Introductions

So who exactly are these three people who are crazy enough to start this blog and write about being broke, how stressed they are and how crazed life has gotten for each of them lately? We are Chasity D, Shana R, and Gina G. Here are our condensed lives for your perusal:

Chasity D.:

I am a recent nursing school graduate. I have just completed a 15 month accelerated program that did not allow me to work full-time. During the last 12 months of the program, I was faced with a heart-breaking end to a 4 year relationship with someone I truly cared about and admired. This then led to a "humble" $2000 per month solo living expense for just basic necessities - rent being the majority of my costs. I have worked 5-6 hours a week babysitting but let's face it, it does not pay $2000 per month. I have been living off of my savings and well, frankly, funds are running very low. The job market is highly competitive, my lease expires in 2 months, so I basically have 2 months to find a nursing job before my funds are depleted and I lose my apartment. I will be writing about ways to prepare healthy meals on a budget without sacrificing taste as well as low-cost and free ways to enjoy life despite the hardships we are facing during these trying times. Gina, Shana and I are here to try to help you remain positive by leading healthy lives!

Gina G.:

I'm a...um, well lets just call it "married" *cough*( we are too lazy to go make it official) mom of two toddler boys, ages 2 and 3 (insert Irish twins joke here) who up until August of 2009 made a 98K a year at a pretty boring job for a huge insurance company that got itself into some hot water, financially speaking. The result was that on a fateful Wednesday I was laid off and my income completely cut off except for the $450 I now make a week in unemployment benefits. My current full-time job is as a SAHM (stay at home mom) who is constantly trying to make her husbands paycheck stretch to cover rent, groceries and the myriad of bills any normal family has while trying to save AND while not losing her mind - aka "stressed and crazed". I will be hunting for online coupons to share with you, looking for deals and trying to find cheap ways of keeping two "high -spirited" (read: insane) boys from being completely bored this winter and possibly orchestrating a mutiny in which my husband will come home and find me tied to a chair while the boys go all "Lord of the Flies" on me.

Shana R.:

I am a SAHM with two beautiful girls, ages 9 and 1 and two cute doggies.  I’ve been married to my wonderful husband for almost 15 years and would not describe our life together as “easy” by any means.  We were married almost 2 years after I graduated High School and started out with exactly 20 dollars in our pockets.  We’ve endured a lot of financial stresses over the years but these past two years have been the worst (financially).  With myself getting laid off January of 2008 and getting knocked up shortly after and the hubby getting laid off from his job of 12 years, in December 2008 (2 weeks after baby #2) it’s been hard.  Our little bundle of joy didn’t come into a joyous environment as the world around us began to crumble.  We were trying to adjust to our expanded family and expanded finances when the economy went down the drain.  All in all, we keep a positive outlook and try to maintain our dwindling bank account with the hopes of things turning around.  I will try to help give you all a positive approach in handling financial problems and how to get the bang for your buck when it comes to raising your kids from tweens to tots!

There you have it folks! We hope that you enjoy out take on being broke, stressed & crazed. We would love to hear from you often! Feel free to share your own stories and/or tips in our comments section or dropping us a line at brokestressedcrazed at gmail dot com.