teachermom2834 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 My husband lost his job unexpectantly. He has been a this job for over 10 years so it is a long time since he was out of work. I am not sure what the next steps are. Obviously he has to update his resume and start looking for work. Obviously we need to cut expenses. We have insurance coverage until the end of month. COBRA is unaffordable. What do we do here? Is the Affordable Care Act for us? Will that be just as expensive as COBRA? How do we even go about that? All I have heard in the news is about problems and confusion. We have very little savings available ( about a month). He will be paid out his unused sick time which will give us a month so we can cover expenses for a couple months and then we will run into trouble. I can look for work but at this point I am only employable in a cashier type job. Most of these jobs will be a 20 mile drive. That's a lot of gas for low paying job. I am willing to do it though. Husband has a part-time job that will pay enough for the mortgage and electric bill but not much left over. We have some in a 401K. I know there are big penalites and taxes for withdrawing from that. We gave some equity in our house. Can we access that while unemployed? I guess he can file for unemployment and try for that. But, his former employers can point to faults of his that led to his termination. Any advice is welcome. We are shocked and of course concerned and I doubt we are thinking clearly. If anyone has any advice on steps we can take (or shouldn't take) here in this time I would appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I'm so sorry. I am far from an expert in this, but I would look into your state's requirements for filing for food stamps, WIC if you have any children under five, and state health insurance (especially for the children). Also, you might contact your lender and see if they can work out any deal about the mortgage. I would also look into the ACA. I think your cost is based on what you expect to make this year, so if you have no income for a while, that would lower your costs. I hope a new, better job comes along for you very soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northcoast Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Hugs!! Don't be afraid to go to a food pantry. There is no shame in it. Is there anything that could be sold for cash? Allow some time to grieve the loss of the job. My husband needed time to grieve when he lost his. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cera Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 If he was laid off not fired unemployment should be an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Hugs!!! I have been where you are, and I'm so sorry that you're dealing with this. As for unemployment, your dh should definitely apply for it. We had a situation once where dh was terminated from his job. There were issues he could have certainly been blamed for. Yet he still was eligible for unemployment while he was out of work. I think that it is up to the previous employer to fight it. There is certainly no harm in applying! Good luck! I will pray for your family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 No specific advice, just sending support! :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 hugs. btdt. cobra has always been horribly expensive. one thing to keep in mind - there is usually a grace period to which it is "open" before you have to pay-up. if something major happens, you can pay retroactively. as for future - talk with an insurance agent in your state. you may get a better deal with an individual plan, you will probably qualify for a subsidy. talk to a real insurance agent who does various individual plans and can pull from multiple vendors. many are also able to offer plans on your state's exchange as well as obamacare. (most state exchanges are better.) what state are you in? the penalty for the 401K varies according to did you pay tax before the funds were added, or do you need to at time of withdrawal. so in the long run, the tax varies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 My husband lost his job unexpectantly. He has been a this job for over 10 years so it is a long time since he was out of work. I am not sure what the next steps are. Obviously he has to update his resume and start looking for work. Obviously we need to cut expenses. We have insurance coverage until the end of month. COBRA is unaffordable. What do we do here? Is the Affordable Care Act for us? Will that be just as expensive as COBRA? How do we even go about that? All I have heard in the news is about problems and confusion. We have very little savings available ( about a month). He will be paid out his unused sick time which will give us a month so we can cover expenses for a couple months and then we will run into trouble. I can look for work but at this point I am only employable in a cashier type job. Most of these jobs will be a 20 mile drive. That's a lot of gas for low paying job. I am willing to do it though. Husband has a part-time job that will pay enough for the mortgage and electric bill but not much left over. We have some in a 401K. I know there are big penalites and taxes for withdrawing from that. We gave some equity in our house. Can we access that while unemployed? I guess he can file for unemployment and try for that. But, his former employers can point to faults of his that led to his termination. Any advice is welcome. We are shocked and of course concerned and I doubt we are thinking clearly. If anyone has any advice on steps we can take (or shouldn't take) here in this time I would appreciate it. We've been there. This just happened to us in July. I can offer a few tips. Resume: There is no such thing as creating 'a' resume any longer. Do some research about resumes and how to submit them online. Every single job your husband applies for must have it's own resume and he must use the keywords