What are Michiganders doing to make ends meet? (Marshall: house, rent)

[sikes0000]

Originally Posted by wanderer74

Mostly now I'm trying to get more work because I have student loans coming due in the next month or so and have no idea how I'll be able cover an extra couple hundred bucks a month in expenses.

Make sure you put student loans into forbearance if possible.

If your income is low enough you can do a hardship forbearance. If your income is too high you can do a voluntary forbearance for up to 3 years on some loans (that 3 years doesn't renew so be careful how you use it). I had to do a forbearance when I got out of school. Of course if your loans are not consolidated I am not sure how it works. Private loans are different too. But check it out if you havent already. It can sometimes work if you have student loans for your kids in your name

[Frankie117]

Hello Michiganders,

I can understand your current situation, and have gone through the same troubles myself. (I live in South Carolina..). Michigan is going through an economic slump, every state goes through it at some point. It really weeds out the weak, and leaves the strongest. Of course, when this crisis is over, and the economy jumps again, you'll be the first to be relieved.

Unemployment for nearly 4 months took its toll on my household, but also helped us learn to save loads of money. After the crisis, we were able to get several hundred dollars in additional savings.

Although seemingly more expensive, Sam's Club is an excellent source of bulk products. Instead of two grocery trips a week, you only make one. This saves gas money, as well as time to do other things. If planned and transitioned right, you can make 1 trip last a whole 2 weeks.

During the summer (not sure how hot it gets up there though..) use fans instead of the AC. During the winter, insulate your home instead of using the heating.

Have worthless junk laying around the house? Try selling some stuff on eBay. I made several hundred dollars a month doing this.

Have your car serviced, oil replaced, make sure it is running at peak efficiency to save you gas money.



I hope these tips can help some of your guys out...

Best of luck at waiting out the hard times

[TwoSticks]

Originally Posted by austin_or_sd

...Checkout the Forbes report...

That was an interesting article. Thanks for bringing that to the forum.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

26. No outside Christmas lights this year.

Haha! That's exactly right Coldjensens. I cut way back on Christmas lights this year, despite my wife's complaints. Not only has December traditionally been our highest month for electricity use (even higher than when we run the A/C), but it's just bad for the environment (light pollution and excess electricity that has to come from coal powered power plants).

Here's another one for us: Do all your shopping at Meijer if you have one nearby. Not only is food cheaper, but the clothes are fine for the kids and about as good as you'd find at Target or Kohl's.

Thanks for the other tips!

[Siberia]

Save $1,000/year, and get more for paying nothing...sound too good to be true? LOL

The idea:

Dump your cable and/or Dish TV. A few years ago I had cable, and was not happy with either the quality or price of paying for a few decent HDTV channels. So I dumped the $85/month service, and put up an antenna and now get 23 channels (2-3 channels per network due to being in HD) for free using over the air (OTA) signals that I pay $0/month for. Before making the switch, I put up the $85/month cable HD channel next to the $0/month HD OTA channel using split screen on the same TV...the free OTA channel was more clear, better colors, and less artifacts. Made me sick to my stomach that I bought the "must have Cable/Dish TV" hype paying out the wazoo....all so I could have compressed, terrible quality HD channels...Live and Learn I guess...

Below is the site which you put in your location, and it gives you all the local channels, their direction, how many miles away, etc...and recommends what antenna to purchase:

AntennaWeb

I started out with $15 rabbit ears that got 3 channels (just to make sure it worked with my TV that has a built in HD tuner), and then bought a $60stationary, multi-direction VHF/UHF medium size antenna that mounted to the Dish pole on the roof. My stations are 40 miles or less from the house, if it was further I would have had to get a large antenna for $100-$160, rotor, lightning ground wire, etc. (solidsignal.com and summitsource.com seem to have decent prices...and I myself am a huge fan of Wingard antenna). Of course there are lots of companies that mount antenna...so it might be cheaper to pay someone to set you up versus fall off the roof and break your neck...




And the whole "you must be poor if you don't have paid TV" went out the window years ago, as I have doctor and other professional, well paid friends who have switched to antenna too and can't believe the quality difference...let alone the fact it is totally free, once you pay for the equipment (2-3 months savings from Cable/Dish pay for equipment). Add an HD Tivo (that has two HD tuners!), and you will have a better TV guide (2 week schedule) and search options than any Cable/Dish company in the world can offer...for about $300 for the HD Tivo plus $12/month service fee.

In summary, OTA HDTV is the best kept secret in America...and Cable/Dish count on the fact that Americans remain in the dark and keep shelling out their hard earned dollars for a service that exists for free...

[austin_or_sd]

Originally Posted by magellan

Just had to get a jab in eh?

That's funny austin_or_sd, you mentioned in some of your other posts in the Texas forum that Texas has intolerable heat and Austin doesn't live up to the hype.

No jab at all. Just my logical thinking, why stay some place w/o job.

I don't recall I ever mentioned Texas heat as intolerable. It's hot comparing to San Diego. But comparing the Texas heat with Michigan cold and snow, I take Texas heat in any day.

Austin is really hyped in terms of its beauty and recreation. But in terms of job opportunity and cost of living, Austin is way up there.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by austin_or_sd

No jab at all. Just my logical thinking, why stay some place w/o job.

I don't recall I ever mentioned Texas heat as intolerable. It's hot comparing to San Diego. But comparing the Texas heat with Michigan cold and snow, I take Texas heat in any day.

Austin is really hyped in terms of its beauty and recreation. But in terms of job opportunity and cost of living, Austin is way up there.

Sorry, my apologies. You're right, if you don't have a job and can't find work, why stay somewhere (anywhere). Unless you have skills that you can parlay into your own business, it's better to move on and try something new.

[mich2fla]

We've been doing this for about 5 years now:

Set thermostat to 62 degrees during the day and 55 at night.

Use flourescent bulbs when practical

Eat out 2x a month...if we eat out, we always ordered water.

Check gas prices dot com for lower gas prices in our area. If it's on the way, we will go there and gas up.

Attend movies at the Ada-Lowell 5 during the days.

Why buy books and CD's? We use our library frequently. My kids like to burn CD's onto their Ipods.

Have a garden. We grew herbs, strawberries, tomatoes, jalepeno peppers, green and red peppers, etc. It's simple to do and we did it in a small area (8' x 12').

Do not cut grass shorter than 3.5''...sprinkle once or twice a week.

My wife and I schedule errands to minimize needless trips.

There are a few more but it's all I can think of right now.

[Peter B]

I'm one of the lucky one I guess. Our mortgage is $550.00 a month and I have a home based internet business that I make about $15k-$20k per month. We pay cash for everything, eat out 3-4 times per week and fortunately, live a stress free life. I truly feel sorry for those who lack the knowledge and ability to create huge amounts of income but it is what it is.

[Sparrow_temp]

So please share how you can make 15-20K per month at home. I'm sure most here have abilities and are educated but almost none will see that level of income from home. Are you one of the spam kings or something?