I have a VERY personal question which I'd like an answer to IF you don't mind and PLEASE click "ANONYMOUS" before you PUBLISH so nobody will know who you are as this is quite personal stuff. My question is this:
Most of us couldn't pay our bills for more than a few months if we didn't have a salary coming in though some of you have been jobless for many months. HOW HAVE YOU LIVED? Have you had government aid? Did you have savings? Did you have inheritance money? Would you share how you've lived? Yes, it's VERY VERY PERSONAL, so PLEASE use ANONYMOUS if you feel better by doing so. I'm not interested in prying into private lives, I'm just very interested in wondering HOW THE HECK DO YOU, or DID YOU, DO IT$$$??
I'm hoping maybe some of your comments might help others, too. Either give advice or warning or encouragement, tips?
Thanks... Z
49 comments:
ramen noodles and prayer
odd jobs here and there
Thankfully I haven't lost my job, but my ernings have dropped by 30%... If my belt gets any tighter, it will be a collar with a leash attached...
Very much a wake up call...
We've been very fortunate. My hubs drives a semi, locally. The prices seem to go down every week, and the prices go up, but so far, we've been able to pay the bills.
I do know there are jobs. Our local paper always has ads. Maybe they aren't what you really want, but they are there.
I heard a report not too long ago that Bismark, ND had over 8500 new jobs available in every sector. Of course, you'd probably have to move, but I think the city is helping with moving too.
All I know, it is sad when all the jobs have been lost. IMHO, the employers are laying off people because they can. They'd rather pay the 6 months unemployment, rather than the wages and benefits. My niece works in an office that laid off all but her and another girl. They are doing the work of 10 others, and the business itself hasn't lost any business. Something weird is going on in America.
I know this is long, but I wanted to vent a little.
We're okay for now...My husband's job is secure (contract furniture), but his commission sales income depends largely on State/city budgets -- so there's the rub. Consequently, he has been 'beating the bushes' a LOT in private sector & cutting prices - even below state contract pricing - just to win bids.
After 9-11, he lost his job to lay-offs & developed his own ceramic tile business (he's very handy that way). For months, we depended on that income to make ends meet. It was a very tough time, and God is so good.
Btw, Z, I LOVE that C.S. Lewis quote you've got up!!! Just made my day!
Since Mr. AOW lost his job in January 2008, we've been living on savings (some inherited) and the small amount I earn (by DC standards). Also, Mr. AOW had a part time job, which he worked until his stroke of September 2009.
For a time, I used Angel Food Ministries every month.
I do cook a lot more, and we very rarely go out for dinner or other entertainment -- even before Mr. AOW's stroke.
And vacations stopped too.
Now, if we'd had a house payment or car payments, we'd have gone bankrupt, I think. Savings and low-paying jobs sustain a family for only so long!
More on the teacher firings
Off topic but you may wish to follow this one.
"If my belt gets any tighter, it will be a collar with a leash attached..."
I'm so sure this kind of situation feels EXACTLY like that and thank you for your comment.
Anon...we'll be praying for you. All the best.
Linda...thanks so much for sharing that. Also, you said "They'd rather pay the 6 months unemployment, rather than the wages and benefits. My niece works in an office that laid off all but her and another girl. They are doing the work of 10 others, and the business itself hasn't lost any business. Something weird is going on in America."
I think what's 'weird' is we've never had a president so pessimistic. I heard a report recently that said businesses are scared to death to hire because they don't KNOW WHAT'S COMING...They're afraid of having too much strapped onto them in the way of taxes, forced health care provision for all employees, some unions have become emboldened with sweet deals for them, etc etc.
Who wouldn't want to have 2 doing the work of 10 $$$? it's very sad and I hope that changes SOON.
AND, I agree; MANY companies are downsizing preferring to pay severance pay, etc. than to continue with the salaries. I sometimes wonder how they get the money for the benefits they have to pay. Wouldn't it just be like OUR PRESIDENT to offer money to them for THAT? Heck, if jobs are gone, everyone will HAVE to go to the GOVERNMENT FOR JOBS or WELFARE...voila, Mr O's plan for America, it seems like.
