Weathering a 20% Pay Cut

[CathyCDK]

I need some prayer, encouragement and support. It was announced today that beginning August 3rd, the whole company will be taking a 20% pay cut /furlough until further notice. I'm not trying to be whiny and I'm thankful there were no layoffs. However, we need strategies that will help us get through this.

My head is swirling with things we can do to cut our spending, I can't get them organized enough to even write down. I also want to write down ideas on how we can spend my husband's day off each week, so that we aren't twiddling the time away, but are using it in a way that is meaningful and improves our quality of life. It seems that we never and time and money at the same time, so we will need free things to do to fill up the time.

Of course we can only adjust our flexible expenses. One of the biggest money savers will be groceries because we'll have the time to make our own convenience foods, menu plan, and shop sales with coupons. I'm having a mental block for budget meals and snacks. We live in AZ, the land of 110 degrees, so as soon as I can I will be reviving my garden. Being outside, except to swim is not fun this time of year.

I know my husband is stressed over this, not only for our family, but for the families of the 80 employees he oversees. I want to be encouraging and supportive to him too. I need to prayerfully lift him up. I've thought he could use this time to take some classes that will expand his marketability in the industry he works. Once he earned is BA about 10 years ago, he hasn't had much motivation to go back for any more school. I've checked the book 48 Days to the Work You Love from the library. I'm praying he'll read it and it will inspire him to find work in his passion, which is worship music.

 

If you were faced with a 20% pay cut and one extra day off a week, how would you spend that day, and what cut backs would you make? How would you support your spouse, the wage earner?

 

Cathy

[OrganicAnn]

Can you cut back on your 401K contributions and/or your savings for college?

 

Also if you have cable/internet/cell phones. Look for ways to cut back on those.

 

If you have kids involved in extracurricular actiivities, look for ways to cut back on those.

 

Can you add a part time job (either one of you).

 

Whatever you do, don't try to continue your current spending level and get into credit card debt. It is better to take a hard look and cut expenses than go into debt.

[shinyhappypeople]

My DH is furloughed at the moment and we're living off of unemployment -- basically a 50% pay cut. Some things that have helped: we canceled satellite, switched to Netflix (ab. $9/mo vs. $55 or so), got rid of our old cell phone plan and switched to TracFone and basically stopped spending money on things that we didn't need. You'll make it through this. And, after all is said and done, you'll feel so *proud* of yourself for weathering this difficult time. Yay you! (prememptive congratulations on how well you are / will handle this crisis) :)

[Cedarmom]

We were cut about 15 %, so I am having to learn to budget better as well.

 

We cut back our 401k

We were tithing at 12% now we do 10%, and that is less because my husband's salary is lower

We are using a cash envelope system. We get out the money we budget every paycheck for groceries etc and we only spend that money

I plan meals ahead

One meatless meal a week

I am working hard at using what we have in the fridge and pantry before I buy new

I bought cloth napkins at the thrift store and use those instead of paper

[katemary63]

Ha! How about a 75% pay cut! More then that actually! After 20 years working for the same Chicago area company and rising to the office of Vice President of Administration, which included luxury company car ( new every 2 years), all gas paid, ALL medical expenses paid ( including insurance premium) free use of the company condo in Puerto Vallarta, and a huge yearly bonus, my DH was fired during a company buy out.

 

We bought a farm and moved to AR. His new (off farm) job - Shipping and Receiving Manager pays 1/3 his old salary. His old bonus was more then his starting salary at this job!!! Can you believe that?? (On top of all that, we just lost more then half the money we saved all those years in the stock market crash.)

 

Guess what? It's six years later and we are still here and happy as ever. It did take a while to adjust. Just learning to think differently and make different choices. But other then that, we like this life better! We LOVE farming and our simple, slower life. The rat race was getting to him anyway and he was sick of corporate crap. Now, he just does his job and comes home to help sort the cows and feed the chickens. \

 

If we can adjust to this change, then YOU can adjust to your coming change. Just don't spend money you don't have. Just say no. And remember, you are blessed to have what you have. Don't think about what you don't. The cup is half full - not half empty! You have to realize that things that you thought you NEEDED, you can actually do without. We don't have TV, or a home phone - only cells. We don't take vacations (other then visiting relatives), we don't eat out much, don't buy name brand much, don't shop much at all. If you just pay attention to each expenditure, you will quickly find ones that are not neccessary. Good luck and God bless! This will be good for you.

[Rosie_0801]

Oh yeah. We're back down below the poverty line ourselves. Hopefully he'll get a job after this semester is over and we can creep back up. Do we have a "fingers crossed" smilie? His wages for his first job out of uni (this time around :glare:) are not much better than unemployment, but it's a step in the right direction.

