Not counting in monthly food costs, your budget reflects that you are spending $1663 monthly on bills. That leaves $337 a month for food and other line budget items such as putting a set amount into an emergency fund, health insurance deductibles, cost associated with a new baby, etc.

I'm sorry but I fail to understand why you don't understand.

 

You can take my advice with a grain of salt if you like. But in my 56 years on earth Ive found that financing a car is a budget killer. Between the payments and the higher insurance it takes too much percentage wise from your monhtly income. Is their anyway you can get rid of the car and buy a beater, till you can save up for something decent? Ive found in my area anyway you can get a decent car for around $2,500

Can you buy your present house on a land contract? The landlord might like the idea of not being responsible for the maintence. You then would be free to add a woodstove - big savings on heat even with no insulation - which BTW is relativily cheap to put in. Also if you could lower your housing costs that way by even a hundred dollars it would help. But remember old homes have upkeep/maintence, along with taxes and insurance.

Can you add to the household income somehow without working outside of the home. Even $50 a month is a help - every dollar adds up. Also a garden and chickens would be your most cost effective additions. I wouldnt go any farther at this time than a good garden and a FEW chickens. You dont want to end up spending a bunch of money on livestock and end up with a big feed/vet bills.

 

I won't preach to the chior on this one. Any thing you do on your land is going to take months to see a return on, and quite frankly, you have got to live in the mean time. I found that using coupons was the very best way to make sure that me and my kids had healthy food in the house year round without being able to rely on a garden (we just didn't have a place for it). Its difficult at first to find the money it takes to get started, but I can assure you that it is well worth it and it grows quickly! There are lots of sites out there that have loads of useful information, but most of them want you to buy something to gain the "secrets". If you are interested in learning to use coupons sensibly, pm me. I would be happy to walk you through. (and you won't even have to pay me)

 

holliehmstd - you are not alone! Since we made the decision that I would stay home with our daughter, we have been struggling to make ends meet every month. I have been trying to find ways to save money, or at least make the money go further. We recently took everything out of our savings, to put a down payment on our own piece of land, which just made things even more challenging.

Last spring I invested in a small greenhouse, as where we are we don't have a very long growing season, which makes growing larger crops of things like tomato challenging without some sort of covering. That had a decent return, I managed to can almost all the tomato we will need for the year, plus more salsa than we will eat in a year (I had peppers in there as well). I will admit I did buy some tomatoes from a local farmers market as well - at about .50/lb vs the $3+/lb I had been paying in the store, not only did it save me money - I know exactly what my family is eating.

Then we have a fruit truck that comes to a nearby town, so I bought a bunch of fruit and made a lot of jams / jellies, which when I worked out my costing, cost me, on average, less than $2.00 / jar and again, I know exactly what my family is eating - I did get a large number of apples from a neighbor which really helped reduce my costs.

Since we bought the land, things are even tighter, so I have been doing a ton of research on other cost savings and figured out that I can make some basic cheese with regular store bought milk (our milk here is not UHT processed, it is just regular pasterized) and lemon juice, also I can make yoghurt and sour cream using cheaper ingredients from the store. I made between 1 1/2 and 2 lbs of cheese using 1 gallon of milk. The milk cost me about $5.00, and to buy a similiar cheese here I am looking at about $10-15/lb.

The next project on my list is to try my hand at making soap, I am hoping to be able to make soap significantly cheaper than the amount we spend on body wash currently - however we stocked up the last time it was on sale so I have a bit of time to figure that one out.

We also make use of bulk stores, I am not sure what is available in your area, here we shop at Costco, which if you know your pricing can save you a lot of money on items you use a lot of. Also, you can buy bigger cans (restaurant size) - then make bigger batches of things like pasta sauce and you can always freeze it for later use. The other thing, at least here right now, ground beef is really expensive, so I am substituting ground pork as it is much more affordable right now.

Also, if you have a place for cold storage, buying larger bags of things like potato is cheaper than buying small quantities.

