Emily emailed in the following testimonial which I thought many of you would be encouraged by reading:
I lost my job at the beginning of April. My former boss told me that he would pay me through the end of May. I figured that would give me enough time to find a job and still live without a worry. I was wrong! I have not received a paycheck since April 15.
Thanks to the advice that I have been reading on MoneySavingMom.com and my frugal ways, I am in a financial position in which I can go at least three months (comfortably) without pay. This support net has lifted a weight off my shoulders.
I spend many hours a day applying for jobs and searching for jobs. Unfortunately I haven’t had any luck yet, but I know that eventually I’ll find something (hopefully sooner than later).
Here are some of the things I have done to reduce my cost of living over the past year:
- Watch my energy rates and change when I find lower rates.
- Cut coupons and use them on items on sale, so that I pay minimal.
- Use free samples I find on MoneySavingMom.com and AllYou.com — I have enough shampoo to last me at least a year!
- Cook meals according to what’s on sale at the grocery store.
- Buy meat that is on sale because it’s approaching the ‘sell by’ date (and cook immediately).
- Cook big meals and freeze leftovers for days that I’m too tired to cook.
- Call Comcast periodically to see if they have lower rates (I’ve hit rock bottom — $86 for internet and cable).
- Collect gifts (on sale at stores) in the closet. When birthdays come up, I don’t have to go to the store and spend more money than planned.
Living a conservative and modest lifestyle has already helped me though the past couple of weeks. Of course I still feel very stressed to find a job, but because I’ve lived like this for a while, there is a little less stress and less of a financial transition to make which is great! -Emily
Emily, I would like to honestly wish you the very best of luck! I too was laid off … Jan ’09 … I too had optimism, flexiblity & the ability to live frugal. In addition, I had a home that was mortgage-free & a healthy retirement account. I was not too proud to accept unemployment checks (which, by the way ARE govt subsidy! NONE of us PAY UI … Every employer contributes & the gov’t subsidies). I too had a strong belief that I would find a new job, even min wage. I too have a strong belief in God & his powers to protect & provide. I currently have NO land line, NO TV svc of any type, NO internet, NO medical ins, NO unemployment cks, very little retirment $ left & still NO job. Nope, not even min wage. I have submitted approx 500 applications/ resumes … Over qualified
Is very popular, but only the begining. These are very tough times for our country & I am not in bad shape, when I look around my immediate area, I count my blessings! I have a home, I have 2 healthy children, I have a loving husband who has been able to secure a min wage job & I have a stockpile! Heck! I still have optimism! Matter of fact, I even have yet another job interview tomorrow @ 3. I have kept myself busy looking for work (daily), taking care of my children, pets & garden, searching for new ways to save & volunteering for various organizations in my area … very humbling. I never have time to grumble about my situation while seeing so many others whose situation is so much worse. Good luck to you Emily! God Bless you and yours. My advice would be to take some time planning on how you will survive the loooooong stretch … Please spend some time figuring out how you can make this work for more than 3 months. Sometimes it means deciding to NOT be comfortable.
Thank you for everyone’s kind words/wishes! I am working temporary jobs while looking for a full time position. I have also decided to go back to school to get a masters degree to help me further my long term financial position (just in case this happens again, I will be more than prepared). My internet/tv cable bundle is a must, as I need to be able to search for jobs in the evenings after I finish my temp work (and cancellation fees are high). I am very blessed to have been living such a frugal lifestyle over the past year or so… Because of living very conservative and way below necessary, my lifestyle has remained the same (3 months later) and I feel less stress! Thanks, moneysavingmom.com for sharing my testimonial with everyone!
We too are thankful for MoneySavingMom! My husband has been unemployed for almost two months now, and we do not qualify for any unemployment or monetary assistance (due to our future home savings.) A job to just get by in the meantime? He has applied and applied with no response other than his being overqualified (he is a CPA). I am so thankful for the advice to have an emergency fund set aside! Things are very tight (we don’t want to blow our small fund!) but we don’t need to be stressed, and as a mom to 2 under 2 that gives me so much freedom to just be mom and support my husband as he job hunts. I am so thankful for every little thing the Lord provides. 🙂
I love the theme of this Testimonial. I truly believe in living debt free and below your means. Over and over again, our family got thru financial rough spots (unemployment, unexpected expenses, ect) by living this way. We were never mortgage free but got our mortgage down to an amount we could make with both of us working minimum wage. I learned quickly when a combo of unemployment + unexpected expenses almost lost us our home. I said never again and stuck by it. While you are looking for work, you might want to consider intermittent work like babysitting on weekends/evenings, homesitting for deliveries/repairmen and other jobs like that. Best wishes and I hope you find employment soon!
