Dear Readers,
Do you need help with freezer meals? A lot of people have asked me about freezing meals lately and my friend Susanne over at Hillbillyhousewife.com has a great e-book full of pointers and recipes to help you get started. The best part is that she has offered it to our readers for just $5 this week. To get the discount, you must enter the coupon code FREEZE5 at checkout. Check it out now!
We received a question about the Oven Fried Chicken from last week's newsletter. The recipe said to use margarine (not butter), but then it said "butter" in the directions. That was a mistake on our part. Since we often say "butter" at home when referring to margarine or butter, we missed it, even after many proof-readings. It is supposed to be margarine in this recipe because margarine doesn't burn as easily.
This week's newsletter is going to be a little different. We have never had a response to a newsletter like we did from last week's "Hard Economic Times" article. We received a LOT of testimonials from people who have hit hard times and made it through them (like us) and wanted to share some of those with you. We were very relieved to see that we aren't the only ones wondering if the world had gone mad! (We don't get out much!) :-).
In a couple of weeks we will be addressing how to make it through a period of unemployment.
Also, for more tips and ideas on saving please check out the blog. We are updating it several times a day now.
Have a good week!
-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com
Here's a note from mom...
Hi everyone! You Guys Are Great!
We had quite a response to last week's newsletter. I can't begin to tell you how uplifting and encouraging each one was. We got so many testimonies from "regular" people who are taking responsibility, working hard and using their money wisely and, most of all, not complaining or making excuses about their finances.
Some had lost their jobs or were dealing with hard circumstances but still had a positive attitude and were just dealing with and taking care of things. That's life. Things happen and you do the best you can with what you have. There's no need to blame anyone else for what is happening or make excuses why you can't do this or that.
I know that I caution against being prideful but I have to say that I felt so proud at most of the e-mails that came flooding in (every one of which we read). There are so many of you out there who are doing a great-- no, an unbelievable job with your finances.
Reading them was like drinking a cold refreshing glass of water on a hot summer day, especially after hearing all the other discouraging things around me every day. I always have felt our readers were a special breed of people-- people who are strong, bold and of good character and integrity and these e mails just proved it to me once again.
We were so encouraged by them that we thought you might enjoy reading some of them too, so we're including some in today's newsletter.
Have a great day!
Jill
Reader Responses to the article, "Hard Economic Times" from February 17th:
"Thank you so much for the article on Hard Economic Times. My husband came home today and said 30 people where he works were fired for "violations" of safety, which is really a layoff in disguise. We talked about not being afraid of him losing his job because we live such a frugal life and I owe a lot of it to you. I have learned so much from your newsletter, website and books (I have all of them!). I really enjoyed your article on drying clothes on a clothesline. I learned how to hang them right after hanging clothes out my whole life!"
"People think we're crazy because we don't eat out (I use my Dining on a Dime cookbook), have only one cell phone, and use dial up, but when I read your articles and books I know I'm not so crazy after all. Thanks for helping us have the confidence to live within our means without even thinking about other people's opinions of us."
-Cynthia
"Hello Tawra,"
"I have to tell you that I so agree with you. So many people that are moaning and groaning are so out of touch with how to live within their means. I quit my job at the end of August. I was making $25/hr. Good pay, but stress and anxiety levels off the charts. Our income has gone down by at least 1/3. I am still putting the same amount into savings. I am giving more. We are doing great!! I am more careful with what I buy. We paid off our home 4 years ago. We pay credit card bills monthly. We don't drive new cars, and the ones we own are paid for. Our biggest expense is insurance. My husband is self employed. I worked, partially for insurance."
-Donna
"OMG!!! I LOVE this article!!! You pushed the right buttons on this one!!"
"My husband lost his job over a year ago and I stopped spending immediately (He has since found another job). No more trips to the department store for me and you know what? We had enough money to continue paying the bills!! Go figure!"
"Thanks for the article!"
Blessings,
Melora
"Whoa baby! You said that better than I every could."
"I have saved and I have NO debt. I have everything I need and want-- nice things too! Now I can afford all those expensive luxuries they bought on credit -- minus the debt. I work for my own personal luxury, vacations, saving for retirement, and to buy real estate when the market finally tanks in my area, all that while they are still up to their eyeballs in debt. Did you win the lottery? They all wonder."
"You said it so well and I love it. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest!"
-Laurie
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"Thank you for today's newsletter. You spoke volumes of truth to my heart."
"We have been facing "hard times" because my husband lost all of his overtime a year and a half ago, two months after we bought our fixer upper house. Even after I started working part time last year, we are still down about $5k a year (that's with hubby getting a great raise last year)."
