The Unemployment Crunch

I think I have been so focused on staying positive about our unemployment and happy to see my husband more that I hadn't thought enough about all the cut backs I would need to make. Don't get me wrong, we are doing great right now. Tim had a funny feeling and was saving up his vacation time. That has paid this months bills while we wait for our severance package, we are one of the lucky ones who get severance pay.
Looking ahead though there is more to do right now, we have no idea how long this will last. Our phone service is pretty low, $13.81 per month which includes long distance, through Vonage so I haven't called them for a reduction. I did call Comcast which I have my basic cable and my high speed internet. Perhaps these could be viewed as luxury items but with all the deals I find online and my Ebay coupons I feel like the internet is a must and once you go high speed can you ever go back? They were very understanding of our situation and gave us a six month discount on our internet bill. Because we have the basic package on our cable tv there were no more discounts there and we are evaluating that expense. My daughter will be sad without animal planet so we are hanging on to it a bit longer. I'm grateful it has been a mild June and I haven't had my swamp cooler on very much. I am opening all of my windows every morning to get the cool morning air in and circulating before the afternoon warmer temperatures hit in hope to not turn on the swamp cooler one minute sooner than needed. Plus hanging out in the basement family room in the evening is a cooler choice as well.
We did invest in some shelving from Sam's Club to organize the food storage, I cannot believe what I have been able to accumulate in the past few months! In the first picture below I have all my canned products, those I purchase form the store and those I have canned in a #10 at my wards food packing events. I also am keeping all of my cleaning supplies, and the foods I bottle. It is also a storage spot of odds and ends, those odds and ends will need to find anew home when bottling season arrives. The second picture primarily holds the bargains I have been working on with my coupons. My daughter and I got everything on the shelves and as I stood there looking at it all I felt very proud. I feel very blessed to have learned this system before we were out of a job because now I am at a point that I can buy just what is on sale in combination with coupons and our fresh food needs. It makes what I need to spend a great deal less than what I used to spend and I can add to our short term storage progress. Thank you Jessica for teaching me about buying coupons on Ebay!!!
I am always looking for more ways to save. Share your advice in the comments section for us all to benefit from. Thank you to all of my supporters!