Show Me the Money!

This is "pay the bills week" for me
and this morning, that is the first thing I did
over my first cup of coffee.
I wrote out all the checks and tallied up what was left.

Things are better for me than they have been in the past
and I always send up a prayer of gratitude when
I am able to cover the bills, pay for the household, (and kid) needs and still have some left to put in the savings.

Times were very hard for me in the years past
and it made me wonder if any of you have been
in the same situation.

I've created a little poll to give us an idea
of what kind of financial struggles we have all faced
(or not faced).

I tried to cover all areas-
and have also made this a multiple choice poll.

If I left something out, just post it.



<FONT SIZE=5 COLOR=768A76 FACE="Lucida Handwriting">~Sage~ </FONT><img src="http://ChasingDownTheBlue.homestead.com/files/lilfairy.gif">

<FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=Black FACE="Tempus Sans ITC">And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right?...Am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
MY GOD!...WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Letting the days go by
let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
water flowing underground
Into the blue again
in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones
there is water underground.

Same as it ever was...</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=5 COLOR=Black FACE="Freestyle Script">Talking Heads</FONT>

I chose penniless with no job no food and nowhere to turn.

It didn't last long... I did have an apartment although it was in the area of town with gunshots in the alley and roaches in the kitchen but I was able to live there until I found another job.

I bought a bag of beans and an ham hock and lived on that for a week. Then rice and chicken the next.

I have never been homeless or in a shelter so I guess I need to count those blessings.

90% of my life has been the paycheck to paycheck variety, hoping against hope that my car doesn't break down or something.

I was brought up way below the breadline!...........

I ended up 'Penniless, no job, no food and no where to turn, with the addition of 2 toddlers (not yet 2 an 3) :( when I left my 1st husband ..... I was forced to hand them over to him whilst I found a somewhere to live etc..... I then had to fight a year long battle to get them back as he used them every way he could to make me pay for daring to leave him .....

I have also been completely homeless, done the sleeping on sofa's thing, for a couple of months after my 'sister' decided she wanted to rent out my room, so threw me outta the flat we shared :( That was 9 years ago now, time does fly ...... This is all good training however for the next stage of my life ....

The Penniless, Starving Student LMAO :D

I'm Australian, and its pretty hard to get into a position of homelessness, because of social security. I've always wondered about the American social security system....how does it work? Do you need to have work in order to live?

To those who answered:
I have never wanted for anything or been without a good amount of money

If you are ever feeling a little philanthropic, email me! :D

Originally posted by sally
Can you supply a receipt for tax purposes???

;) sure!

Originally posted by Bella_D
I'm Australian, and its pretty hard to get into a position of homelessness, because of social security. I've always wondered about the American social security system....how does it work? Do you need to have work in order to live?


Well I'm British an it is, unfortunately, all to easy to find urself homeless in this country, especially when u don't have the money to pay a bond for private rental and the power's that be r waiting for full medical reports before they will assist u in any way :(

Originally posted by sally
Mostly I've been lucky...and I have always kept my finances separate from my SO's. (Hadley would be so proud of me! Where is she anyway?) Or at least had the option to go 50/50, so there's no confusion...
Never mind, Sally -- I'm proud of you! :)

I've been poor (when I was a student) but I've always had a job. Even when that meant driving cab during a labour dispute, when I was on strike. Lost almost everything when marriage broke up and had to start over, so I won't do the communal finances thing again.

Don't believe in debt, except for the necessary evil of a mortgage. Always paid cash for cars. (But you should see what I drove until 3 years ago!!) And now I can say I've achieved "not wanting for anything".

I picked paycheck to paycheck

Money to me has always been a problem. I've never been responsible with money.

I've worked all my life and always had a pay check coming in. But always lived hand to mouth with that check. Lived off credit cards all my life as well and still have a problem with them.

I just turned 50 a couple of weeks ago and I vow to straighten up.

I grew up in a modest household surrounded by wealthy relatives. My mom and dad were the poorest in a rich world. So we lived beyond our means with total exposure to the finer things in life. It's been hard.

I can't buy everything I want and I can't take the kids on fabulous vacations either. We've had a couple but it's been hard to pay for them later. Credit.

We continue to tighten our belts. This year we will not take a big vacation again for the second year. We are opting instead to go camping, go to Greg's house at the beach and to go see my dad in Canada.

I'm convinced that I will have more money once I finish paying off my credit cards. I'm almost done - have still a bit to go though. Then like Sally, I will live credit free. I've never purchased a new car - always paid cash for pre-owned. My dream.

Any survival hints and paying off credit card hints would be awesome.

Cindy

One thing that helped me a few years ago was refinancing my mortgage loan. I borrowed extra money to pay off my credit card bills and at the same time reduced my monthly mortgage payment. It definitely helped me.

Originally posted by sally
Sage, there are a few loop holes in this...nothing in life is static, at least from my experience.
I could have selected 4 or 5 options, from nearly the worst scenario to the best...


That's why I made the poll multiple choice Sally,
so people can list all the different ways that they have
faced financial situations in their life.



<FONT SIZE=5 COLOR=768A76 FACE="Lucida Handwriting">~Sage~ </FONT><img src="http://ChasingDownTheBlue.homestead.com/files/lilfairy.gif">

<FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=Black FACE="Tempus Sans ITC">And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right?...Am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
MY GOD!...WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Letting the days go by
let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
water flowing underground
Into the blue again
in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones
there is water underground.

Same as it ever was...</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=5 COLOR=Black FACE="Freestyle Script">Talking Heads</FONT>