"We have been struggling, but I realize we could do so much more to not struggle like not eating out so much, and changing our eating habits at home. We already buy secondhand clothes to stock 50% of our closet, I only buy new to fill in the gaps when I can't find it at goodwill or garage sales (or wonderful hand me downs). We dropped our YMCA membership and the kids don't play sports anymore."
"We still have a ways to go - but we've decided that I will only work 'til our debt is gone (August) and then do what it takes to live on hubby's wages. Great job today! (and every day!)"
Blessings,
Laura
"Your article hits the nail on the head! We hear people panicking over the economy and wondering what they are going to do, yet this weekend when my husband and I went out to the shopping district, it was like Black Friday all over again. It took an hour to get back to the main road from the shopping plaza (I'm talking about the length of three football fields)."
"Inside the store, people were lined up from the counter to the back of the store. I even asked if there was some special sale going on, but they said no, this has been normal for them since before Christmas."
"I thought it was crazy. We're financially ok, with only our house payment to make, and have always lived frugally. The economic crisis hasn't affected us yet, but even we have been trying to improve our "frugalness." I was truly shocked at what I saw this weekend. We haven't been out there in a long time, so after hearing of all the problems people are facing, I expected to see the retail stores' parking lots to be nearly empty. How wrong I was!"
"People really need to start taking a look at their spending habits. Things might get a lot worse before they start getting better."
-A Reader
"I received your newsletter in the form of a forward from a friend and I think it is outstanding. I fight many of the battles and issues that your articles try to illustrate with my own friends and acquaintances."
"One I battle over is, "Are you comfortable?" This started out with me asking a group of 5 people with secure, jobs, savings, positive home equity and limited health issues all between age 33-40, whether they will be comfortable until death. This was part of questions relating to preparing for retirement during National Retirement Week. Shockingly only 2 out 5 said they were comfortable. Perhaps this could be incorporated into a future newsletter."
"Another good tidbit that would be a good addition is the following: One of the people in the Not Comfortable category reported going to a dinner at a hotel in Louisville where there were 4 flavors of butter available for the bread-- 4 flavors of butter. How bad can times be if there are flavored butters available."
-A Reader
"Thank you for putting things in perspective. We Americans don't know the meaning of hardship. Just ask the father who has to dig through the dump in the Philippines what hardship is. And the mother living on a cardboard box with her child in the streets of India or some other third-world country."
"A famous quote by a foreigner: 'Do you know that in America, they have houses for their cars???'"
"No sirreeee... we don't even begin to know the meaning. God, I think, may be giving us just a glimpse. To hurt us? No, rather, to wise us up so that we might look to those who DO need help around the world and respond."
Thanks again,
Katherine Q.
"I really enjoyed the email Feb 17 by Jill which spoke about our 'tough economic times' and how people do not watch their spending. Our family has one paycheck, no credit card bills that carry over from month to month, and four kids 11-21. We do have some extras in our life, but we are very careful how we spend our money because it only goes so far but always far enough for what we need. I just really enjoyed reading your email today putting into words how I see it and others seem to be blind to. Thanks also for what you do, it is helpful and fun."
-Linda
"Dear Jill & Tawra,"
"I couldn't agree with you more on your article, "These Hard Economic Times"! I am constantly comparing today's society with that of the Great Depression. There is absolutely no comparison. During the Depression years, entire families went without new clothing, new shoes, weekly grocery trips, Christmas and birthday gifts, and luxuries of even the smallest kind. Nowadays, people think they have it hard if they can't get all of the premium cable channels that they want, or if they can't buy their $4 cup of coffee to which they've become accustomed."
"I didn't experience the Depression, but my (now deceased) grandparents sure did, and stories that I would hear as a child have always made me appreciate even the small things - like enough money each month to pay our conservative heating bill, and enough food in our bellies to squelch any hunger. My family and I are very blessed!"
"I think the businesses should not be bailed out by the government. This may be pride speaking (please forgive me), but I feel as though another very difficult Depression would do this country a great deal of good. It would teach people how to truly do without, and how to refrain from being wasteful. And even though people wouldn't like it, we all would be better off because of it."
"Thank you for the article. It's the first of it's kind that I've read since our country's financial troubles first appeared. I applaud your honesty and I hope more people will get this 'message'."
Thanks!
Amy M.
"Jill,"
"THANK YOU!! I've been saying the same thing--What hard times?? All you have to do is look at the sell-out crowd at the Super Bowl and think about how much $$ they each shelled out for a ticket and realize that it's not as bad as "they" are saying. What a great learning experience this is for my kids--learning the difference between reality and what the media says."
"I loved your article! Thank you for your positive message!"
-Tamara
"I agree wholeheartedly. I live in Australia, which is doing ok in the present times. On a recent national current affairs show, there was a man commenting on his 'hard times', from a motor yacht :("
-Michael