 

We are eating a lot more simply, virtually no specialty ingredients. Veggies, fruit, grains and legumes, for the most part. No stops over at the bakery for a pastie, much less bread, few trips out of town, no book buying. I'll cancel my chiropractic appointments and only take the kids. We don't generally have more time, since dh is studying, but he's on holidays at the moment and we've been filling up the time by catching up on jobs and reading aloud. He was on baby holding duty for a week while I got a bundle of sewing done, for example. He's reading a lot more than usual. He doesn't really like reading to himself, but is reading some fun novels aloud to me, as well as working through the exercises in a spirituality book. It'd be a good idea for your hubby to do a few things to increase his job options, but time can also be spent reading and playing games with the kids. That bit of time off work is a good opportunity for your kids and their dad to get to know each other a bit more thoroughly.

 

:grouphug:

Rosie

[Tap]

I am off work right now with a back/hip problem. I have short term disability, but so far we have spent 3 months of my pay in medical bills. :0( They don't really know what is wrong, so there will be more tests to figure it out.

 

We have had to adjust quickly to not having 1/4 of our income, and we don't know if I will be able to return to work.

 

A few things that I was able to do quickly.

 

Take stock of the pantry/freezer and start using what we have.

We have a 2yo, so sometimes a little green beans left after dinner, that used to get tossed are now a side dish for her lunch.

I let my friends who have gardens know I would love, love, love some of their overflow. I freeze what I can't use right now.

I have cut down portions of meat to make a smaller piece go further.

I cut out fast food, and try to better plan for errands.

I bought the kids less summer clothes and do laundry more often. I encourage them to rewear what they can.

I canceled Net Flix.

I stay out of stores!

I let the kids know that b-days will be cut back ahead of time, and asked them to really think about what they want instead of a more general list.

I plan to use curriculum I already have instead of buying new. (I am a junky....it won't be a problem) I have also traded a few pieces with other friends.

I have been selling unused items ( a great project for his days off!). You can use Craigslist/Garage Sales/Consignment stores.

I purposefully try to find cheaper ways to do things. I usually provide a fancy dessert for our neighborhood 4th of July party-this year I made the white cake/Jello/Whipped Cream cake...make special by using real whipped cream instead of Cool Whip. My $4 cake was gone before any other dessert. :0)

I keep the house a little warmer in the summer and use fans more (I hate fans!). I am more strict about turning off appliances/lights.

We bought a swing set, as an investment to not drive to parks and find other things to spend money on, along the way.

I drive less.

I schedule my hair cuts for every 6 weeks instead of every 5.

I am looking for extra products around our house instead of buying new. I have stashes of toothbrushes/toothpaste/floss from the dentist-that we never used-we do now.

I have friends who have started borrowing party/dinner dresses instead of buying new.

We only eat out if we have a discount and plan accordingly.

I didn't buy plants for my yard, except for veg plants.

We don't water the lawn as much or wash the cars as often.

I don't keep everyone's favorite foods in the house everyday...I try to stretch it out to once a week now.

I don't rush out to buy milk/bread. It is okay if we run out for a day or two.

I stopped buying premade juice (my favorite is Odwalla juices) and buy 100% juice that is frozen. Again buying what is on sale-not just what I want.

I don't buy single serve anything now.

Ds has decided to sell off some video games that he doesn't play anymore-to fund his new games.

Dd sold some toys to a friend who wanted them. She made couple of dollars and it cleared a few things out of the house.

I repaired a ripped sheet instead of buying a new set. I just turn it so it doesn't matter.

[Debbie in OR]

:grouphug:

 

We just had the same thing happen a few months ago. We were already living very frugally so I was wondering what in the world we could cut down on (we don't have TV, our cars are paid for, bike wherever we can instead of drive, almost never eat out or go to movies out, plan our groceries very carefully, etc..).

 

Anyhow, some of the things we do:

 

We went through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace and that was very helpful.

 

We check out any movies we want to watch from the library.

 

I check out more books from the library instead of just buying them (even though I buy most everything used, this has still saved us a bunch!)

 

We are now on a cash-only system which does help.

 

We always air dry our clothes, even in winter (although it takes DAYS for them to dry...:glare:)

 

I wash all of our laundry in cold water but add a capful of bleach to kill anything!

 

We signed up for e-mealz (e-mealz.com) for weekly menus and grocery lists which is no different than what we were doing except it cut out all of my work! It does cost about $5/month for the service, but we have def. cut our grocery bill down even lower AND it saves me a lot of time on Sunday nights!