Susannah...I'm so glad things are relatively okay for you now and that Mr. S is so handy and SMART!
Isn't that Lewis quote terrific? Kind of explains it, doesn't it.
AOW: "Savings and low-paying jobs sustain a family for only so long"
That's what I fear for so many people.......and those on fixed incomes, too, as prices rise.
I just can't imagine HOW PEOPLE LIVE with NO WORK for months and $2000 mortgages, for example.....people with 3 children who need shoes, books, food, doctors, etc..
Ducky, thanks...I hadn't heard any of that about Mass. I'm just grateful some school districts are waking up and not passing on kids who're not achieving to their level.
Perhaps all of these instances are suddenly happening because of the FEDERAL AID PROGRAM I also hadn't heard about.
After my mother died and dad moved we had assistance coming in for a while. Not long.
I've been pretty much blessed. I've been frugal and I can weather a pretty damn serious storm. My siblings have had it much rougher including an early death that left an 18 year old daughter and my money is in trusts for the kids. It's between me and the siblings but those kids are not going worry about the basics or having a few luxuries and their children are going to be educated.
I've learned to live very frugally, I avoid all debt and if most people lived like me the American economy would collapse worse than it is now due to lack of demand.
Luxuries: I have some baseball memorabilia which is valuable, some valuable art and that's about it. I've never owned a new car. My furniture is my grandmothers and some stuff from yard sales.
I look at myself and I have to assume someone got none because I got double which is why I am willing to pay taxes although given the state of this right wing lunacy I can't say the taxes are doing much that is useful. Right now my taxes are probable higher than most of your incomes.
Well, that's the way it goes. In a normal world I'd be the raving conservative and you'd be the populists ... but this is America.
Yes sir, z. We fire the teachers because we sure can't fire poverty.
Ducky, why are you sharing this stuff, just to provoke? Just to be nasty? I'm not getting it.
But, I guess your constant implication is that we Republicans LIKE poverty and HOPE that minority kids, particularly, suffer from bad schools...RIGHT? (sarcasm here)
As a lefty, I'm sure you're more than eager to keep bad teachers around our kids....that's a BETTER IDEA, DUCKY?
Provoke? No, z, not to provoke.
But there is a very perverse streak in me that wants to see you get what you are wishing for. That's the only way this country will reverse to a sustainable, more equitable future.
The far right has just become so easily manipulated and thoughtless that about the only way they will learn is through the doctrine of logical consequences.
Something weird is going on in America.
---------------
Yes, Linda. It's called The Full Ayn Rand. Possibly you see that enabling it is not in your best interest.
Ramen noodles, Mac and cheese, and negotiation for deferment of payments.
And the generosity of great friends.
"The Full Ayn Rand..."
I say that's more like it.
Never been jobless, but I sure can empathize. Our church puts up homeless wandering families, desperate parents, confused kids.
Reminds of 'Grapes of Wrath' and the situation cannot end soon enough, IMO.
BB, good for your church. EVERY church ought to be doing that...I applaud you.
And, yes...it has to end soon, but it doesn't look like it will.
Brooke...Ramen sales must be up.
I think friends are helping a lot of people and I hope they can continue to do so.
BB's right...it could very well get into a Grapes of Wrath situation.....we've spent FAR FAR TOO MUCH and it has to stop, but the Left can't do that or their votes will dry up. It's a horrible situation.
I hated the stimulus package but even I keep wondering "Where's the money? Why weren't they 'shovel ready' as Obama'd promised...I thought that was going to get people public works jobs? Would giving money from THAT to families to tide them over at least get a little spending back up, improve the economy, and cover these peoples' bottoms?"
Okay, Conservative buddies: FIRE AWAY! Take your shots at me! :-)
I've been through many ups and downs employment-wise. Had help from friends, from church and from the government. Some indications I may be looking at an up again soon and can get off all the help. I do appreciate it but it will be a relief not to need it any more.
This is an amazing video. I don't know how encouraging it will be for those who need work...except that it gives us something to look forward to in November: Handing out pink slips to the bums in Washington.
The Left is spending too much?
