Author Topic: Rockbottom. Want your opinion  (Read 3102 times)

MrsDutch

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Rockbottom. Want your opinion
« on: August 11, 2015, 12:09:32 PM »
We are currently pretty rock bottom. Well, it could be lots worse but I want the situation to improve from here on! So, I've noticed people asking for advice from the senior Mustachians are pretty blind about their own situation so I thought you might have insights I missed.

Our situation
I'm 25 and my husband 29. We live in a small rural community in the Netherlands and I'm 33 weeks pregnant with our first child. We bought a cheap house last october and renovated the kitchen at the beginning of this year and this took up pretty much all our savings. We have 2 cats and a dog.

My husband was a poorly paid job, but because of a reorganisation the place he works will close in the first half of 2016 which will give him an educational budget of 2500 and a bonus of about 2500. So he wants to stay till the end and start his own company after that. Here, you get a government payment of 70% your wages the first 3 months you start the business and about 45% the next 3 months, so 6 months total

I've started my own business 2,5 years ago, a blog about healthy cooking on a budget. I've had an unforntunate run so far, having an accident the first year which got me brain damage fo 1,5 years. The second year a thyroid tumor which had to be removed and Costed a lot of time to recover from and this year I got pregnant and I'm completely lethargic. Nonetheless, the business goes well, I released my first paperback cookbook but right now I simply miss the hours and energy to put in so revenue is about enough to cover the costs right now (still paying off the new website till january). So at the moment I can't take profit out of the company

At the moment it's really tight. At the end of september I get a pregnancy payment from the government for 16 weeks (I love the Netherlands!) of minimal wages (around €800 per month). We also should get back too much paid taxes of about €1550 but this could be next week or in a couple of months

Income per month
Wages husband: 1447
Government support health care: 91
Total: 1538

Expenses per month
Obligatory life insurance house: 14
Bank costs for debit cards and credit card: 6,40
Mortgage advisor payment: 205 (last 2 months)
Mortgage: 451
Insurances: 62 (car, interior, house)
Taxes county: 61
2 sim only phones: 34
Health insurance: 173
Sewer taxes: 22
Car tax: 20
Funeral insurances: 10
Netflix: 8 (instead of cable)
Gas/electricity: 80
Internet: 30
Groceries: 250
Petrol: 87
Dogfood: 50
Cat food and litter: 20
Baby expenses: 50
Take out for hubby's hobby night: 25
Total costs: 1658

Other:
Emergency fund €1000
Debt mortgage advisor €410
Debt from website in company €1810
No creditcard debt, college loans
Special government second mortgage €20000, monthly payments and interest start oct 2017, €80 p.m.
Car is a €800, old, light and high MPG vehicle, necessary where we live

Changes made after started reading MMM last week:
Husband rides 10 miles by bike to the trainstation instead of taking the car (hour and 15 minutes total commute)
Selling things we don't use on the Dutch craigslist
Done a tyrepressure check and optimalised (where way too soft)
Using less meat in meals

We are already rather frugal, most baby stuff and furniture are hand me downs or craigslist. But the husband really hates the feeling of not being able 'to live' and is really unhappy if I want to be too frugal. I don't mind. Things he values are his nights at the hobby club, netflix, a comfortably warm home in the winter and being able to drive to friends for visits. This is why it wasn't much trouble to convince him to start cycling to the station, so more petrol money can be used for friends instead of commuting (with 20 euros a week not much is left with a 5 days a week commute of 10 miles).

Thanks for reading this whole story!

Edit: just noticed  we don't play even anymore, this being the first month I can't take profit from my own business...

The_path_less_taken

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Re: Rockbottom. Want your opinion
« Reply #1 on: August 11, 2015, 12:22:45 PM »
Congratulations on the pregnancy and the book: given the accident you endured and the surgery, I'm amazed you got that all together! I can well imagine fatigue being an issue for you.

I think you're not what we in the US call rock bottom, as you do have some support as you are in the Netherlands. And you are working on the blog/books.

That said...you are young, and once he figures out the job thing you should be fine. Save where you can, etc.

I hope things go well for you, but the fact that you already accomplished so much sounds promising. Good luck.

brainfart

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Re: Rockbottom. Want your opinion
« Reply #2 on: August 11, 2015, 12:55:39 PM »
Quote
My husband was a poorly paid job, but because of a reorganisation the place he works will close in the first half of 2016 which will give him an educational budget of 2500 and a bonus of about 2500. So he wants to stay till the end and start his own company after that. Here, you get a government payment of 70% your wages the first 3 months you start the business and about 45% the next 3 months, so 6 months total

So he will be jobless in half a year, and a child is underway.
Tell him to start looking for better-paid jobs NOW, as long as he is still employed. It's much easier to find something new when you still work, once you are unemployed it gets harder. Because good, skilled employees won't lose their job and will easily find something new. At least that's the common prejudice in everyone's head.

He can start his own business later, once the baby is there and you have fully recovered. Now is the wrong time to take such risks.

MrsDutch

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Re: Rockbottom. Want your opinion
« Reply #3 on: August 11, 2015, 02:19:55 PM »
@path less taken

Thanks for your kind words! Yes, maybe rock bottom was too strong here, but it sure feels like it now. Plus, I really hope this is the lowest we'll get and we will push off from here

@brainfart

I'm very hesitant about this. Even just now I spoke to him and he said I just have to say the word and he'll start looking for a job. The problem with the type of work he does (logistics) is you might find a job that pays a couple of hundred bucks more a month, but than he's stuck in that job. Promotion doesn't happen there. So for the near future it's a safe option, but for the long term not. He's too good at his jobs every time, gets extra management duties but when salary is discussed, a raise is never an option. But he also never gets fired, so this is probably the only time he can become an entrepreneur with goverment aid plus the money his current employer gives when they fire him. Even though it's not much, it's probably enough to give him an opportunity for 6 months to get a full time revenue and/or me to replace his income

@general my brain's racing and by now, there are so many options to choose from. I'm thinking

- getting a part time job myself in 2016. I'm a Bachelor in Communications
- doing freelance work besides my blog
- or putting all my time in getting my next book out as soon as possible
- talking with my mother in law about babysitting 1 or 2 days a week, even though we planned on keeping the baby with us while we work from home. The extra time of focussed work will accelerate entrepreneurial succes while not adding much costs
- helping the husband find a job in a different niche with more opportunities
- him having a part time job besides starting a business isn't an option the first 6 months after he gets fired since he won't get the government payment