Need Advice! DH is having surgery!

[OurAllenBaby]

So, I need any advice I can get ladies. My DH hurt his wrist several months ago. Turns out he fractured a bone and it went untreated and now the bone has actually died and must be surgically removed before the bone fragments start to crumble causing severe pain and possible the loss of use of his hand.
So - the surgery is not an option - it must happen. He is having surgery the second week of June. Luckily, our insurance is pretty good and we should only have to meet our deductible. BUT his doctor is taking him out of work completely for FOUR MONTHS......FOUR MONTHS......four freaking months. I'm a SAHM and I currently watch a girl in my house during the week along with my 2 boys. I only make about $75 to $100 a week doing this. This amount is fixed her mother is really struggling.

So, DH should be eligible for short term disability. However, I think it may not start until he has been out of work for 3 weeks. So, for 3 or the 4 months we may get a SMALL....very small paycheck compared to what we are used to.

SO, advice on saving money over the next few months? I know we can reduce our grocery bill - we have been eating a of organics and that will just have to go for now. The rest of our bills are pretty fixed. I would post an exact budget but it's kind of pointless since we will be on a significantly reduce income and now matter how I turn the numbers will be making less than our bills.

So, we have no credit card debt. We have a mortgage and 1 car payment. Electricity I already work pretty hard to keep low since the rates are high in our rule area. I line dry. I cloth diapers etc. I may need to start using my bread machine instead of the oven again. We have a small emergency fund, but it is not going to be enough to make up the lost income.
We do have a lot of credit available to us (open paid-off credit cards) so I could use those in the event of a true emergency but I would prefer not to create any debt.

I'm considering trading in our car. We have an '09 Ford escape. Our payment is $391 and it gets about 25 mpg on average. I know there are plenty of cheaper vehicles with better gas mileage. I also know that our vehicle has a pretty decent trade in value - so if we were able to get a no-money-down type deal we might come out ahead on the trade in. I need to find out what our payoff amount is though to make sure.

I've been looking into refinancing our mortgage......but I'm really afraid of casing out of pocket expenses or getting screwed in the long run. We have paid 4 years on a 30 year and our rate is 4.75, and we have no PMI. A lot of refi's to cheaper rates that I have seen require PMI or are based on 80% financing. Our house was originally 100% financing with no down payment.

[hiding57]

Can you take in more kids to watch temporarily?

[SenoraE]

What does DH do? Any chance if he follows strict orders and does PT in the 3rd month that he could go back early? Can he work any overtime before the surgery? Can you meet with your mortgage lender to SEE what a re-fi would look like?

[Melinda29]

You can call your mortgage company and explain the situation...ask if you can delay the payments just for those four months and have the extra interest tacked onto the loan. You would be paying a little more in the long run but it would help for a while.

Same thing with utility bills and insurance, call them, explain, and see if you can pay slightly higher bills later on. My insurance company lets us either pay a lump sum once a year or monthly payments. You coud try to switch it up.

Trading in your car would probably make the insurance go down, too

[Melinda29]

In my state it is very easy to get licensed to do in home daycare. The standard rate here is $25/day. If you advertised in the paper, you could probably get 2-3 more kids and be bringing in $500/week. If you advertise that you will feed organic foods, use cloth diapers, and provide a very wholesome environment (like minimal tv), you can charge a LOT more.

[OurAllenBaby]

Originally Posted by hiding57 Can you take in more kids to watch temporarily?

Thanks. This is going to be my first plan of action. Already put an ad up on craigslist!

Originally Posted by SenoraE What does DH do? Any chance if he follows strict orders and does PT in the 3rd month that he could go back early? Can he work any overtime before the surgery? Can you meet with your mortgage lender to SEE what a re-fi would look like?

He wires the electrical parts of bucket & lift trucks for power companies. So, he uses his wrists a lot twisting & turning small pieces. Hopefully, going back early will be an option but the doctor seemed pretty set that he will be out of work for at least 4 months. Hopefully, he will get a little bit of over time before the surgery. We are savings every dime possible NOW. I'm planning on calling the bank during naptime to check out re-fi options.

