I've been unemployed for nearly a year and seven months, My husband was unemployed for seven months. I said was...yes, that is correct--he was gainfully employed as of YESTERDAY. He had lost his UI benefits two weeks previous. We had no idea how we were going to pay our rent, car payment or purchase food. We were terrified. Someone finally saw his worth and hired him. I wish I can say the same for myself, but I am simply thankful for the small victories. However, I have learned A LOT from this experience. This experience has given me insight into a mindset that I had thought long buried, especially in this age of excess. Since our dear leaders are so concerned with our consumer based economy, they need to pay attention to this. I believe there are many more who may share my new found views.
I used to marvel at my relatives, specifically, my aunt who grew up during the Great Depression. They saved EVERYTHING! Wrapping paper, plastic margarine tubs, clothing paper bags. As a small child I always wondered why there was sooo much STUFF in such a tiny apartment. It didn't help that my Aunt was a hoarder, but I see why she became one.
When she died, my parents found nearly ten thousand dollars stuffed in various items all over the clutter. Wads of money taped to the underside of beds, inside of ovens and hidden into the lining of coats. This was a person who saw their life savings disappear over night and people lined up for food the very next day. Banks were not her friend. I remembered her as a bag lady of sorts--one who never took her house coat off and reused everything she bought at least ten times. The strange thing was her estate was worth well over 250K--in the 1980's. This was not a poor lady. This was a lady who saved relentlessly because without that personal safety net she would have never felt at ease.
Before I was laid off I had nearly 50K in personal savings, 25K in my 401K and a liquid "Fun account" of 2000 just for, well...Fun. I was an accountant so I took saving and frugality quite seriously. However, We lived quite comfortably, so it wasn't hard.
It took less than one year to exhaust everything out of our savings. With a child in a private school (Baltimore city Public school? I think not) it was almost gone within six months. Our mortgage was outrageous and we found that we had been taken for a ride with it during the RE boom. We applied for a Mortgage Modification and as time went on, we eventually lost the house. They did NOTHING to help us. We moved last year to a surprisingly better and cheaper home. Losing our home was horrible, but the fraud involved in the sale was even worse. We couldn't afford a lawyer, either--we just let it all go.
My 401k was worth nearly 25K in 2007. By the time I had reached a critical need to raid the account, it was down to 15K. I cashed it in--getting only 8K after taxes. I would have been better off just putting that money in a high yield savings account. It was a hard lesson learned, but never again will I ever invest in a 401k.
We cut EVERY luxury item out of our lives. There was no Christmas for either my husband or myself. I couldn't afford my daughter's Christmas present. I borrowed the money from a family member so she would have something nice under the tree. We could barely afford food. I cried for days. It was the worst Christmas I had ever experienced. Two days later, My husband was laid off from his job. It was simply awful.
Late on rent, shell shocked from the sudden job loss and still feeling inadequate from our horrible christmas, we sunk to a new low and borrowed money from a family member again. My husband started his job search in earnest and we struggled with another decrease in income. We stripped down to the basics now. Food, Shelter, Car and utilities. No more going out, no more frivolous activities nothing else bought unless we could justify its immediate need.
We have been living like this for a while now. I've been shopping for my immediate clothing needs at thrift stores. Our food has been dwindled down to the kindness of friends who happen to work for farms and share CSA shares with us. Faced with My husbands loss of UI, we couldn't fathom what was going to happen next.I applied for social services. My husband has yet another job interview he was waiting on. We were now simply victims of other people's decisions. Our fate was in the hands of the kindness of strangers.
Someone finally extended their kindness. I say that it's merely kindness because my husband was up against 4 other individuals who essentially had the same qualifications. It was simply down to likability, fit into the corporate culture and, sadly, appearance/age. They simply liked him the best.
While we are no where NEAR where we were in 2008, we are better than no income at all. Having paired down to the bare minimum I've practiced forced frugality. I haven't had cable TV in a year. I can successfully purchase an entire season worth of clothing on 100$. I sew and modify my existing clothing to reflect updates in fashion. I don't trust Commerical Banks. B of A threw us out of their corporation, stating they no longer wanted us as customers after a break in and attempted fraud on our account. It wasn't our fault, but who cared? we didn't like them anyway. I have always had a credit union account and will never go to a corporate account again. I take cash out for the week and only use it when needed. I will open an holiday savings and vow to always have enough money for Christmas. I will squirrel away every last cent into both a shoebox and a savings account after our minimum bills are paid. Every single day will be treated as the last day my husband could be working.
I am a victim of the Great Depression of 2010. The consumer culture of this economy means nothing to me. I know others who are treating it the same way. Economist have warned this may happen. What is your take on this?