How so? They did put the Iraq/Afghanistan fiascoes on the books instead of cheating with supplementals and hiding it but you certainly don't want that spending to stop, do you?
The financial bailout started under Bush continues. Why hang this on the left?
The you wonder why the stimulus money isn't being spent (Hint: They are in a bind. Employment might generate inflation) but the tea baggers have their knickers in a know about stimulus spending.
Gotta make up your mind, z. Hint: Obama is just a continuation of Bush. And if you are feeling pain now you are going to keep feeling it regardless of who you vote in.
But weren't you all gaga over Jim Bunning (R - Circling Uranaus) and his holding up unemployment benefits?
Anonymous, God bless you and may you very soon not need the help...but, I'm glad it's been there for you.
RK..will look later...I have to run.
Ducky, nobody on the Left remembers Bush's congress and what he was left to work with...LEFTISTS.
No, I do not want the spending to protect our national security stopped; that's actually one of the only things our constitution says spending SHOULD be used for. And I love my family and friends enough to want them safe.
Um...if you'll remember, I was 'gaga' over the FACT that the media never mentioned Bunning did NOT want benefits stalled; he wanted the Stimulus money spent there....but the media never told America that...only the conservative media did.
Odd, but TARP was under Bush and maligned by everyone, but that money's been paid back....
This new president is as much Bush as Jeckyll was to Hyde....Bush loved America.
I was sent this yesterday:
Here's the scoop on what Obama inherited
I'm Sick of "Inherited"
The Washington Post babbled again today about Obama inheriting a huge deficit from Bush, blah blah blah. Amazingly enough, a lot of people swallow this nonsense.
So once more, I'll try a short civics lesson.
Budgets do not come from the White House. They come from Congress, and the party that controlled Congress since January 2007 is the Democratic Party. They controlled the budget process for FY 2008 and FY 2009, as well as FY 2010 and FY 2011. In that first year, they had to contend with George Bush, which caused them to compromise on spending, when Bush somewhat belatedly got tough on spending increases. For FY 2009, though, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid bypassed George Bush entirely, passing continuing resolutions to keep government running until Barack Obama could take office. At that time, they passed a massive omnibus spending bill to complete the FY 2009 budgets.
And where was Barack Obama during this time? He was a member of that very Congress that passed all of these massive spending bills, and he signed the omnibus bill as President to complete FY 2009.
If the Democrats inherited any deficit, it was the FY 2007 deficit, the last of the Republican budgets. That deficit was the lowest in five years, and the fourth straight decline in deficit spending. After that, Democrats in Congress took control of spending, and that includes Barack Obama, who voted for the budgets. If Obama inherited anything, he inherited it from himself.
In a nutshell, what Obama is saying is I inherited a deficit that I voted for and then I voted to expand that deficit four-fold since January 20th.
I have dealt with government for months, piles of red tape paperwork, and researching. I now have a legal aid attorney to help. I am learning about many things in the process.
I have sold off things, been dependent on unemployment to keep me from starving, have had to continue a living arrangement with my ex, and did work "under the table" to keep from losing my house. One must be vigilant during these hard times in order to survive.
I remember a minister saying that hard times don't last, but good people do, or something like that.
I try to envision where I want to be everyday, and that includes thinking about what I want to give back, once I'm back in a more prosperous state. I know that by keeping that vision alive, eventually it will be so.
Phoenix Rising
There's nothing more satisfying than lounging on the terrace at the country club swilling down martinis with pate de foix gras canapes and various other hors d'oeuvres while grinding the heels of my steel-tipped Gucci boots into the necks of the poor. Their cries of pain are like music to my greedy, capitalist-pig ears. Their anguish makes me shiver with orgasmic delight --- NOT!
GOD IN HEAVEN!
~ FreeThinke!
Anonymous: whilst in college I lived on mac-n-cheese and Top Ramen.
Ducky: Bunning made a stand; he made an actual Conservative stand which was totally UNsupported by the GOP dreck surrounding DC. McConnell cast his own platform aside. Yes. I agree with Bunning despite his stand essentially meaning nothing. The payments won't stop; that they would have is a FALSEhood. They're still coming out in April. I'll be the first to admit that Bush spent like a drunken sailor. Obama is spending like the entire FLEET taking its very own first night's liberty.