 

We found a weekly "gleaning" at one of the local churches (and, hallelujah, it's food from Trader Joe's!) We don't always have a need but on weeks when the grocery budget just is not getting there....we can always get bread and milk or fruit/veggies at that.

 

Just some ideas....

[unsinkable]

Ha! How about a 75% pay cut! More then that actually! After 20 years working for the same Chicago area company and rising to the office of Vice President of Administration, which included luxury company car ( new every 2 years), all gas paid, ALL medical expenses paid ( including insurance premium) free use of the company condo in Puerto Vallarta, and a huge yearly bonus, my DH was fired during a company buy out.

 

We bought a farm and moved to AR. His new (off farm) job - Shipping and Receiving Manager pays 1/3 his old salary. His old bonus was more then his starting salary at this job!!! Can you believe that?? (On top of all that, we just lost more then half the money we saved all those years in the stock market crash.)

 

Guess what? It's six years later and we are still here and happy as ever. It did take a while to adjust. Just learning to think differently and make different choices. But other then that, we like this life better! We LOVE farming and our simple, slower life. The rat race was getting to him anyway and he was sick of corporate crap. Now, he just does his job and comes home to help sort the cows and feed the chickens. \

 

If we can adjust to this change, then YOU can adjust to your coming change. Just don't spend money you don't have. Just say no. And remember, you are blessed to have what you have. Don't think about what you don't. The cup is half full - not half empty! You have to realize that things that you thought you NEEDED, you can actually do without. We don't have TV, or a home phone - only cells. We don't take vacations (other then visiting relatives), we don't eat out much, don't buy name brand much, don't shop much at all. If you just pay attention to each expenditure, you will quickly find ones that are not neccessary. Good luck and God bless! This will be good for you.

 

This is an amazing story! You should write a book!

[unsinkable]

I need some prayer, encouragement and support. It was announced today that beginning August 3rd, the whole company will be taking a 20% pay cut /furlough until further notice. I'm not trying to be whiny and I'm thankful there were no layoffs. However, we need strategies that will help us get through this.

My head is swirling with things we can do to cut our spending, I can't get them organized enough to even write down. I also want to write down ideas on how we can spend my husband's day off each week, so that we aren't twiddling the time away, but are using it in a way that is meaningful and improves our quality of life. It seems that we never and time and money at the same time, so we will need free things to do to fill up the time.

Of course we can only adjust our flexible expenses. One of the biggest money savers will be groceries because we'll have the time to make our own convenience foods, menu plan, and shop sales with coupons. I'm having a mental block for budget meals and snacks. We live in AZ, the land of 110 degrees, so as soon as I can I will be reviving my garden. Being outside, except to swim is not fun this time of year.

I know my husband is stressed over this, not only for our family, but for the families of the 80 employees he oversees. I want to be encouraging and supportive to him too. I need to prayerfully lift him up. I've thought he could use this time to take some classes that will expand his marketability in the industry he works. Once he earned is BA about 10 years ago, he hasn't had much motivation to go back for any more school. I've checked the book 48 Days to the Work You Love from the library. I'm praying he'll read it and it will inspire him to find work in his passion, which is worship music.

 

If you were faced with a 20% pay cut and one extra day off a week, how would you spend that day, and what cut backs would you make? How would you support your spouse, the wage earner?

 

Cathy

 

Cathy,

 

You have my prayers! It sounds overwhelming now but I'd just try to narrow my focus to one thing, like menu planning. Myabe you can jot down what you have eaten in the past 2 weeks as a starting point, then look for ways to do it cheaper?

 

As for his day off, maybe volunteer somewhere where he can play his music? Does he sing or play an instrument? You wrote his passion is worship music.

 

:grouphug:

[ConnieB]

We are also in Arizona....110 would be great, it was 113 today!

 

First thing that struck me was you said your DH will now have an extra day off each week. If it's the same day each week, he may want to look into a part time job.....yeah it probably won't pay nearly as much per hour, but every little bit will help. Or maybe you can work that day each week while he takes over the homeschool duties...the kids may enjoy having a "new" teacher, lol. Even if you only get paid $10 an hour, that would be $80 a week or $320 a month. With minimum wage going up to $7.50 or something it's actually not hard to find $10 jobs....even the local In-n-Out Burgers pays over $10! It's not glamorous work but it's something.

 

Anyway.....we had similiar paycut (25%)....here are some things we have done to weather it.....

