FOX 5 MONEY

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

DH went from making a good salary to making nothing, and has been unemployed for seven months.

I had to get a job, but am only pulling in less than $100 wk after of daycare costs.

Just out of curiosity, why do you pay for daycare when your husband is at home unemployed? If my DH were unemployed and the kids were at daycare, he would work somewhere, Costco, or something...There is employment out there, maybe just not the type that your husband finds appealing, but when you're in a welfare/food stamp situation I don't think its the time to be picky.

I was at Montgomery Mall yesterday and was surprised to see so many stores hiring. Also the Giant near our house is hiring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It hasn't affected our spending one bit. My husband and I are still employed and receiving the same salary (plus raises and cost-of-living adjustments) as when the economy was good. So there has been no need to cut back. We're not getting the same returns on our investments, but these were always thought of as long-term investments anyway.

A lot of this recession seems to be a self-fulfilling prophesy. People feel less secure in the economy, so consumer spending goes down, which has a negative impact on the economy.

Do you work for the government? I think there's a lot of psychology involved. Unemployment is still less than 5%

[Anonymous]

I'm the SAHM again, our home has lost $40,000 in value and the homes for sale in our neighborhood just wont sell. The price are dropping like they are giving them away. It's scary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

DH went from making a good salary to making nothing, and has been unemployed for seven months.

I had to get a job, but am only pulling in less than $100 wk after of daycare costs.

Just out of curiosity, why do you pay for daycare when your husband is at home unemployed? If my DH were unemployed and the kids were at daycare, he would work somewhere, Costco, or something...There is employment out there, maybe just not the type that your husband finds appealing, but when you're in a welfare/food stamp situation I don't think its the time to be picky.

I was at Montgomery Mall yesterday and was surprised to see so many stores hiring. Also the Giant near our house is hiring.

Thank you, but unfortunately that is really far from us. There are some retail stores here that were hiring as well, and trust me, he has been out applying.

Like I said, there are many places that are not willing to hire him, because he is so "specialized" in his skill set. There are jobs that won't hire him, because they know that once something better comes about, he will jump ship. Also, he tried the temp thing, but in his field there are so many out of work, that he hasn't had luck there either. He had two glitches with his clearance, one was a filing error, which has taken months to fix, and then the other, we had a foreign national living with us, our Au Pair. She is now gone.

I know that once all his issues with his clearance are corrected, he will be able to return to his high paying jobs, especially now that he is getting additional training.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Oh, and trust me, those jobs aren't hiring either. He is not above working anywhere "below" him, but he gets the "your over qualified" line. I had multiple offers, but my skills are not as specialized.

I don't know where you live, but in the metro area those jobs are EVERYWHERE and the signs are out to prove it. I can imagine that in West Virginia even those jobs are hard to find, but NOT in the DC area. Grocery stores, box stores, the mall, bookstores, Starbucks, you name it. Those places all have schedule flexibility. As a daytime SAHM mom with a PT job at a bookstore on the evenings who has a masters degree and was previously a well compensated Project Manager I was NOT told by Barnes & Noble that I am over qualified to run a cash register and re-shelve books, that sounds odd to me. At the store we have quite a few people from different backgrounds/walks of life and reasons why they find themselves working at a bookstore. We even have men and women who struggle working there as primary, 2nd, or 3rd incomes to support their families and stay off the rolls.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

We are cutting back in lots of small ways that add up.

I've long since stopped buying premium (or medium for that matter) gasoline.

We take fewer fun day trips out to Annapolis or the Inner Harbor (see gas above) with our child.

I still go to Starbuck's daily, but now only get the fresh brewed coffee instead of a latte (and I don't stop on the way home for a second drink).

Eating out contines on the weekend but has been toned down. Hello Rio Grande and Calf. Pizza Kitchen (they have excellent salads by the way); good-bye Ruth's Chris and others. Brunch is out and breakfast diners/bagel places are in.

Purchased pjs at Target instead of the department store.

Postponing landscaping improvements to the yard and just planting a dozen annuals in the front (in previous years we contracted to have lots of annuals planted in the spring).

[Anonymous]

If my family needed money, I'd work at McDonalds if I had to!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Do you work for the government? I think there's a lot of psychology involved. Unemployment is still less than 5%

To further the case for the economic "crisis" (I'm being sarcastic) according to labor statistics that came out yesterday the DC region has the 2nd HIGHEST employment rate in the entire contry for metropolitan areas. Yes PEOPLE, more people are employed in the DC region that ANYWHERE else in the country, except New Orleans. This is a direct quote for the DOLs website:

"New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La., reported the lowest jobless rate among
the large areas, 3.1 percent. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-
Md.-W.Va., had the next lowest jobless rate, 3.3 percent."

I was very suprised to see that employment is so high in New Orleans, the rebuilding much be creating a ton of jobs. For DC This is an extrodinarly low unempolyment rate considering the poverty in DC. This means that at those less desirable jobs such as grocery stores and retail, the businesses are finding it very difficult to get help. It is just a lame excuse if you are claim that you cannot find a job at one of these places and I'm not buying it for a second.

[Anonymous]

Read the entire Labor Report here:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nr0.htm

Very interesting, the region is mentioned again as being one of the very top earners in new jobs. 26,000 new jobs were created in the DC region in the month of February alone. Sure prices have gone up, but it's not like we are suffering any sort of terrible callamity. Anyone ever travel overseas? I just came back from a country that had $7/gal gasoline and that country is much poorer than our, but they are at least smart enough to drive tiny cars, I'm talking REALLY tiny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read the entire Labor Report here:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nr0.htm

Very interesting, the region is mentioned again as being one of the very top earners in new jobs. 26,000 new jobs were created in the DC region in the month of February alone. Sure prices have gone up, but it's not like we are suffering any sort of terrible callamity. Anyone ever travel overseas? I just came back from a country that had $7/gal gasoline and that country is much poorer than our, but they are at least smart enough to drive tiny cars, I'm talking REALLY tiny.

