLA and sea pay that we won't be receiving).

Yea we started doing that. Switched from digital cable and high speed cable internet to the very basic DSL and the cheap dish. Got rid of the landline all together, just using our cell phones. We moved to be closer to my job and more central to stuff to waste less gas. The new place we don't have to pay for water. Things like that. But yea, as soon as we're settled into the new place more this week, I"ll be sitting down to explore more options for sure