 

Eating out is now non-existent....wasn't much before but even ice cream at McD's is out. I've always loved to cook and now I'm making it a challenge to cook for less. The ads come out on Wednesday so our math and home ec lesson plan is to figure out the cheapest meals for the next week based on what is on sale. Round Steak is 99 cents at Safeway right now (only at select Safeways, otherwise it's $1.48 which is still cheap). I put one in the crockpot yesterday morning with mushroom soup, french onion dry mix, some spices and fresh mushrooms. Peeled and cooked potatoes (on sale last week from Ranch Market for 99cents for 10 lbs) and made mashed spuds to go under. Salad for veggie. Delicious, filling and plenty of meat for my meat loving DH. Total cost less than $8 for 7 of us. I of course bought several more of these to put in the freezer. By the way, this sale ends today, Tuesday, so rush out and get some if you can. There are lots of ways to cook this meat if you're not a mushroom soup fan, lol.

 

If you weren't a big cooker before or have just a handful of standby recipes that you use, check out allrecipes.com or receipezaar.com, or get a couple of cookbooks from the library to try out new recipes. I find the online ones easier because I can plug in the type of meat that's on sale and come up with many recipes to choose from....a cookbook I might tend to want to go buy something not on sale to try out a recipe. This is a great time to do home ec with the kids and get them involved too....this is after all a life lesson that every child needs to know well, because short of some really really well paying job, they're going to have to cook for themself. We typically have a couple meals a month that are "meatless" and we even do "breakfast" for dinner once or twice a month. When sausages or bacon are on a killer sale I buy plenty....this plus homemade pancake/waffle mix and some eggs makes for probably our cheapest of all meals. On months where unexpected expenses come up and there is more month than budget left, breakfast for dinner is more common, lol.

 

 

We never had Cable TV, but if you do you might consider eliminating that....most people seem to pay at least $50 a month. We use the library system to get almost any movie that is out there. Maricopa County Library system is probably the best for movies, but Phoenix and Chandler are pretty good too. Tempe has a lot of the oldies and a LOT of documentaries and other educational selections. If you live in Maricopa County you can get a free card to any of these libraries. I know many people on this board avoid libraries because they forget to return things and end up with huge fees. I do "library day" every Monday and combine that with other errands near the libraries. By having it the same day every week I don't have to remember what day something is due.....it's always Monday. If I by chance pick up something mid-week I will still renew it when I do my online renewals each Monday so it will come up as due on Monday anyway.

 

We have SRP for our electricity and of course summer months that bill is killer with the Air Conditioner having to run so much. SRP has a program to equalize your monthly payment......basically they take the last 12 months of bills add them together, divide by 12 and you pay that amount every month. It doesn't SAVE you any money, but it makes the budget much easier to handle when the spring bills are the same cost as the summer bills. We also upped our minimum temperature several years ago and that saved us money (we keep it 85 degrees in the summer and 72 in the winter). To do this, start with a high temp and see if your family can adapt (adapting can mean a day or two of "discomfort" as you get used to the warmer house). I started out hoping for 87, but that was too high for us, so we lowered it one degree at a time and at 85 no one complained to loudly. We have lots of fans to blow the cool air around the room to fight hot spots and give a general feeling of cool because you feel a breeze. Also, be sure to turn the air OFF if you'll be gone from the house for more than 2 hours. Most people leave it on because they don't want to return to a hot house.....but that's expensive, and if you turn it back on as soon as you arrive home it cools down in about 30 minutes. We also don't use the air overnight....we have a fan blowing directly on everyone's bed to cool them.

 

Another way we saved big was looking at our insurance deductibles. Obviously you'll want to take a hard look at your past use of insurance to determine if this is a wise step for you or not. Example: House insurance....we have lived here nearly a decade and never made a claim. Living in Arizona and not in a flood zone, we don't have any natural disasters to worry about....I'd probably not do this if I lived in Florida with hurricanes or Oklahoma with tornadoes or California with earthquakes, etc. But 10 years with no claim and high deductible means we have saved thousands of dollars. Health insurance, we got out of DH's employers insurance a few years ago....it's a small company (around 50 employees) and several of them have family with ongoing medical so of course that affects everyone's premiums. The company pays 1/2 the premium of the policy they offer, and agreed to pay us 1/2 of our premium if we went elsewhere so long as it's less than they'd pay if we stayed with their policy. First, our own policy saved us almost $100 a month for actually better coverage that the employer policy. Since we are relatively healthy and rarely go to the doctor so we never made their $1,000 deductible, so it was easy to up our own deductible to $2,000 saving another $80 a month. We figure it's really there for catastrophic illness, like a hospitalization or worse. That $80 a month means in 10 months we've saved that extra $1,000 deductible, so over the years we've saved a bundle. If we ever have to use it we have the means to come up with $2,000 immediately so no risk to our health/wellbeing. Car insurance we did the same thing.....since it's been 14 years with no accidents having a high deductible meant we save a lot each year, but we do have the means to come up with that deductible in the blink of an eye if it's needed. Obviously, you need to think long and hard about how you use insurance before making these changes....if you have had a few accidents over the years I wouldn't up my deductible....we'll probably be rethinking this in 3 years when our eldest gets a license. If you have ongoing medical needs or use your health insurance quite a bit each year, then obviously that's not going to work for you. But if you use insurance only for the catastrophic than a higher deductible will save you a lot of money.