But didn't you hear - the sky is falling. We must all cut back on our Starbucks intake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my family needed money, I'd work at McDonalds if I had to!

Seriously? Is this at all constructive?

Jeez Louise! I can not believe all the bashing here. Especially since I had said that he was going to school, job hunting and interviewing (several times a week--often second and third interviews).

Most of the problem is every time he thinks the issues with his clearance has been resolved, a new issue comes up. There are several companies he has signed hiring agreements with, only to be dropped because they don't feel like fixing his clearance, or investigating our Au Pair, who no longer is with us.

Yes, he has applied to retail jobs, and other low paying jobs. He didn't do this right away, because it seemed like he was going to be hired at any moment. Something we have come not to expect, for above stated reasons. Some of the jobs have said he was over qualified, which I think they said, because they knew he was going to leave as soon as his "real" job came through.

I applied to all the retail places out there as well, and I didn't get so much as an interview. This was after working in retail for years. I did however get a ton of response after posting my resume on Monster. I was turning down jobs, but they were not jobs that would hire my DH, as they wanted experienced people. It helps that I have done a lot.

So sure, it sucks that I am making less than one hundred dollars a paycheck, but you know what? It slows the bleed a bit. It more than pays for my electric bill and my heating bill.

Our children are daytime potty trained, and a case of diapers lasts us months, instead the week or two it was lasting.

We kept our cable, Internet, and phone, but switched companies, and saved $100 a month.

We use our fireplace, and keep the heat at 62 degrees.

We use compact fluorescent bulbs.

I make my own bread and pizza.

We pack our own lunches. PB&J. I made my own jam.

We bake our own cookies.

We had six months of savings, for the lifestyle we were living. We scaled back, have done seven, and if we have to cash in our 401k, we can do six more.

Our cable bill is our entertainment budget for the month.

[Anonymous]

no new clothes. no camp for kids this summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read the entire Labor Report here:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nr0.htm

Very interesting, the region is mentioned again as being one of the very top earners in new jobs. 26,000 new jobs were created in the DC region in the month of February alone. Sure prices have gone up, but it's not like we are suffering any sort of terrible callamity. Anyone ever travel overseas? I just came back from a country that had $7/gal gasoline and that country is much poorer than our, but they are at least smart enough to drive tiny cars, I'm talking REALLY tiny.

I shouldn't write this...but husband can't wait for gas to be over $4 a gallon. He's sick of all the big SUVs on the road-which he claims are status symbols anyway. I've heard co-workers complain about how much gas costs and how much more they're spending a week on gas-well-you have a husband, one child, and you're driving a Jeep Commander, which only gets 13 miles a gallon, and your commute is 45 miles each way. And you want me to feel sorry for you. Europeans have to drive small cars, gas costs too much. Or they walk, or take public transportation.

We're a wasteful country. It makes me sick. The big house, the big car-for what? So your neighbors think you have it all? But then your mortgage payment goes up because you got an interest only loan, or an 80/20 with high interest rates, just so you can have that big house, that you really can't afford-I do not and will not ever feel sorry for these people. Do you think Warren Buffet lives like he has billions of dollars...the second richest person in the world? Nope. We live in a 1900 sq. ft. house-2 adults, a toddler, a dog, and 2 cats. And guess what, we're not ashamed and we love our home. It's time everyone wake up, and live within their means. I know bad stuff happens to really good people-I'm talking about the people who want everyone else to think that they're the richest family on the block. I know quite a few people that believe and live like that, and they're getting burned. But when a job loss or illness strikes, I'd give the shirt off my back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read the entire Labor Report here:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nr0.htm

Very interesting, the region is mentioned again as being one of the very top earners in new jobs. 26,000 new jobs were created in the DC region in the month of February alone. Sure prices have gone up, but it's not like we are suffering any sort of terrible callamity. Anyone ever travel overseas? I just came back from a country that had $7/gal gasoline and that country is much poorer than our, but they are at least smart enough to drive tiny cars, I'm talking REALLY tiny.

But didn't you hear - the sky is falling. We must all cut back on our Starbucks intake.

There you go. Make fun of people genuinely trying to cut back. Two Starbuck's a day can actually cost a lot of money if you add it up over the course of several months. Just like manicure's, pedicure's, expensive gas, cable, eating out, ect., all add up. Just because you have not had to cut back does not mean others haven't had to. To some people the Starbuck's was a luxury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read the entire Labor Report here:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nr0.htm

Very interesting, the region is mentioned again as being one of the very top earners in new jobs. 26,000 new jobs were created in the DC region in the month of February alone. Sure prices have gone up, but it's not like we are suffering any sort of terrible callamity. Anyone ever travel overseas? I just came back from a country that had $7/gal gasoline and that country is much poorer than our, but they are at least smart enough to drive tiny cars, I'm talking REALLY tiny.

But didn't you hear - the sky is falling. We must all cut back on our Starbucks intake.

There you go. Make fun of people genuinely trying to cut back. Two Starbuck's a day can actually cost a lot of money if you add it up over the course of several months. Just like manicure's, pedicure's, expensive gas, cable, eating out, ect., all add up. Just because you have not had to cut back does not mean others haven't had to. To some people the Starbuck's was a luxury.

It's not unusual to spend an extra $200 a month just on black coffe/espresso. Even in 1995, they tabulated coffee expenses of someone who bought coffee twice a day.