Well, this is the second week of Hubby's unemployment. So far we are managing, but it has only been a little over a week. We have done a great job of trimming discretionary spending and I have been doing well with the grocery shopping and cooking every night. DD has handled it fairly well, only getting upset once about not going to gymnastics classes in May. I told her if Dad started working again in May, then she would likely be able to return to classes in June, which satisfied her. I actually think she will enjoy the break--two extra "free" nights a week.

Hub got all is unemployment paperwork done on line and they have already mailed him a confirmation with an estimated payment amount. He has to attend a job fair type thing for our county sometime in May. He sent out four more resumes today and I am hoping something turns up. He has not had many interviews and there just don't seem to be many tech/telecom jobs in our area right now.

My part-time job (pet sitting) has picked up so we will have that additional income and we are preparing for a garage sale sometime in May. Right now we are current on all of our bills and are making plans for each new week on how to save/earn money.

He and I agree that while his unforseen unemployment sucks, and while we wished we had more in savings, we are better off than some we know. We are not in danger of having our utilities shut off, we have relatively low debt, and our mortgage is current. Things could be worse. On the upside, we are communicating much better about our financial well being, reviewing the checkbook and bills together, and planning together--which is not something we have always done. We are a team and we are lucky to have a happy healthy family.

See, if just have to talk myself into a positinve state of mind occasionally

Well, Hubby has had a few emails from prospective employers regarding his resume, but no interview dates yet. He has sent his resume out to about 40 places, including placement agencies and headhunters. In the meantime, we are making drastic cuts to the budget, virtually eliminating ALL discretionary spending. Worse comes to worse, he will get a job in the evenings, anywhere that will hire him, just so we can have some extra money coming in. We will withdraw DS from his preschool and he can stay home with hubby until hubby finds a job. That will save us $570 per month in daycare expenses. I guess this is an awesome opportunity to teach the kids (and ourselves) what is really important and how really all we need is each other, food, water, shelter, and electricity. Right now, I am seriously beating myself up for not being further along in my savings goals, as this is the prime example of what you establish that EF for. But, no use crying over spilled milk, so they say (not sure who actually says that!) Right now I gotta get tough and resourceful. Hopefully this unemployment will not last too long and we can get back on track. It does, however, make me that more determined to get our financial "act" together so that I don't have to go through this kind of stress again.

Hubby called me at the office this morning to let me know they had a meeting at work this morning and he is being laid off, effective 4/18/08 (nice two weeks notice). He is a contract employee, and the contract he was working on was due for renewal in June, but they decided that they are terminating the contract effective 4/18. So I am now stressed out, although I am trying to remain calm. He knew they project was likely to be "non-renewed" come June, so he had already been sending out his resume.

My Mom always tells me "things happen for a reason" and I am trying to trust that, but it is hard to find a way to find happiness right now.

So, hubby has done a good job of cutting our phone, DSL, and satellite bill. They are currently separate bills totaling approximately $188 per month. He is switching us over to a new company that can provide the same services, all on one bill, for $99 per month. So, starting next month, we will be saving $98 monthly on that. Also, he reprogrammed our programmable thermostat since the weather is finally getting warmer. So, we have had windows open and ceiling fans going most of today and it is almost chilly in here. Now we have to work on all that pesky "phantom" electricity we lose in the wall plugs.

Well, I am back after a two month hiatus. Things haven't greatly improved--I wish I could say I have made such good progress. but, I haven't gone backwards so I am at least holding ground. We are in the process of going over the budget with a fine tooth comb. I have updated my version of Microsoft Money and am working on getting everything updated.

Right now, I am stressed about the economy and hubby and I have decided to take an aggressive attempt to find ways to "bulletproof" ourselves so that this down turn doesn't hurt as much. This will include reassigning financial "duties" between us. I am going to be in charge of weekly bill paying, investments and insurance and the food budget. He will be in charge of trimming utility cost, car maintenance and gas conservation, and home improvement projects. We have a budget we are tweaking right now and I will port it on my blog as soon as I feel it is ready.

Our priorities right now are building the emergency fund and reducing our discretionary spending. We are also really analyzing needs vs. wants and trying to get back to a more simplistic way of living. It is truly a work in progress.