Hi Everyone!

This board is so full to the brim of wonderfully helpful folks I am always amazed at the pointers I can gleam from you all!

If you'd be so incredibly kind as to help me plan. My brain is in a muddled mess these days since finding out my husband is going to be laid off as of the last day of January 2013. I've had a really difficult time figuring out where to begin.

Maybe you can help me make a list of priorities? That would really help me out.

I do coupon but I am still struggling my way through it all. I want to make this a good and smooth transition for my family. Food, budget, general bills, collectors, gas, anything would help! If you have any info to offer, even just good words and encouragement I would appreciate that too.

Due to his type of job (IT in the healthcare field) he's limited to what he can do to proactively look for work until he is laid off. Timewise, there's just not much he can devote to looking for new work until after Jan 31st. So, my job until he finds another job is meals, house care, school lunches, squeezing my pennies until they scream, etc.

Anyone have anything to offer?

Thank you so much in advance, this was a hard blow to take this time of year. ut I am in good spirits and I am hopeful!

well, as soon as he is officially unemployed, go apply for your food stamps & unemployment.

between now and then, look at ways to cut spending. Do you eat out? Cut that out, and ad that into your extra funds. Make sure that you turn out all lights as you leave a room, excetra...

check out books from the library on making mixes from scratch; pinterest is also another great resource. Also, cooking from scratch instead of pre-boxed meals is also a great money saver.

I'm sure that you will get lots of other great helpful ideas!

Good Luck!

Lena, wife to Sam (SGT Hall), Momma to my fur baby, Rollie, & my 10 Angels

These are probably obvious but he needs to

1. work on a new resume

2. find out what he needs to apply for unemployment so everything is ready when he can apply

3. start networking

4. get reference letters or phone numbers.

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your DH's job situation. The protocol for job hunting when you know ahead of time of a job loss/layoff is to plan accordingly. I would advise your DH to send out cover letters and resumes to headhunters, seek employment from Internet job sites (i.e. Careerbuilder.com, Indeed.com, Monster.com, LinkedIn.com, etc.), network with fellow IT Healthcare professionals, and seek out job transition advice from your local Workforce or community college counselors.

Also, encourage your DH to check out professional organizations/associations that are related to his job field. For example, there are professional associations for Electrical Engineers, Accountants/CPA(s), and other careers/professions. You can seek assistance from the Reference Librarian at your local library where there are huge Reference books that details all professional associations for jobs, careers, and vocational positions.

For IT, try IEEE (Institute for Electrical Engineers, etc.) which my DH belongs to as a member. He is an Electrical Engineer Manager for a large Defense contractor here in N VA area. He can network with similar organizations related to IT and Healthcare.

Encourage him to accept a position out of state if necessary and it would him perhaps for his career. It would be tough; but we know people who did this and managed okay. Luckily, we never have had to relocate and don't plan to. We also farm here in N VA area on the side and I am a SAHM.

Try to list all your creditors/debts from the smallest to largest outlining your current due dates, amounts owed per month, and outstanding balances to get a better understanding of your financial picture. Include "guesstimates" of your monthly household bills (i.e. monthly utility bills, mortgage, car loans if applicable, insurance premiums, trash bills, cable/satellite bills, phone--land/cell bills, health insurance, car insurance, miscellaneous vehicle insurance bills, homeowner insurance, mortgage taxes, etc.), working budget of your grocery needs, kids' extracurricular activities, and other related expenses.

For your grocery budget, plan meals on less expensive meats, produce, use meat substitutes like tofu, choose canned goods, canned fruit/frozen produce/frozen vegetables, ban soda pop and junk foods, shop bread/bakery thrift stores, seek out wholesale bakeries where you can buy a couple of day old baked goods, etc. Also, check out reduced produce or markdown meats if decent looking and not overripe or bad selection.

