A side note that I know my coupon buddies will appreciate.
SO here is the back story, almost 2 years ago to the day my DH had to be "let go" from a job he LOVED with a company he had been with for 9 1/2 years. It was a small company that specializes in commercial furiture (folding tables etc.) and playgroud equipment. He was their accounts manager/ website master and knew it was coming (even though he hoped it wouldn't) because their sale kept dropping with the down turn in the economy. People were just not buying new equipment if they could do without. The company really did keep him longer than it was financially benefical for them. (It really was like a small family. The owner cried when he had to tell him that they could no longer afford to keep him. He said it was like letting his own son go.) DH was unemployeed for 6 months (That was SUPER tough.) and has been with a different company doing collections calls
for the last year and a 1/2. We were thankful for this job and an income source but it is literally 1/2 of what he used to make. There had to be a lot of belt tightening for us. Our budget is pay the bills, put gas in the car, and save a little for our next Disney trip (our only non-essential, we don't buy expensive clothes, handbags, etc. We save for a few happy days with the mouse.) We did not realize that we had been living so extravagently until the fun money was not there. We have not been to the movie theater in at least a year, when before it was a weekly event. (You get the idea.) We were blessed to not be looking at foreclosure or anything like that. We were still making our bills, there was just very little left after bills and essentials.
Well today the son of the owner, who was one of the 3 employees left to keep the business going,
called DH and asked him if he could come back part time. He will not be making what he was before
BUT there is a possiblity that it could become full time with raises if business continues to go back to normal.
DH will be doing it in addition to the collections job. It will not put us back to what we were before he was "let go", but it will help SO much.
Like I said in a previous post we have needed a couch for a LONG time and we waited as long as we could, were so thankful that our tax return would cover it. Hopefully now with this additional income the other things that we need to do will be easier to take care of.
I told DH today that I think this whole thing was just a reminder that we need very little and want a lot. The best place to be is somewhere in the middle- have what you need and get a little of what you want. During this time I read a Dave Ramsey book that a friend let me borrow. It wasn't until then that I realized we had been living beyond our means. We were not super in debt (a little credit card debt but not much) and we were paying all of our bills on time and even a month ahead on somethings, but we were not good at saving. If we wanted it we got it, did it, etc.
The lesson learned is that savings must come first, because you never know when the unthinkable becomes your reality.
Hopefully this change will relieve the stress the finances can cause.
Rest assured, I will continue to coupon.
Thanks for the opportunity to share my good news.
It's nice to have a fundraiser where you don't have to sell something to your family, friends, coworkers and neighbors.
I definatley say that counts as a coupon. We thought about that but we only have 1 credit on or BL card. We really don't make it there often.
