Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

How to Live Without Money

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Live without Money

Have you ever considered what life would be like if you quit your job?  How would you provide for yourself and your needs?  Could you live without money?  Is that even possible in our modern era?

It is possible to live without money, but you would have to put aside some of the creature comforts your used to.  You would also likely work just as hard as you do now, when earning a wage.

How to Live Without Money

To successfully live without money, you need to find ways to find shelter and food, at the minimum.

Where to Live for Free

Live Without Money
Photo by Christine Roy on Unsplash

Sure, you could couch surf if your friends are agreeable, but there are other ways to find shelter without paying cash.

Take Care of An Elderly Person

Some elderly people would like to remain in their own homes, but as they age, they need more assistance.  They hire live-in care givers who take care of them in return for free room and board.  If you have the right skills, this can be an excellent way to find shelter for free.

Manage an Apartment Building

Another option, if you’re handy, is to take care of the maintenance in an apartment building in return for a free apartment.  This option is more suitable if you live in a large city.

How to Eat for Free

Eating for free can be trickier than finding a place to live for free.

Food Pantry

If you’re trying to survive with no money because you’re in a difficult financial place, you can visit a local food pantry.  They will likely give you enough food for a week if you’re careful.

Soup Kitchen

Likewise, you can visit a local soup kitchen and get a free meal.  If you live in a bigger city, you may be able to go to a different soup kitchen every day to get a hot meal.  Again, this is an excellent choice if you’re financially struggling.

Volunteer at a CSA

If you have a farm near you that offers CSA subscriptions, you may be able to barter for food.  Some CSAs (community supported agriculture) will trade five or ten hours of work a week for a CSA box.  This will likely not provide all of your nutritional needs but will supply your fruits and vegetables for the week.

Dumpster Dive

Lastly, some people dumpster dive for food.  While this may sound disgusting and unsanitary, not to mention dangerous, there is an entire community dedicated to avoiding food waste by dumpster diving.  You’ll want to take adequate precautions, but you can get quite a large amount of food by rescuing restaurant and grocery store cast offs.

Final Thoughts

Trying to live without money is challenging.  I’ve given suggestions for getting a place to stay and food for free, but what about the other things needed in our current society?  How would you pay for a car and gas?  Clothing?  Some people simple forego a vehicle and only use the clothes they have.  If you determined to live without money, you can.  Other people have, at least for a few months or years.

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9 Ways to Get Your Child a Christmas Gift If You Can’t Afford to Buy One

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My mom often tells the story of the first Christmas she and my dad had after they were married. They didn’t have any money, so they bought a sad, little Christmas tree on Christmas Eve that only cost a few dollars. It was so tilted that they had to tie it to the wall to make it stand up straight. She got my dad a warm wool pair of socks to wear when hunting, and he got her a tea kettle.  She laughs about that Christmas now. In retrospect, the story does have a poignant sweetness to it. However, that Christmas, they didn’t yet have kids.  When you’re struggling financially, not being able to buy a Christmas gift for your child can be heartbreaking. If your money is stretched and you literally have nothing extra, there are ways to make sure your children have a gift under the tree.

Christmas Gifts

Ways to Get Younger Kids a Christmas Gift

Younger kids are easier to get gifts for when you’re in this situation.  They have less specific wish lists than teens.  Often they’re happy just having a gift, whether that be a doll or a truck.

Buy at Second Hand Shops or Thrift Stores

If you have a small bit of money to buy a gift, consider looking at thrift stores or secondhand shops. Or, you could turn in your kids’ outgrown toys and clothes for credit to purchase items at the secondhand store. Be warned, however, that secondhand stores usually pay just a pittance for items they buy, so you might not get much credit.

Exchange Used Toys with Another Family

Toy Exchange for Christmas Gifts
Photo by Shitota Yuri on Unsplash

Another idea that doesn’t cost anything is to exchange toys with family friends. You gather up the toys your children are bored with or have outgrown, and exchange them with another family who does the same. You can wrap these “new” toys and give them to your children for Christmas.

Ways to Get a Gift for Teens

Teenagers have more specific gift lists and are usually more aware that the family’s finances are tight.  Still with a little creativity, you can find ways to get them gifts they will like.

Give Them Books and Jewelry

You can go to local thrift stores and find books in excellent condition to give for presents.  You may also be able to find nicer jewelry for your teen daughters.

Give Them Gift Coupons

You may not have money now for a gift, but you might have money in a few months.  You can give your child coupons for experiences.  For example, a free one might be, baking and movie night with mom or dad.  While this gift costs nothing, it does give your teen one on one time with you.

Another idea might be one weekend family camping trip.  If you already have the camping supplies, you can go to a national park with a low entrance fee.  This present will likely cost less than $50 for the whole family, and you’ll be building memories.

Gift Them Privileges

One gift that is free but will likely delight teenagers is to gift them privileges.  For instance, if your teen still has chores to do around the house, give them a coupon for a week off from chores.  Or, one coupon could be for an hour or two later curfew.

Give the Gift of Your Time

If you don’t have money for presents, take the time as a family to count all of your blessings.  Then, spend some time helping others who are less fortunate than you are.  Volunteer at a food pantry or soup kitchen.

Sometimes when you find yourself in desperate financial straits, you may start to feel sorry for yourself.  Helping others can make you further appreciate your current situation, even though things feel dire.

Ways to Get a Gift for Kids of Any Age

Christmas gift
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

There are other ways to get your children gifts, regardless of their ages.

Sign Up for a Free Gift with the Salvation Army

The Salvation Army works hard to give a gift to each child whose family can’t afford to buy one. Go to the Salvation Army website, enter your zip code at the locations tab, and find a Salvation Army near you.

You’ll need to prove that you are indeed low income. You can do this easily if you’re receiving food stamps, WIC, or Medicaid.  There are also other requirements you’ll need to submit, which you can find on the website or when talking to your local office.  Be advised that many people sign up for this service in October, so time is of the essence.

Sign Up on Santa’s Little Helpers

Reddit has a program called Santa’s Little Helpers.  You must join the program, and then you share your wish for holiday presents.  There are limits including $25 for an adult present and up to $100 for a child’s present.  You can make gift requests for each of your children, but if you have more than four children, you will need to provide a picture of your entire family together.

This year, registration began on November 7th, and gift requests will begin on November 14th.  You are allowed to register until December 12th, but obviously, the earlier you register and request a gift, the more likely your request is to be fulfilled.

Contact Your Local Church

Many churches run their own Christmas present giving operation. Contact local churches and tell them your situation. They may be able to help you or refer you to another church or agency that can.

Final Thoughts

If your budget is beyond stretched thin as my parents were on their very first Christmas, remember that there are nine ways to get your child a Christmas gift if you can’t afford to buy one. There are many services available to help assist families in a bad financial situation so that every child can open a present on Christmas.

What other suggestions do you have for families who cannot afford a Christmas gift for their kids this year?

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What to Do When You Have More Bills Than Income

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It can happen to the best of us—we have more bills than income.  Every person’s situation is unique.  Maybe you lost your job, or you had a medical emergency, or you just went through a divorce.  The situation doesn’t matter.  What matters is that you find yourself in a desperate position.  Rather than panicking or ignoring the problem, know that there are strategies to implement to get yourself out of this position.

More Bills Than Income

Steps to Take When You Have More Bills Than Income

The process of getting out of this situation isn’t quick, but finding your financial footing again can be done.

Write Down Your Financials

The first step is to take an honest account of where you are.  How much money do you have coming in?  How much debt do you have?  What are your monthly payments and bills?

Cut Ruthlessly

Now that you have your financials on paper, you need to cut ruthlessly.  What do you pay for monthly that you can slash from your budget?  Start first with subscriptions like DisneyPlus, Netflix, Amazon, etc.  You can get those services back once you no longer have more bills than income.