Learn to can, dehydrate, or freeze sale/stockpile foods, seek out your local Food Banks if needed, sell unwanted items/donate excess goods, learn how to barter for goods/services, and just "think outside the box". Also, check out any Mormon canneries that may be in your area where you can purchase bulk food items.

Go at the end of the day and ask local meat/butcher shops, farmers markets, "no-frills" stores, and other salvage grocery stores for caselot discounts or reduced prices on markdown or end of the day food. Seek out bakeries for reduced baked goods that discounted when they cannot sell or donate items. If you have an Aldo or "no frills" grocery store or dollar store, shop at these stores. Health food stores, co-ops, bulk foods stores (Amish/Mennonite stores), or salvage stores are great resources.

Check out local food auctions and salvage grocery stores for special sales. Loss leaders are items that stores sell at a discount that the business cannot sell.

Hope this helps--

If you need web sites for the above-mentioned ideals, just PM or post here and I will provide the resource list. Also, sell any items that you can to reduce your outgoing income. Call creditors if you are going to be late and keep updated on your financial goals, etc.

Blessings--

Foodie (Katie)

My dh lost his job after 11 years this past april. So I know how your feeling. do you work ?
his unemployment is going to run out as of today unless they change something. it took 5 months until he got his unemployment. He is unable to work because he need a hip replacement and they will not do it because he is too young and of course back he has back injuries and has gone through the whole physical therapy bit along with shots in his back and at the end he is still the same.
until he got his unemployment I had his cousin come over and do yard sales every weekend or every other weekend. this helped big time !!! We also have a large out door fleamarket here 2 times a year that I sold at during the fall one but was unable to sell at the spring one due to getting bit by a friends dog and had no use of my left hand for 2 weeks. I had sold there before and that had helped a great deal also I do plan to continue doing that there and here until something comes through that will help us out. I do not own a cell phone so that is 1 bill I don't have. I am set up on a pay the same amount of electric and gas bill every month so there are no surprises there. I try to make money anywhere I can !! because every bit helps us. if its a mm item at wags or at rite aid I am on it. We just had wags pizza from wags thanks to the fit peelies. We are on a strict if it is free with q's this is what we can afford! the only bad thing is the drug stores don't sell meat. I hope you like hot dogs because that is a major item in this house= cheap and can get from wags add to mac n cheese and its all good. I recently did find a wags that sells ground beef in 1 lb chubs so it looks like that will be a new item for us. I just hope it is good. Cut back on anything and everything that you possibly can dial up and no cable can be unimaginable but trust me when you have to do what you have to do this is a major cost cutter !! if you have a house note check into refinancing and do it before he is laid off and i mean to do that right now!!!!! call your mortgage company and start trying to get a lower payment. get lower interest rate and prolong the term you have left if you have 26 years left go back to a 30, We tried to do that but we found out that we cant because he is not employed.
GOD only gives us things that HE knows we can handle. It may not look that way now but everything HE gives us is for a reason to grow from it and learn from it and make the right decisions I am sure HE has a plan for each and everyone of us so Hang in there it will be okay in the end if not even better when it is all done.

HERE for CHEAP inserts[http://www.weusecoupons.com/upload/w...4-21-13-a.html

Sorry for the long post and duplicate post. Oops!

Foodie (Katie)

I would tally up all the expenses and money out of pocket that you've spent over the last 3 months that's shown on your bank statements and credit card statements for both you and your husband. Make detailed categories so you know how much money you are actually spending, where you are spending it, and how often. Then average them together, and see what you get. That way you can have a working knowledge of what your monthly expenses really are---and what you can cut or see yourself spending too much on. Don't include Christmas, but do guesstimate how much you spend each month on gifts.

Some utility companies offer fixed payments of your utility bill based on your past usage. It really depends on your household if it would end up being cheaper in the long run. You can call the utility company to see if that is an option and have them explain how they calculate it.

