2 can live as cheaply as one isn’t a complete lie. My parents actually survived with 1 car, no cell phone, cable or internet.
It’s time to get out a sheet of paper (or Excel spread sheet). Review EVERY expense you have and rate them in order of importance from need to want. You don’t need an HMO but you do need health insurance. The difference between the 2 is about $5000 a year. Refinancing your house should be looked at. Go back to a 30 year mortgage (that allows prepayment). You can always pay it off sooner when things get back to normal A better interest will add to the savings. DO NOT SPEND YOUR EQUITY. This is part of your retirement. sell the damn thing and buy a used mobil home if it’s necessary for the short term. File that under plan B or C. When looking at insurance think about only driving 1 car. Everything has an associated cost to it.
Start selling your excess crap on eBay. Old toys, books, cameras, jewlery, car parts etc… ANYTHING that you are not using which has no sentimental value. You wouldn’t believe what sells. When My mother died my sister was able to sell our old toys. Crap like my old Bat Man thermos brought in a nice chunk of change. You can cruise the junk stores for “collectables” and resell them. I see the Post Office full of people doing this. You can sell the ads from old magazines (cars, airplanes, or anything special that someone owns and wants pictures of).
Cable, dump it. Newspaper, dump it. Internet, dump it. A night at the movies or rentals, gone. The library has all of this for free as well as cookbooks that will teach budget gormet cooking. Read books and watch PBS, it’ll make you appreciate your brain more.
Soda pop, NOT. there are hundreds of ice tea flavors. Make a game of cooking great dinners cheaply. Make your own bread and flour tortilas.
Clothes, Goodwill. Damn nice clothes. There are dumbasses like me who buy the wrong size and just donate them because it’s closer than the store I got them from.
Interim jobs, anything that has management potential and a medical plan. Home Depot, whatever. Find something you like doing. It will make it easier to sell yourself in an interview. Get a vendors liciense and sell stuff at the flee market on the weekend. Given the crap I’ve seen, a little creativity would go a long way. How hard is it to put up a table and sell “something” that isn’t already being sold. Every other vendor is selling socks, DVD’s and cheap tools. You could sell refurbished digital cameras, or other electronic items.
Kids, you owe them love, food, and a roof. DO NOT PISS AWAY YOUR RETIREMENT TO SEND THEM TO COLLEGE. They can work their way through school (I did). Just having a home to go to durring school is a big help. I thought it was great that my mother cooked for me while in college. Worry about that later.
Give your mate a hug, look at him and let him know the two of you are going to grab life by the horns and fight your way back.