A House Of Poverty

I came across a blog post this evening titled The Upsetting Reality Of Modern Day Poverty. It brought tears to my eyes for many different reasons but mainly because it was as if she had written it about me. It hit me hard and knocked the breath out of me.Though I don't think of our family as poor, it is an overwhelming truth. We may not be struggling as hard as some but my family is part of the modern day poverty.

POOR. (let that sink in for a moment) Even as I typed the word it is a hard thing to admit. So much is associated with that one word. Government Assistance (welfare, foodstamps) mostly comes to mind. Years ago, when my children were young, I had to rely on it to feed and clothe them. At that time, I was working 2 jobs (1 FT & 1 PT) and it was such a struggle. Eventually, I was able to get off of assistance and accumulate a nice little rainy day fund.

Times have changed. The poverty line has shifted. What once was considered working middle class is now in the poverty level. When I was growing up, if the word poor was mentioned, images of "shotgun houses" in the rougher areas of town would flood my mind. That is no longer the case. I don't have a fancy home by today's standards, but it's a decent size on a decent sized piece of land. It's paid for. It keeps the elements out and us safely in. And yet, it is a house of poverty.

Within the past decade, my health went south. I was diagnosed with high BP, suffered a mild stroke, diagnosed with diabetes and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease along with dealing with my rheumatoid arthritis. It took it's toil. Not only on my body but our finances. I was no longer able to work. That meant I had to watch what I spent. I had to carefully plan out meals. I had to get creative with items in our home. I had to watch my rainy day fund get smaller and smaller until it was non-existent.

To Pinch Pennies:

• I keep the thermostat on our central heat between 65°F and 68°F during the winter. That way the gas backup doesn't kick on as often. I have 2 ceramic, oscillating, electric heaters. During the day they keep the den and kitchen nice and toasty. At night they keep mine and the Grands bedrooms warm enough that we don't need a billion layers of blankets. We also wear fuzzy socks, fuzzy houseshoes and warm enough layers to feel comfortable. Rugs on the floors, blankets within arms reach and weatherproofing doors and windows each Fall also helps keep the drafts to a minimum..
• To also save on the gas bill, I now wash all of our clothes in cold water and use homemade laundry soap. It was a trial by error for a couple of months until I found the perfect recipe that worked for our clothes.
• When my dishwasher stopped working, I decided not to replace it. Not only did it save me money on my power bill, but I don't use as much water or gas to heat it. WIN WIN
• Thrift Stores have become my GO-TO for all of our clothes, furniture and decorative items. I also get most of my Grands toys and books from there as well. A lot of the times I will come across an item that have seen better days as it's intended purpose but I can see potential of using it as something else within our home. (Repurposing is great when you have a little bit of imagination and some workspace. Pinterest also helps for inspiration.) However, I will ONLY purchase if those items have one of the "color tag discounts of the week" in order to save 30%, 50% or 80% off of the sticker price.
• Sometimes I also get lucky finding items through a local, yardsale group online.
•  I buy our groceries at several grocery stores to take advantage of the weekly sales in combination with a LOT of coupons. I cook One Pot Meals (pasta or rice, with veggies & chicken) and make enough of it that it will last for dinner that night, lunch the next day and sometimes the next day's dinner as well. Usually I spend $100 for the entire week, but sometimes we have to get by on a lot less. By the end of those weeks, I am eating only one meal a day to make sure there is enough for the Grands.
• We drive used vehicles that require some form of daily maintenance, but gets us from point A to point B in one piece.

In regards to our electronic devices:

• I removed cable TV but have kept the internet because it was much cheaper to stream movies and TV shows from Netflix.
• To keep in touch with each other, we have prepaid phones which worked out to be cheaper than going with a family plan.
• I subscribed to BookBub for a daily email of all of the ebooks that are free from Amazon and B&N. I also signed up through the library to check out ebooks which I can read on my computer.
• Our computer was found at the thrift store and then slowly rebuilt by my oldest son with parts he found on ebay.

 We have learned to do without a lot of things. And if push comes to shove, I'm sure we will learn to do without a lot more. Over the years, we have lived without power on more than one occasion. (We played a lot of board games by kerosene lamps during those times.) We have made-do without gas for a period of 2 months. (Thankfully it was during the summer where we could take cold showers and cook with an electric skillet or an electric burner.) We went without a working washing machine for over a year. (I would haul everything to the laundrymat and wash 8 loads all at once in the supersized washer then bring it back home wet, to hang all over the bathroom, laundry room and outside on the clotheslines while a small load would be drying in the dryer.) I have walked 2 miles to the nearest grocery store and 2 miles back because we didn't have a running vehicle at the time. Those days are in the past, but could easily be our future if someone lost their job and we went a couple of weeks without a paycheck.

For now we are just surviving day to day, week to week, paycheck to paycheck.
...and now my time is up.