Financial Setbacks

Overcoming Financial Setbacks the Debt Free Way

In Jamaica we have a saying “When trouble teck you pickney shut(shirt) fit yuh“.

Translation: When trouble comes to you, a child’s shirt will fit you

Meaning: When in difficult situations, you have to make adjustments to survive

I do believe we can all relate to a time in our lives when despite our best laid plans, we have suffered from some kind of setback, financial or otherwise. You know the kind that throws you into a tailspin and you’re left with your hands on your head wondering what your next move will be… the kind that makes you start to think of the worst possible scenario and thinking of contingency plans just-in-case. I am sure most, if not  all of us can relate. Today I want to focus on those of the financial kind, you know them.

Well, I have had my fair share of those, and I thought I’d share with you how I was able to move forward from them and some lessons I have learned along the way. Now, I know some of you might have had worse things happen and others; not so bad. But what I will attempt to do is to pull some references from across the board that we all can relate to and hopefully the lessons will apply to your situation regardless of the intensity. Please keep in mind that this is not financial advice; I am just sharing my experience with you.

None of us is immune to adversity, especially financial ones. And it seems to me that living in the US presents some magnified challenges. Not just because I am away from home, but suffice it to say, it’s much easier to fall into a situation that can have immediate impact which can make recovery difficult. Can I get an amen?

First situation that comes to mind was during my pregnancy and right after my son was born. Now you don’t know what you don’t know until you need to know, right? My first encounter dealing with health insurance in the US was an eye opener for me. Now all I knew was that I had health insurance, after all I could see the contributions being extracted from my paycheck every 2 weeks. I’ve had health insurance before, how different could it be?? Think again!

I had started my regular appointments to the ob-gyn and presented my health card. On each visit I would just walk out of the Dr’s office, no payment requested. So I thought to myself, “Hmmm, at what point are the going to ask me to pay and how much”. I asked, but I wasn’t given an answer(the admin people have no idea). You see, for the most part, all of that is on the backend. After all, where I’m from, we talk about the money up front. So you know what you are dealing with.

Anyway, the time came to talk about payments, then I realized that there is a lump sum charge for all prenatal visits and then another for delivery. So we discussed that and agreed on a payment plan. As onerous as it was, we had no choice. After all I couldn’t have decided to deliver this baby myself!!

We started paying the agreed amount monthly which would take us up until time for delivery. When we go to January of the following year, we realized that our payment increased. They advised me to call the insurance company who then proceeded to tell me that my deductible was reset at the beginning of every calendar year. What!!! I didn’t even know that. It was as if they were speaking a different language; copays, deductibles, out-of-pocket, in-network, out of-network HMO, PPO. Lots of complexity that was nothing like my SHAPE plan from LOJ back home or my mother’s Blue Cross plan that I had until I was of age. This is stuff no one bothers to talk about or explain, especially for a newbie immigrant like me. The assumption was that you already know.

The long and short of it was that I had to come more out of pocket. AND I hadn’t started talking with the hospital yet!! That was another large lump sum payment that would become due in June.

Apart from medical payments, we had to think of preparing for the arrival on our son. He needed clothes, blankets, diapers etc. That stuff costs! We were just bleeding funds, out of our ears. At the same time we were thinking of moving from the apartment we were renting at the time. What a mess!!! There was the cost of moving, the costs associated with purchasing our new home(our mortgage turned out to be less than our rent) among other things. At the time my salary was good, but not great and my husband was working a commission-based sales position and the pay was not consistent.

We not only had to look for ways to cut back on everything, we had to set our frame of mind to tackle the challenges because in this case, we did not have much of a choice. With a baby on the way, in our minds this was just something we had to do. I’m thinking back and wondering how under the heavens we got it done, BUT WE DID IT, without debt.

We have had other challenges since then and have had to get creative in pushing through them. For instance, we have in the past decided to go down to one income temporarily(it was only for 3 months), so I could stay home and care for my baby. At any rate, who knew you had to get on a waiting list before your child was born to secure a spot in a decent child care facility. I had not, so I did not have many options. Being far away from home as well with no family support made it even more difficult. I was so grateful that my mother agreed to come and care for him for a while so I could go back out to work and until we could get him into a day care facility.

Below is a consolidation of a few  debt-free strategies we have employed to manage and overcome  financial setbacks and challenges we faced.

We looked at where we were spending our money

Budgets used to be a bad word for me. I am not very structured when it comes to finances. But we put it all down on paper and it became real. No guessing or estimating, it was there for us to see. The biggest shocker was how much we spent on food! That was our biggest monthly expense, after the mortgage.