Also, maybe try talking to your landlord to see if you can put in a wood stove - although the cost of the insulated chimney pipe is not cheap initially it can save a fortune in a small amount of time, assuming you have access to free / cheap wood. We have our travel trailer out on our property right now and just spent almost a month out there, which in the past we would have used about 300lbs of propane and gone through about 96 gallons of gas in the generator just to keep the furnace running and keep the trailer at about 65F, we put a wood stove in our travel trailer and we cut that use to about 80lbs of propane - for the fridge and stove and about 16 gallons of gas in the generator - just to keep the batteries charged for the lights. In just those 3 weeks we saved almost the cost of the stove and the chimney.

My last note in this very long winded reply is on the tax situation. I am by trade an accountant, yes in Canada, but I believe a lot of the rules are similiar. Take the tax savings every pay cheque if you can - or at least part of them. I realize that the tax return can be nice and help with larger ticket purchases, however, if the IRS is anything like the Canadian government, they don't pay you interest on the use of YOUR money for the year (however, they are quick to charge interest when you owe them). I don't know the tax rates for where you are, but let's say your husband's gross income is somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 - 1,200 / week, you take the insurance costs off that which leave approximately 700 - 900 / week before taxes. Currently he is bringing home approximately 500 / week, however, if you could take some of the tax savings every paycheque instead of at the end of the year, you could increase that to say $600 - $650 / week - which instead of the $300 approximately you currently have per month for groceries and everything else, would give you $700 - 800 or so per month for groceries and everything else. That may possibly leave you a little bit of extra to start getting things like livestock, etc which could potentially save you some extra money in the long run.

Hopefully some of this will give you some food for thought, coming from someone who has the vehicle payments, insurance payments, etc.

If you want to talk further, please pm me.

 

Since you can sew and knit maybe you can sell some things on ETSY to help birng in more income. Recently I read an article on Money Saving Mom about a woman who started up her own slipcover business so they could buy a car and her business ended up doing quite well. She does sell a dvd on how to make slipcovers.
If your cash flow is that tight I would consider getting rid of your car with the loan and getting something else, depending on how much time you have left on the note. I have seen some good deals on Craigslist, and we have found good cars with low miles and low prices there. In one case we bought a chevy with under 65,000 miles for $2500. It did quite a bit of scratches and dings but was a great car mechanically and really didn't look bad at all.

 

Hello Hollie,

I share your pain. We earn about $2000 per month as well.

But I don't know of any easy way to share this or coat this with sugar: Between your rent payment and car payment you and spending more than half of your income, and that's killing your budget.

How much is left to pay on your vehicle in terms of time and money? Are you upside down on it? A lot of people take out 48 to 72 month loans on a new vehicle, and then after the warranty expires, they have double trouble: a month or months will come along that they need to make the car payment AND a big repair.

A guideline for housing (whether rent or mortgage (piti)) is 25% of your take home pay. Your housing percentage is currently at 40%. It's no wonder you feel like it is difficult to put food on the table between your mortgage and car payment.

Is it too nosy to ask if you are making any other debt payments as well?

You really only have two choices (again, I really can't sugar coat this): Either you need to drastically improve your income (to over $3000 per month), or you are going to need to try to get out of of your vehicle and buy another beater for a while and try to rent something a bit cheaper. I don't really see any other option.

I know. Ouch. I'm sorry.

QuietInTheLand

 

I think you're doing a great job with what you have. But I don't get why you don't take tax deductions. What deductions are you talking about? You kids? We don't pay the govt a dime more than we have to. At tax time, DH has worked it out so we usually owe $1-200 to federal taxes and about $50 to the state. They aren't going to use our money interest free! Are you getting a large refund every year? I'd change that ASAP.

 

Hi Hollie, it sounds like you are in a rough spot and doing just about everything you can to make ends meet. I want to offer one other piece of advice, one which I know could be controversial. People have different (and strong) opinions on government programs. I don't want to start a debate about them, and I mentioning this just to remind you of another tool at your disposal.

Based on what you've said here, you qualify for food stamps--probably several hundred dollars per month, probably enough that over the course of a year, you'd end up with more than an extra month worth of income in your budget. And you sound like the kind of family (hard working, trying to make ends meet, who got a little surprise or two) that food stamps was set up to help. Regardless of your opinion of the program, you've been paying for it; it might be time to get some of the benefits.