And I'm such a horrible Conservative; here is what I did:
I never spent more than I earned. I NEVER carried credit card debt over from one month to the next. If I couldn't afford it I didn't buy it. I didn't have toys like a new car every year, a boat, an RV, a motorcycle, an ATV, a swimming pool, toys toys toys. I never used my house to finance loans for MORE toys. I read every contract carefully and if I didn't like what I read, I either refused to sign or demanded an explanation.
As a result I OWN my cars. I OWN my house. I have actual cash in SAVINGS. I have investments, a portfolio. I wasn't STUPID with my money.
Why? I lost my construction job in December of 1979 during Carter's time. Laid off. They couldn't afford me. Boom. Gone. It's Christmas. Can't afford a thing. I went with another laborer to the local unemployment office. I hated standing in line. I hated waiting for a check with hundreds of others. I hated the feeling of "needy." I hated the feeling of being dependent on another, of having my future pretty much determined by an uncaring ENtity. I was on unemployment for two months whilst looking for a job.
I found one. I started driving a local taxi. That was part time. I had to have another job because I still had an apartment to pay for. So at night I learned to drive and work a tow truck. I worked those jobs day and night and took tests for law enforcement up and down the state. I was finally hired full time the next year.
That was why I saved and scrimped and stayed within my fiscal limits. I want to determine my OWN future, not some faceless and uncaring entity or agency or government drone.
BZ
Yes sir, z, there never was a Rethug who screwed up or overspent, like say Saint Ronnie Raygun.
Anyway, what I sense about the far right is this. They are very angry. And what they want, more than anything else ... is to stay angry.
Ducky,
It was interesting to hear about your frugality. Who knew you and I had so much in common?
I disagree that more people living like you (and me) would destroy the economy. Staying out of debt means you're not consuming more than you're producing--a good thing.
If you're making cars, and I'm selling houses, the demand for my houses goes up because you are producing. That is, I can charge more cars per house (assuming the number of houses being sold stays constant).
You may prefer saving to spending, but this is hardly detrimental to the economy. Many businesses require capital to get started. The fact that you're willing to do without expensive wine, long vacations, etc., means that wealth can be used by someone else to buy, for example, a warehouse or machine. This capital will allow for creation of wealth in the future. You'll probably expect some return on investment of this wealth after you made it possible.
In summary, it is supply that creates demand.
And don't get me started on fractional reserve banking...or the federal reserve...or FDIC.
tio
Ducky, my fellow penny-pincher,
I'm not clear on your position. Was Reagan's spending a bad thing?
tio
I was laid-off when I became pregnant with my 2nd child.
Thank the Lord we still had my husband's salary, which was really not a lot.
We did not qualify for WIC, Food Stamps or any kind of government aid because my husband made $8 over their gross pay requirement. No joke. Yet, I must say that I saw many illegals getting all of that aid. I won't go there because it infuriates me.
We went to the Food bank and I asked my family for help to pay for diapers for my 1-year-old. God provided after that. Thankfully, I was able to find a job that I could work from home. While caring for myself and my little boy.
When I was laid off many years ago, I went to get my unemployment check and felt awful doing so. The next week, I went to a temporary agency and ended up doing that instead. Probably made as much as I would have receive in unemployment, but felt more productive.
Anonymous said...
When I was laid off many years ago, I went to get my unemployment check and felt awful doing so. The next week, I went to a temporary agency and ended up doing that instead. Probably made as much as I would have receive in unemployment, but felt more productive.
GREAT ATTITUDE.
ALL of you, thanks SO much for sharing....I guess the message is
"BUT RAMEN NOODLES!" !? That seemed to be the connecting thread :-)
I still don't get how some of you paid mortgage for a whole YEAR without any substantial income......I just DO NOT GET IT.
I blew through my stocks and savings. Once in 1999 and again in 2003. Unemployment sucks.
I took a buyout because I saw the writing on the wall. Spent the next ten months looking for a job and getting some education. Lived on the buyout money.
