Surviving in a bad economy

I know, I know, I said ranting doesn't help.

But if you want my opinion, (okay, rant) here it is: What happened to our economy?

Before I get into the nuts and bolts of surviving the economy, here is an article that can help you save money and become more eco-friendly. Find out how conserving Mother Earth will help you save some cash.

Save Your Money, Save Mother Earth

Recycling never felt so good.

Okay, everyone needs a safety net, especially when times are hard. The catch is, creating a safety net when times are hard is not easy to do.

Let me begin with a story:
Several years ago, I was a stay at home mom. We had very little debt and made enough to pay the bills and have some "play money."

Then my husband got sick. In case you are wondering, Lyme disease is not something you fool around with.

Long story short, he couldn't work at all for about 3 months. It was another 2 more months before he could work close to the amount he did before he got sick. Actually, (6 years later) he still isn't completely the same.

We had a baby at the time and I can verify that a person with Lyme disease cannot possibly take care of an infant. My husband could barely more or stay awake for more than 20 minutes at a time for months.

In 3 months, we had $20,000 in past due bills and new debt (including interest and fees). Yeah, that part sucked. And I am not going to tell you that we had a nice little safety net that covered everything. The end.

But, what I want to ask you: If you had 3 months of NO income, could you survive? Could you keep a roof over your head and food on your table?

Yes, it was hard having bill collectors call all the time. Yes, it was difficult convincing people to take partial payments or to hold off on any payment. Then there was the doctor's bills that added on new debt. However, we managed to keep our house and our car. We kept the lights on and food on the table.

We survived 3 months with no income on our safety net: change

My husband loves change. He will spend $2.00 for something that is $1.01 just to get the change... even if he has the penny. He has collected change for quite some time. And that change saved our skin through those difficult months. We had more than $2000 in change, which paid most of our necessary bills during that hard time.

Believe it or not, that change that you throw in a jug can help build a pretty nice safety net. Of course, if you haven't started saving change, it might be a while before you can rely on that type of safety net. Sadly, change doesn't grow a safety net quickly.

Change can be a safety net, but it takes a while to save that change up to a substantial safety net. Here are a few quick(er) ways to build a safety net:

1) Pick one "extra." Everyone has one. Do you purchase water bottles (even in bulk)? What about 20 ounce sodas? Or coffee from a store?

I'm not going to tell you to stop buying those extras. Instead, buy them sparingly. These things probably started out as a "treat" or something you bought because you were in a hurry. Slowly, they became a habit. Break that habit. Bring coffee in a travel mug. Purchase a water filter and bring your own water bottle (aluminum is best). Begin treating those "extra" habits as a splurge now and then instead of a daily expense.

This won't build your nest terribly quickly either. However, if you can save $10 a week this way. If you can save $5 a week in change as well (that's not very hard if you use cash often), that's $60 a month you have saved up. In a year, that would be over $700.

2) Fool yourself. Are you a debit card junkie? This is a trick I have often used in the past. If you rarely carry cash, you can't save your change. . . or can you? Actually, you can. Let's say you just bought something at the store and used your debit card. What are the chances it cost an even dollar amount? Not very likely huh? What did you write in your register? The exact amount? Wrong. Start writing in the next dollar amount (or heck, go crazy and round up to the next 5 if you can). Instead of a $14.86 purchase, you write in $15.00. Just like saving change, this adds up. You can do this with checks as well. This will actually save you money faster than just saving change ... if you have the will power to do it. You could easily save $10 or more a week. Think how often you use that little card.

(Bonus tip: If you do the same for your bills, rounding up as high as you can, you can pay down debt much quicker!)

3) This money saving tip isn't as easy as the others. However, this one really can save you some serious cash. It will require some planning and may not work for everyone.

How much do you spend in a week on gas? EW! Could you go with just one vehicle or without a vehicle for even part of the week? Knee-jerk reaction is: NO. But think about it. Could you carpool, even if it requires a bit of planning? Could you take public transit? Could you and your spouse share a vehicle even part of the week?