 

Hollie,

Question: Are you using credit cards or living on what you make (even though it's tight)?

 

Not counting in monthly food costs, your budget reflects that you are spending $1663 monthly on bills. That leaves $337 a month for food and other line budget items such as putting a set amount into an emergency fund, health insurance deductibles, cost associated with a new baby, etc.

I'm sorry but I fail to understand why you don't understand.

I did not list gas cost for the family vehicle but you are pretty close. I am not sure how others do it, but we are finding that those #s are the ideal and really, gas is costing us more.

I do not know what you mean by your final line. I am trying to find additional ways to cut cost or looking for something that I may be missing.

 

You can take my advice with a grain of salt if you like. But in my 56 years on earth Ive found that financing a car is a budget killer. Between the payments and the higher insurance it takes too much percentage wise from your monhtly income. Is their anyway you can get rid of the car and buy a beater, till you can save up for something decent? Ive found in my area anyway you can get a decent car for around $2,500

Can you buy your present house on a land contract? The landlord might like the idea of not being responsible for the maintence. You then would be free to add a woodstove - big savings on heat even with no insulation - which BTW is relativily cheap to put in. Also if you could lower your housing costs that way by even a hundred dollars it would help. But remember old homes have upkeep/maintence, along with taxes and insurance.

Can you add to the household income somehow without working outside of the home. Even $50 a month is a help - every dollar adds up. Also a garden and chickens would be your most cost effective additions. I wouldnt go any farther at this time than a good garden and a FEW chickens. You dont want to end up spending a bunch of money on livestock and end up with a big feed/vet bills.

Trust me, I defer to your experience and whole-heartedly agree about the car. At the time, our circumstances were different and we were living at my mother's house, toying with the idea of living together long-term. Then she changed her mind and *poof* there that went. We need one reliable vehicle b/c of all the kids so I am reticent to get rid of this van but, you never know. I will talk to my husband about it. Good thing we have a mechanic in the family who scouts auctions.

Also, me not having an income is new. I have always worked. And for a period, made more than DH b/c my employer actually appreciated hard work and rewarded it. But when I got pregnant with DD I decided to work from home and then got laid off when DS1 was born and from there, I drove a school bus and then worked pt for my old boss. Now, with homeschool and distance, I am limited, but I am working on something and hopefully that will net us a little something at least.

Maintenance on this older home does scare us. There are actually two fireplaces that are boarded up and not used!!!! since the '70s. So that is a thorn for me b/c we are on a large acreage with woods. We could be saving so much on heating! But I do not know what we are going to be dealing with if we open those fireplaces up....

 

holliehmstd - you are not alone! Since we made the decision that I would stay home with our daughter, we have been struggling to make ends meet every month. I have been trying to find ways to save money, or at least make the money go further.

Thanks for the advice. I do pretty much the same things. I try to bulk shop but with $100/paycheck for groceries, it has been a challenge. I will think on the woodstove and talk to hubs about it. Maybe we can work out a deal with the owners.

As far as taxes, we tried that once, and ended up owing almost $800 that we had to pay. So, we are not trying to get a huge refund, we are trying to prevent getting screwed!

We have thought about trying to purchase. Land prices around here are good and we found a nice modular home on 5 acres for 99k but moving is so expensive and I am worried about what the ole credit score will look like since we have been juggling things here for the past year.

 

Since you can sew and knit maybe you can sell some things on ETSY to help birng in more income. Recently I read an article on Money Saving Mom about a woman who started up her own slipcover business so they could buy a car and her business ended up doing quite well. She does sell a dvd on how to make slipcovers.
If your cash flow is that tight I would consider getting rid of your car with the loan and getting something else, depending on how much time you have left on the note. I have seen some good deals on Craigslist, and we have found good cars with low miles and low prices there. In one case we bought a chevy with under 65,000 miles for $2500. It did quite a bit of scratches and dings but was a great car mechanically and really didn't look bad at all.