that are mentioned in the job advert plus as many pertinent keywords he can think of for his line of work. Most employers are using software that scans resumes and will have a real person look at only the resumes that have the most matches for their keywords. IT is an exhausting process, but it's the way things are now. Also make sure you do some research on cover letters. They have to be made to match each job too. Applying for one job took Dh an average of 1- 2hrs. Beware of recruiting companies and if he uses one read the fine print. Many will promise a temporary position that leads to permanent work--but in the fine print you might find that the company has to pay them a percentage of the first year salary should they decide to hire the temp. Sometimes it's as high as 30%. Not all recruiters are bad, but just be careful. Some can find your Dh very good jobs and there are companies who will only deal with recruiters. Research interview questions and be sure Dh studies his possible answers. Research every single company he interviews with so that he knows as much as he can about them. My entire summer was spent helping Dh with resumes and interview questions. It is an exhausting experience. I had very little time for any school planning and our school year has suffered b/c of it. People who are looking for jobs have a full time job keeping up on resumes, cover letters, job hunting, etc. Unemployment: My understanding is that even if the company has some reason for letting your Dh go, he will still be eligible for unemployment, BUT he may have a waiting period of several weeks. Be careful about what he checks off when he applies. He should not check off 'fired'. That may cause him to be completely denied. He should check off 'laid off' or a similar category. My Dh was let go after 25 years just b/c they wanted to hire someone cheaper. HE felt he was fired, but he still checked 'laid off' on the forms. I was let go by the same company--I was working from home processing invoices. And honestly, if you think about it, every company could cite faults in the worker as reasons for letting him go. Your Dh's employer may not even blink an eye when he files. I worried about the same thing and it was a non-issue. Don't borrow trouble and try to keep your 'what ifs' in check. The answer to every single 'what if' is that you will figure out how to deal with it if it happens. I'm a big 'what if' person and spent a lot of time worrying about things that never happened. I still do it, so I don't take my own advice very well! ETA: For clarity, my Dh wasn't fired, even though he felt like he was. On our state's unemployment form there is no appropriate choice for what happened, so he has to choose between 'fired' (or some equivalent wording) or 'laid off' which wasn't exactly what happened either. He checked 'laid off' b/c it was the closest to his situation. I'm not advocating lying on forms. Often though, the applicable term won't be given as a choice. Do some research to be sure you aren't eliminating unemployment as an option just by the categories your Dh is checking. That makes it difficult to know what to check off. I don't know the OP's situation, but that is what happened in my Dh's case and my friend's husband's case as well. Our friend checked off the wrong box for his situation, was denied unemployment, and had to appeal. Once he explained how he lost his job, he qualified after a waiting period. It was all b/c there was no category listed that applied to his situation and he check the wrong box! Insurance: Check to see if you or your kids are covered through state medicaid. Our kids qualify and we pay nothing for them. Copays are extremely cheap. That reduced our COBRA payment significantly and we are managing to pay for COBRA, though Dh is researching AHA insurance and we are probably switching very soon. HE thinks we qualify for assistance and we should be able to reduce our monthly payment. When you check to see if your children qualify for medicaid (if your state still has it) then also check to see if you qualify for any other assistance. Bad news for us, we don't b/c we own cars, have some retirement savings and equity in our home.) Expenses: Check with your mortgage provider to see if they will let you skip a payment for one month b/c of your situation. Some will. We cut our cable and our home phone and reduced that bill by about $100 a month. I cut all the hair in the house now. I am careful about accepting invitations to outside activities that are a drive b/c I need to keep gas expenses down. I also started shopping at Bottom Dollar and learning to put up with whatever they have. I can get away with spending $60-$80 a week on groceries some weeks (that includes cleaning products and cat food & litter). I am able to do it b/c I am very careful about meal planning and I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. We have soups and stews often. Some nights we have eggs and potatoes. Snacks are apples with some cheddar cheese on the side, yogurt (store brand), baby carrots, homemade granola bars, popcorn popped on the stovetop. Make the baked oatmeal everyone raves about. There are 4 of us here and it lasts us 3-4 days. I vary what I add to it and even the oatmeal haters in the house love it. Produce Junction and Aldi are other stores that can help reduce your grocery bills. You can also call your local food bank to see if you qualify for items from them. If you use them, you have to be prepared to put up with whatever they have. They have a lot of canned and processed food. If people buy gifts for your children, see if you can direct them towards paying for clothing or extracurriculars you can no longer afford. Also check around to see if any friends might have hand me downs they could pass along to you instead of donating to goodwill. I also held a huge yard/curriculum sale at the end of the summer and made a few hundred dollars. A couple of friends joined me and the kids sold cookies and drinks. Recently