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Hubby's job is closing up :(

2K views 14 replies 14 participants last post by  frugalbabe 
#1 ·
I just found out today that the car dealership that DH works at is closing in 60-90 days. We knew that the sales department was hurting badly but the repair shop was breaking even/ little profit. Hubby is the master mechanic at the shop along with the only one who is certified in all areas on fixing Suzuki's.

He would gladly switch to another Suzuki dealership, but there isn't another one in Columbus who actually fixed Suzuki's (the rest just recondition and sell). DH's boss is trying to make a deal with the other dealership to take on 2 of the existing mechanics( DH and another), a parts guy, and boss.

Don't know how this is going to work out. We weren't planning on something of this magnitude to happen. We have our emergency fund (1000), a little in savings too (tax return 2000) and only 1 CC left (owe 6500 ouch!)

DH and I are going to sit down on Saturday and look at the budget and come up with a plan to survive this. I want to try and refi our mortgage before the shop closes as interest rates have dropped (we are at 6%), transfer our CC balance to another with lower interest (Chase just bought out WAMU and I have heard how they are messing with interest/ payments and I can't have that right now). I have a small stock pile so we need to come up with a budget for food and keep our stockpile going for now.

Hubby is the breadwinner in the family, but I do odd jobs to help out. I earn 150 per week between tutoring and babysitting a couple of day a week. Can't really take on any more right now, unless it is 3rd shift. Have to check on that.

Any suggestions? Help!

~Lisa
 
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#2 ·
First of all, sitting down and figuring your budget is key. Second, try to talk with any creditors to see if you qualify for any deferment/forbearance type programs. I think the most important thing is to not panic. If you panic, your kids will sense it and it will make a difficult situation worse.

Keep you head up, time are tough, but things WILL get better.
 
#5 ·
I'm sorry this is happening, I agree it's important not to panic. We have been dealing with a sudden family income drop. My best suggestion would be to not wait to see what happens and get your resume/applications out there now. By the time they actually get around to hiring, you may know the outcome of the dealership situation. If you wait, you may miss out on opportunities.

I did finally have to take a job that will be overnight/early mornings to go along with my piano teaching. It's all I could find that would work around my teaching schedule, and the only job I've been offered after 50+ resumes and only two interviews. It's not what I hoped for, but I can't complain, at least I'll have it, and it'll get us through this rough patch.
 
#6 ·
This is sad and I am sorry. My dh works for the local GM dealership and while we are doing good I worry.

I agree 100% that you are doing the right thing by getting the budget into survival mode. Cut what you can.

I myself did a mock survival budget for us and found about $1000 I could lose right off so look at it with a fine tooth comb.

How small is your stockpile. I myself am up to about 5 months of working on mine steadily just for this reason. I am so happy you have some foods put by. Now is the time to take a look and add those extra beans and rices and pastas as cheap as possible. I would give myself a set amount of cash and go stock up in the best way possible and then put a menu plan in action.

I sure hope you guys get rolling again as soon as possible. Best wishes to you and dh.
 
#7 ·
Sending good wishes your way. And hugs to you and your family:grouphug2
 
#8 ·
Sorry to hear that about your hubby's job situation. I think the best thing is to sit down with your DH and cut the expenses. You both need to be onboard in order to survive this....hopefully he will be transferred to the other site and all will be well. Take care and you and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers. :)
 
#10 ·
I'm so sorry your Dh is facing a job loss.

My DH was laid off last week. It was scary at first but when we looked things over I realized that we can make some changes to get through this. What we have done is sat down and figured out a "bare-bones" budget and looked for any area where we can cut more.:fpunch:

Many of our expenses are fixed like mortgage, phone etc. We looked for places where we could save more like utilities (by being more conservative), food (we are planning cheaper meals, less meat more beans, less processed food, making our own bread, no eating out), clothes (we will be shopping thrift stores for things we absolutely need only). We cut our entertainment budget entirely, now we will do things like get movie from the library and play board games for fun

We looked for ways to increase income and I am going to try and get more hours at my second job. I figured I can work more hours if he is holding down the home front. Maybe your DH could "free lance" look for repair jobs that he could do on his own. There will be people who were getting their cars repaired at his shop that will have no where to go now. Another option we have looked at is renting out rooms, but we decided we would only do that if things got really bad.

The other thing we did was sit the kids down and tell them about the changes that we would need to make. They actually came up with some ideas to save money themselves. The other reason we had a talk with them was to reassure them that everything would be OK. We will be able to manage, but our lifestyle will change.
 
#11 ·
I'm so sorry. I'm waiting to hear those same words. I've been brainstorming to find ways to make it work.

For us the best one is refinance, and roll it in. Then we have 1 lower payment. And then when times are better we can step it up.

Something to consider is perhaps overnight childcare. You can offer a good rate, and the kids sleep at your house. It really takes little of your time, you're earning while you sleep.

Just a thought.
 
#12 ·
I'm sorry y'all are facing this. Everyone else has given great advice. Sending hugs and good thoughts your way and hoping that your DH keeps his job. :hugz:
 
#13 ·
First (((hugs))). Take a deep breath, relax. This will pass, might have to trudge a little, but it wont last forever.

Now, go through your budget, bringing to the needs. Then, make a list and a plan to eliminate extra expenses. Make the calls as soon as possible, they will sometimes require 30 days to cancel. I've done this recently and everyone I spoke with was really nice. I went through and canceled memberships and extras to lower the bills.

After that, menu planning. Knowing what I'm going to make/have for each meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner) is a big help, especially when I'm keeping the groceries to a minimum.

Update and send the resumes.

Sending good thoughts your way!
 
#14 ·
Thanks for the good wishes everyone. We told the kids about DH's job and the 2 oldest started crying. That broke my heart :( Hubby and I told them that everything WILL work out ok. Times are just going to change. No going to the movies/ out to eat. We are all ok with that. We will have fun together.

We said that we may have to cut out home phone/ cable/ internet and that will happen towards the end if necessary. I'm going to call the lady who helped with financing this home about refinancing to a lower rate. Hopefully we can get a 1% reduction and get rid of PMI(should save around $145/month). We'll see what she says tomorrow. Need to look into unemployment and see what that entails.

I told 1 neighbor what is going on and she gave me some suggestions on how to get a some more "side work" for DH. That will help lots. I may have to look into babysitting (3rd shift?) for some extra income too. DH and I really think that it is important for me to be home with the kids while they are still young.

We're just hitting a rough patch. It has been almost 10 years since anything this major has hit our family. 10 years ago we lost my dad and the very next day DH's grandma passed away too. Never can compare this situation we are now in to what happened then, but we made it through that and we will make it out of this too.

~Lisa
 
#15 ·
You have an amazing attitude! I hope dh finds more work fast and this just turns out to be a minor bump in the road...btw I loooove your siggy I say we all just move right to that beach and live who needs a mortgage payment?!?
 
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