We trimmed the fat 

After taking a critical look at all our recurring bills, we looked at how much we were paying and either eliminated the bill completely, or found a away to reduce it. Bills like expensive cable was dropped. Then we renegotiated our telephone bill and car insurance.

We cut our spending – strict “no-spend” periods

We would go for a period of time when we would not eat out, purchase clothing or anything like that. Instead of buying lunch at work, we packed our lunches in order to save money. You would be surprised at the difference this makes to your budget.

We found ways to cut our grocery spending

The first thing I did was to shop my own pantry and refrigerator. I don’t know if you’re like me, but my pantry was filled with things I didn’t even know I had. In my case because my pantry was so disorderly. I took the time and reorganized my pantry, threw out expired items and found a place for everything else. My items were easy to find therefore I knew exactly what I had so I could plan meals around what I had already.

I also started clipping coupons. Don’t knock it, it’s a huge money saver especially on non-perishables. Sometimes I end up with items for free!! I also changed the way I shopped for certain items. (I could write a whole blog post on this). Even my husband is adopting my critical(read cheap) shopping habits.

These are simple everyday strategies I have used. There are some other larger strategies that I will explore with you another time that will have an even bigger long term impact. I didn’t want this post to get too long.

But please share with me some of your tips and tricks in the comments below. I am very eager to learn from you. You can also follow me on my social media channels so we can continue to learn from each other.

 

Overcoming Financial Setback the Debt Free Way

14 thoughts on “Overcoming Financial Setbacks the Debt Free Way”

  1. Great article! Last year in October , my church did a financial fast and it was an eye opener. We had daily affirmations & prayers.

    1. Stacey, thanks for sharing. It’s amazing the things we can do without, when you really try or when you are forced to.

  2. Thanks for sharing. Totally understand the immigrant perspective on expense management in the U.S. One thing I started to do which is also important is to pay myself first, however small it is. So I automatically transfer a portion of my salary every month to an investment account. I also have progressively increased my pension contribution to the max amt. Consistent saving is important in any financial plan. Otherwise, we get stuck in a cycle of pay check to pay check living with no wealth creation.

    One other thing, the biggest hindrance to financial security is pride and black folk often suffer from that complex (sorry for the gross generalization). So we feel we have to trade up to the latest phone or buy the latest styles at the expense of saving and building wealth. Have to look for the deals to maximize the dollar and absolutely no shame in clipping coupons.

    1. Absolutely Dale! Consumerism is the order of the day, almost like breathing. But you have to keep your wits about you and as you said, try to build wealth. No way around it. Thanks for sharing and come back again soon 🙂

  3. Packing a lunch is much cheaper and much more healthy for us! I love to cook so I prepare all our meals and limit the amount of times we go out for dinner. Another thing I have learned is buying store brands are much cheaper than buying the regular brands. Often times the store brands are made by the same big companies only difference is the labels. Buying in bulk is also cheaper than going to some supermarkets .

    1. Yesss!!! Shopping store brands is something I am still learning. It makes so much more sense if you end up paying less for the same thing. No-brainer. I am also a fan of bulk shopping but I still watch the unit price. Some things end up being more expensive at stores like Costco(which is my fave). Thanks for sharing Dacia!!

  4. So enjoyed reading your post…I remember when I totally stopped buying lunches and that was such a huge difference….its not only cheaper….it’s healthier…..My husband and I were on one income for 18 mos prior to me graduating from nursing school…..tried to prepare but u already know how that goes….I trimmed my fat to nearly the bone….but we made it through with our wits attached….totally can relate…keep writing…this is awesome!!!!

    1. Thank you Shayla! I am happy you are enjoying my posts. And amen to getting through with our wits attached. Noone said it’s easy but it can be done. Hope others find inspiration to push through. We survived to tell the tale!!

    1. Hey Crystal! I know it can be tough but keep your support team close and keep your eye on the prize, remember why you’re doing it. You can do it!!!

  5. great stuff. saving and cutting unnecessary spend is the key to creating wealth for oneself. maintaining this takes discipline and commitment. been there and still learning.

    1. Indeed Desmond. Indeed… Keep at it though. It’s takes time and a whole heap of patience

  6. It’s amazing how much money you can find or how far it can stretch if you have to make ends meet. Thanks for sharing some tips for money managing in a pinch!

    1. Thanks for stopping by Heather! We can manage our money or we can allow it to manage us!!

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