DH losing his job

[herbsgirl]

DH has a manager job, he's had for almost 5 years and he's worked for this company for over 7 years. They told him until Sept 15th.

We have 4 DC now! And much much debt. Right now, DH job pays for our house, electricity, LP gas, 40$ of our cell phone bill. We are not used to paying for all this. They give us a salary and also a commission. We have a very very good job. I thank God for the time we did have with it!

So we are signed up for food stamps for 1 1/2 years, and we have been on the state insurance, so we dont have to worry about food so much.

Just that our budget is pretty tight right now paying all our bills and debt and that includes NO utilites except some of the cell phone and the land line. My concern is that we get a job with less money, and then have to start paying rent, electricity, ect ontop of all our debt.

I did some crude calculations and DH would have to have a job paying 12$ an hour in order to pay our Mandatory credit cards ect, pretty much. This includes no money for kids clothes or toilet paper ect stuff like that. Except DH is an EMT so he could pick up hours with that, and that might cover Walmart stuff like shampoo. WOWsers, that sounds tight!

How possible is it find a job for $12 an hour? Right now he's making 17-20$ an hour with everything they pay.

I ask the Internet company to shut off the internet which will save us around 50$ per month, we can use it at the Library or other places instead.

We dont own a washer and dryer, because that also came with the house that DH job comes with.

So I am hoping we can buy 3 clothes racks or so, so that I dont have to use a dryer in case we have to use laundrymat, ect. 4 kids generates alot of Laundry!!!

Before we found out that we were losing DH job, we had made the decision to Homeschool, 3rd grade, 4th grade and K4. So That is only about 1/2 paid for we have about 1100 to pay on that yet.

Any other ideas how to cut money? I get alot of hand-me-down and garage sale used clothes for the kids. I also sew for myself.

I made the decision to potty train DD almost 32 months on Monday so I dont have to buy anymore diapers.

[Momto5RN]

sorry about dh losing his job- are there similar jobs out there ?
lots of ideas in this board that may help you if you keep reading here - does the company own the home ? do you have to move ?

[xtena]

Why do you have to pay so much to homeschool? Did you buy a pricey curriculum? You can homeschool virtually for free, or very cheaply if you have a good public library; internet access (okay I see you are canceling that, but it isn't necessary and like you said you can use the library) and time to do your own preparation.

[krbshappy71]

In case you haven't already done this:

Check to see if you have LEAP in your area. That will help you with the gas bill. I don't know if there is a similar program for your area.

Check to see if your electric company has a Budget plan. If so, that can help with giving you a known figure to work with every month on the electric bill rather than hoping its low enough to cover. They average your past year's usage. Its really helpful.



I have not homeschooled but I see that as an impact on your food budget with them home all the time so I'd recommend getting yourself on a meal plan, something to help keep your food bills from climbing high. I know you are getting food stamps but they aren't always as generous as people think. Stock up as the amount can drop drastically if he gets a job, and there will be a time period between when they cut you off and when he gets paid the first time.

I'm sorry you are going through this, but stick together, be true to each other, you'll get through it together!
Best wishes!

[Judi Dial]

If your DH is a vet, see if there's any VA programs that can help.

Also, check your state and local churches. The state was how we found out DH was eligible for some VA benefits we didn't know about. Some of the local churches/Salvation Army here will give you clothes, food, fuel assistance, etc.

If/when you hook up with the local churches, ask them if there's a community "swap" program. Around here, people can swap work for either $ or "swap credits" to be used for other things.

You can buy some used curriculum here:
The Book Cellar

I have worked for these people although I don't now. They used to specialize in homeschooling books and textbooks.

Also, for cheap used books, you can look them up worldwide, here:

bookfinder.com

IHTH!

Judi

[herbsgirl]

The homeschool curriculem is Abeka Academy accredited Video school, they keep report cards and everything. We have to send in tests to them. I didnt think I was cut out to homeschool regular (me teach them) Just not my thing. But I guess if worse came to worse, we would have to figure out something. Public school is just not an option. But the Public school in our area does have a program, government paid for where they will supply internet and computers so the kids can school at home on the internet. We have already recieved our books and everything> DH wants to continue with what we started. The kids came out of a private school that used mostly the same curriculem- so they are used to it.

DH and I just had the idea to use our 401k to help pay off a debt to Citifinacial that is GASP! 30% interest and almost 360$ a month! That would help drasticly. Our 401K is about 7,000 dollars and would pretty much pay off that debt we think. Almost 360$ a month freed up would help us TONS!
DH even thinks if we did not have the 360$ we may be able to buy a house instead of rent. ( a cheap house of course!)

So Foodstamps goes DOWN, when DH loses his job? eeks! I need to contact my worker. We have been in bad financial situations before so we know all about eating beans, cornbread, rice, and stuff like that.

I am signed up for the local food bank, and we usually get 2 grocery bags a month or more, which helps.

Budget... might look something like this... in August/September

100.00 Car insurance
40.00+ Walmart (toilet paper, shampoo ect)
25-30.00 Farm and Fleet Card
123.00 bank of America Card
18.00 reward Zone card
360.00 Citifinancial
104.00+ for cell phone
100.00 (collection agency we owe the government for a farm loan from several yrs. ago)
35.00 plus for land line phone
35.00 for DH and I go to the chiropractor
25.00 Local gym (Planning on cancelling, if penaties are not too high)
25.00 (premium for Badgercare health insurance)
30.00+ fish oil for me, ect

Food (foodstamps)
Clothes (handmedowns or free or 25 cent stuff garage sales)

Projected expenses for Utilites
100.00 electricity (air drying clothes) or 125.00?
100.00 gas heat +
575.oo Rent

[xtena]

I hear you on public school not being an option! I paid thousands to my divorce lawyer and an expert witness to fight my soon-to-be-ex on that account. Yes I won that battle. I'd rather be poor and homeschooling a happy child than have that money back and an unhappy, poorly educated child.