 

Other than the house we have no debt. We pay our credit cards in full every month (I use them all month long to earn reward dollars but never pay finance charges or a yearly fee. These reward dollars is my Christmas budget!). However, if you have a lot of debt scattered over several cards or loans, you might want to consider a consolidation loan. Applying for it now might be wise because most loan agencies will look at your year-to-date income, which is of course high right now making it easier to qualify and perhaps a better rate. Having one bill to pay instead of many is a savings, but ONLY if you don't then go out and charge up those other cards again. Obviously you'll need to analyze the costs of a loan and the interest rate over what you're paying now, but even with only so-so credit you should be able to get a personal loan at a lower rate than a credit card finance charge. If you have a problem with not being able to resist using a credit card then I don't advise this because you'll get yourself in deeper when you have credit balance available!! Cut up the cards if need be. Do keep at least one credit card available to you, obviously the one with the best terms, for true emergencies if you can resist using it. Don't carry it with you, leave it at home to avoid temptation, but know that it's there if an emergency happens.

 

 

Shoot it's saying my post is too long, so I'll have to divide it into two parts....sorry!

[ConnieB]

Here's part 2, lol:

 

You'll want to sit down with your budget and see where you can eliminate things based on your expenses......we don't have a lot of extra curriculuar expenses around here so that helps us, but we have a lot of friends who spend money on art lessons, piano lessons, sports, etc. The Valley has a LOT of teachers and parents who offer classes to homeschool students for a charge and a lot of our friends seem to spend as much time in these as they do teaching on their own, lol......great if you can afford it I guess, but we can't and I'd rather do the majority of the teaching myself. If you spend a lot in this area, consider seeking out other moms to form a co-op that costs very little or nothing in exchange for each mom teaching to her strength.

 

This time of year most of us are comtemplating next year's curriculum. Perhaps instead of buying new curriculum you can check out this thread http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1051093 for free curriculum and see if any of it will work for your family. We have an extensive book collection but it's volumes that will be used over and over, not books that we could borrow from a library for use in the curriculum and then would not really be used again. If I find that the kids are checking out a book over and over I'll often hunt for it used to add it to our personal library, but having a lot of books that only get used once or twice is expensive in both purchasing and space to store. I know a lot of folks on this board don't have great libraries near them, but if you're in the Valley, we do have great libraries. Using more than one library I have been able to find almost all of the "extra" books suggested in Story of the World. We bought the Encyclopedias because they'd be used over and over, but the chapter book recommendations we borrow from the library. In the few instances where a Valley library doesn't have the exact title, I check on Amazon to find out what's covered and there are always plenty of alternative books on the subject to substitute, but as I said this is pretty rare. Planning ahead works best for us for the libraries that are a bit of a drive....so we can combine other activities in that area to cut costs, and we only go to these libraries every couple of weeks as things come up due we get new books for the coming month. Yes we spend a few dollars on gas, but combining it with other errands plus getting lots of books all at once the gas is still cheaper than owning.

 

The Valley also has a number of food banks....some that give food to those in need, others that sell a box of food at a great discount. Our food budget has been helped a few times by these when unforseen expenses have cropped up to wipe out the budget for that month. Food is probably the easiest one to adapt to what money you have available so it's always the last budget item for us after everything else is paid for.

 

We don't spend much on fine arts, but we attend a LOT because we do student matinee field trips to the ballet, symphony, opera and several live theatre plays. We do this several times a month during the school year. DH gets left out of most but he's ok with that, and we typically spend less for all of us to go than it costs for just ONE person to go to a public showing. If you're in the Valley and this interests you, PM me for details.

 

I know this has gotten ridiculously long, but hopefully there are a few ideas that will save you enough money. Most of all realize that you CAN do this.....most of us spend what is available in the budget....and it can be surprising to realize what you can eliminate or save on when you don't have the funds. Paying the required bills each month first to be sure they're covered and then knowing that whatever is left is what we have to spend dictates what we'll be eating or doing for entertainment but so far we've never gone without anything truly important.....but our perception of what is truly important has changed. Yes, I miss my manicures, but my daughter and I have a salon day and do each other....cheap and the bonding is excellent! I miss eating out, but have grown quite adept at copying our favorites, and sometimes even bettering them! YOU CAN DO THIS. If you've read this far, you certainly have the patience and perseverance to survive, lol.

