Laid off--Support thread

[kathianne]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm... trade in for a newer model and reduce payments? Now that's something I could go for, especially since we're finding our car a little small, would perhaps like to trade in for a van or larger car, of course, now's not the time to incurr new debt, but if its a reduction of debt....better act quick, he only has a verifable job for another week, might be something to consider,

but usually deals like that somehow roll your payments into your new payment and you have the loan for longer time, so your payments are indeed lower but you pay much more interest, but then again...............something to consider

 

[T. Lynn]

I too and currently searching for a job. I've submitted over 20 resumes with only 2 real leads.

I do have an interview this week so I'm trying to stay positive & keep my fingers crossed. I need something soon...

 

[barb383]

To all those who have lost jobs I feel for you. My husband was downsized on 2/4/08 and it completely blindsided us. He went in expecting to talk about a raise because he had such good sales ect... and his boss (who really was a jerk) told him the company had decided not to spend anymore time or money in his territory and he was out of a job. We were so distraught with 2 small kids...I can't even discribe the fear. So hugs to all you guys going through this. I do have to say that it really is true...the Lord works in mysterious ways...My hubby got his dream job 2 months later. Better salary, better benefits and he loves his job. Priceless. So chin up...sometimes you never know what is going to become your biggest blessing!! He would've hung on for who knows how long at a job he hated because he hates thinking of himself as a quitter. But this was the kick in the pants he needed. I hope things work out for all of you

 

[kathianne]

So we're hunkering down for a spell of unemployment. Even though DH has a lot of job leads it will take time to process them, we will see at least several weeks of no paycheck so we have to weather that. We have some savings but not much, our cc debt is small. DH does qualify for unemployment but that's a drop in the bucket, but we'll take it, of course.

I'm fortunate to have a WAH job that I can up my hours, I can make $600--$1000/2 weeks, depends on the hours, etc at least I already have that so just crank it up. Good to have more than one egg in the basket.

We're both looking at being Cha Cha guides, just wish we'd applied sooner, but get started now. What's killing us is our Cobra which I carry from a past job and that option runs out soon. I've been stockpiling food when on sale so we shoud be ok with that, perhaps look at lowering our car insurance or switching companies but we need to act fast, they don't like to insure you if unemployed, might be better to stick with the same company and just increase the deductibles.

Also looking at the usual, cutting down on cable and cell phone, but really, dh needs the cell phone more than ever since he's doing a job search and the kids need theirs for security, so not much to cut there.

We're looking at changing electric companies to a cheaper rate, but there again I need to get on that right away, you can't change electric companies if unemployed! Seems your options really change while unemployed, you're stuck with higher payments on everything. At least we have some notice to work with, many here were just canned with absolutely no warning.

there's no loyalty to the worker anymore. You can devote years to a company, then one day you're just out with nothing, perhaps a little severence, perhaps nothing, all the while they continue to go on golf vacations, spas, etc. There should be some sort of law about notice, severence, etc person shouldn't live constantly wondering if this is their last day.

Its best to have a back up plan, at least I have my home job, that's something, a person really should have many eggs in many baskets. We're looking at this as a time of the cup being half-full. DH hasn't had a vacation for ages, he just keeps working, he's contract, so even if he gets a vacation off its unpaid. Perhaps he can at least spend Thanksgiving at home without trying to juggle work hours around it! We can weather 1-2 months of unemployment before things get really tight around here.

Does anyone know if we can get lowered mortgage payments? But I hesitate to call up and tell them we're unemployed, that might hurt us. Also, I'm looking at re-negoiating our cc interest, however, has anyone called a cc and told them they're unemployed? They might just cancel your whole cc! I'm also thinking of taking out another cc with a zero interest introductory rate, that could help float us for awhile.

Well, any more suggestions? I was thinking of applying for reduced lunch at school, but my daughter usually takes her lunch, anyways, she says the lunch is so small she prefers to bring her own. Also I'm not too sure I want the school to know our financial situation.

Also to raise some cash we're having a garage sale, sold some clothes to a re sale shop, selling books on amazon, anything to raise extra cash, also I'm selling some stuff on Ebay, should sell for Christmas, its not much, but every bit helps. I'm really anxious about Christmas presents for my kids, even though its not as much as previous years, we need to celebrate the holidays, they're only children once. So now is a good time to get rid of old stuff, sell it for whatever, get something, also, we have a head start if we need to move clearing out this stuff!

Oh,well, perhaps this year Black Friday will be a nesessity!

 

[C.Ann]

Hugs and good luck to all of you..

You might want to go over to the CB and post how many of you are laid off because there's still a whole bunch of people claiming this isn't happening- it's all "media hype"..

