If you've followed me on twitter for any amount of time it is no secret that I am obsessed with our household budget/finances. This is because we have plans for me to be a SAHW and have been ttc. This month we had planned on paying off the last bit of our debt (approx $1500) with my school refund and putting the remainder of it along with our tax refund back into savings. Our first bump came when my car broke down. It needs a complete new engine. Everything was still okay then though, my mother in law ( a SAHW herself) has been letting me drive her vehicle allowing us the time to get the funds together to replace my engine. All this meant was that I would have to continue working about three more months to allow us time to rebuild our savings. Today we got the call that changed everything though.
JT works with the maintenance crew at our local amusement park and the real estate property the company owns. He has been getting sent home from work early often lately due to the weather, but not enough that it caused a major strain in our finances. Everything was still fine. JT was sent home today due to the temperature being, literally, negative 13 with the wind chill. We were still under the impression that everything was fine. We slept in until 1, watched a scary movie, made love, and ran a bunch of errands; a nice day in general. When we finally got home though we got the call that ruined the entire day. Without any warning at all my husband was laid off from work until AT LEAST March.
They told him that due to the weather and lack of profit from last season, there wasn't enough work for him to do or enough money to pay him. When he told me that it took everything in me to not break down. I don't want him to see me panic because I know how shitty he's feeling already. They advised he sign up for unemployment. We've never had a reason to look into it before-he would only be eligible for $140ish a week. That is no where near enough for anyone to live on. So he left that website and began looking for job openings. We live in a relatively small town-unless you're a nurse or work in a phone center it is difficult to find work. So he did what we've been discussing for months and called his dad about going to work with him.
FIL gave us a less than satisfactory response. FIL works with a corporate moving company. He makes in one week what Hubstache was making in a month. We had been discussing JT going to work there so that I could quit work sooner, but have been very hesitant in doing so because it would mean he'll be gone 3 weeks out of the month (if not months at a time). We've already discussed this with my in laws, but they don't want that life for us. There were times when FIL came home and JT and my SIL hid behind MIL because they didn't recognize FIL. FIL told JT to take the week to look for a job and that if he was unsuccessful then he'd talk to his boss for him. I really wanted him to say to come to the office tomorrow, but no such luck.
I only 30 hours a week, we started reducing my hours in an effort to eliminate the need for my income entirely. I bring home a little more than $800 a month. My income only pays for gas, groceries, and other necessities outside of our monthly rent/bills. So now we're left with one income and no savings to speak off. All I can think about is the struggle my mother had when I was young, she never worked and has depended on a man her entire life. When they beat her up and left, the bills were shut off and we'd get evicted. That's a huge reason as to why I became @TheSpoiledWife 's unofficial foster sister ( there was never a change of custody or anything, but i moved in with her). I swore JT and I would never struggle like that. But here we are.
Our dreams of me being a SAHW within the next year are virtually non existent and our ttc efforts of 18 months are halted. I pray to the Goddess that this all gets figured out quickly.
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