[Turquesa]

This is the tribe for you if:

1. Your employer has given you the boot.
2. You fear for your job security and want to prepare for the impending Boot.
3. Either of the aforementioned sounds like your DP.
4. You've BTDT, survived, and have some wisdom to share.

I envision this tribe as offering:

1. Practical Support - e.g. ideas and even job leads, resume tips, advice for those re-entering the workforce, education on what our rights and opportunities are, tips on tightening purse strings during this difficult time . . . you name it!

2. Emotional Support - e.g. motivation to those who've sent out dozens of resumes and received zero replies, hugs for the discouraged, just a place to vent . . .

Here's our abridged story. DH is a software engineer at a mega-corporation, and I am a SAHM who left a social work job over a year ago to stay home with DD, who is now 17 months old. (No other LOs yet)

DH just got word of impending lay-offs in his group. He's dodged this bullet many times before. But this time, it's Russian Roulette with only one empty chamber.

We moved into our house in 2004, just barely before housing pricing skyrocketed. We took out a 15-year loan and spent $55K less than our maximum qualifying amount.

Apart from the mortgage, our only other debt to pay off is the rest of a major landscaping job on our quarter-acre lot.

The news came fast, so I don't really know where to go from here. I think

: we can stay in our house if we refinance to a 30-year loan and DH and I both job hunt aggressively. Although I've often fantasized about moving, I really don't want to attempt it in this lousy market, especially given the amount of work our house still needs.

I'm rambling, so I'll zip my lip and (hopefully!) hear from some of you in this situation.

I really hope this thread has some takers! I'm scared and could really use some encouragement, or even just empathy

:

Please share your stories and support with each other!

 

[holyhelianthus]

Here to offer

1,000,000 times over. DH was laid of twice at the beginning of this year as both companies went under.

 

[Kaitnbugsmom]

subbing.

We'll be transitioning out of the army back to civilian life in Nov/Dec, taking a cut of about 2/3rds paycut. So we are having to scale our expenses WAY back. Then to top it off, he'll be going back to school full time after we relocate next summer, leaving me as the primary wage earner. So I'm up for any and all tips, tricks, thoughts & ideas. I have a resume I had to write back in December as part of my business class, but haven't been able to work since then so I'll need some help updating & upgrading that as well as tips and ideas for cold-calling and whatever else might work since the job leads in general are scarce for the area we are moving to, at least on line, and the ones for my profession even more so.

 

[AutumnMom07]

Oh man do I need this tribe right now!

I got notice a month ago that my job will be no longer on Oct. 3rd. I work in the TV industry doing graphic design. I work for a news station, which is an industry going quickly down the tubes so there's really no jobs out there in the same exact field. I think I would need to take some classes to update my skills to be able to skip into a different design genre.

We had our first baby in 07 and were planning on buying a home this year (so much for that) DH and I were able to work opposite shifts so we didn't have to pay for daycare. If I go back on a regular schedule then I have no idea how we are going to afford full time daycare. We both made average salaries and don't have alot of consumer debt BUT we have student loans in the 6 figures! We don't have extravagant lives by any means so there's literally nothing left to cut out. These loans dictate our entire lives

: I am so confused as to what my next step should be! Should I shell out the cash to take some classes, Do I search for legit at home work? I have even considered doing my own daycare with 3 or 4 other kids but that requires licensing in my area which is difficult as a renter. I would love to do something on my own as a business. My actual field of study was Illustration and I would love to do this from home but who knows how long it would take to get work and whether or not it would be steady. I just can't come up with a solution and I am scared out of my mind. I never thought I would be in this situation. It seemed like we were finally on track...

I don't know what's worse; the uncertainty of the future or the anger and rejection I feel towards my employer. I feel like this is making me nuts

 

[mamasee]

I'm reading a book right now that might be helpful and encouraging. It's called "Your money or your life" by J. Dominguez and V. Robin. I borrowed it from the library (free!).
I think we are in a time in our country where we are going to need and benefit greatly from finding more community and sharing, sharing, sharing.

 

[SuzyLee]

Well, I have an over 50% chance of being laid off on Monday. My boss had "notifier training" this morning, and she only has 2 employees- me and another guy. Which means one or both of us is being laid off (and they have told us lay-offs will be happening on Mon).

I will have 6 weeks to find another job within my company. Then, bye bye paycheck.

We technically *could* survive on just DH's paycehck but it would be very tight. So I don't know what we will do.