If I could mention one thing about the cable issue… reading the replies here have made me stop complaining about what our family pays for Comcast. We’re in the central PA region and our total monthly for limited basic cable and I think it’s called economy internet service (no, it’s not dial up) is $37. Sure, my kids watch PBS, not Disney and frankly, the internet is plenty fast for us. Compared to what some other readers are paying, I guess we really are getting a bargain! Good luck with your job search!
I’m not sure your field, but I recommend contract houses. Contract isn’t what it used to be, meaning you can be “contract” for greater than 10 years these days.
However, I highly encourage you to be picky about the contract house. Some have very terrible medical benefits.
A big downside of being contract is the medical benefits cost twice as much as if you were direct. I recently accepted a new contract job, and and negotiated a higher pay rate, so they essentially cover the cost of paying into the medical plan. Of course, that doesn’t pay for actual medical expenses, but it was a slight raise since I had to pay for benefits at my last job.
When considering contract offers, I also suggest holding out for OT pay (holding out if your making a job change, my last HR manager actually admitted they were able to get away with crappy contract offers because of the bad unemployment). I get paid hourly at my new job, and my new boss essentially wants me to work 9 hrs/day, and if that really occurs, I get 5 hrs of ot a week. my last job was salary non exempt, so I worked 70-80 hour weeks regularly without extra compensation.
Before all of this, I was laid off from my profession for quite some time. I took a part time job in retail (it was even difficult to find a retail place that was hiring), but some weeks I didn’t get any hours. These experiences and reading the advice of others has me saving a decent emergency fund, so that I will be covered if that happens again.
Best of luck
One other thing depending on what the deal is with the boss…Have you considered calling the labor board and seeing about getting your lost wages?
Not many people advocate Government assistance at times like these but Unemployment and Food stamps to help save money until you can get a job. I would cut the cable and tell them you want the slower high speed internet.
Keep it up Emily! With the right attitude, no hurdle is too high.
Good luck Emily! I think you have made awesome strides. Please let us know when you are working again! I’ll pray for you!
We to are in fiancial hard times, like so many out there, but we have found that it would cost more to cut out our tv and just have interenet , I have made a deal with the company and have cut costs drastically… I use coupons and sign up for every freebie that comes along, all in all its been sorta fun to see how we do and it hasnt hurt us at all to cut out the things we really can live without.I am always interested to hear how others live on tight budgets. We thought at this time in our lives it would be easier since we have been married 39 years but I trust the lord to provide and he does.. God bless all of you out there looking for jobs,Its tough. I grew up with parents who went thru the depression and if anything, they taught us its how to be poor and not think your are..this to shall pass and I hope we all learn something from it and keep helping our neighbors and look for ways to save..
I love your comment,”they taught us how to be poor and not think your are…” Such wisdom! and a good lesson for all of us.
So proud of your attitude! We need to be frugal no matter the situation. My place of business decided to cut our pay by 20% and I am a single mom supporting three kids and it is so hard. Praise God for moneysavingmom and the ideas that are given on this site! Have told many people!!
Just wanted to offer my support to Emily. It doesn’t make sense for me to give up cable/ Internet since they are bundled, and I am also out on the job hunt myself now too. Yes theres the public library but it would cost more in gas and it’s easier to keep little ones entertained while applying for things online at home. Anyway, hang in there; I know what its like. Definitely hard to understand until you are there; jobs are not as plentiful as many think.
That’s too bad that you lost your job. It is really rough out there to find a job. I know, because I was unemployed for quite some time. However, the frugal lessons you have learned will be lessons that you can continue to use even once you get back on your feet! Just because you become more financially solvent doesn’t mean that you should give up frugal living!
Emily, the mining industry is hiring like crazy in all areas of business. Good luck and God bless. Hope this helps! It’ll all work out.
Maybe we shouldn’t judge why she has cable or why she doesn’t work at McDonalds. People have reasons for their decisions, and I’m not sure it’s our place to be pompous about it.
