HELP!! Financial stress has me beaten...

[calibird]

Hope that the Energy Assistance is something that will help. Keeping you in my prayers.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. I get too much from Social Security to be eligible for any food stamps or heat assistance. The amount of money I spend on the pets is a big factor and I have known this for years; but I will not give up my pets.

This last Tuesday, my BFF and her niece and I moved the birds into the living room. They are unhappy being caged, but it is either rehome them or cage them. Emily CAG is happy to be back in the living room, as is Sunshine Senegal; they remember it from before Mom moved in. The love birds are freaked and the cockatiels very unhappy. I know it is just a matter of time until everyone gets settled and used to the new routine.

Hanging in there and doing the best I can.

 

[Lady Jane]

 

[jmfleish]

Birds are actually very good at handling a wide variety of temperatures. If you can handle lower temperatures, they will be fine, so I would go ahead and lower the temperature for them as well. We've been living in our drafty house here in Wisconsin for several years now and turn our temperature down to 62 at night and about 65 during the day. Our birds are in the living room and in a bedroom on the first floor that is an addition and doesn't stay as warm as the rest of the house and we haven't had any problems at all with those temperatures. Reggie is in that bedroom and is nearly naked and does very well in there in the winter. So, I would give that a try and see if that gets you to where you need to be with maybe the tips with cutting grocery bills. Good luck, I know money issues are always a pain.

 

[zoo mom]

We keep are temperature fairly low. The birds room is the warmest room in the house. We keep the temperature in the bird room 66-68 degrees. That means the rest of the house is about 62 degrees. The birds can handle the temp a little lower. Also put plastic on the outside of all windows.

 

[camelotshadow]

A few degrees lower in the winter should be OK. Do you cover them?
Rio is not covered. Winters here can dip below 40 at times. I know that is not that cold compared to the east but I try to save as much as I can as I heat by electric so it can get costly. I think if I remember NY law is 58 min temp in winter during nights so if you live in an apt you can't complain its too cold. I guess I heat so it doesn;t dip too much below 65 at nights & in the days its 50 to 70 so winter days are mild. That's the plus side to living in So Cal.

If I recall my parents qualified for foo stamps when I was a child but were turned down because they owned a home & did not rent.... Children could starve as long as there parents owned a home.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

I shop at a "second hand" grocery store, Sharp Shopper (almost out of code food), as well as Aldi's and Amelia's for my food; and that helps a lot. Some weeks I get so hungry for red meat, I feel like I would mug someone at McDonald's for a quarter pounder with cheese! OK, I am exaggerating. My vet wants me to lower the night temp to 65 or 66 and if I really want it, keep the day temp at 68 to 70. I cover the back of the cages every year to eliminate drafts in the winter and right now all the cages are covered except for the very front of the cages to keep the cats from trying to touch the birds through the bars of the larger cages. I think I am going to do OK, just need to get used to the new set up and the birds content with less out of cage time. Packing the cages with platforms and ladders and toys to combat boredom. I still have Emmie CAG's macaw sized cage to get into the living room (four feet on each side and also in height). It has to be completely disassembled in order to get through the doors of the rooms; the other cages just wheeled in after I took the seed catchers off. So I start taking his cage apart in the am and cleaning it minutely then putting it back together at the beginning of the week. Once Em is back in his cage, I can separate the cockatiels into two cages; six in one cage and seven in the other. I am getting some squabbling with all 13 in the same cage, of course. At least I will be able to keep Cookie Monster, Frank and Pogi from hatching more babies! When I transferred the birds on Tuesday, I couldn't find Cookie and had to move every piece of furniture in the birdroom to find her. She had a clutch of four eggs hidden under the wood stove again, and all four eggs were fertile.... She is just too good at producing eggies.

 

[SandraK]

I have to decrease my spending by about $900 a year in order to keep the house and my pets. I have removed just about every extravagance I can from my day to day living, and removing the expensive TV channels I have aren't going to be able to make up the difference. I need to decrease my basic expenses by at least 150 per month more and the only thing I can figure out is to alter the amount I spend in heating every month. The main house is heated with oil forced hot air, and the birdroom with propane forced hot air. My part of the house is 68F daytime and 62F nighttime, and the birdroom 70F day and night. I can only make it if I stop using the propane heater, which means decommissioning the free flight birdroom. I have had the birdroom for just short of ten years now and it looks like I have no choice but to give it up as a luxury I cannot afford. And this is going to not be popular with the birds, of course, especially Sunshine Senegal.

In the summer of 2006, my Mom moved in with me and I gave her the warmest room in the house as her bedroom; the living room where I kept the birds in their cages and watched TV. I had to move the birds to the 20 by fifteen family room and install a propane heater for them to keep them warm. I was still able to work then, and Mom also contributed to the household expenses, so it wasn't a financial problem. But I got injured at work (back injury) and then had a heart attack and had to go on disability some years later. My income dropped from over 70,000 per year to 30,000. Mom died in 2012 and I lost her assistance with the household bills, and it has been a down hill slide ever since. Social Security is getting only a 0.2% raise for next year: somewhere between two and five dollars a MONTH more!

