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Downsized?

August 8th, 2005 at 05:18 am

Went to the grocery store and spent $43.91. According to the recipt I saved 38% I got a 15 ct box of Totino's Pizza rolls for free with a double coupon and I got a package of Emeril's gourmet sausage that will be free after I send in the rebate.

Total spent so far this month = $64.47

I eat the same breakfast most mornings. Celery with Peanut Butter and a piece of fruit.

I was surprised to find out I was spending $1 a day on the celery. I buy 2 bunches of celery @1.19 1b and use up all of it every week for breakfast. Today's grocery bill showed I spend $4.95 on celery so divided by 5 days = $1.00 per day. I think that's very high, so I'll probably go to whole wheat toast with Peanut Butter after this week. That will probably also save on the amount of Peanut butter I use each day.

Celery with Peanut butter = $1.15
Celery = $1.00
Peanut Butter $1.50 for 18oz jar. This lasts for about 10 days so .15 cents for the Peanut butter

Fruit - I bought grapes at $1.00 1b so I figure about .20 - .25 cents for a portion of grapes.

Total breakfast cost = $1.35 - $1.40 I'd like to get this under a $1

Somewhere around 1985-86 when I was 24 -25 I was working as an entry level machinist. Like most young people I was living paycheck to paycheck and I had about $1000 in CC and car debt. That's when the first wave of layoffs hit my company. I was scared to death. I worried about what would happen if I was laid off. I had no savings, no real skills, and no education. This was one of the major factors that turned me to saving as a way to gain control of my life. Over the next several years I paid down my debt, built up my savings and increased my job skills.

Over the next 9 years I survived 7 more layoffs with that company and finally was let go when my job was outsourced in 1994. By that time it didn't bother me a bit. I knew I could find another job in my field if that's what I wanted to do because I was a journeyman machinist by then. But, because I had saved more than 20% of my salary most of those years I had enough to live on while I went back to school and got a two year degree in one year. I had help from unemployment and JTPA and I got a scholarship from the school, but I made it with $1000 left in my savings, (not including my retirement funds) when I got a new job in my new field.

The reason for this background is because I just finished reading a book called Downsized but not Defeated The Family Guide to Living on Less by Hope Stanley Quinn and Lyn Miller-Lachmann. This is a very straightforward book that deals with people who are going through layoffs, divorces or deaths of a spouse. Life events that destroy your financial security. They authors talk about what to do, how to save money in various areas and also how to deal with these life changes psychologically. I thought it was very good. Layoffs were fairly rare back in the mid 80's but they are pretty much a way of life for most of us anymore, so it's a good idea to think ahead and try to plan how we would deal with it, if it comes our way.

1 Responses to “Downsized?”

  1. Anonymous Says:
    1123529876

    Thanks for the bio and the book recommendation. I appreciate the heads up on a good financial read. I'm curretntly in a funky workplace. Probably nothing to worry about, but no one knows for sure. I'll check out your latest recommendation. It sounds like it will be helpful right now.

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