Thank you, Jennifer. My thoughts exactly.
Emily, thanks for sharing your story. Hope you find a job soon. 🙂
Emily, Heavenly Father will bless you for the wise decisions that you are making in this hard times moments. Hang in there the job will come soon.
Goodluck Emily! You will find a job I’m sure! You’re not the only in this position, I was given a six month notice at the beginning of the month. I know its hard and disappointing, but GoodLuck!
So sorry to hear that. I hope you are able to find a new job quickly, too.
that is “sorta” lucky, 6 months to look/prepare. good luck!
I have recently been laid off as well, and I’m doing okay because I had money saved, and I do well about spending money wisely. But I’m also getting unemployment, which is extremely helpful. The emailer did not mention this, so I just wanted to make sure she knows to look into it to see if this is an option!
Yeah its rough to know financial reins to get tighter…even losing a home to become eminent…
I would cut cable off as well…I rather pay 60 bucks(assuming that is the lowest from Comcast that you pay for just internet and no cable) and save 20 for my grocery needs or even for meds-stretch it further,this is all temporary till a job comes along(deals will always be there)…walk to stores or bike it if possible 2 save on gas…also to let friends and neighbors know of your situation…you never know when the grace of god to find you a solution…also churches help in situations…even if they don’t or can’t it helps having positive-thinking/encouraging people around you…use your county library for resources, here in my local library they are always offering adult computer classes, job-hunting classes and even free resume reviews….
Wish you well Emily, hang in there!!
Not sure why my comment doesn’t show up. I tried like 3 times.
what the h.
GRR I wrote a post with some options where to watch movies and tv shows for free or a small fee. No links but maybe too many brand names in one post. Hopefully it’s sitting in the SPAM filter and not gone into interweb oblivion =)
it showed up as a rely under some elses comment… They were good options 🙂
Emily, what type of job are you looking for? I work for a global company that is always hiring in various fields. (Quite a few of the positions are telecommuting so you can possibly apply, but live anywhere) Would be happy to send you my company’s website and submit your resume if anything comes up.
Susan, I might be interested in your company because I am looking for a new job too. I do search engine optimization, social media, copywriting, brand management and content management. Would you mind emailing me your company’s website?
No jobs? She didn’t say what type of work she did before her lay-off but certainly Walmart, Target, McDonalds, ect is hiring. I think it would be better to make a little money and be able to look for a job in my free time (since those places rarely offer full time schedules) then to wait until the three months is up (which is coming soon) and be up a creek!
Not that I’m advocating “living off the government,” but perhaps it would be better for her to collect unemployment instead of taking a temporary job. If she works for Walmart, Target, McDonlad’s, etc. for just a few weeks and then finds a job, then she will have wasted their time training her. Of course, weeks could be come month… Yes, I see both sides of the coin. 😀
Most people pay unemployment tax while employed (which then funds unemployment benefits). So you’re right – taking unemployment is definitely not living off the government 🙂
Actually, it’s summer and many of those places are not hiring since all the college and high school kids are home and free to work for minimum wage. Depending on where she lives, the commute to a job like that could drain her gas mileage so much that it would simply not help at all and would only add more strain on an already taxing situation. And if she is collecting unemployment, she probably can’t get a job like that or she’ll loose more in the long run till she gets a job.
That’s great Emily. In response to Sam, we live in a state that has had the highest unemployment rate, foreclosures and pretty much the highest negative everything it seems i n recent years and Walmart, Target have not been hiring! These used to be the go to jobs most people could depend on in a pinch for employment but with such high employment these jobs too are very hard to come by. Everyone has different circumstances depending on which region they reside.
I also know someone that made a high enough wage that working a minimum wage job paid less than their unemployment. Not much less, but it was less. I have an office job that I work through the week and I also work at McDonalds on the weekends. This allows me to pick up hours if I need the income and gives me a sense of security since there is a greater chance of losing my office job. I have two kids to care for and its important for me to know I can provide for them. I have worked at McDonalds for 10 years now (started when I was almost 15) and I can say that this past year they have went long periods without hiring anyone and when they do actually hire, its not many people. This is the only time I remember it ever being that way too! Even minimum wage jobs are more difficult to get than usual.
That was in response to Sam.
