Stocking Up

i am struggling a little with fear. they are making 1000 cuts within the group my husband works for, supposedly 500 this year and 500 next year. this past thursday 80 people in Huntsville were cut off from computer access and then called friday morning to tell them not to come to work. no two week notice. scary.

my husband feels his job is okay, but you never know. and seeing how quickly it can happen and without notice is not a happy place for me. the planner.

i have always shopped sales and stocked groceries. i try to buy at the best price i can and put up as much as i can so i can spend less, but also have what i need without running to the store so much. i have a lot of food, but i need to get more.

what i am really worried about is money. a couple of months without an income and we'd have food from what is in my pantry and freezer but we couldn't pay our house payment very long. we'd be in trouble. we had a good emergency fund but used it to put on a roof and do some other things. so... my job is to lay up as much cash as we can for a "what if" situation.

• we were planning on putting up a fence with our income tax return. we decided to put that off and just put that money in savings.
• i am extending our garden from four 4X8 raised beds to seven plus a bed 2' wide that extends behind all the beds on the back side. so it will be like 2'X34'.
• i also hope we can get a couple of fruit trees in before it is too late to plant them.
• my husband will work all the overtime he can and we will just put that over into savings
• i have been very lax lately with coupon shopping. i was tired of it and took a month break. i am back on board.
• i won't be buying non-necessary items, even if very cheap at garage sales.
• i have a LOT of material. i need to sew up some items to sell.
• i am being careful to use leftovers. i have saved about 8 bags of bread end pieces in the freezer and this week will make an overnight breakfast casserole with them. i am saving all my little bits of vegetables and rice for a soup.
• i am going to go room by room through my house and have a garage sale very soon and get rid of everything i don't need.
• i just used our vision coverage and got a pair of glasses and prescription sunglasses. i am not due until june for an exam, but our coverage would pay starting january 1 for new glasses. i don't know if the people laid off this week were immediately cut off from medical coverage or not. i know there is cobra insurance for them but i wouldn't be able to pay $1000 a month for insurance if we lost a job. i would feed and house my family first. so, i am not putting off any medical care and keeping prescriptions bought ahead.

i don't want to make it sound like i am freaking out or really living in fear. i trust the One who is my provider. i just feel i have a responsibility to do what i can. we have a wonderful job that provides way more than our needs so it is rediculous we are so close to homelessness without a job. we could cash out retirement funds and be good for awhile if it was the last choice- it would kill me to pay all the early withdrawal penalties! it has been awhile since we have HAD to watch our penneys, but i am thankful for the lean years that taught me the skills to do it.