Need Some Assistance

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Gracie:

Welcome to mamapedia!!

During these tough times - it's not just about income - it's about keeping it "lean" - that means getting rid of the "extras"....living within your means.

INCOME:
Go through your home and start purging. Have a garage sale for instant cash. If you have collectibles - sell them on ebay or cragislist.

As to work from home jobs? There are some MLM's on here who might reach out to you about selling their products, etc. If you can't take the time out to go to people's homes, etc. - then DO NOT do it.

Have your husband go to the local employment office - make sure he is signed up to received unemployment benefits. Then ask for help in getting his resume in tip-top shape and while he's there? Look at the job postings. Make sure his resume is error-free - no spelling or grammatical errors and have him post it on Monster.com or Careerbuilder.com

I cannot stress enough - MAKE SURE he is signed up for unemployment benefits.

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE:

If you use credit cards - stop using them. Go cash only. Call your credit cards and set up a payment plan that you can work with. They would much rather work with you than send you to collections.

If you own your home - call your mortgage lender and let them know you need to restructure your payments until your husband gets a job - or see if on your credit and income alone - you can refinance the house to a lower interest rate and therefore a lower payment....if you have equity in the home? Although I DO NOT recommend this - do an LOC so that you can stay afloat.

Other sources of income - flat payment....

AGAIN HIGHLY DO NOT RECOMMEND - but if it comes down to keeping a roof over your head and food in the belly - then cash in a life insurance policy or your 401K. Since your husband is unemployed - you might be charged 25% early withdrawal instead of 35% - you can call the IRS to verify this - make sure you take down the badge number, name, extension, date and time you called and what they stated in the call.

Groceries:
Use coupons.
Make a menu for the week and shop off what you have and what's on sale.

Cable/Cell/Internet
Since your husband is actively looking for a job - a working phone and internet are mandatory! Call your cable company and see if you can bundle your plan and save money there.

Turn lights off behind you.
Stop going out to eat. Bring your lunch with you to work.
No more Starbucks for coffee in the AM.
Need new clothes?

Go to a consignment shop - in fact - you can take clothes you are no longer wearing/using to a consignment shop for money as well....kids clothing as well. You can even go to Goodwill and other charity stores - you would be surprised at what people donate. You do NOT HAVE TO PURCHASE BRAND NEW CLOTHES...

Need a family night? Rent a movie from Redbox - you don't need to go to a theater. Play games - take walks - just because money is tight - doesn't mean you can't have fun and be a family still.

good luck!

Instead of a 2nd job for you, how about a 1st job for your husband? You state nothing about what he is trained to do for work and what kind of work he cannot find, but I assume he can work at a home depot during the day, UPS or Fed Ex warehouse in the evening or nights, pumping gas, driving a delivery van, driving a school bus, etc. etc. My husband and both have been out of work and signed up with employment agencies and often if you take something that seems too low level it can grow into a better job (as it did with me). You give very little info but my first impression from your short post is that you are stressed and still taking on the burden of finding a solution. Unless he is depressed or disabled, I would sit down with him and decide what you can both do to improve the situation. If you can work opposite schedules then you don't have to pay for child care.

I know it would be hard, but is it possible for you to get a second job? What type of jobs is your husband looking for? He may have a desired field, but should be open to all. Can he take a not so ideal job for now and keep looking for what he really wants/need. It's hard right now, but there are jobs out there.

The Xmas season for retail starts soon so maybe he can get that type of job so that he can bring in something until he finds his "real" job.

Contact your local Social Services office and see what help they can offer. A lot of states give help for utilities to help keep them from being shut off. It's not a monthly stipend rather a one time amount to help pay it and keep your utilities on. Food Stamps can help cover groceries until he finds employment. There are many options to help, look into those. You are who assistance was design for: someone who is trying, wants to do it on their own, but for whatever reason is having trouble covering everything. You work and pay taxes, so take advantage of the benefits that are there for you.

Do you belong to a church? If so, go talk to your minister/pastor/priest, a lot of churches have funds that can be made available to help its members. Let people know your husband is looking and what his qualifications are; there may be a member who is hiring or knows someone who is. Church can be a good place to network.

My state has a employment board, I assume most do, check that out. It's a one stop place to look for jobs in a wide range of fields. They also have workshops for writing resumes etc. He may not be selling himself the right way and they can help guide him.

If you have credit card debt and have been in good standing, call them, most will waive payment for a month. A month isn't a long time, but it gives you a breather. They also have payment plans and deferments, you can't use the card while on it, but you don't have to pay the bill or jeopardize your credit during it.

Does you husband get unemployment? If not check into that. I don't know what the time frame for filing for it is, but its worth a shot.

Good luck mama, things will get better!