I have to be honest. I am not sure that I could commit the time to seting/knitting for $$. It takes a lot of time and I am in a crunch as it is trying to keep these little ones clothed! Plus, people do nto seem to value what your actual cost and time are when it comes to handmade anymore. However, because of skin problems with my son and myself, I have started making soap and I am hoping that will go somewhere.

As far as the car, someone else mentioned that and I will definately look into it.

 

My first thought was that you are paying all that in rent and getting no return....I would trade that for a decent mobile home on my own land if there was any way....then at least you would be investing in your own property...and why would it cost so much for the actual moving process???? that's why you get friends, family, and whoever your can talk into it to help you move....don't spend money on expensive moving companies...

As for coupons....I rarely ever see coupons for ANYTHING that I need....so don't see how that will really save you money....

I know it will be hard for you this year since you are expecting again but even some vegetable plants in five gallon buckets can save you money (I once had one squash plant and a couple of tomato plants in a front flower bed and it was unbelievable how much they produced for much of the summer) so ANYTHING you can grow that you and the kids will eat will be a bonus and will come off your bill...

I know it's hard on you with kids but I am a recent widow and I am struggling to figure out on my bills now on a single income....every situation is different but you can do it! Bless you and your little ones!!!

 

Hello Hollie,

I share your pain. We earn about $2000 per month as well.

But I don't know of any easy way to share this or coat this with sugar: Between your rent payment and car payment you and spending more than half of your income, and that's killing your budget.

How much is left to pay on your vehicle in terms of time and money? Are you upside down on it? A lot of people take out 48 to 72 month loans on a new vehicle, and then after the warranty expires, they have double trouble: a month or months will come along that they need to make the car payment AND a big repair.

A guideline for housing (whether rent or mortgage (piti)) is 25% of your take home pay. Your housing percentage is currently at 40%. It's no wonder you feel like it is difficult to put food on the table between your mortgage and car payment.

Is it too nosy to ask if you are making any other debt payments as well?

You really only have two choices (again, I really can't sugar coat this): Either you need to drastically improve your income (to over $3000 per month), or you are going to need to try to get out of of your vehicle and buy another beater for a while and try to rent something a bit cheaper. I don't really see any other option.

I know. Ouch. I'm sorry.

QuietInTheLand

Trust me, we have done the Dave Ramsey budget calculation and we know that we should be spending $500/month in rent. This is beyond unrealistic for out area. I wish we were not spending so much but then again, every time we tell ppl how much we pay, they are dumbfounded and say they wish they could pay that little.

The car situation, maybe that can change. Had not really thought about it but, everyone keeps mentioning it so....it is something to think about. The loan is 3 years

 

Hollie,

Question: Are you using credit cards or living on what you make (even though it's tight)?

No no no! We are cash only! Other than the car, we do not make any credit purchases. Even the car is a situation where if we get in over our heads, they will take it back, no ?'s asked and it will not negatively affect our credit. We try to live within our means and that is where the kink is. We want to try to work the land to ease up this strain, chickens, pigs dairy garden, but how can I afford to put $$ into those things when I can't get the $$ to buy milk from time to time.

And in interest of being honest, after thinking about it, we have not actually eaten out on our own dime in months. Hubby won a CFA gift card at work and that was what we used so....and that was only when we have been in town running errands!

 

I think you're doing a great job with what you have. But I don't get why you don't take tax deductions. What deductions are you talking about? You kids? We don't pay the govt a dime more than we have to. At tax time, DH has worked it out so we usually owe $1-200 to federal taxes and about $50 to the state. They aren't going to use our money interest free! Are you getting a large refund every year? I'd change that ASAP.

I responded to someone else a little about this but, when I was working, DH claimed dd and I claimed 0 and we ended up owing. So we got burned and I decided that was never good. It was easier to pay it back then and now, it would be real rough so DH claims 2 and that is it. Even with that, we may owe state.

 

Maybe you will get enough tax refund to pay off the car? I would definitely look at changing your deductions to keep more of your money throughout the year.

Since you are staying home with your own kids, could you watch another kid or two and bring in some income that way? Getting paid to do what you do anyway seems like a good solution.

