<p>Actually, Sueinphilly, I just applied for a govt. job through the website last week. I was impressed by the fact that there was a skill inventory for the job … and it actually stated that volunteer positions count … such a nice change from the recent interviews I have had where I was told NOT to cite anything but my (20 year old) professional experience. Of course, I expect the same old same old … nothing. After a year, that’s become par for the course for me. There are plenty of folks with recent work experience who are looking for jobs. Who wants an old lady who stayed home for years? Sigh …</p>
<p>Yes, we have talked with our kids about the new reality. They are cool with it, because we have always been honest about the way things are. We have been one income for ages, so we didn’t have much extra to begin with. The past few years, I have subbed, and that money has gone to increased expenses & some college savings (now almost gone). The thing is, this is how things will be from now on … no more boom times for the middle class in our neck of the woods. The corporate execs are making more … everyone else is making less. I don’t see an end, unfortunately.</p>
<p>We moved from NY to take advantage of the FL mortgage market. About 6 months after we moved, before the business even got a footing, the real estate market crashed. My parents who were already on unstable footing in terms of their relationship separated shortly thereafter. My dad went to school for insurance and started a new type of insurance company that has yet to pick up. If it weren’t for my grandpa I don’t know where I’d be living right now (luckily he has a lot of money and has been giving to us). So the recession has left me with separated parents and what could’ve been me living on the streets.</p>
<p>Meanwhile I feel like a sociopath because my main concern is trying to figure out where I’d put this on an application to explain my drop off in grades. I’m also concerned about the fact that I won’t qualify for financial aid because of what my grandpa gave us. It is likely that he is paying for me but not a guarantee.</p>
<p>Our office work flow has slowed a bit so we are cutting some frills too. Much less random driving around on weekends has kept our total gas bill at last year’s level without taking the bus. Luckily we bought two good cars for gas usage a couple of years ago. Also now eat at restaurants less at home and save it for vacations. OTOH we bought some nice luxury items because the sales prices are just soo good right now–25 to 50 cents on the dollar and got a new roof for $1000 less than they quoted last year. It’s a good time to bargain.</p>
<p>My latest “no thanks” came today … I can’t even get hired as an on-call associate at the local Macy’s!!! I responded to an ad … it’s not like I applied when no jobs were available. My email says there are no positions to match my skill set. What … college educated former financial aid directors who have recently worked as substitute teachers, have kept books for a subdivision for the last dozen years, and have headed up more school committees & events than they should have are unqualified to ring up sales or clean up fitting rooms?! Guess there are just too many others out there who need work …</p>
<p>Oh, and I am NOT on the roles of the unemployed, even though I cannot work in the summer & my school year job is at-will. So … add another to my state’s unemployment number. Which reminds me … MANY local businesses have closed recently. Do the owners of these businesses get counted as unemployed?</p>
<p>I think there should be work in bars, taverns, and Hooters. I was working on the data today, and binge drinking, heavy drinking, and per capita alcohol consumption among adults in my state reached decade highs last year (and I suspect they are going higher).</p>
<p>The porn industry also seems to be recession-proof, though I guess it requires “special qualifications”. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Kelsmom,
It’s your age combined with being out of the workforce for so long - I know because I went through the same thing when I went back to work. I’ve never quite figured out the psychology of it but I have a pretty good idea of why - the bias against stay at home moms is pretty brutal in all ways. I’ve heard enough condescending remarks regarding stay at home moms since returning to work, not directed towards me but towards clients. One neanderthal at a national company asked me what my husband thought of me returning to work! In addition my re-entry was compounded by switching professions - it’s no fun being a newby at 50.</p>
<p>You might want to try Macy’s again in the fall when all their younger work force goes back to school. Once you have a job, employers look at you differently. For some reason, I think they are worried that you might just quit if you don’t like the conditions.</p>
<p>I’m just reading an article from John Maudlin with some pretty interesting facts. The gist of the article is that deflation is going to be a bigger problem than inflation. The stats are over $5 trillion in value gone from the stock and housing markets.</p>
<p>In trading, there’s always the question of inflation and deflation. And it’s a tug of war because the Fed usually fights deflation harder than inflation.</p>
<p>Hmm, The Recession is real, at least from my perspective.