The Detroit area has one of the highest unemployment rates in the area and, as a Target employee, I can tell you that none of the stores in our district are hiring right now. The ‘new’ staff, including me, joined before the Christmas rush and we expect few, if any, additions to the staff untill at least September. In the current economy, even these types of minimum wage jobs can be hard to find.
I’m from the detroit area as well, I can’t even tell you how many “target/mcdonald” type jobs I applied for, and I only got called by one. I wasn’t sure how long my unemployment would last, and even that “type” of job still didn’t call me for months.
Also, with unemployment, you are still able to collect while working. You have to report how much you made each week, and they adjust it based off of that.
And unemployment has a cap on it. that’s part of why they gave those extra boosts to the unemployment checks in the top ten states. Yes, I paid into unemployment, so I would have liked to collect what I paid into it, but that wasn’t how it worked. I got the same max as someone who didn’t make that much, because that’s how it is.
Do you remember when McDonalds was hiring 10,000 people nationwide and got millions of applicants. They do hire, but hundreds of people show up for the minimum wage, part-time job. People that haven’t tried getting a job in the past two years or so have no idea how bad the job market is. I myself live in an area with 15% unemployment.
yes, my older teens can even find a job that is usually reserved for teens only. when you go to fast food and older and much older adults are working those jobs. it has become depressing for my 19yr old, she (we) don’t know how she is going to ever “get a start” to being a grown up. so we just keep having her take college classes and hoping….
These types of jobs may not provide enough income to her if she has to factor in childcare costs too.
Speaking from experience, sometimes there really are NO prospects. It’s easy to judge when you’re not the one writing cover letters for Burger King, and not getting in.
I would have to agree that many of those “lower level” (no offense to anyone) jobs are drying up rapidly or have already dried up. I know they have around here at least. Two summers ago my husband and I were working opposite shifts at McDonald’s to provide for our family until my husband could find something else. We worked there for almost three months, and during that time I personally handed 70+ applications over to management. There were many other workers that were also receiving applications and passing them to management. Of those 70+ I handed in, only 1 was hired. It’s something to think about.
There is no “certainly” about anyone hiring these days. While I agree that bringing in some money is better than none, the US unemployment rate is currently over 9 percent, which makes it hard to find a job. Additionally, as many as 25 percent of Americans are underemployed, which makes finding an entry-level minimum wage job difficult.
I can’t speak for her, but I know in my area they aren’t hiring in my area, and the fast food places have told me I’m over qualified even if they were. I said I don’t mind, I’ll work for minimum wage but they say I can’t because I’m too qualified. I think the excuse over qualified should be illegal!
I do freelance writing as a side income and writing from home allows me the freedom to do that whenever, and it’s a tax deduction as well. I think you can also deduct expenses for job-searches, she might want to look into that (mileage for traveling to interviews, etc).
Usually you have to pay for basic cable to get internet and I’m sure she needs the internet for a job search. I would!
We don’t. We have just internet, no cable TV and no landline phone. We pay $39.95 per month for internet, and the first year was$29.95. Our cable company has a package deal with phone, internet, and TV for $99.85 per month for the first year (not sure how much it increases after the promotional period). There’s no way that I would want to pay $60 more per month than we’re paying now. However, if someone had already signed up for a package deal but wanted to cut back later, that would probably be more difficult.
We get little to no cell phone reception in our house, so going without a landline is not an option.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I went through something similiar. I hope that she has filed for unemployment so there is income still flowing in her household.
It is surprising that you pay for cable tv, though! There are plenty of things to watch on network TV that can be picked up for free with an antenna! And you can get movies to rent for $1 (or free thanks to MoneySavingMom!) at those kiosks.
I believe she’s probably kept it because her internet is bundled with it. It’s difficult to job hunt without internet access.
Depending on your contract, sometimes it is cheaper to keep your bundled services than pay the cancellation fees. This could also be the case.
I actually just called comcast yesterday and they let me keep my bundled price for internet and cancelled my cable… My price is good until November… it took some time and some real negotiating, but after about 20 minutes, I have 20MBps internet for only $29.99/month… a huge drop from the $69.99 they wanted to charge me 🙂
Wow. That’s great. I’ll have to remember that if and when I ever move back into Comcast territory.
be careful with that- we have comcast as well. at first we had the triple play with tv, internet, and phone. we never used the phone and called to cancel it. we had to talk them into letting us keep the bundled price because taking the phone off would cost us more monthly. their customer retention dept later told us we were not paying enough when we questioned a new deal they had(we had called becuase they had a deal for 99 a month for same thing we were paying for). they are now raising our bill because the bundle price was never taken off. needless to say we are switching to uverse…
I have to agree. Cable is a huge money suck.