Originally Posted by Melinda29 You can call your mortgage company and explain the situation...ask if you can delay the payments just for those four months and have the extra interest tacked onto the loan. You would be paying a little more in the long run but it would help for a while. Same thing with utility bills and insurance, call them, explain, and see if you can pay slightly higher bills later on. My insurance company lets us either pay a lump sum once a year or monthly payments. You could try to switch it up. Trading in your car would probably make the insurance go down, too

Hmm.....I never thought about asking to delay payments. I'll check into it, I guess it doesn't hurt to ask!
Your post reminded me though that I am paid 8 months ahead on my student loan (only about 3500 left!) So, I should be able to suspend my auto payments until the next payment is actually DUE. So, that saves me $115 a month right there. I'll try calling about utilities - it would benefits us to switch to the level budget billing plan if nothing else!

Originally Posted by Melinda29 In my state it is very easy to get licensed to do in home daycare. The standard rate here is $25/day. If you advertised in the paper, you could probably get 2-3 more kids and be bringing in $500/week. If you advertise that you will feed organic foods, use cloth diapers, and provide a very wholesome environment (like minimal tv), you can charge a LOT more.

Hmmm...I'm not sure I want to get licensed but I believe in my state you can have several kids without having to be licensed. I may be able to add 1-2 kids more and not have to worry about licensing. I'm going to research this now!

[OurAllenBaby]

DH is considering the possibility of taking a loan on his 401K.

I'm not sure what would be better - taking a loan out on the 401 K or having credit card debt?

I'm glad I planted the garden. That should help us with the grocery bill soon. It will be july before a lot of my crops are ready but they will help!

I'm also wondering if we would be eligible for things like WIC? Our regular income is too high but the disability income will be far below the requirement. I'm not sure how that part of eligibility works. I'd hate to have to use it but we may NEED it for those 4 months. Then we could cancel it ASAP.

[Dawndelion]

Originally Posted by OurAllenBaby DH is considering the possibility of taking a loan on his 401K. I'm not sure what would be better - taking a loan out on the 401 K or having credit card debt?

Take on Credit Card Debt if necessary rather than take a loan on the 401K. If you must do it, make sure you have the best possible rate (ideally one of the 0% offers). It sounds like you should have some options (all the things you are looking into above) that would be necessary.

Does DH have any sick leave that would cover the time between the start of his time off and when the short term disability would kick in?

I would definitely look into WIC or Food Stamps or any other program you might qualify for for those four months.

[b bright]

Originally Posted by OurAllenBaby DH is considering the possibility of taking a loan on his 401K. I'm not sure what would be better - taking a loan out on the 401 K or having credit card debt? I'm glad I planted the garden. That should help us with the grocery bill soon. It will be july before a lot of my crops are ready but they will help! I'm also wondering if we would be eligible for things like WIC? Our regular income is too high but the disability income will be far below the requirement. I'm not sure how that part of eligibility works. I'd hate to have to use it but we may NEED it for those 4 months. Then we could cancel it ASAP.

I was going to suggest TANF. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but it seems to have a properly fitting name. Food stamps is also something to look into, but in my state it can take up to 30 days before you are approved. There is a website you can google that has a calculator to see if you are eligible. Google "your state snap eligibility tool" and it should pop up on one of the first few websites.

Would your dh be able to get a 2nd job possibly working in an office somewhere part time? Or maybe see if work could move him to a position where he doesnt have to use his wrist? If not, could you take on a part time job somewhere? Dh could stay home with the kids while you work. As for the kid you sit for, talk to her parents and see if they are comfortable with your husband watching her. If not, then tell them you need to charge more or they will need to find another sitter. You and your family should not have to suffer because another family is on a fixed/low income and needs cheap childcare. There are programs out there that could help her, like child care assistance. Don't send yourself into debt if you can charge more or get a better paying job. I understand not wanting to cause more money trouble to the girls family, but if it comes down to her or you, you need to watch out for yourself first.

[OurAllenBaby]

Originally Posted by Dawndelion Take on Credit Card Debt if necessary rather than take a loan on the 401K. If you must do it, make sure you have the best possible rate (ideally one of the 0% offers). It sounds like you should have some options (all the things you are looking into above) that would be necessary. Does DH have any sick leave that would cover the time between the start of his time off and when the short term disability would kick in? I would definitely look into WIC or Food Stamps or any other program you might qualify for for those four months.

Ok, I'll look to see if we have gotten any 0% offers lately....
Dh has NO sick leave at all. His work doesn't offer it, he does have a week of vacation pay though. So, that's 1 week!
I think I am going to check into WIC. Seems easy enough. We wouldn't need the eggs since we have our own chickens but the rest of it would help!