Tag: unemployment

Prosperity, the Economy, Lincoln and Me

Posted on Posted in family fun, work & the economyTagged , 9 Comments

Karen posted this today on her blog and I loved it so much I had to throw it over here and share it with all of you, too. In only slightly related news my husband has a phone interview next week with Dream Company. We are trying not to be giddy, but also secretly dreaming about moving trucks while slightly dreading the big move that would relocate us awfully far away from our support system (i.e. friends and family). This week he had a phone interview with Would Be Nice job that was only one hour away – but we knew it was kind of a long shot because one of their main criteria (java) he has no professional experience with. Kind of a deal breaker – but apart from that, the woman who interviewed him LOVED him and she’s looking into the company to see if there are any other jobs opening up that he’d be a fit for. The interview with Dream Company is for a job he’s perfectly qualified for but the job is SO freaking good that we’re trying not to get our hopes up because um it’s amazing and perfect, apart from being a 13 17 hour drive away. So far these are the only two jobs that have contacted him for an interview but his lovely wife searches for new jobs daily so if neither of these jobs end up biting, eventually somebody has to.

Dan’s only been out of college for 2 years – meaning he’s only had 2 years of real world work experience – which means that no matter how brilliant he is, and no matter how quickly he picks up new programming languages and can literally do anything (I’m not exaggerating, honestly, I think he might be a genius) – he still only has two years experience and hasn’t had time to become a seasoned expert in everything yet. And in this economy – you know there are other people who have. In a normal economy, this wouldn’t hold him back – heck in a normal economy, he’d still have his old job. But regardless, right now I’m just crossing my fingers that either Dream Company or Would Be Nice job offer him something – or that the other perfect job we don’t know about shows up soon. Thank god we’re really good at living cheaply now that we have to, in the meantime.

Anyway yeah – economy – Abraham Lincoln – stuff. I’m off to put the toddler to bed and watch Jeapordy. Good night guys!

What Splurges Are Worth It?

Posted on Posted in family funTagged , 4 Comments

Sara @ On Simplicity wrote a post today about what 3 splurges are still worth it in this economy. I think this question might have been easier to answer a few weeks ago. Since Dan lost his job though the question is a bit harder – we are trying to spend our bare minimum these days. We found a TON of things we simply didn’t need to buy, thank goodness, and this has helped us save some money. But some things we’ve held on to that are probably considered splurges:

  1. Our netflix account – I thought about canceling this but for $12 a month we have cheap at home entertainment. Since our cable plan is so cheap ($10 a month) we aren’t already spending a lot on “the same thing” – in fact, we get only VERY basic cable, i.e. no movie channels so it really does still make sense. I also thought about canceling our cable plan but we’d actually lose money – some fee would be charged for only having internet (which in this day and age we need) that costs more than our cable bill! Now, all those decisions would change if he remains unemployed for a long time, but at this point, we’re holding those splurges.
  2. Some things at the grocery store come to mind that maybe we don’t need but we’re currently still buying (for now) – like Greek yogurt (we use the heck out of our Greek yogurt though – it’s in all sorts of the things we cook). I hope we can still justify another tub of greek yogurt the next time we run out. We cut out a lot of things in our grocery lists, which I think make space for the things we really love and use – but it’s nice to know there are still things we can cut out the day we decide we need to save more.
  3. The cost of gas to visit friends and family – when we don’t know how much longer we’ll be living here, it makes sense to visit people while we can – and it’s cheaper than going to the mall, that’s for sure!

Things like fair trade coffee, Yogi tea, going out to eat, expensive gadgets – those are nice, but they are just nice and at the end of the day, we don’t really need them. It’s almost comforting to know that though. In good news – Dan has a phone interview tomorrow with a company that is only one hour away in a town we could afford to live in if we decide the commute is too much – so cross your fingers for that one!

What three splurges are worth it in your lives?

So Here’s What’s Up

Posted on Posted in family fun, op edTagged , , , , , , , , 12 Comments

Spring has sprung and life continues to change. For us it’s changing a lot. My husband’s company literally ran out of money, forcing them to “lay him off” – i.e. they had nothing to pay him with so he has no job. This happened last week. We’re doing okay. We’re job hunting, we filed for unemployment, we’re doing all the normal things you do. Nobody is freaking out, for the most part. Money is tight. But we’re doing okay.

We’ve told our parents and a few other people but there are still a lot of people who don’t know – talk about a weird subject to bring up – mostly I just don’t know where to start – or don’t want to talk about it – you know we’re dealing with it but I’m really doing fine and just don’t want to talk about it mostly. All we can do is look for new work. Where that new work will be, I have no idea. We are looking in this area but there isn’t much that wouldn’t involve a ridiculous commute. We’re looking further away and have this one state that we are kind of half in love with but it’s over 1,000 miles away – i.e. over 13 hours drive away – i.e. kissing our support network goodbye. All our friends and family, for the most part, live very close by and that would cease to exist. It should bother us more than it does I’m thinking.

Part of me wants to go – the cost of living here is terrible, as I’ve mentioned before and frankly it sounds like an adventure to me. But I’d miss people – and it’s scary, the idea of breaking off – especially being all 22 weeks pregnant and whatnot – that would likely mean finding a new doctor, new health insurance, a new hospital – and who knows who’d be able to come see the new baby, much less watch MM while I’m in the hospital. It’d be tough. But obviously people do it.

So you know it sucks but in some ways it’s almost awesome – a big chance for change – but it’s no secret this economy sucks and mostly I’m just hoping we can find work before our money dries up. And that’s pretty much all I feel like saying about that. For now. If you’ve noticed me being less chatty than usual / abandoning Twitter, etc. that’s why. The small talk is kind of wearing on me to be honest – plus with Dan home, I’m trying to spend time with him instead of just playing on my computer. I’m also helping him job hunt and applying for any government aid I think we can get. Every little bit helps right? Lord knows how long this job hunt will last. I’m still reading your blogs and mostly commenting but I’m also still laying low. Don’t take it personally – I’m sure I’ll get back in the swing of things before you know it.