Make sure when you're finished using certain appliances that you unplug them, toaster, coffee maker, hair dryer, laptop charger, blender, etc. Those things still use energy and add to your utility bill when they are plugged in, even though you aren't using them.

If you have gas heat, and think it may be better to invest in an electric heater, you can try that too.

I'm not sure how the energy check program works, or if all states have it. It is income based, so better to do when your husband doesn't have a job. States will send out checks to help with household heating and cooling costs. Your income will be factored into it to. By your post, I couldn't tell if you worked or not. But, you can see if that can be an option for your family.

I personally went without cable for 3 years. That's a huge bill taken away! It really wasn't bad either. Most if not all of the channels post full episodes the day after the show airs. Some do it a week later. I just had to get out of the "I watch this on Sundays and that on Thursday night" mentality.

Nix the gym memberships. If you have dvds, put those to use and save money. Also, certain exercise channels have videos of the exercises on their websites. Movie theaters too---use the free Redbox codes for movie rentals.

Stop eating out. Learn to make restaurant dishes yourself. Mainstream cooking communities online will usually have someone's version of the recipe. Add this into meal planning, and look for special coupons for the things that you want to make. Meal planning can help cut the food costs down even further. Knowing what your family will eat ahead of time will help you maximize your savings, so you won't overspend. Take advantage of Farmer's Markets for cheap produce, herbs, spices, and dairy, as well as Aldi. Try orchards and farms for picking produce as well.

Definitely take some time to make a list of the brands that you use in your household--from pet food, produce, other foods, hba, to laundry detergent. Write emails to all of those companies, and maybe add a sentence about your husband losing his job. Ask them for coupons. Some will usually send free coupons. I've had free product coupons from Pictsweet, All, Scrubbing Bubbles, Mission Tortilla, Deer Park, Rembrandt, Ocean's Spray, etc.

Also, request freebies to offset what you don't have in your stockpile. They really come in handy, especially the laundry, feminine product, and clothes freebies.

Try to build up more savings as best that you can so that you can have an emergency fund, because no one can really say how long your DH will be unemployed.

You have been given great advice. I have some advice of a few other things,

Cut your transportation costs try to limit the trips that you make. Try to consolidate your trips in one or two days. If your husband drove a distance to get to work or drove his car while he was working, contact your car insurance company. You may be able to get a lower rate.

If you have children apply for WIC and Medicaid. Don't be too proud. Your husband has paid taxes into the system.

You have been given good advice. I have a few other things to add.

Lower your transportation costs by limiting your driving to one or two days a week. Make a list of your errands and plan them accordingly.

If you have children apply for WIC and Medicaid. You will need to apply in February.

Do not be too proud. Take whatever someone offers. If you can't use whatever, pass it on to another person.

My Bro in law barters for many services in exchange for home remodeling and repair work.
He gets free car detailing, free dairy & beef, fresh garden vegetables from local farmer.
Can your DH do IT Consulting? check a company called Blue Horseshoe - they hire IT consultants.
What talents do you or yr DH have that you can use to trade/ barter? Find a service to offer: babysitting, house or dog sitting, window cleaning, yard care, grocery shopping, sitting with the elderly, etc. find a talent or furnish a service - barter and trade for what you need/or to save money.

Another idea to save on groceries:
Find Four dependable friends to do a food meal prep co-op. Each friend makes a different large meal, say 20 servings of one meal, soup, salad, entree, vegetables, dessert. then you all meet up, bring your tupperware, and split up the meals. each person takes home 4 different meals to their family. It is a time saver and a big money saver too. When my DH was in grad school, I babysitted, baked pies and cakes, did some catering and party planning. I would set up for parties and clean up the mess and clean house afterwards. All jobs I could either get paid cash or trade & barter. My heart goes out to you and your family, prayers sent the Lord will lead you to a better situation in the near future.

Shhhh! Be va-wee, va-wee quiet. Dee is shopping for bargains!


Lucky 2 B A Wuckie!