If I were in your shoes, the first thing that would go would be the cell phone. That will save you a lot of money.
Then it would be one of the cars - if they weren't paid off.
It's time to buckle down and start really saving and really pinching pennies. No meals out. Coffee from home. No new clothes. The list goes on.
Create a spending journal -- you'll be amazed what you can cut out.
I'd request hubby get a job -- any job -- for the time being. Some money is better than no money.

Your husband can find A job maybe not THE job he wants but A job.

Home Depot, gas stations, fast food (McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc etc), drug stores like Walgreen or CVS. Minimum wage an hour is better than $0.00 an hour. He can still send out resumes and interview when he gets one. But get anything that pays for now!!

Have your husband get something....anything...and THAT will take the pressure off of you!!

Do you know why he is unemployed? that is a factor you might want to consider. Why did he lose his job? Was it a layoff because of the company or is there something he has never fessed up to? There are temp places he might try. It is not predictable, but could hold up a little. You can't do everything. And if you are then why are you married?

Well, my husband had an interview today. They said that they will let him know. I pray every day and night that someone will hire him. He's a good worker. He has worked as a messenger for a bank years ago. He worked as a security officer. He currently has a PERC card and a 20 hour certificate. He has experience in item processing. He worked as a purchasing clerk before. He has worked as a switchboard operator. I just don't get why he doesn't get hired. Something's gotta give.

Find some houses to clean, I've done that, there's always a need.

When my husband got laid off from his very good job we lost everything. We lost our home, my vehicle, his was paid for the month before he got laid off...thank goodness, we lost every credit card and any hope of ever having good credit again.

He sold his comic book collection as a whole for hundreds of dollars, he sold his first edition Heinlein book collection, he sold his gun collection and coin collection, we lived for 2 years with no income at all while he went to school. I worked in the field of developmental disabilities so basically just above minimum wage.

We moved into a small mobile home that his mom purchased for us. We did without cable, land lines, had 1 cell phone that was a contract style and I had a Free To Go Wireless.

We didn't have much food or extra's but we got by. He eventually went back to work at a fair paying job that was about 1/3 of the one he had before. It lasted a year and a half. Then they laid him off due to selling that part of the business he was over.

We contemplated filing bankruptcy but couldn't afford the fees for it or the attorney. So we just got lots of calls from bill collectors and only one of them actually took us to court and got a judgement. They took 15% of any wages hubby got. It lasted a year or so and then they didn't do it anymore.

I think that if you don't have any money then there isn't anything you can do about it. Sure, we do want to pay our bills but if we can't then there isn't anything you can do.

We lost everything but just about the clothes on our backs and we made it through it.

You can do it. Tell hubby that Walmart or McDonald's is hiring somewhere....he either needs to get a job that is menial and humiliating for him or he needs to get off his duff and get looking.

If he's actively been looking in his field and isn't finding anything then it's time to take a step back.

IF hubby is filling out applications over and over and over and not getting calls from this then their is a bigger problem. It's time to face the facts. If he's not trying at all then ignore this comment.

IF they are not calling him back or not interviewing him then he's applying for jobs he's not qualified for.

IF he's getting interviews but they're not calling him back for a second interview or offering him jobs then something isn't right. Either his past employer is down playing him or they're just flat out saying something terribly negative about him.

One way to describe this is....hard to do with typing.

"Hi, this is Joe Schmoe from ABC calling about a job reference on an application I have for a job. May I speak to a manager that would be able to help me please"?

"Hello Mr. Schmoe, my name is Jane Doe. I understand you have an application that listed us as a past employer and you'd like to do a reference on them? May I have that person's name please"?

"The applicant's name is John Smith and he worked there from January 2012 until June 2013".

"Oh......Yes...."I" know John. He.....mmmm.....he "did" work for us during that time frame. Do you have any other questions for me"?

Then the person can ask a few other questions about him but this is limited by law as to what they can ask and what can be told.

Again, it's hard to emphasize the way a person can say the words to imply the person they're talking about was a lazy jerk.

By pausing after saying "Oh" then saying "Yes" the person is implying they are thinking about how they can say what they want to say but have to say it in a legal way without saying something bad.

Then when they say "I" that shows they personally knew him and didn't like him. It's said with heavy sarcasm. They knew him and didn't like him or they'd be saying stuff like "Oh yes, I knew John, I hope he's doing great. We sure do miss him around here, it's just not the same without him." and more stuff like that.

By pausing and emphasizing certain words like "did" and "work" they imply they "can't" legally say more but want you to get it that you don't really want to hire him. They are saying he was there but basically a warm body that didn't do much more.

You might have a friend call his references to see what they're saying about him and how they're saying it. Record it just in case they give good information that hubby can use to improve his interview skills and if they do say something bad he can either call a higher up manager or not use them as a reference any more.

If their saying nice things that do mean nice things then he's doing something wrong. No one goes this long without a job if they're interviewing all the time.