Current happenings

Well dh is technically still on strike.... almost been 5 months!! This company still doesn't want to negotiate and it should be clear to everyone now that it wasn't about the contract - it's all about breaking the union.

Though we did get some good news - Dh just got a job making about a $1 less an hour but no overtime. He starts on Jan 2. Thank goodness because he hadn't been called back to work yet (they've been on strike since August, union proposed to work under the old contract, company denied, then the company a week later called an impasse = which means that they could call back who they wanted, when they wanted and the employees would be working under the last proposed contract - which essentially was the contract proposed in August). They took back about half the workers so far but the people in there say it is a very bad environment. (you have to ask to go PEE!!!). So he's glad to be out of there. He will be training during 1st shift for a few months and then will be working 7pm-7am Fri, Sat and Sun and getting paud for 40 hours. This is actually great becuase he will be able to take classes to get his associate degree. And if we need me to go back to work we would only need a sitter when he has classes. So, we will have about $500 bring home a week that I will now have to budget. - down from about $700 (he worked OT whenever he could) If it gets tough I will either go back to work or maybe babysit a kid or two. Also have been looking for ways to reduce our spending.

Today I decided to continue taking classes this semester too. I had been working on my associates for computer information technology and had to take the fall off to have our new little guy. I already have a bachelors in history but that's the worse major unless you're going to teach. Plus I've always like computers and feel that that's the job market I need to be in. I'm going to take 2 internet courses for now until dh gets on his normal weekend schedule. I will be deferring my school loans so this will reduce our montly payments by $140.

The baby has been sleeping better - we've been putting him in this little baby seat to sleep for now. Starting next week I will start trying to put him in the bassinet. I want to get him sleeping in it before dh goes to work. I have to say though when I do get him to sleep he does sleep quite a while. I fed him around 8pm last night and laid him down around 8:30. He slept until 3!!! I was amazed. Of course, I didn't get much extra sleep because I didn't go to bed until late. There's just so much to do, plus sometimes I just need quiet time on the computer. We will be paying off what little cc debt we aquired for Xmas (about $150 - all else was cash this year) when we get income taxes back in spring and that will help our budget tremendously. $500 a week seems so low for income in our budget but I know I was making so much less than that when it was just me and ds - about $250 a week - and did just fine. Of course now we have student loan debt, an extra cell phone line (we don't have a home phone) and other debt. Of course with 5 of us now it would be more expensive. More diapers, food, etc.

October budget and goals

Ok. Our savings goal for October is at least $675. We depleted our EF account and need to build that back up. I've already transferred $300 to our high-yield savings account so now we have $321 in there. I also scheduled to have $25 a week transferred no matter what. I plan on adding the rest by the end of the month.

Grocery budget for October is $70 a week. This includes household and baby products. Luckily we will be receiving WIC, at least for a little while. So that will help with food and formula. I also got 7 free cans of formula from someone through Freecycle. I would highly recommend signing up for freecycle in your area. You can list things you want to get rid of and other people do the same. So that is $280 for the month, but I will list as $300 because I have some coupons for things we use all the time that expire at the end of month, so I will be spending a little bit more right now.

Still on strike

Well it has now been 2 months since this strike began. 61 days!!!
Dh began receiving unemployment a few weeks ago. He also got the retro unemployment due to the law that the state passed on Aug 15. So, with that and the $300 striker bonus we are doing ok. With the retro we bought a double stroller and car seat, so we are now ready for this baby. Well, as ready as we can be. We are still going to stick to the $60 weekly budget for groceries and household items (this includes diapers) plus an extra $10 a week onto gift card to pay for diapers and formula after the baby is born.

I am really getting sick of all the negativity towards the strikers. Absolutely sick!!!! I really just don't even care if Dh goes back to work there or not. He plans on taking classes up again in January to get his associates as a chem tech. The company are outsourcing some of their work to France, so there is a chance that they will get approved to be displaced workers. Which will mean if they don't let them go back he can go back to school for 2 years and still get his unemployment. I don't have any problem with that. With the $350 or so from unemployment we would only need about $300 more a week and benefits. I would just go get a job. That really should be no problem. Of course there are tons of jobs recently that I would qualify for so hopefully it will still be like that then. Let Dh stay home most of the time (would need sitter only when he had classes and bowling league) and he can do a large percentage of the housework and cleaning. I'll go back to working full time. No prob. Role reversal!!!

So we will see how long this strike lasts. IF it lasts too long after this baby is born and does not look like they will get the extended benefits then he will just seek employment elsewhere.

Monday, August 13

The strike continues. Dh is driving me crazy! When he is home he isn't doing anything. He has a list of things that he needs to get done but yet he'd rather be watching tv or sleeping, etc. UUGGHHH!!! It's been over a week now that he hasn't been working and I'm ready for him to go back to work. The union will be meeting with DR officials on Wednesday, but who knows if they will actually negotiate or just set a time to negotiate. Supposedly they have had 2 seperate incidences where the ambulance had to go to DR and from what someone said the scabs are doing a lot of cleaning the floor. The machines may not work when the guys return but hey the floor will be sooo clean you can eat off them. lol.
Just trying to get things cleaned and organized for Kiersten's first birthday party on Sunday. Hard to believe she is almost a year old! It's going so quick. wow.
Today's To-Do List:
1. Go mail book
2. Wash dishes
3. Clean counters / stove / table
4. Sweep and mop kitchen
5. Organize kitchen closet
6. Sweep and mop bathroom
7. go get eggs and bread

Today's to do list:
1. freeze casserole
2. pick up livingroom
3. sweep kitchen
4. wash dishes
5. wash Kiersten's clothes
6. Put away my clothes
7. Put away towels
Hopefully I can finish it all.. especially with dh being home...

Husband on strike

Unfortunately, the guys went on strike on the 4th. We will be ok. I went through and made it so we were only paying the minimums on the bills and I figured out a meal schedule for the whole month. I have $60 a week schedule for food, diapers and anything else we may need. We should be ok for all paper products and cleansing products for at least a month. I stocked up pretty well last month. To make a little extra money I put some of my textbooks online to sell and I plan on putting some Burger King toys on Ebay within the next few days. I have some more books I may list. And hopefully I can get some mystery shops this month.

- Working on getting dinner started while dd is sleeping. I'm going to cook up extra chicken so I can make chicken broccoli alfredo tonight and chicken quesadillas another night.
- Just looked through bills and set some bills back up that I had to take out last week. Had to skip a few payments that we normally make once a week because DH had a really bad check. Scheduled a transfer of $20 into our high yield savings account for tomorrow. Updated my budget because I know I have to get diapers and wipies tomorrow and that will def go over $30 budget. Looking at saving to buy a freezer along with EF fund of at least $500.. and CHristmas .. and a house... UUGGGHHH
- Going to do my meal planning tonight so that we can go shopping tomorrow night while DH is working.

To do list for Wednesday

TO DO:
- put away dishes
- sweep and mop kitchen
- vacuum livingroom
- wash dishes
- wash my clothes
- clean mirror
- cut up and freeze chicken
- clean off desk
- figure bills
Hopefully I can get it all done!! :)

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

So, today was our 1 year anniversary. Of course DH and I really didn't do anything because he had to work tonight and we're broke until Thursday. But we plan on going to dinner and a movie this weekend if all works out. Didn't get a lot done today but that's okay. Tomorrow will be a new day. I got some dishes done, picked up the livingroom and cleaned the kitchen.

Intro

Intro to ME!
I am now a stay-at-home mom to a 9 year old and an 11-month old. Soon we will be having a little boy - in November. I am 30 years old and married to a wonderful man. We live in the southern tier of New York State. I am trying to save money and be frugal so that we can buy a house. So I am sure there will be alot on here about my struggles with that. And of course with the struggles of being a SAHM. When you've worked all your life, it is definitely different not working, but I am adapting.
Lisette