 

My first thought was that you are paying all that in rent and getting no return....I would trade that for a decent mobile home on my own land if there was any way....then at least you would be investing in your own property...and why would it cost so much for the actual moving process???? that's why you get friends, family, and whoever your can talk into it to help you move....don't spend money on expensive moving companies...

As for coupons....I rarely ever see coupons for ANYTHING that I need....so don't see how that will really save you money....

I know it will be hard for you this year since you are expecting again but even some vegetable plants in five gallon buckets can save you money (I once had one squash plant and a couple of tomato plants in a front flower bed and it was unbelievable how much they produced for much of the summer) so ANYTHING you can grow that you and the kids will eat will be a bonus and will come off your bill...

I know it's hard on you with kids but I am a recent widow and I am struggling to figure out on my bills now on a single income....every situation is different but you can do it! Bless you and your little ones!!!

Thank you for your sweet words. I wish we could buy. I guess we need to have a little more confidence and pray and trust a lot harder. The land we are on is pricey, but we could definately find something else and pay under $500/month. Still, I am unsure how the numbers will look to a bank. We may do better with owner financing.

I am all for the garden. I love to preserve food and have fresh, homegrown veggies and fruit available. I like to get cheap produce and can or freeze. We are going to do this, we will make it work. I am sure that anything is possible with Him with whom all things are possible. I just need to hear what those with more experience or similar circumstances are doing.

We do not have a good network of close friends. And our families are small. Most of the cost in moving for us is deposits, truck rental, gas back and forth. Hubs and I have no problem moving stuff all by ourselves. My mom is a workhorse and thakfully she passed the gene along!

 

If you don't do a lot of driving with the kids (sounds like you stay home a good lot), I would get rid of the car.

I make several hundred $ every spring selling vegetable & berry plant starts. I start them in February in my family room and I sell out every Spring. The cost is dirt (after 2 years I have good soil I made out of compost so no cost there anymore) & seeds. I buy the seeds at Dollar General at the end of the season, I get them for about 8c/pack when they are on clearance. I list what I have on Facebook and people just come by. This will be my 3rd year and now I have regulars/preorders.

If you are already homeschooling, look into tutoring. Have people bring their kids to you.

You can make HUGE strides with your heating costs, and your house will be warmer. We lived in a drafty old home when I was a kid, now we live in a drafty 1990s home (long story). In the winter we close off certain rooms and do not heat them (check for plumbing runs to avoid frozen pipes). We put heavy blankets over our front door area (will finally have enough $ next year to pay for the replacement, it has side windows & such) and enter the house through the back door. If you have a Menards store in your area, things like caulk go on sale for "free after rebate" 3-4 times per year. Any caulking you do outside the house (around windows & such) will help with your heat loss. Also get heavy drapes or blankets over the windows. You can tie them aside in the day to get the light but covering these openings as much as possible really helps cut down the heat loss.

With your income level you should easily qualify for the Earned Income Credit and can take easily one exemption per child on your husband's paycheck without fear of owing. If you qualify for Earned Income Credit, you will probably get back more than he paid in. It sounds like a little more breathing room in the paycheck would help lots and lots. If you are afraid, then simply have him take one exemption. That will at least cover the change in the FICA tax withholding (this is why his paycheck is less in 2013 than it was in 2012). Depending on your state taxes, I would probably make no changes to the state withholding right now. In IL we pay a % on every dollar of income with very few tiny deductions to be able to take, so I always withhold that at the highest level to not have to pay.

Get creative. Best thing I can tell you is with very few exceptions that almost no regular people have access to, there is very little money to be made on the internet or in work at home internet "jobs." There are survey programs, reward programs (like Swagbucks) etc, but I have found over the years my time is better spent and I get a better return on things like the plant starts and selling items on Ebay/Amazon (there is a learning curve to both sites, but there is $ to be made).

Good luck to you!

 

Gas is expensive, for the most economy you need to live closer to where your husband works. That may give you the option to WALK to the grocery, Dr., etc. get a stroller to move the kids.

Don't hold on to a drafty old house because it fuels a romantic notion of homesteading. Old fireplaces are boarded up for a reason. They act as an air suck, whooshing up heat from the inside to warm the outside, especially if the dampers were left open.

