Half the income: My story
I was married for 14 years before my income was reduced to a little less than half because the marriage ended and we separated. I am relieved that I still get supported through the alimony payments. Of course, this is a bit less than half of the income I was used to.
I began wondering how I was going to survive and pay the bills. Seeking out payday loans or running up huge credit card bills were not the answers to my financial mess.
I did not want to have more debts, so I looked for alternate ways to pay the bills without adding to my debts. A loan could have helped me in a pinch, but I wanted and needed to find a better way.
Decrease Housing Costs
During the time I split from my spouse, I was also involved with someone else for a short time that lived in a small town in Middle America. It was because of this situation that I decided to move the kids and myself to Small Town USA.
The big house in the city was four times more expensive than the nice little three bedroom house on three acres costs me now. Because of this, I was able to get my living expenses down to a manageable level. Drastically reduce your housing costs should your income be brought down by half.
Cut back on transportation costs
Around the same time that we split, we had a huge car payment on a new vehicle that we were struggling to keep up with. The short version of this story is that the car had to go away. Though I managed to get another vehicle, it is old and ready to die. But the good thing is that I only paid $ 500 for it.
This allowed me to only have to pay for gas once a month. How can I manage to do this? Since I work from home as a freelance writer, I only use the car about once a week to get groceries and do laundry. My errands take less time and gas, since I live in a small town. Since I only buy gas once per month, there really is no need to take out payday loans.
Decrease Utilities
Moving to a smaller house automatically lowered my utility costs; I was able to increase my cable and internet. The bill to heat the house went down because of some of the things I did to it. I put plastic on the drafty windows.
A huge blanket covers an unused door. Under the kitchen counter, there were cracks that I covered with a special foam. Then I bought a couple space heaters to warm the colder areas of the house. The thermostat is not as high now, and I save over $ 100 per month.
Cut back on food costs
One of the largest items in anyone’s budget, besides housing, is their food budget. Going out to eat was preferred to cooking at home. At least, we did that when I was still married. Times have changed now, and I cook at home more than I ever did in the past.
Special occasions are really about the only times we go out to eat. Junk food put a huge burden on my food budget, so when I stopped buying it, I had more money. This helped us get healthier, as well as save money. Trimming the budget further, I stopped buying pre made food and started cooking from scratch.
The end result
In the effort to bring down my expenses to meet my income, I have effectively come way under budget. It has helped me be able to put money away every month to buy a decent car. If you have been wondering how much money I am really getting, I will tell you.
The budget I set up allows for only the $ 2,000 per month I get from my ex, so the extra $ 800 goes to savings. This is great news, since my expenses per month only total around $ 1,700. Debt should not even be a word for someone who is making more money than me. It just does not add up if you have to get by on credit cards and payday loans if your income is slashed in half. Slashing your expenses is critical to living on half an income.