 

[Love my 2]

My dh isn't working right now. I'm still working full time, doing 2 people's job at once. I'm so fried and would love to leave to be a SAHM, but that's nor doable at this time. HUGS to all of us. I think our nation is recieving a huge wake-up call to really evaluate what is important to us. Man, could I use some TLC right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AutumnMom07 Oh man do I need this tribe right now! we have student loans in the 6 figures! We don't have extravagant lives by any means so there's literally nothing left to cut out. These loans dictate our entire lives : I am so confused as to what my next step should be! Should I shell out the cash to take some classes,

You can get temporary time off from paying your student loans. dh is doing this till he's working again. You will continue to accrue interest, though

 

[amyamanda]

Count me in here. My DH's company is likely to fail in November when their income dries up. They're hoping to get another contract in that time that will carry them howevermanymore months, and my DH is optimistic, but as time goes on I'm feeling we need to be practical and expect that he'll be jobless at that time. I think it's likely.

I'm starting to acclimate myself to the idea of working outside the home after 10 years of SAHMing. Yikes. My youngest is 4 and weaned and loves being with Daddy, and my other kids are old enough that I'm not worried about their transition if he were to become the SAHP.

I am going to brush up my resume and scope out the local job market, to start with.

Thankfully it looks as though we'd get enough unemployment to cover our mortgage and our other loan, with a little left over for the other expenses.

We also have a 15-year mortgage and would be loathe to refinance, but if we had to we would. We might also just try to sell our house. We wanted to fix it up first, but that might become less of a priority if our financial situation crashes down.

Right now I'm working hardest at restructuring my expectations so it won't be a shock if we lose our income. Also trying to plan how to organize the house so DH could easily take over from me if I started working and he stayed home (we homeschool). And building up savings as much as possible from the next few months' income, at least enough to cover our midwinter fuel refill. DH has gotten some side jobs that will help fund savings. I want to preserve as much as possible from our garden also, and keep trying to be more frugal all the time.

 

[Turquesa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by magstphil Here to offer 1,000,000 times over. DH was laid of twice at the beginning of this year as both companies went under.

Thanks!

Well, we hear by Friday what DH's fate is.

Regardless of the outcome, we're both going to look for some new job opportunities.

AmyAmanda, you mentioned refinancing. Is anybody else here going with that option? We also have the 15-year loan. I'm not looking forward to the prospect, but it's probably a better deal than picking up and moving. I'd love to hear how best to go about it!

You're all on my mind and in my thoughts/prayers. This thread is hard on me emotionally, but I do need to lurk and post here . . .

ETA: SuzyLee, any word?

 

[phathui5]

My dh was laid off two Tuesdays ago. They eliminated his entire department. Thankfully, we have a largish emergency fund to get us through, to supplement my income from childcare and his unemployment, but we still have to tighten things up to make it last until he gets a good job.

 

[Synchro246]

About three weeks ago Dh was told they were going to be given a pay cut and then laid off. We had already been planning on selling our house and moving in with my mom to save money for a piece of property elsewhere that we could buy outright.

The day we got the news that his job was in jeopardy we started moving into my mom's. We are now doing the things we need to ready the house for sale (interior paint, carpet, & re-screen the porch). I want the house to be move-in-ready because hopefully that will help it move in this sluggish realestate market.

Good news is that, at least for now, the business is flush and the fear of him being laid off is pretty much gone. Weird. I'm glad that we made the move and will be able to pay the mortgage until it sells. Before I was considering the option of voluntary forclosure because the house isn't going to sell for much more than we owe, but now I don't really have to worry about it too much.

I know the solution of moving in with someone else and going debt-free isn't a viable option for a lot of people. It seems like a lot of people think that we are somehow going backwards and they don't understand that we are excited to not have debt. Ehh well. To heck with what others think. I'm thankful that we've made this more.

 

[Turquesa]

So . . . first the good news. DH tentatively gets to stay.

Not the bad: It's tentative. His corporation makes the recommendations for stay-ons and lay-offs and submits everything for a two-week legal review process. The lawyers want to avoid firings of anybody that could sue the company. So they're treading carefully with women, minorities, the disabled, and older employees who could accuse them of rushing their retirement. This is probably the one time in his life DH wishes he weren't a healthy white male in his early 30s . . .

I agree with what PPs have said about reevaluating our priorities and the meaning of community and support. It frightens me that our generation would be at a loss for how to handle another Great Depression . . .

You're all on my mind!

:

 

[amyamanda]

Checking in today. Hi, everyone.

We got back last night from a long-planned mini-vacation to visit friends at their lake home 3 hours north. The only cost to us was gas and food. I tried really hard to get good mileage and I think I did pretty well. We have a Suburban so it's challenging. I got over 18mpg average for the whole trip, including lots of hills and back dirt roads.

l am home now, and overwhelmed thinking about the upcoming possibilities. DH seems to have resigned himself to the understanding that his company is going under. Until now, he's been more optimistic. I am glad we're on the same page now - I hate to be a downer but I saw this coming when he refused to.

