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Challenges and Successes

August 19th, 2016 at 11:40 am

My DH's employer called yesterday and asked for a meeting. He's an IT contractor, so meetings are rarely good as they know he'll be off the clock to meet. The company where he's been working is facing their usual sporadic financial challenges, and they want him to take a $1/hr pay cut. There is really no choice, and frankly, the $1 didn't sound awful--but it does add up to almost $2000 a year.

At the dog's physical therapy appt this morning, I realized again how much we pay for her anti-inflamatory. I did a quick check and found I can buy it online for $55 cheaper.

Now for a place to find that other $1945! I don't think I can work more. My full time 4/4 teaching load is plenty, and I'll have an adjunct class until mid-December. I'll try to crunch the grocery budget a bit.

The CSA really keeps us fed through the summer. We had the most brilliant panzanella salad last night using some drying up Italian bread and a load of veggies. Maybe we'll try a credit card offer or two?

10 Responses to “Challenges and Successes”

  1. creditcardfree Says:

    Sorry about the pay cut! It adds up. I don't doubt you can find some ways to save. Or find some things to sell. Smile

  2. MonkeyMama Says:


  3. CB in the City Says:

    Oooohh, hate a pay cut! But $2K is not too bad; being mindful and cutting in many small ways will probably make up the difference.

  4. VS_ozgirl Says:

    Is it $2000 before tax? If so, you have less difference to make up. Eg if he's on a 30% tax rate then you have to make up $1,333.

  5. crazyliblady Says:

    Sorry about the pay cut for your DH. That's rough. I also don't doubt you can find ways to make up the difference in your budget. Have you gone over your existing budget to see if there any areas you can cut? Some ideas could be entertainment, cell phone, landline.

    Have you considered growing any of your own food in order to cut your food expenses?

    Congrats on finding less expensive supplement for your dog.

  6. rob62521 Says:

    Sorry about the pay cut. Ouch!

  7. snafu Says:

    MEC, sorry there's been notification of a reduction in pay for DH. When you run the net figures, what is the shortfall. I too suggest reviewing closets and cupboards to se what is no longer in use and prepare a series of photos and ads for local FB, CraigsList or other popular sell sites. It also moves any de-clutter project forward. I used bribery to get DSs to research all the on-line, frugal sites and workup a list of tiny cuts to free up funds for things that were more in the 'want' column. [It helped research skills, basic reports etc. which were important in college]. Here we are year later and they actually use those baking powder/vinegar hacks.

  8. FrugalTexan75 Says:

    That is a bummer about the paycut. Frown Maybe focus more time on Swagbucks, Bing or mTurk, etc? Along with the other suggestions. Smile

  9. crazyliblady Says:

    Are there other job opportunities available out there without making making a geographic move?

  10. My English Castle Says:

    We do grow some food--just veggies mostly, and I'll start some more chard and spinach. But VS is right--it's post-tax loss which is better!

    More on my update.

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