"... I don't care if I have to lie cheat steal or kill. As God is my witness -- as God is my witness! I shall never go hungry again -- nor shall any of my folk."
~ Scarlett O'Hara
I'll tell you what I did many years ago after my position was eliminated because of stupid policy changes made by liberals (Long story!)
I registered for unemployment, went back to live with my parents, pretended to look for work, and spent the money getting a Master's Degree instead,
Strictly illegal, of course, but SMART. If you play by the rules set up by bureaucrats, you'll never get ANYWHERE but the poor house -- or the street.
Render unto Caesar, indeed. But what "Caesar" needs in this day and age is a good swift kick in the nuts.
~ Unohoo
Unohoo..WHO?!! :-)
Thanks, Tom, I was hoping you'd come by because I knew you'd have something to add.
Vegas guy, what a sad thing to lose that stuff.
Frankly, Scarlett..I definitely DO give a damn. And I hope you never have to go hungry, that's FOR SURE.
That was an interesting story, Z, and I think I'll add my own which is somewhat similar. I'm almost 68, I live in a two room apartment that is partly subsidized by HUD thanks to the aggressive efforts of a friend who got me on it a couple years ago, and I'm very grateful because I was having to get money from the church from time to time when I couldn't meet my rent. In fact I'm almost wealthy since she got me that, actually have money left over some months and can give it to the church or other charities. I keep my electric bill from $35 to $60 by running heat and A/C as low as possible, and I don't have gas or any other utilities to pay. Phone and internet are a package for $52. I work at home but only make $300 to $500 a month and don't have a way to improve that (though I have some ideas toward another kind of work possibility.) I get $268 social security. I have such bad arthritis that I can't work outside any more. I don't have my hair done, I haven't bought any clothes in years, everything I own is old, some of it downright decrepit, including household items. My biggest indulgence is books but there have been plenty of times I've had to go without them. I have sold pieces of my aunt's antique furniture from time to time for extra money -- not much really -- the furniture is a lot more attractive than the money you can actually get for it. I still have a few pieces left but my daughter says she wants them so I keep them although they make my little place cluttered. I do have a cushion these days thanks to the rental assistance. When I didn't have that a computer breakdown or other tech problem could throw things into catastrophe mode, threaten my job. I do feel guilty depending on public assistance. Over time I'll get a lot more than I ever paid into it and I'm well aware of that.
Anonymous, thanks for the input.
Talk about tightening your belt...but, we do what we have to do, don't we.
I wish you all the best.
Z,
I have been fortunate to work continously since I was 12. Paper route, military, police, teaching. That's mostly luck I guess, but I do feel I've thought about how to get a job as I grew up and it's paid off.
My dad worked for the post office for 38 years, so I didn't have a route to a job. Just lucky I guess, or was I willing to put myself on the line?
Also I sleep on the couch because uncomfortable as it is it's actually more comfortable than the twin bed.
Also, I'd like to know what the shopping list looks like at $5 a day. I haven't actually sat down to see what I spend or how I could do better, I just try to stick to basics, look for bargains and keep to a pretty predictable list every month.
I lost my job and cannot do physical labor. Nor do I qualify for any of the government's wonderful salvation programs.
I had a pretty good nest egg which I hoped to start digging into when I retired at age 80 or 90 (I have no desire to be reitred at 68). It's gone, now.
I have spent at least four hours a day looking for something legitimate to do from home (not MLM, more like data entry), but have not found anything in my six months of trying.
I am now in "trust the Lord" mode (which I have been in from the start and remain in), and just keep on looking.
These stories make me feel comforted that our government has sent 80% of the jobs stimulus money to China.
Now I don't care whether they are communist democrats or idiot republicans ... we should not be standing for this for one second. And you know, the truth is that WE are in a position to stop this imposed economic slavery to an authoritarian government.
As good citizens we should be willing to pay some taxes; we should never be willing to pay userous taxes so that foreign governments and citizens benefit while our people starve.
Where am I wrong?