 

[Aimeedyan]

DH was laid off about 2 weeks ago. This is the 2nd layoff for him in 4 months but this time, the economy is VERY different. He processed car loans. Things were already slow and then their funder, Lehman Brothers, collapsed.

He has several leads but got two rejections this week. So discouraging.

 

[Kriii]

Hugs and prayers to all of you going through this tough time. Dh has a great and stable job BUT would have never been in this position if he had not been laid off several years ago and forced to job hunt. Good things can come in the long run. Hang in there!

 

[happygirl]

hang in there everyone

 

[patita71]

So we're hunkering down for a spell of unemployment. Even though DH has a lot of job leads it will take time to process them, we will see at least several weeks of no paycheck so we have to weather that. We have some savings but not much, our cc debt is small. DH does qualify for unemployment but that's a drop in the bucket, but we'll take it, of course.

I'm fortunate to have a WAH job that I can up my hours, I can make $600--$1000/2 weeks, depends on the hours, etc at least I already have that so just crank it up. Good to have more than one egg in the basket.

We're both looking at being Cha Cha guides, just wish we'd applied sooner, but get started now. What's killing us is our Cobra which I carry from a past job and that option runs out soon. I've been stockpiling food when on sale so we shoud be ok with that, perhaps look at lowering our car insurance or switching companies but we need to act fast, they don't like to insure you if unemployed, might be better to stick with the same company and just increase the deductibles.

Also looking at the usual, cutting down on cable and cell phone, but really, dh needs the cell phone more than ever since he's doing a job search and the kids need theirs for security, so not much to cut there.

We're looking at changing electric companies to a cheaper rate, but there again I need to get on that right away, you can't change electric companies if unemployed! Seems your options really change while unemployed, you're stuck with higher payments on everything. At least we have some notice to work with, many here were just canned with absolutely no warning.

there's no loyalty to the worker anymore. You can devote years to a company, then one day you're just out with nothing, perhaps a little severence, perhaps nothing, all the while they continue to go on golf vacations, spas, etc. There should be some sort of law about notice, severence, etc person shouldn't live constantly wondering if this is their last day.

Its best to have a back up plan, at least I have my home job, that's something, a person really should have many eggs in many baskets. We're looking at this as a time of the cup being half-full. DH hasn't had a vacation for ages, he just keeps working, he's contract, so even if he gets a vacation off its unpaid. Perhaps he can at least spend Thanksgiving at home without trying to juggle work hours around it! We can weather 1-2 months of unemployment before things get really tight around here.

Does anyone know if we can get lowered mortgage payments? But I hesitate to call up and tell them we're unemployed, that might hurt us. Also, I'm looking at re-negoiating our cc interest, however, has anyone called a cc and told them they're unemployed? They might just cancel your whole cc! I'm also thinking of taking out another cc with a zero interest introductory rate, that could help float us for awhile.

Well, any more suggestions? I was thinking of applying for reduced lunch at school, but my daughter usually takes her lunch, anyways, she says the lunch is so small she prefers to bring her own. Also I'm not too sure I want the school to know our financial situation.

Also to raise some cash we're having a garage sale, sold some clothes to a re sale shop, selling books on amazon, anything to raise extra cash, also I'm selling some stuff on Ebay, should sell for Christmas, its not much, but every bit helps. I'm really anxious about Christmas presents for my kids, even though its not as much as previous years, we need to celebrate the holidays, they're only children once. So now is a good time to get rid of old stuff, sell it for whatever, get something, also, we have a head start if we need to move clearing out this stuff!

Oh,well, perhaps this year Black Friday will be a nesessity!

I'm doing the same, I have a bunch of items to put on ebay. I went to the WAHM.com based on your pp, see what I can find in there. I also tried looking for Yahoo Notes, is it listed as something else. I tried to sign up for chacha but failed the first test
I had been cutting back on electricity usage, replaced bulbs with CFLs, use power strips which I turn off when not using, unplugging the coffee machine as soon as the coffee is done, lowering/turning off the AC for a couple of hours a day.
I am also wondering how to go about talking to the cc companies about reducing the rates. I have one that went up from one statement to the next for no reason, never late (on any of the cards) never over the limit, just went up.

 

[dznyacct]

I found out in May 2007 that at the end of this year our department, along with quite a few others would be consolidated in Indianapolis (~ an hour away) once our joint venture hospital opened. I have been an Accountant at this medical clinic for 22 years. The kicker is I was offered another Accountant position a few months ago (no pay cut and local) with the clinic and then two months later due to some legal restructuring it became "the incredible disappearing job" . I was truly devastated and thought I was going to give myself an ulcer. I measure my good days by if I don't break down and cry at work . I will receive a retention & severance package and one month of COBRA. COBRA at ~$1200/month was really freaking me out. DH is self employed, so I have always been the insurance provider. I have been casually looking for openings for ~ 6 months, but refused to leave the company early. Too much blood, sweat and tears (waaaaay too many tears) have been shed for me to give up the retention/severance $$.