Realistically, as your children get older they are going to cost more in clothes, amounts of food they eat and medical costs.

What to do, live closer to DH work for one thing. {you need to stop the money outgo} it takes to get him to work and your once a month drive into town.

Check for the lowest amount of car insurance state mandated in your area. See where the money pit is? The vehicles you are feeding.

Living out in the country is frightening without a vehicle, but you need only one.

Animals are expensive. You will not save any money raising them, you will gain satisfaction and experience, but not save appreciable dollars.

A well tended and adequate yielding garden in town beats out a subsistence garden in the country.

It will take time to find a reasonable place to rent close to your husband's work, but do not saddle your self with a mortgage, you will sink your ship for sure.

You have good ideas but a kinda misguided direction, [in my opinion], I've been there and had a dementia parent to care for also. Kudos for recognizing that you need a stronger set of guidelines. You will make it with that kind of determination.

 

I just want to say I appreciate all the replies. I tend to write back to indiviuals instead of the group because I have serious pregnancy brain and it helps me remember what I am responding to so bear with me!!

A couple of general things though:

Taxes - without getting political, they are going to take our $$ on either end so we give some to them upfront. We have owed with kids and that was a nightmare. We had more $$ then but still, they set the payment amount and payment period so we had no choice. We could not afford to owe now. We may be giving them an interest free loan, but well, that is enough on that....!

Working - I have always worked. It feels weird not to work now. However, DH decided no watching kids, he wants me to focus on our little ones - I have done it in the past however and getting paid was a hassle that he wants to avoid as well. I am trying to get going on soap because I have started making it for us anyway and it is not too expensive to get into.

Housing - I would love to have our own place. If we could get something for under $500/month, which seems possible, we would not be having this conversation. But with DHs income, we have been concerned that we will not be a good "risk". Mind you we always pay our housing first. Mom always said, you may not have lights or heat, but you will have a roof!

Shopping/expenditures - I used to coupon heavily when we lived in town. Mostly for toiletries and extras. We are actually still using my stockpile of toothpaste from 2 years ago. However, the stores and manufactures made a lot of changes when ppl started going on TV and bragging about it so contrasting gas with $$ saved, it is not financially sound for me to be running to 6 diff. stores anymore in one week to do that high level of couponing. I still use them since they are like $$, but we never used them for food b/c we do not buy pre-packaged stuff.

We do not have or use credit cards. We do not owe anyone other than older bills that we can not seem to get paid off. Smaller stuff but still, we want to get it off the ledger!

Goals - We had chickens and customers lined up but we had a dog attack and are currently waiting on the court ordered restitution to get going on that again. We will put $$ into chickens, because we will see the quickest return from that. I have ppl lined up wanting eggs so that is #1 on the list. We are hoping to do home dairy and cut out the store. And pigs as well. Other than that, I am putting anything else we have into the garden since that is so important.

Disclosure - I have not been doing as well with line drying since I have been preggers. I need to get back to that as I am sure it will help on the electricity. We are on a budget plan now to avoid spikes in billing but we can renegotiate the amt if we can get it lower.

 

I see your biggest vulnerability as renting a house instead of owning it. You could squeeze out a lot of money from the operating expenses, but alas, regardless of how sweet the present owners are, they probably won't budge on any upgrades.......and, at any time they (or other family members and decisions) could rip the rug out from under you and make you start over........

Looks to me like you are doing as well as possible with your budgeting and spending--but welcome to the post 2008 crash that forced us all into a new ball game---lower wages and fewer perks and benefits. Yep, employment is going up, but, but, the wages are lower, raises are fewer, and loyalty to the worker doesn't exist.

I would certainly set a goal of trying to buy, either the present farm, or another one that may be closer to the work and grocery store......You shouldn't have to guess about your credit position, it's free, right here, and all you have to do is use it..... https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp This the only legit, free one--all others are scams to get you to sign up--and pay monthly for--alerts, etc, etc, etc, that you don't need......

I would also look at staples of: potatoes, green beans, and tomatoes for a garden possibility. I would also USE food assistance(if you qualify) to get the milk, cheese, meat, and baby food that you and your children need. I would ask for my birthday present, a pressure canner, and the BALL Blue Book. I would also look into rabbits.....best weight gain per pound of protein for any animal, and they won't escape or get out onto the road.......