[Renee in NC]

I think my answer depends on if this is long-term or not and what your income is now. Have you sat down and completed a budget? That would be the first step in determining whether or not one of you needs to get another job.

 

For a temporary pay cut, the previous frugal ideas are great. For a permanent pay cut, depending on the budget, serious lifestyle changes may be in order.

[....]

There's a lot of people who are going through some horrible financial problems right now.

 

We were unemployed for 7 months and I thought we were going to be eventually homeless. Despite an awesome resume and a Master's Degree, my husband could not find a job for that 7 months.

 

It's happening EVERYWHERE to a lot of people and it's no one's fault (well, not the Regular Joe's fault, that is :lol:). It's just a really bad economic situation.

 

Follow the Dave Ramsey's "Four Walls" advice. We actually kept our home moving based on his advice and using a really strict budget.

[CookieMonster]

We always air dry our clothes, even in winter (although it takes DAYS for them to dry...:glare:)

 

Buy a $10 box fan, now in the summer, if you don't already have a fan. Turn it on your clothes in the winter. They'll dry much faster (a couple of hours). A fan doesn't use the energy a dryer would. And you'll have no risk of mold/mildew.

 

You might think about relocating your clothesline to a warmer room of the house. I know if I used my laundry room, the clothes would take much longer to dry.

 

YMMV

[G5052]

We've had to scale back significantly to deal with medical expenses not covered by insurance, and it's all a matter of perspective.

 

This is what we've done:

 

We share one prepaid cell phone

Dropped satellite TV

Dropped newspapers

Almost no convenience foods

I shop for groceries alone (the rest of the family tends to buy on impulse)

DH eats breakfast at home and takes his lunch

Cut back on wardrobe -- if you wash every day you can probably buy fewer clothes

Check insurance policies -- DH and I both work less than 10 miles from home, so we qualify for a reduced rate on the cars

We haven't been on vacation at all in several years

 

The kids do one year-round sport (no competitions or travelling) and a homeschool co-op. We do one field trip a month.

 

If you DH is home one day a week and is healthy, there are always a lot of people in our area looking for yard work or help around the house. A friend of ours does a lot of handyman-type jobs as fill-in income and he does quite well.

 

Going back to school or thinking about other work might not be an option if you really need the income. If we had to take a 20% cut, income would come first. I don't know that I can cut anywhere else without affecting things that we still need/want.

[lgm]

Dh is using the extra time to do the things he didn't have time for when the workload was high, such as keeping the house in sellable condition and teaching our teen marketable skills.

 

If your budget isn't going to work out for the cash flow, your family might consider doing side jobs or your own family business on that day off. One suggestion is a pool maintenance business.

[katemary63]

This is an amazing story! You should write a book!

 

Thank you. The story is even MORE amazing if you had all the details. I left out all the parts where God intervened on our behalf, arranged things to work out for us, and walked us through this whole thing holding our hands! He has prepared the way and provided for us every second. Our faith has been strengthened a thousand fold by this experience and we wouldn't trade if for the world.

[plansrme]

Your 20% reduction in gross pay may not turn out to be a full 20% of net pay because of the way the withholding tables work. Also, if you usually get a tax refund or think you will with the reduced income, you can adjust his withholding accordingly for the rest of the year and keep more in your pocket.

If you use TurboTax, try running it using last year's program and 8% less income (roughly--20% for 5 months) and see what your tax liability would be.

 

Terri

[rafiki]

.

[Jane]

It is just so frustrating. We are trying to do things right, keep no credit debt, no auto loans, put 20% down on our home, contribute 15% to 401K, have one parent home to raise our children, etc.. Yet we are unable to refi without paying closing costs because we are not behind, we did not see a single penny from the stimulus that was to be added to paychecks earlier in the year, and I better bit my tongue.

 

It is what it is, it's not bringing us down!

 

I'm so sorry, Michele. Would refinancing help you stay in your house? If so, I would seek out any/all options for raising the extra money towards refinancing. Oftentimes the costs can be rolled into the refinance. Otherwise, consider taking on some babysitting work, having a big garage sale, going down to one car for a year, etc. As you can see by this thread, there are many of us who are experiencing pay cuts. People are looking for discounts/ways to cut back. It may be the perfect time to offer to watch someone's children through the summer months for less money than their daycare charges.

 

Praying for all of us...

[CathyCDK]

So many great suggestions! Thanks for opening my eyes and getting me to focus on one thing at a time. The wound is still so fresh that it's hard for me to think clearly. I'm thankful to have like-minded people that are willing to hold someone like me up right now.