~ 2 months ago I applied for an Accountant position at our local university (Purdue). It was a slow process, but after 2 interviews, I was offered the job yesterday !! The pay is quite a bit less, but the benefits are great (half price tuition for my son who is a Freshman is really great!!). My wonderful, wonderful current boss spoke with HR about my retention/severance $$ (I will be leaving full time ~ 5 weeks before the official "end"). I will receive it in full because I have agreed to go to an hourly status and help my boss with a lot of final tax returns and other housekeeping issues. The time will be very flexible and the extra $$ won't hurt.

I know how awful this is for everyone. I know it wasn't my fault, but my self esteem has been unbelievably horrible. It was almost worse knowing so far ahead that this was going to happen. At the start I felt like I had been told that I had 18 months to live. I am very much a worrier anyway and this was so much to worry about. I have a very strong faith in God, knowing that He had some plan for me, but I am also not very patient. Every night I would pray for God to give me some sign that everything would be OK.

I hope that all my DIS board friends who are going through this awful trial/struggle will be OK . I have truly been blessed with a terrific husband and a 19 yo son who is wise beyond his years and a great source of strength to me.

 

[cheriemek]

Hugs to all of you. While we are ok now, there was a time when DH was laid off, and I was a SAHM. I know how scary it is.

 

[kathianne]

bumping up this thread!

Well, dh has one week left, and two more paychecks, then that's that.

He has had a lot of interest generated already, he was in the process of job hunting anyways when the lay off was announced because we didn't trust the job, so at least he's along in that regard. Just the whole process of writing a resume, posting it, getting geared up for the job hunt takes time so we're at least along that road.

I'm doing all I can with my work at home job, its an order process job, sales are slooooow , I've made about $520 that last 1.5 weeks, so that's something. I't just such a scary time to be out of work, we don't have any savings because it was all used up for medical bills, we were just starting to build up our emergency fund when this happened.

We also have a sick cat. He's an old kitty, about 10-12 years, we're not sure because he was an adult when we got him. He's lost a great deal of weight recently. I have an appointment scheduled for him tomorrow, but the last thing we need right now is high vet bills. Fortunately we do have pet insurance I took it out for just this scenario, we're laid off and a pet gets sick and we can't afford the bills. However the insurance doesn't pay as well as we wish, last summer we had a $450 bill and it paid about $125. But its something.

The kitty is old and I suspect cancer. We had a cat die from cancer a few years ago and the bills were sky-high. We can't let it go that route now. He's an old baby, perhaps his time has come, I don't want him to suffer but we want to help him if its something treatable.

Another thing to consider is that we need to take care of the cat now for dh sake, it would be a real blow to his pride if he felt he couldn't take care of his cat due to the lay off. Its dh's cat, that cat follows im everywhere, sleeps with him, its his baby!

I'm just sad thinking tonight we might get bad news tomorrow about the cat, but we will see, we have to establish our priorities.

 

[mum4jenn]

Still not real news on Dhs job BUT I did find out some info that has me a little scared.

It turns out that all four plant managers with Cooper Tire (Ohio,Miss., Ark., and GA) have ALL been re-assigned. To me that sounds as if all 4 plants could be potentially closed since there are already plants in China, Mexico, and Europe.

It does still look like they should start going back to working regular hours though at least for the time being starting in November. I sure hope so. I did manage to get the November house payment made and there is almost enough left in savings to make Dhs truck payment for November. Hopefully since that is not due until the 3rd week of November we can get enough scraped together so we don't have to take that last bit out of savings.

 

[kathianne]

Still not real news on Dhs job BUT I did find out some info that has me a little scared.

It turns out that all four plant managers with Cooper Tire (Ohio,Miss., Ark., and GA) have ALL been re-assigned. To me that sounds as if all 4 plants could be potentially closed since there are already plants in China, Mexico, and Europe.

It does still look like they should start going back to working regular hours though at least for the time being starting in November. I sure hope so. I did manage to get the November house payment made and there is almost enough left in savings to make Dhs truck payment for November. Hopefully since that is not due until the 3rd week of November we can get enough scraped together so we don't have to take that last bit out of savings.

That realls sticks that you're sweating making your house and truck payments, while our jobs go overseas. and my husband is losing out on jobs because there's always a foreign national who can take the job for less pay. We would take less pay if offered, any job, what's he supposed to do, work at Walmart?

AMERICAN JOBS SHOULD BE FOR AMERICAN WORKERS!!!!!!!!!!

We're quickly becoming second-class citizens in our own country!

