“The one upside during this time of financial hardship was that my wife and I learned how well we work together.”
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2018 was a tough year for Dustin Siggins and his family as they dealt with some financial strain.
He says he got through by redefining what was necessary to spend money on.
He adds that regularly communicating with his partner helped him get through the stress of it all.
In 2018, times were good for many people. The US took home 23 medals from the Winter Olympics, unemployment was low, and global progress against poverty was accelerating.
But for my new wife and I, 2018 was a difficult year. We were pregnant with our first child, my job was going south as I dealt with miscommunicated expectations and metrics of success, and my wife was working part time while looking for full-time work. We’d also purchased our first home eight months earlier without a down payment, so we were technically under water on our loan.
The decisions we made in the following months weren’t easy. But they allowed us to survive a personal financial crisis — and ultimately prepared us for the pandemic and subsequent inflation which, unbeknownst to us, were only a few years away. Here are some of the biggest lessons we learned along the way:
Redefine what’s really necessary — and cut everything else
My wife and I have always been frugal spenders, both individually and together. But what we learned from January to May 2018 was how much we could cut from our monthly budget by adjusting what was important to us and what we focused our spend on.
Here are a few examples:
We replaced all fresh vegetables with frozen veggies. While we didn’t consult with the USDA at the time, its website notes that frozen vegetables are sometimes cheaper than fresh ones — and last much longer, reducing waste and further reducing expenses.We canceled Netflix. It was only $12/month, but that was money we needed to save just in case things turned dire.We cut our $30/month gym membership because it was less important than building up savings, and because running and pushups are free. We also had a smaller gym included in our HOA fees.We replaced chicken breasts and sliced turkey with whole chickens and turkeys. Boneless, precut food makes cooking much easier — but our time was less valuable than saving money. This dropped our prices per pound from $1.79 for chicken to $1.We started prepping meals in bulk each Sunday. This left us more time to focus on other matters and reduced the temptation to eat out or order in.
We also took other, longer-term matters into consideration. For example, we had a backup plan to sell one of our two cars if necessary. That would have further reduced our monthly expenses by a couple hundred dollars and given us a fresh infusion of cash. (Thankfully, we never needed to sell.)
Each money-saving choice was small. Together, they added up to noticeable savings during our time of crisis and taught us how to assess what was needed — and what was merely desired.
You might have to work hard for a bit to feel secure
One of the downsides of saving money is that there’s only so much to cut. We need to eat, have a roof over our heads, and wear clothes. It’s also nice to have A/C in the summer, heat in the winter, and water, electric, and sewer systems all year long. Therefore, my wife and I had to work on the other side of the ledger and find ways to bring in more money.
The first way was increasing my freelance income. This required me to work 70 hours in total per week instead of less than 50 hours a week for several months — 40 hours at my day job as a communications professional, 20 hours freelancing, and 10 hours looking for work. I was forced to be creative and take what work I could get, regardless of whether it was a “dream” gig. (The alternative path might be working overtime or helping a colleague while they’re on vacation.)
Second, my wife took on multiple part-time jobs while she was looking for a full-time job. We’d intended for her to take it easy during the pregnancy, but circumstances required her to kick into higher gear. None of them paid what she made in a prior gig, but we knew that any port in a storm is worth it. Being pregnant while looking for work wasn’t easy, but we focused on prioritizing what was important in our schedules to reduce unnecessary travel and other stresses. We were also fortunate that the jobs she had weren’t physically demanding.
Teamwork and communication go a long way
The one upside during this time of financial hardship was that my wife and I learned how well we work together. The stress of working so many hours and feeling like I was failing my family constantly hung overhead. And yet, each evening, my wife was there to give me a shoulder rub, remind me of how we were a team, and give me the only break I would often feel during those months. When she was working less, she made my breakfast and lunch, making sure that I got an extra 20 minutes of necessary rest — and when her schedule got busy, I was the one getting the meals ready.
We also openly discussed our financial situation dozens of times. Fears were shared and priorities were made, which reduced conflict and ensured that important decisions were made together. We also took long walks to reconnect.
Things have significantly stabilized in the last four years. We now have three children, my company is doing well, and my wife has great pay and benefits as a part-time hospital nurse and Air National Guardsman. We’ve sold our original home and purchased our long-term home in a great neighborhood.
But we’ve never forgotten the lessons of 2018. When the housing market spiked, we quickly modified our house purchase plan to accommodate the economic circumstances. This allowed us to buy the right home quickly and have an affordable mortgage. When inflation skyrocketed, we quickly assessed our budget and made a few changes. And each of these decisions was made deliberately, in open communication with each other.
Every family is different and would make different decisions. But our personal financial crisis prepared us for navigating any time — good or bad.