Won’t really go in detail. But family lost job, lost house due to foreclosure, can’t get an apartment because of ruined credit rating etc.</p>
<p>I say we need to go back to the old FDR days, recreate the 100 days congress, re-instate the Glass-Steagall act and freeze banks till we’re safe again.</p>
<p>I just figured out that it costs me $10.00 in gas to drive to work each way. I don’t have any mass transportation near me, so that is not an option. Wow. </p>
<p>Someone awhile back on this page said he wasn’t going to encourage his kid to get his license. A friend of mine said when her kid got her license, even though her insurance went up, her overal costs of gas went down because she no longer had to drive back and forth to school. So, she claimed her overall expenditure was lower. I can’t say yet whether this will be true for us. My daughter just got her license and school doesn’t start for a few more weeks. But I thought I would pass that on.</p>
<p>I also heard another sad story from a friend of mine. This kid she knew got into her first choice college (private) and the kid was the fourth child. The parents just told her “sorry… the equity in the house is all gone… there is nothing to mortgage… we can’t afford to send you.” The parents had been counting on another mortgage on their home to send the last kid to college like the older kids. How sad.</p>
<p>This is the thing that worries me the most… the impact this recession will have on our kids and their educations. I’ve got my degrees. My education is paid for. I’ll ride this one out. But my daughters still have to get through school, and I don’t want huge loans hanging over their heads when they finish. I have enough for two years private right now in their college funds (safely out of the market… my oldest is a rising senior.) But what will happen in two years? I guess I will cross that bridge when I get to it and hope the economy has improved by then.</p>
<p>could some one please hand me a paper towel? </p>
<p>N years ago, due to special family situation, we decided that DW would not seek any full time job outside of the family. In recent years, we benefited tramedeously from that arrangement: kids and elderly parents could get rides to whereever and whenever; I always have clean underwears every morning and a hot meal every night. Even so my pay check as the sole source of family income is on the low side, we managed by watching every penny. The biggest impact was that our DD could get a very generous grant from Stanfod due to our low income and worth.</p>
<p>I was also laid off once so we always have a decent “emergency fund” and we purchased a small house so our mortgage is manageable. As of today, I still do not own a cell phone because we don’t see that $10 a month expense is necessary.</p>
<p>Nowaday, with ever increasing cost of every thing, we started to feel the pressure of cash flows. One of my parents had a surgery and will have another one coming up. Multiple trips to hospital every week is costing over $100 a week on gas alone. Our house A/C had a leaking problem, bath room leaks, floor tile of the the >50 year old house starts to break, DD’s tuition bill will be coming, health insurance at work jumped 30% this year; and etc etc. My sole income simply could not keep up with the rising costs. </p>
<p>Could I have another paper towel, please?</p>
<p>DW and I had a discussion about the situation - family situation still would not allow her to seek a full time job outside of the house. So, we are cutting back as much as we could. For DS, we will push him as hard as we could. Basically, he is going to attend the least expensive school option. In not way we will allow him to give up aid $$ to go where he would like to go.</p>
DadII-
you know from your dau that you don’t need to “push as hard as you can”. I hope you mean you will be clear with what you can and cannot afford, and do so as early as possible and as calmly as possible. Don’t push. Be gentle, yet clear and consistent.</p>
<p>If you have enough for 2 years of private (assuming no finaid) then you probably have enough for 4 years at a UC and the UCs aren’t necessarily a bad option. If things get really tight, then you probably already have way more than enough for UCSD or SDSU as a commuter student. It might not be the ideal to commute but plenty of students do it and they end up with the same degrees as the non-commuters. Some others I’ve known do the dorm for the first year or two to get a bit of that type of independence and then move back home to reduce costs. </p>
<p>Of course, some privates will be less expensive than a UC depending on the package.</p>
<p>My parents did not have any extra money although we lived in an affluent town, i.e. the heat had been turned off several times, 15 yr old junker cars, spaghetti & lots of day old. discounted bread. All of my 6 siblings are college educated and doing very well, some with graduate degrees. We all paid for it 100% ourselves and our expenses. The message was "you must go to college, (and church! so how are you going to do it? "</p>
<p>I am now trying to motivate my own children to not be wasteful and appreciate their $. I fear if they don’t learn this they will never be indepedent! So belt tightening can be a good thing. I am having a hard time coming trying to justify $50K per yr. Just a few thoughts…</p>
<p>The recession has affected me chiefly in that I fret more about money matters. We have always been fiscally conservative – have several years worth of income saved, S chose public college with a four-year full tuition scholarship over full-price private university with prestige – but I’m not confident a few years’ cushion will be sufficient. Ups and downs in economies are cyclical, but the duration of a cycle isn’t predictable. H works in the research division of a Fortune 5 company, and telecommutes full-time from our home in the Caribbean. He has enjoyed this working arrangement for over a dozen years, but I am very mindful that should his company choose to downsize, we wouldn’t have any employment options here and would have to leave our home. I don’t know where we’d go; we don’t even own any proper shoes!</p>
<p>Kelsmom, Macy’s may also see you as too experienced. Many people will believe that you aren’t really willing to start at the bottom of the totem pole. Good luck. I never entirely left my profession because I was afraid no one would hire me if I took too much time off. </p>
<p>Strangely, I’ve been very, very lucky. In this neck of the woods since people aren’t moving they are renovating. I don’t have too many big projects, but I have more projects this summer than I’ve ever had before. Decks, kitchens, baths and a bunch of legalizations. We’ve never had a big income, we have cheap vacations to family shared properties, and few expenses besides too many computers.</p>
</p>
so how are you going to do it? "</p>