Next, look at categories you can’t eliminate but can reduce.  We all have to eat, but we don’t have to go to a restaurant to do so.  If you’re not already cooking all of your meals at home, now is the time to start.  Also, make a plan to shift the type of food that you’re eating so you can lower your grocery bill.  Now might be the time to eat some beans and rice and vegetarian soups.

Learn how to lower your electric bill.  Turn off appliances and devices that you’re not using at night.

Consider switching cell phone providers so you don’t have a high monthly cell phone bill.  You might want to move to a lower cost provider like Ting or Tello Mobile.

In short, cut or reduce everything you can.  Then, you’re on to the next step.

Prioritize Payments

More Bills than Income
Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

If there’s not enough money even after slashing your expenses, there’s not enough.  Once you write down your financials, list your bills in order of importance.  Think survival here.

Survival Expenses Should Always Be Paid First

Bills and expenses that you likely want to be sure you pay every month can include:

Food,

Clothing,

Utilities,

Housing,

Transportation

The most important goals right now are to feed and clothe yourself as well as keep the lights on (along with the heat or air conditioning) and maintain your house and car.  Without the latter two, keeping and getting yourself to work is very difficult.

Keep in mind, you’ll still want to be conservative in these categories.  You won’t be eating fancy meals and you won’t be buying designer clothes.  You’ll spend the minimum you need to get yourself fed and clothed.

Expenses to Pay with the Remaining Money

After you’ve done looking at your spending priorities, look at how much money you have left.  You may find that you have many more bills to go and only a little money left.  That’s okay.  You knew you were in this position, and now you’re writing it all out and making a plan.  This is empowering even if it feels terrifying.

Let’s say you have four debts remaining and you only have $250 leftover.  Spread that $250 between each of your remaining debts.  For instance, let’s say your four debts have these balances:

CC #1: $10,000

CC #2: $3,500

CC #3: $5,000

CC #4: $1,500

At this point, don’t pay attention to the minimum payment.  Instead, add up all the debt, in this case, $20,000, and figure out which percentage of debt each is.  For example, CC #1 represents 50% of the remaining debt, so you’ll give it 50% of your remaining money each month, $125.  CC #2 is 17.5% of your remaining debt, so it will get 17.5% of your remaining money–$43.75, and so on.

Negotiate Credit Card Rates

If you think your current financial situation is temporary, call your credit card company and ask them to reduce the amount of interest you’re paying.  By doing this, more of your monthly payment will go to principal, lowering the overall amount that you owe.  You’ll likely be successful with agents lowering your rate about 50% of the time.

Negotiate Monthly Payments

If you feel your financial situation may last longer than a few months, call your lenders and explain your situation.

Credit card companies have the power to reduce your monthly payment.  When you negotiate with them, they will ask you how much you can pay monthly.  Using the math that you did above, let them know exactly how much you can pay a month.  (You’ll tell credit card company #2 you can only pay $43.75 even if your monthly payment is $70.)  The credit card companies will likely lower your payment to what you can pay because you’re making a good faith effort to meet your obligations.

Remember to call your other lenders.  Your mortgage company may be able to work with you to reduce or temporarily suspend payments.  You can also apply for deferrals on your student loans.

The important advice is to call these companies early, before you fall significantly behind.  Call them while you still have good credit.

Find a Side Hustle

More Bills than Income
Photo by Garrhet Sampson on Unsplash

Reducing expenses is important when you have more bills than income, but the flip side is just as important.  Can you start a side hustle as a way to make extra money and boost your income?  I started freelance writing 10 years ago when our youngest was a baby.  Now, my freelance work contributes 25% of our monthly income.  Imagine adding an extra 10 or 20 percent to your current income?  How would that money help you improve your financial situation?

Final Thoughts

If you’re in the unfortunate position of having more bills than income, know that you’re not alone.  There are steps you can take to improve your financial situation and help you survive this current financial difficulty.  Most importantly, remember that this situation is temporary.  Things will get better.

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