 

My husband needs my support and encouragement. In addition to worrying about his own family, about 80 people work for him part time and as independent contractors. Many of them are very angry and a few have let him know it. He got a phone call at 3am because his night guy was having a meltdown over the news. He had to go into work to calm him down. Two of his best long time employees are quitting. He has nothing to do with the paycuts, but must weather the consequences of them. Because of the nature of the job, and the low pay to begin with, these people aren't working because they have nothing better to do. This is there 2nd, 3rd, sometimes 4th job that they are working just to feed their families. Many don't speak English. Many aren't skilled and wouldn't find work anywhere else. Even though the company treats them like trash, my husband has always treated them all with respect and kindness. He's gone to bat for them with the owner many times, sometimes jeopardizing his own job.

 

I know his real love is music, specifically worship music. He's been a worship leader in a volunteer position in the past, but has no musical education background. Dozens of people have asked him to teach guitar, which he declines because he plays by ear and doesn't read music. A couple people have asked him to sing and play in their Christian bands, but he can't because of his work schedule. I'd like to point him in the direction of earning the credentials that will support his experience and talent.

 

I'm praying that God will use this in our lives so that my husband can work doing what he loves. We already know that we don't care about the money, or the big house, or all the stuff. We want to spend time together as a family, serve the Lord together, and glorify Him through it all.

 

Blessings to you all!

Cathy

[unsinkable]

Thank you. The story is even MORE amazing if you had all the details. I left out all the parts where God intervened on our behalf, arranged things to work out for us, and walked us through this whole thing holding our hands! He has prepared the way and provided for us every second. Our faith has been strengthened a thousand fold by this experience and we wouldn't trade if for the world.

 

WOW!

 

I love stories like this!

[Sparkle]

I'm right there with ya. DH initially had a 5% pay cut, then it went to 10%, now it's 15%, and 20% is looming on the horizon. I was very fortunate to pick up a babysitting job for the summer, so that is bringing in a few extra dollars. Also, DH has been doing some manual labor for his dad, and getting some extra cash there.

 

Things we have done so far:

No TV

Only one cell phone that costs $20/mo

Shopping thrift stores for clothes, etc.

No eating out

Using the library for CDs/DVDs/books other than curriculum

Buying most of my curriculum used or swapped

Cancelling newspaper and magazine subscriptions

Switched to front-loading washer/dryer, supposedly more energy-efficient :001_huh:

We also consolidated all our debt into one low interest rate loan.

 

Things we're looking at cutting back:

Food budget - more beans, rice, pasta, veggies (we eat very little meat as it is right now)

Cheaper internet and phone

Dropping one car

Using a solar cooker instead of the oven

No more hair coloring for me :eek:

Dropping other cell phone

Also, if our income drops much lower, we will be eligible for discounted utility rates - you might check into that.

 

 

I'd really encourage your dh to use his musical talents - either teaching or playing for pay, if possible. My dh is a part-time musician - self-taught, doesn't really read music either, but he earns decent money playing at church once a week. :grouphug: Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming :001_smile:

[unsinkable]

So many great suggestions! Thanks for opening my eyes and getting me to focus on one thing at a time. The wound is still so fresh that it's hard for me to think clearly. I'm thankful to have like-minded people that are willing to hold someone like me up right now.

 

My husband needs my support and encouragement. In addition to worrying about his own family, about 80 people work for him part time and as independent contractors. Many of them are very angry and a few have let him know it. He got a phone call at 3am because his night guy was having a meltdown over the news. He had to go into work to calm him down. Two of his best long time employees are quitting. He has nothing to do with the paycuts, but must weather the consequences of them. Because of the nature of the job, and the low pay to begin with, these people aren't working because they have nothing better to do. This is there 2nd, 3rd, sometimes 4th job that they are working just to feed their families. Many don't speak English. Many aren't skilled and wouldn't find work anywhere else. Even though the company treats them like trash, my husband has always treated them all with respect and kindness. He's gone to bat for them with the owner many times, sometimes jeopardizing his own job.

I know his real love is music, specifically worship music. He's been a worship leader in a volunteer position in the past, but has no musical education background. Dozens of people have asked him to teach guitar, which he declines because he plays by ear and doesn't read music. A couple people have asked him to sing and play in their Christian bands, but he can't because of his work schedule. I'd like to point him in the direction of earning the credentials that will support his experience and talent.

 

I'm praying that God will use this in our lives so that my husband can work doing what he loves. We already know that we don't care about the money, or the big house, or all the stuff. We want to spend time together as a family, serve the Lord together, and glorify Him through it all.

 

Blessings to you all!

Cathy

 

He sounds like a wonderful man! You'll all be in my prayers!