Chances are, with a bit of planning, you could do this fairly easily. Yeah, you might have to go to work a bit early or stay a bit late, but you could do it at least a bit out of the week. One of you could get a ride into work and then ride home together if your schedules don't mesh too well. Or you could carpool with co-workers and share the gas money. Public transit, even a few times a week, can make a big difference.

If you spend $60 a week in gas (which is easy to do), and you went without one vehicle one week a month, you could save that money (in addition to the other $60 a month you saved with change and your "extras") and build a safety net very quickly.

If you went without your car for one month, you could save $240 in just one month. Your safety net will be quickly built if you do this even just a few weeks out of the month for a few months.

Okay, you started making some changes here and there and have started building a nice little safety net. But as they say (who is they anyway?) Drastic times call for drastic measures.

Here are a few ways to bring in some cash for your safety net.

1) Sell your stuff. How many dvds, cds or games do you have sitting around collecting dust? There are many places you can go to sell used games (or even game systems), dvds and cds. If you aren't watching, playing or listening to them, get rid of them and stash the cash!

2) Sell more stuff. While you are at it (rummaging through your old cds and dvds that is, I'm sure you could find some things that you just don't need any more. Clothes that don't fit, dust collectors that are simply collecting dust, the food processor and bread make you never actually used. Yeah, everyone has some. Sell them. Have a yard sale, sell them on eBay, sell them at a consignment store... the list goes on and on. There are plenty of places to sell your unwanted things. Sell them and, once again, stash the cash!

3) Moonlight... online. There are a number of places you can make money...including Squidoo! Find some ways that you can do some work online or elsewhere to make some quick cash to add to your safety net. Just be careful. There are a lot of places that promise quick and easy cash online... and lots of it. Most of those are just junk. Use your head, research what you want to do and invest some time. If you don't want to work online, see about some odd jobs or sell your services... you can cut grass can't you? What can you do that others would pay you for? Heck, you can even deliver pizzas once a week and make some nice dough. (yeah, bad pun intended.)

How many soda bottles do you buy in a month? Or cans? Have an old bikes or lawn mowers around the shed?

What do these things all have in common? You can recycle them. Many states charge a deposit on soda bottles now. Take them to stores that accept them (ask the quickie mart teller or your local giant mart). It's normally only $.05 a bottle, but that nickel can add up very quickly.

Cans and metal objects can be recycled as well. There are usually places to recycle cans only, but a junk yard can normally take your scrap metal. Believe me, my husband is a mechanic who "scraps metal" and it can bring in some serious cash. My advice, call around for prices and hang onto the metal as long as you can till the price is as good as it can get.

As you begin to save your safety net (and if you followed my advice, it will be a quickly built safety net at that!), don't put it anywhere you can easily get to it.

You will think, "Oh I need to buy milk.. and bread... and..."

Put that cash where you either (1) can't see it and therefore won't think about using it or (2) where you can't get to it.

Some of you can put it in a savings account. Which is great. It builds it's own money.

If you can't have money that accessible, a CD would be another good choice. It builds money and you could get to it. Just be wary of the fees you could get charged if you need to get to it.

Another choice is a safe deposit box at a bank or a home safe.

However, there are always those who will know the money is there and will think they "need' the money when they do not.

Here are a few places to stash your cash:

1) In a book on the bookshelf. Put it in a book you won't need any time soon and you might want to write down a reminder just in case. That way you don't lend your book with your money in it!

2) In an envelope taped under your dresser drawer. This one is good if you need to have the money where you can't easily get to it.

3) In the freezer. If you have no will power or are afraid you (or someone else) might try to spend your safety net, the freezer is a nice option. Put your money in a waterproof container (like a baggie). Take a bowl and fill it 1/2 way with water. Freeze the water. Put the baggie with the money on top and fill it the rest of the way with water and freeze it again. This way you CAN get to your money, but it isn't going to be easy.

The freezer, or any of these hiding places, are also good places to stash your credit cards if you like to use them too much.

Speaking of credit cards, what do you owe on them? Get them puppies paid off as quickly as possible too. Why? Because they can buy food and gas and necessities if it comes down to it. However, when you DON'T need to use them, get them paid down.