There are so many options to watch just about anything you want via the internet. Here are a couple:
1. HULU.com offers both network TV and movies for FREE (there is a subscription option for about $10 a month to get more choices but not necessary). Not every show is available but there are plenty of things to watch.
PRO: they have very few commercials and most things are in HD. You’re also not tied into a TV schedule. Watch your favorite shows when you’re ready not when they’re on.
2. Network TV websites. Many networks now offer their popular shows online on their website, usually only a day behind.
PRO: fewer commercials, and you’re not tied into a TV schedule.
3. Netflix online only subscription. It’s about $4 or $5 a month and you can watch an unlimited amount of TV shows or movies. (They have a deal with Starz, so for example I was able to watch the Spartacus episodes only a week behind broadcast)
PRO: No commercials and a library of thousands of things to watch.
And if your kids or you happen to have an xbox, a playstation 3 or a Wii, you can stream Netflix directly to your TV. Xbox gold subscription can be as low as $40 A YEAR.
4. YouTube. Did you know you can watch movies on YouTube for a small fee? But there is also a little library of FREE movies.
5. Amazon. If you happen to be an Amazon Prime member, you can watch a ton (6,000 to be exact) of movies for FREE via Amazon instant video. Amazon Prime membership is about $80 a year, and gets you FREE 2 day shipping. And if you’re keeping cable around for one particular show, many shows can be watched on Amazon for a small fee per episode when you get the season pass.
6. iTunes. Watch movies and shows for a small fee.
It costs us $10 per month for cable as part of our bundle.
You pay $10 for cable??? Even our basic (with just ABC FOX etc) is $18! Regular cable is $75 minimum
Netflix service is $7.99 a month for just online viewing.
Oh you are correct. Sorry I got it confused with the 1 dvd at a time price. I still think that’s pretty cheap compared to what cable costs.
TV + DVDs by mail via Netflix is $10 per month, which is the same amount we pay for cable. We borrow movies from the library (for free). It isn’t always cheaper to use a different service.
I have looked at reducing our monthly bill by getting rid of cable TV as well, but since it is bundled with our internet (which we need for school/work) and phone and is a promotional rate, the last time I checked it was actually going to COST us $10 more a month to NOT have TV.
It would cost us an extra $50 a month to not have TV and just internet. I wish we could unbundle and just have internet.
The only cable tv/internet option in our area is Cox and they have an option for internet only that’s $25 a month where as the cheapest option with tv is $50+ a month… they don’t like to tell you that you CAN get JUST internet only without tv. You have to check these companies websites regularly for new deals that have some up.. when you call to ask them they don’t want to tell you about them because that would be downgrading.
I have Cox where I live. Until recently we had internet & cable (costing us $93/mo). I cancelled our cable, returned DVR and just have the basic internet…..it now costs us $24/mo.
I have watched a couple tv shows via Hulu, but I am really surprised that our family really doesn’t miss watching tv!
I just recently posted about cancelling our cable too: http://heartandhaven.com/2011/06/08/the-endless-summer/
That’s what I thought, too. We have just internet, no cable TV and no landline phone. The cable company is always trying to get us to sign up for those bundle deals, but it would be a lot more expensive than we’re paying now to add cable TV.
up where we live, there is no network tv (very rural) and the only high speed internet is bundled with your phone and satillite tv…altogether, all four (unlimited long distance, local phone, sat. tv, and internet) in a bundle is $59 a month, which would be cheaper than the phone and dial up internet alone.
When we lost our job a few years ago, I was thankful for frugal living too. Dh’s employer went out of business, and not only did we lose our job, but the last few paychecks bounced…but being frugal, we were able to at least make due until he found another, albeit lower paying, job. We wished we were even more frugal and had not followed family advice to go into debt!
I’ve lived in rural areas like that. In one place we couldn’t even get cell-phone service–and no local TV either. $59 per month isn’t a bad price for a package deal, though.
Wow, that’s amazing! Our internet alone is $56 a month, and bundling cable would just at an extra $20-30 a month. We pick up very little with our antennae so we usually stick to Netflix and Hulu for TV.