[LoriM]

My sister's company had to weather a 50% pay cut for 3 pay periods (6 weeks) and 20% for four and a half months.

 

Just sayin'...it was really rough. She forego "luxuries" like medicines (couldn't afford the copay) and relied heavily on my parents.

[abreakfromlife]

I haven't read all the replies; sorry. My husband went down to 4 days a week back in March...it was supposed to be temporary, but here it is Mid-July with no end in sight. This happened right at the time we were expecting him to get a 20% raise b/c he got his engineering license, and we were tight before, so it was kind of a double-whammy for us.

 

We still had our tax refund, so we used that for a couple of months, and then we took everything out of our 401k that we were allowed to. We are only 27 so we have years to rebuild that; if we were older I don't know how we would have handled that.

 

I also just applied for food stamps last week. I wish I would have done it sooner. We are supposed to be receiving more in stamps than I normally spend on groceries....which cracks me up. LOL. We already don't spend money on frivolous things, so there hasn't been much we can cut back on.

 

I did have the idea for dh to teach some homeschool classes on his day off, and he got permission to do it from his boss, but it's been tough going finding students. If he doesn't find a few students in the next couple of weeks, we're going to have to do something else. Talk to his boss and ask for his raise, or find another job. But we're in MI, so that is a very daunting task. I'm really praying he can get some students. If he had 6 students, along with the food stamps, that would close the income gap. So, we'll see.

[gingersmom]

I didn't get a pay cut. My X just decided not to pay child support.

 

Plan meals a week in advance and shop only for what is on your list.

No eating out

Minimal extracurricular activities for kids-many museums have free days or discount admissions on certain days/nights

Get rid of cable or switch to most basic plan

Get rid of cell phone

No new clothes unless on sale and absolutely necessary

 

I could go on and on.......

[BalanceSeeker]

 

• Bought a cheaper car, used. In great shape, but maintenance will be less, gas will be a bit cheaper, and so will insurance.
  
• Cut out many extra's (cable, land line, etc)
  
• We consider EVERY purchase very carefully, and shop around for the best deal.
  
• I'm growing a vegetable garden :D Yay!
  
• We cut back on groceries big-time. We are down to the basics: rice, veggies, fruit, beans, and $2/pound chicken.
  
• We eat out no more than once a week and don't spend over $25 for the 5 of us.
  
• I now cut all my dc's hair (all girls). This saves me $50 every other month, and I do a darn good job.
  
• We shop for the kids' clothes at Goodwill, and I try to find stuff there for me, too. Buy only the 50% off ___colored tag and you can get shirts for a buck, pants/skirts for 2 bucks. The girls are dressed well and still look adorable.
  
• We're changing life insurance carriers to a less expensive one (getting new physicals and everything). It's worth the time. We also switched to another health insurance provider.
  
• We try not to make unnecessary trips and try to group errands together.
  
• I work at a hospital, so instead of eating in the cafeteria (about $5 or $6) I bring my lunch everyday.
  
• Purchase all curriculum used if possible. We use the library more instead of buying books.
  
• We keep the temperature of our home at 81 or more. As warm as we can stand it, really. We keep as many lights turned off as we can.
  
• We consign everything we are done with or don't need.
  
• I work as much as I can to cover bills some months/save money other months.
  

 

For fun, we play more board games as a family, have puzzles out, swim, etc. Just more good old fashioned fun.

 

Good luck! The changes we've made have been so good for us and we'll never go back!

[Sara R]

33% here; actually 10% pay cut, plus we are responsible for all of our own health insurance now. The numbers added up to 33% (and we can't shop for another health plan because they already did that for us...). We had already cut out the "easy" parts of the budget, and we've always been more frugal than most people around us, so we weren't really sure where else we could cut.

 

Here's what we are doing:

 

(1) Really budgeting. Our "general frugality" has always been enough, until now. Now we are budgeting and keeping track of our expenses on the old spreadsheet version of PearBudget, which is simple and free (which Quicken is not).

 

(2) Calling to get quotes on car and home owner's insurance. Geico is saving us $400 per year on car insurance!

 

(3) Calling the cable/phone company to get promotional rates on high speed internet. Knowing the competition and actually being willing to switch was the key for getting the discount.

 

(4) Re-reading the Tightwad Gazette for the gazillionth time, and taking notes.

 

(5) Looking into other job/business opportunities. I plan to start tutoring in the next couple of months.

 

Luckily we had refinanced the house from a 15 year fixed rate loan to a 30 year loan. It closed literally 2 weeks before we got the announcement of the pay cut. I don't know if we would have qualified for the refinance with our reduced pay. That alone would have enabled us to get by, but we want to save up a big emergency fund in case his company doesn't make it, and so that means tightening the belt.