Recent gov't shutdown cause you to re-evaluate spending habits?

[Anonymous]

My DH and I both work for the gov't and the thought of even one missed paycheck was causing us a lot of stress. We decided we were living way beyond our means, and at almost 150k a year, we should be able to miss one check without having to call our mortgage company for a reprieve on the payment. DC is an expensive place to live, but in light of all of this we decided we will do whatever we need to in order to get our savings in order so we don't have to panic next time something like this happens. Anyone else also re-evaluating spending habits? Our first move is to sell my 2012 Acura and buy something more modest (and older) like a Honda. Figure we could probably end up with a much smaller car payment, and can use the remaining money for savings. What steps are you taking to get your savings back on track?

[Anonymous]

Why don't you sell the car and not buy a new one? Just go car less.

[Anonymous]

Another fed...Took a hard look at my expenses - cutting back on eating out, shopping, and generally making a budget. I'm taking this is a quick sign I need to re-assess my priorities.

[Anonymous]

Actually the opposite because this shit won't happen again because of how badly it damaged the gop.

[Anonymous]

I think most people learned their lesson after the 2008 crash. I know I learned it then and am still very risk adverse because of it.

Maybe those like the OP were at a different stage of their lives during the crash or younger and did not learn their lesson then.

[Anonymous]

I don't live paycheck to paycheck, but I have felt that there are holes in my budget for a while now, with the big one being prepared food. Not eating lunch out all the time at work made a difference, and I'm inspired to try to make it a habit, although I'm off to a crappy start today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH and I both work for the gov't and the thought of even one missed paycheck was causing us a lot of stress. We decided we were living way beyond our means, and at almost 150k a year, we should be able to miss one check without having to call our mortgage company for a reprieve on the payment. DC is an expensive place to live, but in light of all of this we decided we will do whatever we need to in order to get our savings in order so we don't have to panic next time something like this happens. Anyone else also re-evaluating spending habits? Our first move is to sell my 2012 Acura and buy something more modest (and older) like a Honda. Figure we could probably end up with a much smaller car payment, and can use the remaining money for savings. What steps are you taking to get your savings back on track?

Same boat you're in, and same steps. Ridiculous that we earn 250K a year and were scared to death with this latest episode. Never again...

[Anonymous]

We're both contractors and have been tweaking our budget for the past year due to new baby. But the shutdown was definitely a kick in the rear to be even more frugal. Savings are being slowly eaten away over the past year and we need to do a better job of tracking our spending on extras. We were relatively unscathed this time but I'm worried about January

[Anonymous]

Definitely going to cut back on buying lunch, snacks and $2.19 20 oz diet Coke while at work.

[Anonymous]

We have a healthy emergency fund. The real worry started when it became a possibility that November 2013 SS and SSD payments might not be issued. We currently supplement 3 family members' finances. We could not pay living expenses for 3 people indefinitely. There seems to be a very real possibility that Fed employees will be required to pay a larger percentage of their health care coverage down the road. And transit subsidies could be reduced or eliminated.

We are having a family meeting in November to go over budgets, etc. The stress is enormous for all concerned.

Happy Holidays!

[Anonymous]

Yes. We have been taking an aggressive long view approach, of trying to pay off our 30 year mortgage in 15 years. We are going to restructure and build up a 3 month emergency fund separate from short-term savings for home/car/health issues. We already don't eat out, have one (old) car, and don't spend on extras. We had taken that on voluntarily by keeping our eyes on the long-term savings/earnings, but this was too stressful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you sell the car and not buy a new one? Just go car less.

+1. Don't you get a transportation subsidy as a Fed? You could walk or ride a bike to the train station. Win win. Good exercise and money savings for you and good for the environment.

[Anonymous]

Everyone should stop being wasteful. You all know you are.

[Anonymous]

We spend a lot on organic food, farmers markets, farm shares, etc. It probably ups our food costs more than 50%. But otherwise we are pretty frugal. I could mostly cover our expenses on my salary. Maybe dip into savings for gas and any repairs. Or Christmas presents, etc. And that means cutting out all savings for retirement and college. but as far as daily needs, we can almost live off my salary. I'm working at getting a raise the next few years to provide more cushion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. We have been taking an aggressive long view approach, of trying to pay off our 30 year mortgage in 15 years. We are going to restructure and build up a 3 month emergency fund separate from short-term savings for home/car/health issues. We already don't eat out, have one (old) car, and don't spend on extras. We had taken that on voluntarily by keeping our eyes on the long-term savings/earnings, but this was too stressful.

Having an emergency fund should take precedence over overpaying your mortgage.