Sam, you are not wrong at all. All this thread has done is make me realize the level to which the good people of this country are suffering. My issues, and they feel at times overwhelming, are nothing compared to the seniors who have earned the right to retire in comfort after a lifetime of hard work, to only be screwed on Medicare, tax hikes on all the basic living necessities, rate hikes to cover tax hike on utilities and food, and all other essentials. The burdens are great enough and now ObamaCare will create a 500 billion dollar cut to Medicaid. I guess those who helped build prosperity in previous years should be reduced to living in card board boxes and eating dog food under our government??? This is just wrong!!!!!
Phoenix Rising
Joe, we'll keep you and all the others who're looking for job in our prayers. I think of you often, Joe.
I sure don't like hearing about peoples' disappearing nest eggs; sometimes, I think it's just what this government wants.
SAM...This isn't a very Republican concept and I'll get stones thrown...but if there IS money there, why ARE we sending more away from the States than keeping here for OUR good people who are hurting.
But, I've always felt like this, even before these hard times.
I also ask people to reconsider church programs which send money outside America; we have PLENTY OF PEOPLE in this country in certain areas which can REALLY use good people to come and help THEM build homes, etc.
Phoenix Rising...that's a whole other great subject. And it's why so many of the tea Party are elderly; THEY see what they're going to lose, don't they.
I often say that, had the Leftists waited another 10 years, they could have taken over this country far, far easier...the good patriots will have died by then, or so many of them, and we'll be left with indoctrinated kids, like the Harvard elitists ruining this country from the White House TODAY.
And poor kids who're TAUGHT now that they're ENTITLED.
Dad used to say"Don't worry, honey, the pendulum always swings back..." Today, I know that's not so true because that pendulum relied on the fact that patriotic Americans were on BOTh sides of the pendulum ....now there are NOT and that's a huge worry. That "net" we had to fall back on, our KIDS, the next generation, could very well be RUINED.
I'm not that much of an Ayn Rand fan, but Ducky's "full Ayn Rand" trope, while being an efficient example of Ducky's daily need to annihilate all evidence of leftists being actually capable of rational thought, merely displays a glaring ignorance of Ayn Rand.
The America I live in isn't doing anything even remotely similar to Ayn Rand's policies.
I suppose we can try Ducky's idol Marx's abolition of the family, dissolution of private property, and redistribution of wealth AFTER hypocritical Ducky's "inheritance" runs out.
I've never gone long without a job, but i know what it's like, canned food and cheap food. i don't want to go back there again, which is why i always save everything i can and avoid debt like the plague.
The way i work it out, i keep saving and saving until i get to a point where i know i can survive with no job and no income from anywhere for at least a year or two. The key to doing this so far for me has been to have more than one job, to do small jobs on the side to keep money coming in from different places. No matter how small the job, it's still money and it all adds up.
People would never be "jobless" if there were no Welfare State for those unfortunate enough to have money to support.
Every cent paid in taxes to fund bloated bureaucracy is money diverted from legitimate constructive endeavor and from the free exercise of Charity.
There are always floors to be scrubbed, shoes to be shined, clothes to be washed, meals to be cooked, lawns to be mowed, autos to be serviced, roads to be paved, garbage to be collected, invalids that need help in the house, children that need babysitters, bushes that need to be trimmed, etc.
If unions and the welfare state did not exist, EVERYBODY would be COMPETING to do all these veery NECESSARY jobs. Wages would fall back into lie, but so would prices, the strong would hire the weak, the weak would be grateful not to have to live in the street, maids rooms would make a big comeback, gardens would be better tended, streets would look cleaner and more attractive, Churches would fill up again, and we could go on living and serving one another as we used to before the filthy Communist Manipulators and Agitators screwed everything up, and made us ALL poorer -- and NASTIER
~ FreeThinke.
It was there for a reason Z. Funny thing is even though I am finally making good money our spending habits have not changed much. We only eat out once a week. We still shop for bargains and basically do our best to live within our means. And we're putting money away at the same time. Hopefully I'll have a job next year but since only 22% of every dollar our district gets makes it into the classroom and we're once again facing 'budget cuts'... Who knows? Union jobs are done by seniority and I don't have any yet.
Frugality is ALWAYS a virtue -- especially in affluent times when the livin' is easy.
"Waste not -- want not."
~ FreeThinke
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