I'm just generally overwhelmed at the mess in our house after a few mini-vacations (with DH working regular and side jobs, no time to help us tidy up). But today I decided that gardening was more important. I'm working on harvesting and actually doing something with everything we are growing. I have never canned or pickled, and I've never frozen any food other than berries until this year. I'm planning to do dill pickles (easy crock recipe, canning is optional) and sauerkraut (also easy, canning optional), and to can tomatoes, and can applesauce (mostly from foraged apples). And freeze green beans, zucchini, cabbage, peppers, broccoli. We have a plum tree and I picked a whole bunch today and last night - now I have to do something with those. My neighbors have raspberries and apples that we can pick for free. It occurred to me that I ought to figure out how much food our family could eat per month if we were really frugal, and see what I can do now to stock up on stuff to stretch what we have. The food situation feels like something I have some power over, you know?

I decided today that the housework and my job search can mostly wait a little longer. I need to let the job stuff simmer in the back of my brain for a few days, anyway. I'm going to take a few days to breathe, breathe, breathe, and get a few good nights' sleep behind me, and then early next week I will make a plan. In the meantime I will work in the garden and try to catch up on preserving stuff from when we were away.

We homeschool, and DH has always been the FT breadwinner. We live rurally and don't have easy childcare options. So whatever we (him, me, or both of us) end up doing for work has to enable one of us to be home caring for the kids. I'm trying to be optimistic and open-minded and flexible about the outcome.

I have told a few friends that DH is likely to be out of work soon, and based on their reactions I think I need to re-evaluate the social politics of being jobless. It just felt so weird. I don't want anyone thinking "poor you" or trying to give us stuff in the name of charity, or judging our situation, but at the same time, I want to be resourceful and network well to get our needs met, so I suppose it is good for my friends to know what is going on with us.

I would love for others to use this forum as a place to process your thoughts about what you are going through. I would like to know I'm not alone in what I'm thinking, and I'm open to hearing suggestions.

 

[CanidFL]

I'm having a tough time in this market. I work in the construction field. My company is awesome. They keep telling us we are doing fine and will make it through the slow phase but they have laid off more than 20 people in the past few months. My group went from 9 people to 5 back in January and I think the only reason I survived is because I was on maternity leave.

DH was in the military and is now in school full time. We have a son and my income is the only thing keeping us off the streets.

I fear for what will happen if I were to get the boot.

Prices keep rising, jobs get cut and I'm scared

 

[phathui5]

Dh had two interviews yesterday. Nothing today. Being in sales is hard because he also gets a lot of attention from bogus MLM "companies" trying to get him to join their "team."

 

[littleaugustbaby]

Subbing, will have to go back and catch up on the thread in a bit.

I am a single mom, and I was laid off back in March. The job market here is horrible. Since March, I have had two interviews. The first one couldn't work with my schedule (I have a max of 10 hours of daycare per day, and they wanted me to work 8 hours plus 1 hour lunch, and it was over an hour commute each way), so they offered the position to someone else. The second interview was today, it went pretty well, and I should know next week. It's not going to be a whole lot of money, but my unemployment benefits run out in a few weeks, so at least it's something.

 

[DreamsInDigital]

I'm a SAHM of 4 and my DH was a manager in a call center. He'd been with the company for over three years, a manager for just shy of a year, when suddenly one day he was called into HR. He was suspended without pay for three days and went back to be told he was fired. For privacy reasons I can't say much more than that, but suffice it to say when DH told his side of the story to the woman that called from the employment department, the lady was silent for 15 seconds before saying "...and they fired you for that?" Unfortunately the state is an at-will work state so he had no way to fight his termination. He collects unemployment but it is not enough.

 

[avalonfaith]

i got laid off back on July 1st.

I've been in the mortgage industry since i was 18 (26 now) and i really don't have anything else i can do! i have no clue what to do. i'm going to school, working on getting my RN now, but my job was allowing me the money and the ours to do this. i worked at a smaller company that really did do right. they just got affected by this market. there obviously isn't any mortgage jobs open right now, i was already the last person i knew to still have a job in the industry so i got into the job market later then others. add that to no one wanting to hire anyone from the industry no matter what our position was or how great the company we worked for was. there is now a stigma against all mortgage people and they know that when the market turns we'll all probably go back to the industry.

(not me i plan on being a nurse by then.)

so yeah, luckily we can get along fine on DP's salary but missing the extra few thousand a month is pretty painful! i still have my son in daycare because i'm scared that if i do find a job i won't have a spot to put him in, we just dropped his days starting sept. 1st. (we paid his daycare in advance before i lost my job till then).

 

[vegmom]

Subbing-I am scared because we have debt and the local economy is not doing very good. I have started a wahm business but it is in its early stages.

 

[phathui5]

I've been posting ads to get new childcare clients on craigslist and a local homeschooling group and have had a couple responses. Luckily, my income doesn't affect dh's unemployment, so the more I pull in, the better.