I know people who use Abeka curriculum without the video; they just use the text books, would that be a cheaper option?

Taking your money out of the 401K is a bad idea as it is going to have to be paid back and you'll end up losing money in the long run.

[herbsgirl]

Abeka without the video could be an option if I taught, which I didnt want to do, but i guess its possible.

We are 100% vested into the company 401K. The way I understand it we can take all the money out without paying it back, but we will have hefty penalties and taxes.

[mh3rdwheel]

What state areyou in? Sign up for Section 8 Housing Voucher, ( this means that if you you meet their criteria they will pay all are most of your rent based on your income). When you fill out the information make sure that you have all the info that they ask for, before they ask for it.

This can pay for your rent,but also if ou move to another state you are still eligible for Section 8 housing voucher., you can move to another stateand the voucher goes with you.

Call the Department of human service (welfare). they will direct you to where you need to go.

[Russ]

Your DH or you for your DH should make finding a new job for him a priority.. make it a part time job.

Job Search | one search. all jobs. Indeed.com is a good place to start looking. It covers many of the other career sites on-line.

[krbshappy71]

Oh sorry I misunderstood, I thought you were signing up for food stamps BECAUSE he lost his job. no, they wont go down, I meant once he got a job again the amount will go down.

[frugalwarrior2]

My Dh lost his section. He just got a section again Tues.
Do not cancel the internet yet. Do make getting a job a full time priority. My DH sent out at least 20 resumes a day. You need the internet right now. Skip the cable. Keep the land line. See if you can get a deal on a combo.
When DH was w/o we
-changed dog and cat food to Costco brands and cut 50%
-stopped buying the papers to coupon and recycle bin dove
-get to generic HW meds and other meds
-went to generic meds for ourselves- saved $130. per mo.
-went to church sales at the end-they are just dumping stuff for nothing because they need the space for services.
-buzz my DS hair. Free and only 3 cuts a year.
-we ordered text books thru half.com and saved big.
-contact freecycle and post a needs list.
-start a trade w/ neighbors
-Contact people in your church and do the same.
-contact a homeschool group and see if someone has the ABECKA? system and will trade something for it.
-work at night part time but pick somewhere you can get free or discounted stuff as a perk or maybe ins.
-go to the farm market at the end of the day and get deals-bruised-cut it/freeze it.

DO NOT take from your 401K unless you have exhausted all other options. Your will have to pay penalties and fees true. But the compounding growth you will lose is what costs. Never take short term debt and pay it w/ long term safety nets like 401K.
Please look into the Dave Ramsey financial peace class. Lots of churches sponsor it. Sometimes benefacters will get free books for people in need.

[oheoh's momma]

Losing a job can be tough are you going to be losing your home if so finding a home has to be priority number 1 . have your husband to see if any other positions are coming open in the company maybe they are down sizing because of the economy. Homeschooling is your choice but I believe that you will have to slash more from your budget to pay for it. i am from single mother survivor school, shelter, electricity, food all come before debt. your credit companies may work with you to reduce or postpone your payments due to job loss. It is worth a shot. My friend sold everything she did not need when she lost her job she used this for emergency money. Also drying rack are great but do not go spend a lot of money on them they run from $9 to 30 in my area hang on door knobs, off of plastic hangers, shower rods, curtain rods ect. My advise also is for You to get a part time job if possible to help with cash situation maybe cleaning house or tutoring kids pays cash for now. Also just because your husband lost his job take this time and love each other more and the kids more. Kids really experience this stress. Do not cut the cable or internet if you to try to keep 1 it makes the house feel normal. Good luck hugs

[mauimagic]

Sounds as if you are going from an awesome position - cannot believe th company paid for so much - to just about base nothing. Setting priorities would be my first concern -

Housing
New job
Food
Transportation
Electricity and water

Build from there. While there are a lot of garage sale goodies out there to be had for pennies, do you need stuff now? Make do with what you have as much as possible.

Please let us know how things are going and what is coming up on the job front.

[herbsgirl]

Thanks for all the replys!

I have heard of Dave Ramsey.

I will check into calling the credit card companies and see if they will lower the minimum payment or something.

My husband still has his EMT job, which he is a part of 3 different Ambulance Services. That brings 350 give or take a month right now. If we move closer to town or in town, He can be on call alot of time which helps make the check bigger than it is now even.

We dont know yet if we will have to move out of the house. We figured maybe, so we will be trying to save for the first months rent and possibly also security deposit in case we have to find a place to live.

There is a possibility he may be able to work for the same company in the factory area, we dont know if they will have an opening or not.

We have internet Acess at DH work (until Sept) and the Library and also his EMT job has internet acess.

I am trying to think what we can do with DH paychecks now, so it will make the transition easier, Like how much money we can save, ect. to prepare.

Mauimagic- that is a good idea, get by as much as we can without buying clothes. We go to church and I make my dresses, I do have 5 Sunday dresses right now. We dont need much at the moment.

I need to get my focus here, and realize how much I really can save! Every penny counts!