9.15.2008

Hold on to your pennies!


Economy wise (and in many other ways) we live in some pretty scary times.


As you've probably heard, Lehman Brothers has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.


This has hit families in my town pretty hard. A friend of mine called me this morning with her voice shaking. Her husband is out of a job with no severance and no salary. So are thousands of other Lehman employees.


Now they are all competing with each other for whatever jobs are available in their areas of expertise.


Imagine, having you or your husband's source of income cut off, with virtually no safety net.


Hearing my friend's voice really hit home for me. I realized that I really do have to be super careful with our money, at least for the time being.


Granted, losing a job isn't the worst thing that can happen to a person. It happened to me when I was 25 years old. My company lost a big account and they let the newest people go. I felt like the wind was knocked out of me, but my expenses were low, and it was easy to bounce back.


When you have 4 childen, a mortgage and tuition bills to pay, the stakes are pretty high. I feel for them, and I'm not foolish enough to think that it can't happen to my family.


I'm not sure if any of you have been through this. If you have, tell me what happened, and how did you get your life back on track?


21 comments:

The Mrs. said...

Things are so nuts right now! I can't even imagine being in that position. Scary.

Snappy Casual Snippets said...

I have switched my blogs around. My personal is now snappy casual snippets and my store is now snappy casual gifts.

justme said...

this shit is scary. my hubby works for bofa which just bought merrill so he is concerned for his job as well. i can not believe such a big firm just shuts down. i have to imagine our area is going to feel it. although many of those in their 2+million dollar home are probably fine and able to retire already with what they have made, which is even a scarier thought.

Anonymous said...

Well, my husband lost his job 4 years ago. Not due to a corporate shakedown, but still, it was rough. His job was in the medical field and that particular position is few and far in between around here. So... long story short, it S.U.C.K.E.D. We learned some lessons the hard way. DO NOT deplete your 401k, do not touch your savings, etc.... But the upside was, he realized how much he had hated his job and went into an entirely different field and loves it! Sure, the pay is a bit lower, but he's a lot happier. So it was probably a blessing in disguise.

clemsongirlandthecoach said...

Girl. Speaking as a Coach's wife...been there. It's rough.

??? said...

I hate that for your friend and her family.

I agree...I need to be better with my money. I suck at saving!! But I am gonna try!!

Thanks for that eye opener today!!

Petunia said...

That is so scary--I was watching it on the news last night. :-(

beach mama said...

That's why I thank God that Hubby is a cop...not the whole 'risking his life everyday he goes to work' part...but the 'there will always be criminals so he has instant job security forever' part.

linda said...

Yes, my husband said the mood on Wall Street today ( and the train ride home to our NY suburb) was very somber indeed.

MommyTime said...

This is a really good reminder. I have been contemplating not investing the summer salary (extra income) I earned but rather putting it into our interest-bearing account instead, because I fear the potential for big-time short-term losses. And it never hurts to have a buffer that's somewhere easily liquid and guaranteed. Even so, I don't know what I'd do in the face of a crisis of this magnitude.

Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional said...

Very scary.

just ask beth said...

I had to remove my ICE PIK post. it was a figure of speech but after 13 psycho comments it was time to move on. My neighbor is a country bumpkin, with a nice house! She thinks her daughter is soooooooo advanced and never does anything wrong, which trust me she does! You can't comment to her but she is free wheeling with advice!! Got the picture..

Unknown said...

I came hom from the dr office to hear this breaking news-it is VERY scary!

My hubby says we are one big exspense away from loosing it all...i have learned to be as frugal as I can-it is hard times we live in right now

Jaina said...

That's really scary. I hope things work out for them and for the other families in your area.

TheKeepersMom said...

Well my BIL lost his water front dream house (in your little piece of this state BTW), when he lost his high priced job & his wife filed for divorce...
Yuck! Double yuck!
We are also one major expense from disaster..

Kim said...

DOTR lost his job when J4 was 6 weeks old. They brought in a new VP of Marketing and even though he had the top producing office in the country, he was gone (mainly because this guy was clueless and was getting rid of anybody who was a threat). I hadn't worked for years, I had a first grader and three preschoolers and a husband home for the entire summer looking for a job. Kill me now.

Luckily, we had both our cars paid off, and money in savings so we were okay. When it became apparent that finding another job was not going to be easy, we mortgaged the house and DOTR started his own business. I did the office work from home and he worked his butt off to get it off the ground. At the time it was really scary, but it was the best thing that ever happened to him because he probably wouldn't have started his own business if he'd not been fired. He made too much money and we were too comfortable to take the risk, even though it was something he always wanted to do.

For two years, we lived on $3000/month (that's what he paid himself out of the business loan he got by mortgaging the home equity), $1200 of it was a house payment.

His business is actually better in a poor economy, people are always looking for ways to save money and more willing to shop their benefits. We've been really busy this year.

Yellow Beads said...

The financial world is freakin' scary right now!

Muffy Willowbrook said...

I'm in the same business in Minneapolis - however the Lehman news has hit us all pretty hard, and we're all feeling pretty scared of what's to come.

My best goes to your friend and her family. Everybody in the financial district can feel their pain.

The Sorority said...

I feel for your friend and have been there - it totally sucks ass to lose a job! Sending some good thoughts your friend's way! We all need them these days!!!

Jill said...

It happened to my husband (Earthlinik here in ATL) in March. He did get some severance and has been consulting ever since but it has still been hard. This was the summer from h*ll for me for that reason and others. I feel for your friend's husband and all the others in that spot. It seems like armagedon right now.

Olivia: (mostly) Happy Homemaker said...

I feel for your friend. Within our first year of marriage Mr. HH was laid off with 75% of the sales force and it taught us a lesson early-on. Never depend on a company, save, save, save, and live well below your means.

I completely understand how people get in (financially) over their head (it is SO tempting!) but when things like this happen, those are the people who feel it the worst.

PS I think it says volumes about *YOU* that your friend felt comfortable enough to call you.

 
Website Content and Copy: Caffeine Court, 2007-8.|Blog Design by JudithShakes Designs.