I sold off more curriculum online to pay off some bills. You working: Can you start tutoring instead of cashiering? Tutoring usually pays significantly more and will allow you to be your own boss. Even kids in elementary school need tutors, so you don't have to be a math whiz. My friend's Dd started tutoring earlier this year. She is in college and tutors math up to middle school. She gets paid $40 an hour. Not bad. Just a thought. Do you have other specialized skills that you could use to find a job that pays more? Also explore the threads on this board that discuss options for working from home. Let everyone know what has happened. Don't bad mouth the employer who let your husband go. It (surprisingly) makes you look bad, even if the employer is in the wrong. Don't get too emotional, but do let them know it will be a struggle. You never know who will help and who may have a connection to a job. My neighbors gave us a $100 grocery gift card for Thanksgiving! Keep busy and try to find ways to keep your Dh busy. In our case, Dh and I became 4H leaders during his unemployment. It gave him something to do and something to add to his resume. HE also found a couple of other opportunities for volunteering locally. More resume builders and they gave him connections with other people who might know of job opportunities. Set a limit on how much time you and Dh will spend researching etc. and make sure to get out of the house daily, even if you just go to the library (if it doesn't use a lot of gas) or for a walk. For me, yard work and decluttering are both therapeutic. It's a tough thing to get through and we are still dealing with the repercussions, so I still have to be very careful with expenses, even though Dh is working again. He had to take a salary cut for his new job. I am planning to start tutoring soon myself to help with expenses. Dh wants me to wait until the school year is almost over, and I am happy to do that since I am in the middle of planning junior year for Ds and writing his transcript, plus researching colleges. Another thing that has helped us is Ds keeping his summer job through the school year. HE doesn't work a lot of hours, but it's enough to allow him to be able to pay for his own extracurriculars and save some money. He has offered to pay other expenses, but Dh would like to avoid that if at all possible. We may have him pay for some jeans this spring if money is tight. I hope I've helped some. I was assuming you are homeschooling still, so I was taking that into account. This is a rough time you are facing. If you know anyone who has been through it, it can help to talk in real life to someone who has btdt. I am fortunate to have a friend who has and she shared many tips and has encouraged us. Feel free to PM me. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I just want to affirm you: you've clearly got your head on straight. - You are making good decisions based on concrete data. - You know exactly what you have. - You are brainstorming all the things you could do and seeing the "pros and cons" of each. Notes: Don't mix up "seeking support and additional brainstorming" (which these forum people excel at!) and doing good solid research (which needs to seek real sources of info, not just anicdotes). Be steady. Approach this like it is a military campaign, or a fixed-budget foreign vacation. Plan every detail of your spending. Plan every phase of your (both together, of course) strategy. Begin immediately to live in "no income mode" -- you groceries change. Your choices about how much power and water to use change. Your bills can change. Whatever is optional for life needs to go sooner rather than later (unless they are very useful in seeking employment -- consider keeping minimal home Internet). You say you have about 2 months of living expenses: good, but try to stretch that plan to 3 months... 2 of living "tight" (no-income mode) plus one of really scraping the bottom... Then maybe a 4th month (or more) of that lifestyle living off the 401k. Followed by maybe a 5th and 6th month of actually not paying your bills and hoping no one does anything about it. Any income will allow you to stay longer in the first two phases... Which is a good thing. Get as much social program support as you can. I don't know all your programs, so you might not either. Apply for everything. The longer you can sustain "scraping by" the easier your return to "normal employed life" will be. Every little bit helps. (That's why these programs exist. They are not a "compassion" motivated gov't action: they are about facilitating a return to normal economic behaviour. Nations rely on normal economic behaviour of individuals. GDP breaks down without a safety net for individuals -- so use it. It's not "pity" it's math.) You may only be "qualified" to work retail or service industries, but you are intelligent, driven and have leadership skills. You will be tagged as "management material" in no time. Employers love people like you (though they do tend to take advantage). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Unemployment--was he fired for cause or laid off? Did he sign paperwork at termination? You can file if you are fired for cause, but in my state, the employer can deny it and there's an appeals process. Google your state and unemployment and go to the official site (will end in .gov). Our state's website has a "surviving a layoff" page with links to other state resources, and they're the official links. Good luck. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Good stuff above. A few things I didn't see (or missed): Contact your utility companies and get on whatever low income programs they might have. When dh was unemployed I picked up a job as a server. The shifts were shorter and the pay was good. Actually, in the beginning I was really bad at it and people felt sorry for me and gave me HUGE tips. My girlfriend has always said that she thinks God can really work more freely in jobs with tips! For medical needs, if you happen to live in an area with Kaiser, they have a low income program for kids that is separate from the state program. (((hugs))) unemployment stinks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 :grouphug: Apply for unemployment no matter the reason for the job loss, and definately no matter what his employer said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Shanvan said almost everything I would have said. I'm finding it incredibly time-consuming to apply for jobs. Dh was laid off a number of years ago, and it was an incredibly stressful time, so know that you two need to make a commitment to each other as well. If you need to, get counseling (many places offer a sliding scale). All the best for you and your family! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfgivas Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 i'm sorry :(. reaching out is Very Good. if you are in a university town, taking in boarders is a fast way to add income. i did it for several of the tightest years. the boarders WERE my food and gas income. dog sitting/house sitting can work, too. re health care: you can go on the website and see what it offers you without committing to buy anything. are you do for a tax refund? this might be a year to file earlier rather than later if that is true. my heart goes out to you. ann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 We've done this a few times and it really sucks. I'm sorry you are faced with this. I'm sure some of this will vary by state but for us step 1 is apply for state aid (Medicaid and food stamps), step 2 call WIC (if you are eligible), step 3 apply for unemployment (because in our state you can't actually do this until the Monday after the event occurred), step 4 immediately cut any expense possible step 5 update resume, start job search and networking. In our state if the other source of income is unemployment we have always been eligible for free medical care for everyone in family (adults and kids) and at that level even the co-pays on visits are waived (we still have co-pays on medicine ranging from 0.50 - 3.00). They will even back date the coverage in certain circumstances (which has saved us from making co-pays on visits occurring during the month that occurred before the unemployment happened). Also because it takes about 2-3 weeks for the food stamp money to be released that gets that process started so hopefully the funds will be available before we run out of supplies at home. (I try not to spend any grocery money if at all possible during this period because I want to save our cash). For us food stamps (when our only income is unemployment) has always given us a generous monthly amount - more than my normal budget is- so I can replenish later. WIC has always gotten us in within 2-3 days and given us vouchers on the spot so this fills the immediate need for milk, eggs etc (but we are not heavy users of those things so what they give us for 1-2 people is typically enough for the the 8 of us). Usually it takes my DH a few days to recover mentally before he can even begin to think about the job search so I get steps 1-4 done immediately. That with a final paycheck usually gives us enough breathing room that he can take a few days to recoop before the onerous job of job hunting. My husband also detests paperwork and busywork so I tend to start the job hunts for him and show him job possibilities once he ready to think about it. After a week or two I tend to slow this down as he can handle it himself but initially it's really hard for him to start this process. I hope this turns out to be a short process for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Some of what you do will depend upon what state you live in. Today is Friday, so next Monday morning, he should arrive about 8 A.M. at the nearest state unemployment office and file a claim for unemployment benefits. Possibly there, he will see information on bulletin boards, about other aid that might be available to your family. Medical insurance will probably be your biggest problem. COBRA probably will be very costly, but may provide better coverage to your family. The other alternatives would be to look on HealthCare.gov for information about ObamaCare. Or, if you live in one of the 14 states, or D.C., with their own web site, look there. Also, I have read that it is possible to get better coverage, that qualifies under the ObamaCare regulations, on private exchanges, but I'm not sure how you locate those. And, an independent insurance agent who deals with health/medical insurance policies can help you. Your family may qualify for various types of health/medical coverage from your state, Food Stamps, etc. Let EVERYONE you know that your DH is looking for a job! Take the time to register on Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com and if he is involved in some specialty (IT, Medical, etc.) on a job board that caters to people in those professions. The people he would like to use as "references" he should ask for permission first. And, he should try to give out their contact information only to potential employers. Not to every recruiter or agency who asks for them. I always tried to limit the number of times my references were contacted, to minimize the time they spent helping me. Network, network and network. A huge percentage of jobs are never posted in a newspaper classified ad or on the internet. They are "word of mouth". If people do not know your DH is looking for employment, they cannot help him. Eliminate any expenses that you can eliminate. Reduce other expenses that you can reduce. NEVER pay any company that says it will help him find a job. Those are all scams. Any reputable company will have the hiring company pay their fee. GL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Unemployment: ETA: For clarity, my Dh wasn't fired, even though he felt like he was. one other thing to consider. My daughter straight-up asked (twice) her boss if she was