And maybe, maybe twenty five broiler type chickens to raise during the summer and eat before winter.....http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html

I see your goal as doable, but very tight, and you will have to keep your back to the wall and not get blindsided by your landlord or changes at work. I also see it as a long-term project, and you should not get too disappointed at tiny, tiny gains(as well as some setbacks)

Good luck,

geo

 

Any wild game on the property? Deer can put a lot of meat on the table cheap if you do it right. In NC you don't even need a license if you are hunting your own property (owned or leased). Try to borrow a rifle if possible, lots of people I know have "beater" rifles they don't mind lending out. If none can be found a smooth bore 12 guage shotgun with slugs is good out to at least 75 yards or so and can be had for under $100. You don't need to spend a nickle on camo, scents, salt licks, ect if you already have deer milling around.

If you have a shovel, you can probably get a little garden going for under $10 that would throw off ten times that amount in food. Buy seed from the bulk bins at the feed store. Squash (winter and summer), cucumbers, okra, and beans come to mind as easy to grow from seed, high yeild crops. Pick a spot with good sunshine and decent drainage, turn the sod over with the shovel then simply break up the bottom of the sod a little bit with the shovel to form a seed bed. The rotting sod will provide enough nutrients to get a crop. Mulch with leaves found on the property. Start composting any vegetable scraps for next year's fertilizer. Don't go crazy making it big to begin with, just do what you can in a few hours.

Is there any existing infrastruture on the property that just needs stocking?

Did you say you have 3 kids and one on the way? Sorry if this comes across harsh, but it sounds like the kids are the reason the budget is so tight. If you haven't already, a family planning session with your husband may be in order. A 6 person household with $24k coming in the door is probably right at the poverty line. I might get flamed for saying it, but you may be eligible for assistance, just don't look at it as a lifestyle, but a way to a better (non-dependant, financially secure) life. If hubby is not getting the income/respect he deserves at work, he may need to actively look for a better job. Not a lot out there right now but you never know. While they may not say it, he might be held back by his work from home status. Some employers REALLY dislike the idea of folks working from home. Maybe they just picture them sitting in their bathrobe all day, I don't know. When my wife started working from home, they cut her hours several times, then layed her off. Even though I have a job that I could easily perform at home, my employer doesn't agree so I drive 70 miles a day to be in the office.

Good luck, hang in there, and keep praying!

 

Gas is expensive, for the most economy you need to live closer to where your husband works. That may give you the option to WALK to the grocery, Dr., etc. get a stroller to move the kids.

Don't hold on to a drafty old house because it fuels a romantic notion of homesteading. Old fireplaces are boarded up for a reason. They act as an air suck, whooshing up heat from the inside to warm the outside, especially if the dampers were left open.

Realistically, as your children get older they are going to cost more in clothes, amounts of food they eat and medical costs.

What to do, live closer to DH work for one thing. {you need to stop the money outgo} it takes to get him to work and your once a month drive into town.

Check for the lowest amount of car insurance state mandated in your area. See where the money pit is? The vehicles you are feeding.

Living out in the country is frightening without a vehicle, but you need only one.

Animals are expensive. You will not save any money raising them, you will gain satisfaction and experience, but not save appreciable dollars.

A well tended and adequate yielding garden in town beats out a subsistence garden in the country.

It will take time to find a reasonable place to rent close to your husband's work, but do not saddle your self with a mortgage, you will sink your ship for sure.

You have good ideas but a kinda misguided direction, [in my opinion], I've been there and had a dementia parent to care for also. Kudos for recognizing that you need a stronger set of guidelines. You will make it with that kind of determination.

I think you are definately right on one count - not that you aren't on others! It took so long to get to the point that we could be in the country, working on this dream, that we are reluctant to give it up. It hurts. I can honestly say that. There is physical pain when I think of moving my kids from this place they have come to love. You have never seen happier kids to run free and dream and see this many stars at night.

That said, we do need a little breathing room and something's gotta give. I am not sure what it will be, but we are going to work on it!