I really enjoy reading everyone's blogs so I thought I'd give it a try.

In no particular order and no guarantee it makes sense, here is my story:

I'v always thought of myself as frugal, you know, buying things on sale, using coupons, shopping outlet stores and such. I'v had credit card debt in the past, but when it got out of control, I'd stop buying and make a plan to pay if off in a certain amount of time and then follow thru with my plan. I've spent most of my adult life as a single parent raising 2 boys and a girl. My older children have left home and started families of their own. I was remarried a couple of years to a man on Social Security disability (he's legally blind). With him came a lot of debt, some of which I'm still finding out about, and very little income. Soon after we married, I sold the house I had recently purchased at a huge loss, made an expensive trip across the country to help out my daughter, moved into an overpriced apartment for two years and then put a downpayment on a new mobile home. All of these expenses were paid with credit. We have no savings except for $250 in an ING account and $5 in an HSBC account which I just opened. I have some money in an IRA I opened several years ago, but have made no contributions in at least 5 years. I participate in a 401k at work. I try to stress to my husband and son how important it is that we pay off our debt and start saving, but I am met with much resistance. They live in the "get it now, pay for it later" mindset.

Anyway.......I've never felt so out of control of my finances before. It's really an uncomfortable feeling. I started selling AVON recently to bring in some extra income. I have made some money with it, but I know I'll have to step out of my comfort zone to expand my business. I've sold some items on half.com and ebay, we also worked the Flea Market last year and plan on doing it again this year. Of course, I work it everytime and my husband and son take turns assisting me. It's tiring because during the summer I don't get a day off since my regular job is Monday thru Friday and the Flea Market is on Sat and Sun. We only did it June - early Sept last year, but will do it more this year.
I don't think I have the time to take on any more work, so I've been working on cutting expenses. We rarely eat out. Our monthly grocery budget is down to about $300/mo. I'd love to cut out cable but with my husband not working, he likes to watch TV during the day. Our phone service is with Vonage, which is very inexpensive and since we are in a newly manufactured home, our appliances are new so we assume they are energy efficient. We don't have to pay for water, so I plan on starting a garden soon.

Summary - We have a lot of debt and what seems like not enough income. If we can stick to buying only needs (and a few wants) for the next 5 years we will debt free, with the exception of our home which we can pay off in 10 if we take what we we've been paying out in loans and CC debt and applying it to our house payment when we are out of debt. I will continue to contribute to my 401k and plan to put at least 25% of the money made at the Flea Market in Savings.