being fired from a previous job. they didn't answer. in her current job, she has a security clearance - which means they talk to everyone and their dog about you. in regards to the previous job, she said she'd been laid off. they told the agency doing the background check she was fired. because of that single 'discrepancy', she wasn't going to get her clearance which would have cost her her new job. fortunately the fed agent who was doing her background check called her back to ask her about it and things worked out. but we were ready to go talk to a good friend who is also an employment lawyer about the previous employer because that nearly cost her a job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I'm sure some of this will vary by state but for us step 1 is apply for state aid (Medicaid and food stamps), step 2 call WIC (if you are eligible), Yes, this. SNAP (which replaced "food stamps") has a liquid resource limit, which would include cash on hand, checking and savings accounts, but your 401k should not be counted. (If you apply, make sure you disclose it, as they will ask.) Your home equity will not count either. For the most part, it falls under federal regs, although there are a few variances by state. You should be able to go to your state's website and apply online. My state has a section with a few eligibility questions to determine if it's even worth applying, and yours might too. The sooner you do it, the better, as the date you file your formal application is the date on which benefits will begin (and can be back paid to). Again, I'm familiar only with my state's rules, but I believe the ones I'm mentioning here apply across the board. Definitely apply for Medicaid for your family too. In my state, it's all done through the same website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Lots of good advice above. A few more things: Have your dh make finding a job his new "job" meaning that he spends several hours a day at it. It can be easy to get discouraged and resort to watching TV, etc. Call local community agencies and ask if they have any "job seekers" meetings or networking type things, etc. or know of any in the area. Quite a few people find new jobs through word of mouth. Also go to the local unemployment office and apply for the unemployment and also ask about any resume writing classes, job banks, classes they offer, etc. Start cutting out every non essential expense now (but try to give you and dh each even $5-10/week for FUN money to just get a coffee or fast food meal etc. once a week)----see about cable, internet (but you likely will need internet for job seeking), cell phones (again though might need a basic phone for job seeking), outside activities, grocery bill, etc. Search Craig's list for jobs. That is how my dh found his current job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom2834 Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 I want to thank everyone for their support. So many helpful and informative replies. I would love to respond to each of them individually but I am really struggling today and not up to it. I do want everyone to know that I do have heartfelt appreciation for everyone taking the time to share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 It is a hard stage. I am sure it is hard on your dh as well as provider for the family. Try to keep encouraging him and building him up when you can. You might want to look at the affordable care act as likely you would qualify for a much cheaper rate while he is unemployed as it is income based. The kids might even qualify for Medicaid but sometimes they look at your assets like savings, etc. and not just income. I would try really hard not to touch your retirement or the equity in your house if at all possible. Take advantage of the programs available to help you out short term as much as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFG Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Is your dh on LinkedIn? That has become an important way to network and job search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I'm so sorry for your news! You must be in shock. If you're the praying type I would certainly pray before anything else (and I will pray for your family regardless). Regarding ACA, I really don't know, but based on the security issues with the website I'd look into it via phone or in person rather than using the website. Hopefully you can get some answers before the end of the month! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I'm sorry you are going through this. Things we did when it happened to us: - looked into what governmental support we might be eligible for - immediately cut our grocery bill by about 1/3rd (using Aldi, special offers and changing our diets to include less meat and more beans/pulses) - husband started job searching, tailoring every CV to the job advertised - I took a computer course to have evidence of my office skills, then looked for a part-time job - we talked candidly to the children about what we could and could not afford - we looked at our schedules to see how we could reduce our petrol bills - we turned down the heating and wore more clothes. - we talked to people who ran activities that our children attended to see if there were discounts/payment plans available All in all, we massively cut our expenses and that has helped to tide us over. Husband is not fully employed yet, but we are lucky enough to have some rental income which, with my salary and Husband's, are allowing us to get by. Good luck L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Laura has a good point about classes. Even taking a local community/library/employment office class in computers, etc. might be enough to push his resume to the top of the pile. So much depends on what type of job he had, what he is looking for and the employment situation in your area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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