I have to move the birds back into the living room, keeping them caged for most of the day to keep them safe from my cats. Doing this will allow me to keep all my pets and the house, but it is going to be a real jolt to the flock. The birds will have to get used to having the cats in the room at times and I will have to make sure to keep everyone safe. Lots and lots of stress, but I at least keep everyone together and with me. If push comes to shove, I can make the living room a cat free zone, but since I cannot heat the family room, I cannot use it as a living room. Put the other TV in the office and use it as a back up social room? If I can manage to handle everyone safely... Well, I don't have a choice.

I am just at my wit's end and can't think of any other solutions for the problem. Anyone have any ideas? I would really appreciate you guys' input. I am not going to find a cheaper place to live who will accept my pets. I am stuck here. Possibly able to take in a room mate, but... ARUGH!!!

Do you or have you looked at signing up for the budget plan for electricity and gas? As in they'll take your last year's bills and average them out so you'll have a fixed amount to pay in either for a year? It minimizes any "surprise" bad winters ...

 

[Birdbabe]

Sorry to hear sweetie, can you go to the local church for a food box? My freind did it for a bit. He got canned good, veggies, meat, bread.. don't be embarrassed .Hope you are Ok.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Already on budget plan for heat, electric, etc. I do not belong to a local church and am not a Christian or even a "book" religion observer. I am a Wiccan Pagan and I do not feel it is appropriate for me to take resources meant for people who are actually worse off than I am as well as having kids to feed. I just sometimes get really frustrated with the diet choices I am limited to due to my strict budget. Most days I am in too much pain to stand or even sit still long enough to cook a meal from scratch. I do a lot of frozen meals, lots of soups and stews. I am always able to get enough food every month to keep me healthy and fuel my body adequately. It just isn't usually what I crave to eat; like today I wanted a big piece of ham complete with bacon, green beans and potatoes.... I will schedule myself for a diner visit where I know they serve that menu and get my "fix". It has been an amazing wake up call since 2007 when I had to stop working. Going from 70,000 a year to 24,000 a year was a huge lifestyle downgrade!

My BFF takes me out to eat twice a month as a treat and gets really upset with me if I don't let her know what I am craving. I am due for my pot roast "fix" at the end of the month! I never would have made it through everything that has happened to me since 2006 with out my BFF. She is a real treasure and a true lifesaver.

 

[Dartman]

We signed up for equal pay here several years ago after we moved in and hit several cold snaps that drove our electric bill way higher than we expected. This year they actually dropped our monthly bill because last year stayed really warm so we used much less power. I also turn the heat down to 65 or 66 during the day and 60 at night.
Nerd bird lived like that 25 years uncovered and was just fine. Later we got him a ceramic heat bulb that draws very little power so he could sit by it if he felt cold. Lurch we did the same except he was used to being covered and he also was fine and now Dobby we do the same. As long as they have time to acclimatize and don't get hit with sudden huge cold swings they'll be fine.
We also use LED lights and have a HE washer and new efficient dryer. Some of the rooms have insulated curtains too and I try to keep the doors sealed up. It also helps that house has new double pane windows, very good insulation in everything. It keeps our water and electricity bills reasonable and blankets and sweaters are cheap. You can also use electric blankets to keep your warm at night and drop unnecessary things like cable TV or at least call them and say you'll drop them if the price isn't more reasonable. I call Comcast, ask for retentions, and tell them I like my TV but I like eating and paying my mortgage more. They ALWAYS make me a deal to stay, usually at least 50 a month off, sometimes more.
Like said eat cheaper meals etc, maybe get that room mate. Good luck, its tough when stuff like this happens and don't be afraid to apply for any help you might be qualified for

 

[finchly]

The food at the church pantry is for whoever needs it. You don't have to belong there, in fact the people there expect you NOT to be a part of their church. (Members are often too embarrassed to get food from the pantry.) Find a church or two where you can get food, winter is coming. I used to run one of those pantries, and would have gotten to know you and your needs and possibly gathered bird seed and cat food for you.

A roommate, if reliable, is a great solution. I know often they cause more stress than good.

I don't feel like cutting back on elec. is really the answer here? Maybe I'm wrong. You can only cut back so far. So I am going to be the really bad guy in this thread. A few months ago I had health issues and cut my flock back. I do not have cats, i do have 3 dogs and believe me a lot of thought went into possibly taking the 3rd dog back to her breeder. I didn't do that. Instead I let go of every single zebra finch .... over 50. I think it was 56. The food bill went down to half (zebras are messy and toss a lot of their food). The time spent went to half. Cleaners, etc will also be half.

I know zebras are not cockatiels (I have those too) but they have personalities, they had names, etc. It was incredibly hard to do. One guy fell in love with them and took them all and they are living in an indoor aviary with almost constant attention... the lap of luxury so to speak. They are better off. And so am I. It is hard and I think of them daily. He said I can come visit but I haven't.

I did the same with my horses when I got fibromyalgia back in the day, before anyone knew what it was. Could barely walk, income that year was $7,000 ---with 3 kids .... I thought it would kill me to rehome the horses. The agony was before i actually did it; afterward I mourned some but felt more at peace.

So this may not be a popular post or idea but I have walked in your shoes more than once. When we feel that we are the 'only one' who can care well for a fid, cat, dog, horse - we are wrong. That is in fact arrogant thinking. Others can Care for them as well or better, and we need to give the animals the best they can have for their short life. And when you are compromising your health you run the risk of them going to who-knows-where. Best to take care of all that now while you are the one in control. Just my 2 cents.