 

[kathianne]

It also seems every time you turn around someone has their hand in your pocket, we're supposed to contribute for this and that, yes, I know the kids activities take funding, but it never ends, always something, wanting money for tee-shirts, banners, the real kicker was last Sunday, we're thinking we can't afford church anymore--first, the "donation" for Sunday shcool for kids and us, then the donation for church service, then an afternoon youth group wants a donation, then they had some missionaries come and talk and expect another donation. we put $1 in, that was all we had, we came home from church flat broke!

It was all I could do to keep from telling the missionaries off--wanting a donation for a children's home in India, I felt like saying there's a large Indian community here with all the good high-paying tech jobs, go hit them up for a donation, we're contributing already to a childrens home---our childrens home!

 

[kathianne]

I'm sweating this week, we get paid Friday, have just $50 in the checking account, trying to keep gas down, have kids walk to school, pinching pennies and coupons just for tonight's dinner, then we're supposed to contribute to some childrens home in another country, hello------------let them take care of their own, that's what we have to do!

 

[kathianne]

Sorry my posts are quite bitter, but we're on the line here financially, that church day sucked us dry, guess we will just worship God from home this Sunday.

 

[DisMN]

It also seems every time you turn around someone has their hand in your pocket, we're supposed to contribute for this and that, yes, I know the kids activities take funding, but it never ends, always something, wanting money for tee-shirts, banners, the real kicker was last Sunday, we're thinking we can't afford church anymore--first, the "donation" for Sunday shcool for kids and us, then the donation for church service, then an afternoon youth group wants a donation, then they had some missionaries come and talk and expect another donation. we put $1 in, that was all we had, we came home from church flat broke!

It was all I could do to keep from telling the missionaries off--wanting a donation for a children's home in India, I felt like saying there's a large Indian community here with all the good high-paying tech jobs, go hit them up for a donation, we're contributing already to a childrens home---our childrens home!

Does your church know you're own funds are dwindling to the point of almost zero? If not, please swallow your pride, let someone there know about your situation and ask for help if need be. I know we like to give our offerings to our churches but those same places of worship can also be places to go for help and love from the congregation in times like these.

Good luck to everyone laid off right now. DH went through this a few years back and was off for close to a year. I came to the DIS asking for budget ideas and got some wonderful replies and moral support at a time I desperately needed it. His job is stable now but it's touch and go....he had all the overtime he could handle just a few weeks ago but now they're talking layoffs in the spring.

 

[DisMN]

Sorry my posts are quite bitter, but we're on the line here financially, that church day sucked us dry, guess we will just worship God from home this Sunday.

Not bitter but scared.
I'm so sorry for everyone going through this......it really sucks rocks.

 

[kathianne]

Does your church know you're own funds are dwindling to the point of almost zero? If not, please swallow your pride, let someone there know about your situation and ask for help if need be. I know we like to give our offerings to our churches but those same places of worship can also be places to go for help and love from the congregation in times like these.

Good luck to everyone laid off right now. DH went through this a few years back and was off for close to a year. I came to the DIS asking for budget ideas and got some wonderful replies and moral support at a time I desperately needed it. His job is stable now but it's touch and go....he had all the overtime he could handle just a few weeks ago but now they're talking layoffs in the spring.

Insofar as leting the church know, well, we didn't really realize ourselves until just this weekend we had $100 to last until next pay day, our situation just stretched that thin that fast.

My dh was working contract, hence no benefits, no severence pay, we carry cobra from a job I had for awhile last Spring, its the only deal we can get and its eating us up. We can change the terms of the insurance but not until next Jan, hopefully dh will have a job with benefits by then.

I would look for something but I homeschool my LD son, that's why I quit my job last Spring. He's made so much more progress with the right environment. Of course, I could have dh homeschool him if I found a job first, we could trade back and forth, it might be good to have a break in teachers, so I will start to look for something ASAP, it might be a long spell until dh finds something, also, I do have a work-at-home job, its LiveOps, but its not paying too well lately. Its a job where you take telephone orders for things people buy from the tv, stuff like makeup, exercise equipment, etc, pretty easy work and convenient, I can schedul 24/7, but you only get paid if you get calls, last night I worked 2 hours and got 18 min of calls! Its usually better than that. I like the job well enough, but need something more.

Its flexible, I usually work late nights, from 10--3 am, then get up about 9 am, my son just gets up when I do, so it works out fine for that, I just wish it paid more.

The IRS is hiring seasonal workers, I might look at that, also substitute teaching, but they don't pay benefits which we need.

Well, thanks for the support, also, I will have dh home starting Friday, I don't know what to do with him home all day, I'm sure he will be depressed and down because of this, so I intend to do what I can to help his spirits.

Thanks for everyone's kind words, things will work out!