Feeling the financial pinch—not sure what else to cut

[Anonymous]

Can you appeal your property tax assessment? I discovered our house was assigned higher than almost every house of the same type on my street. Most had been purchased for more money. I was successful. I think it saved about 300 a year.

[Anonymous]

One common mistake women make after the divorce is to hold onto the family home when they can't afford it. I didn't see any specifics, but perhaps this is causing you to sink financially. May be time to sell and relocate to a place you can afford. Also may need to trade in your car for something cheaper. Sucks, but it is what it is - sometimes it takes a while to adjust to new income level. Don't let it sink you.

[Anonymous]

I'm a single parent and a teacher. I tutored and babysat and my DS worked every summer to pay for his own stuff. I also was a night nanny in the summer for a few nights per week. Very wealthy family and it was easy money. Hang in there!

[Anonymous]

You can't be serious. Teachers interact with parents, give presentations, conduct meetings, etc. and you think they should wear no makeup? Maybe a woman in her 20s can get away with it. Not more mature teachers. (And I can promise you that middle and high school students notice.)


I'm a teacher and I don't wear makeup unless you count lip balm. I'm 50 yrs old. I also only wear athleisure wear to school and school t-shirt/sweatshirts plus sneakers. Nobody gets dressed up at my school. It's a dump. A/C never works, mold everywhere, mice, bugs, etc.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry you are in this situation. When I want to cut expenses, I list out all of the expenses and see what can be cut. I did this around the time of the inauguration and was able to cut several thousand dollars.

We tried to use AC less.
Lower the heat and use warmer clothes and blankets
Put clothing out to dry outside or in basement instead of using dryer
Buy more food now because it's only going to up
Batch your errands to save gas
Walk instead of drive when you can
Work out at home instead of gym
Cut your own lawn
Do your own landscaping

Just a few ideas but I don't know what you are spending on so it's hard to say

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, some of the comments here on this thread are pretty crazy!

I think you are doing pretty well, all things considered. You have gone from two incomes to one income. $100,000 for a teacher is pretty decent, but it isn't the household income you or your daughters were used to! It sounds like you are doing the best you can. Your mortgage is low, and you have a paid-off car.

Do you track spending? It's the best thing for people with a need to spend less. I use YNAB. There's a free 30 day trial and after that, it does cost money - annual subscription - but wow, it is worth every penny. Or, if you are in any way a student, you can get a one year subscription free with proof of enrollment (even just one class). And, if you have an account, you could create one for your kids as well (if they have their own bank accounts) for no extra cost. it's a fantastic way to track spending and make a budget. There are other apps out there - I know of Every Dollar, which is a different type of budget but also very effective. Or go old-fashioned - use a notebook to track spending, or a spreadsheet. Whatever works for you!

$100,000 income is not bad, but can you increase that at all? Will your school district offer higher pay for things like National Board Certification, or earning a Master's degree, or MA+30, MA+60 etc? Especially if they will pay for courses, you should be taking classes every semester to get into the highest salary scale. This is basically passive income. You have to do the work to take the classes, or get the NBCT, but once you do your salary will increase for the remainder of your working years. So if you haven't maximized that, look into doing so ASAP.

Your high schoolers will likely be looking forward to college soon. Do you have a plan for paying for that? I recommend the Facebook group Paying for College.

What do you teach? Probably the best way to supplement your income (aside from moving up the salary scale) is tutoring. The highest-paying specialties are math and things like AP prep. I think you should try to supplement your income by maybe a hundred dollars every week. If you are at the point where you are really feeling an increase of $50/month in your mortgage escrow, you would benefit from bringing in an extra $400 monthly.

Someone suggested mrmoneymustache and I think that's a great website (and associated forum) but you might not be ready for that. They have fantastic ideas for minimalistic living. If you can cut every category by 10% you may find you can live on your income instead of going into savings.

Years and years ago I read some great books called The Tightwad Gazette for ideas about how to live very frugally. The author shared one concept that stayed with me. It was the idea that you can reduce costs in three ways. 1) get the item more cheaply (on sale) 2) Make it last longer 3) Use less of the item.

So, with the price of coffee going up, how do you save money on coffee? 1) First, you can shop around and buy it more cheaply. (Buy it in bulk, with a coupon, buy a cheaper brand, get it for free somewhere) 2) Second, you can make your coffee that you buy last longer by stretching it. Use less to make a pot, brew it in a way that uses less coffee, etc. 3) Finally, just use less coffee. Instead of drinking 3 cups a day, drink 2 cups a day.

To save money on coffee, any one of these things will help. If you apply all of the strategies you can save even more. If you apply these principles to one item, like coffee, you might save $10 per month. But if you apply it to EVERYTHING you spend, you might save $10x40 things per month... instead of trying to earn $400 more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m really beginning to feel the financial pressure, and I could use some fresh ideas or perspective. Earlier this year, I made some cuts to our spending, but I’m at the point where there’s nothing left to trim that feels feasible or impactful. I’ve been dipping into savings every month just to cover our basic bills, and while I’m grateful I have some savings, I really don’t want to keep draining them, especially since I’m not currently able to replenish anything.

To make things tighter, I just got a notice from our mortgage company that our escrow is increasing by $50/month. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but when everything is already squeezed, it feels huge.

Some context: I already bake treats at home and we stopped buying most convenience foods. We eat at home almost all the time, maybe 1-2 meals out per month, and often that’s just pizza. We’ve cut streaming and subscriptions down to just Amazon Prime. No vacations, no big shopping splurges, no new clothes unless truly needed. I do have a raise coming in January, but it's modest and won’t solve this problem on its own.

Has anyone else been in this position and found something that helped shift things? I’m open to creative suggestions, whether it’s ways to temporarily ease the squeeze, things I might not have thought to cut or change, or even ways to bring in a little extra income. I’d appreciate any practical insight.

got divorced, saved a ton of money after getting rid of x-wife.

Go away you unhelpful baboon.

[Anonymous]

Have your kids pet sit. I pay very well for a trusted sitter.

Good luck!