Abigail's Mommy: An Inspiration To Us All!

Abigail's Mommy, whose blog is here:

http://abigails-mommy.blogspot.com/

has been an inspiration to me for a long time! She and her family have had a tough road since her DH lost his job 6 months ago. Since they have always lived frugally, they have no debt except for their mortgage and a small car loan. I asked her if she would tell you her story so that she can inspire all of you as she has inspired me. Please feel free to leave any questions you might have for her on this post and I am sure that she will be glad to answer them. Here is her story in her words:

Precious asked me if I could write a post on how we survive on our income. I was a stay at home Mom until DH lost his job 6 months ago. The only job that I could find was a part-time one. My hours vary week to week. Hopefully, my hours will pick up before Christmas. Our bills(mortgage) are high for our income because DH made 4 times what he now gets in unemployment. Hopefully, he will find something soon. Things could be a lot worse.

This is our budget:

Income:

DH's Unemployment $ 1516 (This the highest you can get in Maine.)

My Part- Time Job: $ 600. (This is low end.)

Total Take Home $ 2116.

Monthly Payments:

Mortgage $ 1007. ( including escrow)

HOA Fees $ 225. ( includes heat, water and plowing)

Utilities $ 100.

Internet, Cable, Telephone $80. ( We could cut the TV but it wouldn't be much cheaper.)

Auto Insurance $ 57. ( both full coverage)

Life Insurance $ 35. ( for both of us)

Groceries & Household $ 300. ( I could cut down if I had to but I am trying to build my stockpile back up.)

Auto Fuel $ 100.

Car Loan $ 190. ( Our truck is paid off.)

Total Monthly Payments $ 2094.

Leftover Monthly Income $ 22.

As you can see there are quite a lot of things missing from our budget. Right now, we are in survival mode. We could try and sell our home but I don't think we could sell it for what we paid for it. We would hate to do that when we can pay our mortgage. Even if it is very tight!

We used up our savings because we had to wait 10.5 weeks to start receiving DH's unemployment. I also couldn't find a job until I started working in September.

Any extra income from rebates, opening paid e-mails, doing surveys, plowing, gifts, etc. are put into savings to cover the following things which I have listed in order of importance to us.

Missing Items from Our Budget:

Medical Co-Pays

Vehicle Registrations/Tabs

Clothing and Shoes ( Grandparents help with Abigail's clothing.)

Vehicle Repair and Maintenance

Gifts for Abigail ( I also cover this with point sites.)

House Repairs and Maintenance

Roth IRA Savings ( This is less important right now because we are 27 and 28.)

College Savings ( This will not happen until retirement is maxed out.)

Eating Out and Entertainment

This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to live below your means. So when an emergency happens, you can keep what is really important!