Recovering From Unemployment – Part 1: Getting Into Debt

Unemployment: One of the most counter-productive methods of saving money out there.  And yet, it’s not uncommon to have periods of unemployment in our adult lives.  Unless you’re leaving one job for another, chances are good you’ll have at least a week or two of unemployment, right?  It can be a scary experience, especially if you have few safety nets in place!

In 2010, our sole breadwinner lost his job.  We knew it was coming, fortunately.  He was a pharmaceutical rep for a small company that was bought out by a foreign company.  It had been undergoing some major changes for years, and there was always the threat of impending job cuts.  About 6 months before the actual cut, there was a rumor that the end was near, and soon the company confirmed this.  Fortunately, we were not in debt aside from our mortgage and my student loan.  We had already been dabbling with moving out to the country, and this news sealed the deal for us.  Our house was a major drain on our finances, and while it was my starry-eyed-newly-married-House o’ Dreams, we both knew that faced with any season of unemployment we would quickly run out of money with our giant mortgage.  It was time to say goodbye to the home we’d loved for the last six years!

Despite a treacherous selling market, despite trying to sell a very unique home for far more than the neighborhood’s worth, and despite selling by owner, our home sold in 4 months.  We fell in love with a beautiful home in the country with a much smaller square footage, and happily, a much smaller mortgage.

By then, Ty had been unemployed for two months.  At the time, we viewed this as a “vacation”.  With all the flurry of selling and buying homes, it was just nice to focus simply on moving.  Our daughter had just turned two, and Ty was enjoying getting a taste of experiencing MY job – the life of a stay-at-home mom!  Once we settled in though, Ty started getting serious about his job hunt.

Little did we know how brutal this would be!  At first, we thought this was the perfect opportunity for Ty to switch careers, but while he applied to plenty of non-sales opportunities he was more than qualified for, he never even got an interview.  So eventually he decided even a job he didn’t love was better than no job, and in the meantime our severance package was dwindling.  He started applying for pharmaceutical jobs again, and began to feel the true sting of rejection.

Let’s fast-forward one year.  Ty had a few unsuccessful interviews, but mostly he felt frustrated over the interviews he didn’t even get.  This was new territory for him, in the past he would apply for a job, quickly receive an interview, and usually walk out of the interview with a job.  He had never not even gotten an interview before!  It was a humbling year, to say the least.

By January, he scored a 6-month contract with a pharmaceutical company and we were able to breathe a little easier for awhile.  We also welcomed our second daughter into the family at the end of March!  We tried to replenish our savings account, and he kept searching for permanent work.  Unfortunately, once the contract ended, Ty would go on over 20 interviews over the next year and a half – all fruitless, frustrating ventures.  We both took whatever odd cash-paying jobs came our way, but it certainly wasn’t enough to sustain us.  By the end of 2012 this no longer felt like a vacation, but rather a very scary nightmare.  Unemployment benefits were up, our savings account was dry, and there was little hope in sight.

Finally, finally…a miracle!  My parents expanded their catering business and needed a manager… score!  Not only did Ty get the career change he longed for, but also an environment that built up his crumbling self-esteem, and perhaps best of all:  A Paycheck.  It’s really amazing what a paycheck can do to your psyche, isn’t it?

Now that we have a regular paycheck, we have some work to do.  Although we had tried to budget, cut corners and be wise during our period of unemployment, we still ended up falling back on a credit card.  Most of the debt came from legitimate budget-breakers like a major dentist bill, replacing a few leaking windows, and several auto repair bills, but honestly, some of that debt came from unwise purchases as well.   So now it is time to completely revise the budget:  we certainly don’t have enough money to live extravagantly by any means, but we DO have enough to LIVE and get out of debt, albeit slowly.

The first step is to make an oath to retire the credit cards.  Those things are the DEVIL.  They are too easy to use, and they make a new pair of shoes seem so much more affordable in the moment!  We decided to take this very, very seriously.  This is a time for delayed gratification.  This is a time for continuing to cut corners.   This is a time for hope!

Stay tuned for Part 2: Delayed Gratification!

Featured Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One Comment Add yours

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *