Job situation update.

[KidsHappen]

Mostly just to get this off my chest but also open to any suggestions that we have not already tried.

So things are still not good. My hubby has been unemployed for eight months now. The contract that he was hired for that was supposed to start on May 15th and then on June 7th has still not commenced and at this point they don't even have a starting date. He has since then accepted another contract which also does not have a starting date. He has been back to full time applying and interviewing but has not found a job yet. He has been driving for doordash and selling our books on Amazon which is not making much at all. He has applied for several hourly jobs but has not been hired for any of them either. 

At the beginning of May we received our final donations from family and friends expecting to have pay by the end of the month which did not happen. We have really tapped all of our wells and are getting desperate. Unemployment is long since gone. the state is still covering our mortgage for another three months and at this point we are going to reapply for food stamps because we have so little income that we will surely now qualify. We still need to come up with about $500 a month to cover our medical premiums which we can do with his VA money. But we have nothing left for utilities, continuing medical bills, food and gas. 

We are seriously considering selling the house but we can not do that while the state is paying the mortgage and even if we could we aren't sure how to go about it because we have no money to rent another place before selling or even to rent storage to put our stuff in until after the sale. If we could work out a deal where we rented our house back for a month or two after the sale that might work. My hubby and I could stay with my oldest for a short time but she does not have room for my youngest who still lives at home as well. 

My hubby has really been hustling to hold things together but he is really starting to worry and that of course is causing me great anxiety and stress. We are completely out of ideas. I am going to tell him to start actively looking for jobs we wouldn't have previously considered even it requires relocation or long term travel. I can't believe that we find ourselves in this situation. If this had happened ten years from now or even five years farther along or even with some warning we would have been able to weather it so much better. Like we could have easily sold our house and downsized a year ago and then still have money in the bank. As it is I think we have both held on as long as we could and are now just overwhelmed. 

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. And anyone else who has been through this and cares to share how they made it, I would be glad to hear it. 

[bookbard]

Oh that sounds so hard. Is there any way you could take in boarders (eg students) to get a few dollars? Do you have a local food bank to get food so you can save there? I really hope your husband gets some work asap. 

[Shoeless]

Can y'all flip stuff on ebay rather than Amazon? 

[KidsHappen]

2 hours ago, Shoeless said:

Can y'all flip stuff on ebay rather than Amazon? 

I do plan on going through the house soon and seeing if I can find things to sell on Ebay. 

[KidsHappen]

2 hours ago, bookbard said:

Oh that sounds so hard. Is there any way you could take in boarders (eg students) to get a few dollars? Do you have a local food bank to get food so you can save there? I really hope your husband gets some work asap. 

We don't live in a college town and haven't had any luck finding boarders. Our pantry is stocked with non-perishables it is just perishables that we need and the food banks don't carry that. That's why we are going to apply for food stamps again.

[Ottakee]

I would also look at state medical insurance.  That could free up some income each month.

[marbel]

My husband was unemployed for 3 years after a layoff. What finally got him employed again was exposure to people in his field via some volunteer work. He made an impression on someone he volunteered with and ended up with a job at the company that guy worked for. 

Obviously I have no idea if such a thing would be available to your husband, viable for his field, etc. So just throwing the idea out there. 

[KidsHappen]

3 minutes ago, marbel said:

My husband was unemployed for 3 years after a layoff. What finally got him employed again was exposure to people in his field via some volunteer work. He made an impression on someone he volunteered with and ended up with a job at the company that guy worked for. 

Obviously I have no idea if such a thing would be available to your husband, viable for his field, etc. So just throwing the idea out there. 

How did you guys make it three years without income? 

[freesia]

Could he take a job at Target or something like that just to bring in some income? Most of the towns around me have food distribution days where they do give out produce. Are you sure there are no churches around you that sponser something like that? We have never moved out furniture to sell a house. It may be recommended but not mandatory. Honestly, that’s what we would do in your situation—get any job and sell the house. Alternatively you could try to rent it out and then downsize into an apartment. 

[lmrich]

Are you working or able to find a job?

[KidsHappen]

Just now, lmrich said:

Are you working or able to find a job?

I am disabled and not able to work. 

[KidsHappen]

12 minutes ago, freesia said:

Could he take a job at Target or something like that just to bring in some income? Most of the towns around me have food distribution days where they do give out produce. Are you sure there are no churches around you that sponser something like that? We have never moved out furniture to sell a house. It may be recommended but not mandatory. Honestly, that’s what we would do in your situation—get any job and sell the house. Alternatively you could try to rent it out and then downsize into an apartment. 

He has been applying for hourly jobs around town but hasn't had any luck getting one yet. We can ask around about fresh food days. What I mean about the house is that we would have to turn over the keys at closing and have no means of emptying the house until after we received the check for the house unless we worked out an agreement with the buyers. 

[TexasProud]

I wonder if this organization might be able to help you:

https://familypromise.org/

Before Covid, our church was heavily involved in this ministry. 

[KidsHappen]

Just now, TexasProud said:

I wonder if this organization might be able to help you:

https://familypromise.org/

Before Covid, our church was heavily involved in this ministry. 

I will check it out. Thanks.

[freesia]

Just now, KidsHappen said:

He has been applying for hourly jobs around town but hasn't had any luck getting one yet. We can ask around about fresh food days. What I mean about the house is that we would have to turn over the keys at closing and have no means of emptying the house until after we received the check for the house unless we worked out an agreement with the buyers. 

Oh, yes, that makes sense. Couldn’t you take a line of credit on your equity? I wouldn’t think it would be hard to work out an agreement with the buyers to rent back the house for a week. Many people I know have done things like that. 

[TheReader]

I have no suggestions, but praying for you guys. 

[marbel]

1 hour ago, KidsHappen said:

How did you guys make it three years without income? 

I was able to get a job quickly thanks to a friend. So, that income, use of savings, including funds set aside for old age, and cutting spending way back kept us afloat.

[marbel]

I worked in a call center and many people I met there had gotten licensed for health insurance customer service. The companies paid for the training and licensing. It's not a fun job but it seemed like the insurance people were paid decently. just another thought.

(I didn't work in insurance so have no direct experience with it.) 

[almondbutterandjelly]

If he applied at usajobs.gov, he would have a big leg up since he is a veteran (you mentioned VA money).  

[Katy]

Can you pull money from retirement? 

[amyx4]

Do you have a senior center? They might be able to direct you to sources you haven't tried yet.

I'm in a small town and just peeked at their website. Today's list offers help with medicare appeals, fuel assistance paperwork, the health insurance counselor's office hours, the veteran's agent office hours, date for distribution of fresh groceries, a church that offers free dinners, and the food pantry hours. 

Edited June 13, 2023 by amyx4

[freesia]

I don't know how old you or your dh is, but I know where my MIL lives in NE Pennsylvania, seniors get vouchers for fresh produce at the farmer's market.  So, like @amyx4 said, if either of you counts as a senior or close to a senior, check the senior center.

[freesia]

Also, our library and MIL's tends to have handouts or bulletin board posted things about agencies, churches,  etc that offer help.  I live in an area with a lot of immigrants and MIL in a lower income county, but it's worth looking at the flyers and posted things that are there. That's where I found out that she would qualify for heating oil help.

[KidsHappen]

13 hours ago, Katy said:

Can you pull money from retirement? 

We already have. For the first six months we were still paying our mortgage and $3000 for cobra plus we live in a high cost of living area and many medical bills so basically living at a higher rate than before with no income. We hadn't saved tons yet because we were stilling providing help to our children and prior to that our parents and were just really starting to save for retirement. We had planned on my hubby working for ten more years and then our mortgage would be paid off, we would have ss and medicaid and realistically maybe ten years to left to live at that point. We honestly never foresaw him being unemployed for such a long period of time. 

[KidsHappen]

18 hours ago, marbel said:

I worked in a call center and many people I met there had gotten licensed for health insurance customer service. The companies paid for the training and licensing. It's not a fun job but it seemed like the insurance people were paid decently. just another thought.

(I didn't work in insurance so have no direct experience with it.) 

I will mention it to my hubby.

[KidsHappen]

17 hours ago, perky said:

If he applied at usajobs.gov, he would have a big leg up since he is a veteran (you mentioned VA money).  

I let him know.

[KidsHappen]

13 hours ago, amyx4 said:

Do you have a senior center? They might be able to direct you to sources you haven't tried yet.

I'm in a small town and just peeked at their website. Today's list offers help with medicare appeals, fuel assistance paperwork, the health insurance counselor's office hours, the veteran's agent office hours, date for distribution of fresh groceries, a church that offers free dinners, and the food pantry hours. 

Will check on this,

[KidsHappen]

So he heard from the people that hired him for the contract that was supposed to start on May 15th today. They think that they will have the money to start the project soon but now they want him to interview again although he had already filled out all of the hiring paywork six weeks ago. I really don't know what is up with them but I am not very happy about it. He filled out the contract at the end of April and we scraped up enough money to cover til the first paycheck and he quit looking for a job and then they delayed him twice and now they want to interview him again. It would be best if he interviewed with them again and then everything proceeded as planned because that would provide the quickest paycheck but I don't have a lot of faith in them. I don't even know if he has any recourse since he signed a contract to work. 

He has had similar happen a few times now. Companies would put him through 3 interviews and practically tell him he had the job and to expect the offer within the week and then not hear from them again until he made contact only to be told that they decided not to go forward (usually). And then a few that would go through all of that and then contact him again two months later for the same job. He also was picked for a different contract and had pretty much the same thing happen. He has been hired three times now where he was given a beginning date and then the job fell through somehow. It has been crazy. It has seemed like we would just have to make it another month a few times only to have to start all over again. It is so frustrating.

[Shoeless]

22 hours ago, KidsHappen said:

I do plan on going through the house soon and seeing if I can find things to sell on Ebay. 

Don't rule out anything. People buy all sorts of odd things on ebay.  I've sold lots of empty pill vials, egg cartons, tp tubes, empty chicken feed bags. I don't get much for them, but they are literally things I'd throw away. If someone wants to give me $4 for my empty pill vials, I'm happy to shove them in the mail! 

I don't know where you live, but if you are in an area with seashells, pinecones, long pine needles, or acorns, you can gather up lots of them and sell them. Crafters like them. 

 

[Shoeless]

Also, I really hope things turn around soon for y'all. I wish I had a magic wand to make this better ❤️ 

[Eos]

I'm so sorry you are having such a tough time.  Can your dd who is a restaurant owner help at all?  I also think renting rooms to boarders would be smart rather than sell the house.  Traveling nurses are a good option for renters in many communities and might be interesting house-mates.

Edited June 14, 2023 by Eos

[KidsHappen]

9 minutes ago, Eos said:

I'm so sorry you are having such a tough time.  Can your dd who is a restaurant owner help at all?  I also think renting rooms to boarders would be smart rather than sell the house.  Traveling nurses are a good option for renters in many communities and might be interesting house-mates.

All of the children and my brother have been contributing what they can when they can. I never thought of traveling nurses. We will look into that.

[mom31257]

I'm so sorry you are going through this!

Would he be open to looking at an insurance-related job? My niece's husband works for Liberty Mutual, and a lot of teams work remotely. They have a lot of turnover because people will get hired, go through paid training, and then quit. 

Edited June 14, 2023 by mom31257

[KidsHappen]

27 minutes ago, mom31257 said:

I'm so sorry you are going through this!

Would he be open to looking at an insurance-related job? My niece's husband works for Liberty Mutual, and a lot of teams work remotely. They have a lot of turnover because people will get hired, go through paid training, and then quit. 

I will let him know to check that out.

[Soror]

Have you thought about tutoring online? 

There are multiple companies out there. Cambly doesn't require any degree or certificates. The pay is peanuts but it is something. If you can sit and talk you can do the job (so perhaps you could as well). You just need a computer with a webcam for video. The specs aren't crazy. 

They provide the slides for different lessons mostly you are just walking the person through them- listening to them and correcting them as needed, explaining things etc.

[Carol in Cal.]

He needs to never stop looking for the next job.  Nothing is certain until it happens, and a job doesn’t always continue.  This is the reality of modern life, ugly though it is.

[KungFuPanda]

Dh had a company string him along for almost a year once.  It was a difficult time financially and motivated me to seek out part time employment as a cushion from the stress should it happen again.  He's a contractor.  They like to use them to bid for contracts but they like to spin it to the applicants like a job exists when it doesn't really exist yet.  This company strung him along for so long.  They also strung along the people he knew inside the company so he wouldn't apply elsewhere.  He eventually applied elsewhere.  

 

I won't ask the nature of your disability, but is there work you can do that won't jeopardize any disability benefits? If you don't receive any benefits, you have more freedom.  Could you manage a work-from-home position?  Thanks to the pandemic, more of those exist.  Could you start a fluff and fold laundry business or manage a part-time administrative job?  Even if your pay rate is low, every dollar helps and it can relieve more stress than it causes.  I knew I didn't have the bandwidth or time to return to full time classroom teaching, but the part time office gig I landed is actually physically and mentally easier than running my household.  The hardest part was deciding to do it.  I may or may not be typing from work today. 😬

[Storygirl]

Has your husband worked with anyone to refine his resume and practice interview skills? He might be able to get this help free from his university or sometimes a local library.

[Storygirl]

Also, I wonder about you daughter having room for two of you but not three of you. Couldn't you all three share the same bedroom, or could he sleep on a couch? You don't have to answer this question, but I'm posing it for you to consider. If your daughter says she's not comfortable having all three of you, that is, of course, her choice. But if it's a space issue, I think you all could think more creatively, since it's a crisis.

It looks like you have several adult children. Could you plan to stay with one of them for awhile? Or, since you mentioned applying to jobs elsewhere, look into possibilities in the areas that your other children live, so that you would have a temporary place to stay, if you had to relocate.

I'm sorry you are in this situation.

[luuknam]

If you can't make staying with friends/relatives work, could you buy/borrow a cheap used travel trailer and find free/cheap campsites in your area (if your vehicle can't tow that much, do you know anyone who could do that for you)? BLM, state parks, etc have places where you can stay for 2 weeks (or some places more, iirc) before having to move, and you can rotate through them. That way you could rent out the house (fully furnished!) or sell it, because the last thing you want is to foreclose on it, and even if you're motivated to sell it and the buyer is motivated to buy it, it can take a while to actually sell it (after we made an offer it took TWO MONTHS before it was finally ours, ARGH!, and that was despite the fact that the house had already been inspected by the previous person making an offer, who died before completing the purchase (obviously we did have it inspected too, as was required by the mortgage company)). Not saying that all sales take that long, but it sounds like you really need to work on renting or selling it now. On the bright side, I feel like in most places around the country house prices are a bit bubbly, so if you do sell, you might get lucky and be able to purchase another home when prices are lower again.

Has your husband gone to employment agencies like Manpower? What about trying to do some menial jobs (mowing the yard etc) for neighbors? You also mentioned medical costs... if you have substantial out-of-pocket costs for medications, could you try asking your doctor if there are older meds you can try that would be (much) cheaper (that may or may not have more side effects... honestly, I often feel a lot of newer meds that are touted as having fewer side effects simply have a shorter list because they're new and people haven't reported as many yet)? 

[KidsHappen]

20 hours ago, Shoeless said:

Don't rule out anything. People buy all sorts of odd things on ebay.  I've sold lots of empty pill vials, egg cartons, tp tubes, empty chicken feed bags. I don't get much for them, but they are literally things I'd throw away. If someone wants to give me $4 for my empty pill vials, I'm happy to shove them in the mail! 

I don't know where you live, but if you are in an area with seashells, pinecones, long pine needles, or acorns, you can gather up lots of them and sell them. Crafters like them. 

 

I do have lots of things to sell, it is just a matter of going through things and pulling out what can be listed. My health has been particularly bad the last two weeks with three doctors appointments. At this point they are looking at something like MS or MD. I will get my eldest to come over sometime soon and help me. I did pull out an entire bookcase worth of books to list and some of them are worth a good amount for a book. 

[KidsHappen]

17 hours ago, mom31257 said:

I'm so sorry you are going through this!

Would he be open to looking at an insurance-related job? My niece's husband works for Liberty Mutual, and a lot of teams work remotely. They have a lot of turnover because people will get hired, go through paid training, and then quit. 

He has interviewed with the but was not hired, not sure why.

[KidsHappen]

14 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

He needs to never stop looking for the next job.  Nothing is certain until it happens, and a job doesn’t always continue.  This is the reality of modern life, ugly though it is.

Yeah, we figured that out, unfortunately a little late but now we know.

[Tree Frog]

7 minutes ago, KidsHappen said:

I do have lots of things to sell, it is just a matter of going through things and pulling out what can be listed. My health has been particularly bad the last two weeks with three doctors appointments. At this point they are looking at something like MS or MD. I will get my eldest to come over sometime soon and help me. I did pull out an entire bookcase worth of books to list and some of them are worth a good amount for a book. 

If you have books, there are probably teachers in your area willing to buy them. You could post on several local FB sites. If you'd sold them locally, there wouldn't be any shipping expenses. 

[KidsHappen]

14 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Dh had a company string him along for almost a year once.  It was a difficult time financially and motivated me to seek out part time employment as a cushion from the stress should it happen again.  He's a contractor.  They like to use them to bid for contracts but they like to spin it to the applicants like a job exists when it doesn't really exist yet.  This company strung him along for so long.  They also strung along the people he knew inside the company so he wouldn't apply elsewhere.  He eventually applied elsewhere.  

 

I won't ask the nature of your disability, but is there work you can do that won't jeopardize any disability benefits? If you don't receive any benefits, you have more freedom.  Could you manage a work-from-home position?  Thanks to the pandemic, more of those exist.  Could you start a fluff and fold laundry business or manage a part-time administrative job?  Even if your pay rate is low, every dollar helps and it can relieve more stress than it causes.  I knew I didn't have the bandwidth or time to return to full time classroom teaching, but the part time office gig I landed is actually physically and mentally easier than running my household.  The hardest part was deciding to do it.  I may or may not be typing from work today. 😬

The thing about the contract jobs makes so much sense. We never considered that before. That is a terrible thing to do especially if they actually offer a job before a contract has been secured.

My disabilities are pretty bad. I can't really do much physical at all. I can really only stand or walk for about ten minutes at a time. I might could do some computer work from home so I will look into that. 

[KidsHappen]

14 hours ago, Storygirl said:

Has your husband worked with anyone to refine his resume and practice interview skills? He might be able to get this help free from his university or sometimes a local library.

Yes, he has gotten help from people here on the board, hired two different professionals, worked with headhunters and the VA. He has also had plenty of interviews and usually makes it to the third interview and has even been promised jobs that somehow fell through. He well qualified with almost 30 years experience and the appropriate degrees. He is well known and regarded in his field. He has never been unintentionally unemployed for more than a couple weeks.

He was laid off from his first job during covid due to age and then laid off again the next year for basically the same reason. He is beginning to think that people won't hire him because of his age even though he is still sharp as a tack and physically fit. He is also beginning to wonder if companies can somehow know my extensive medical costs over the past few years and might not be hiring him because of that. I don't know if that is possible but he is having a hard time coming up with a reasonable explanation. 

Oh and he has went through a few employment agencies and headhunters as well as applying for government jobs through the VA. He does have interviews set up for the local county gov. and the IRS. They don't pay what he was making but are much better than any alternatives he currently has.

Edited June 15, 2023 by KidsHappen

[KidsHappen]

14 hours ago, Storygirl said:

Also, I wonder about you daughter having room for two of you but not three of you. Couldn't you all three share the same bedroom, or could he sleep on a couch? You don't have to answer this question, but I'm posing it for you to consider. If your daughter says she's not comfortable having all three of you, that is, of course, her choice. But if it's a space issue, I think you all could think more creatively, since it's a crisis.

It looks like you have several adult children. Could you plan to stay with one of them for awhile? Or, since you mentioned applying to jobs elsewhere, look into possibilities in the areas that your other children live, so that you would have a temporary place to stay, if you had to relocate.

I'm sorry you are in this situation.

Almost all of my kids are currently cohabitating with someone else. My eldest dd is the only one that isn't and the reason she wouldn't have room for my youngest is because she has a SO that also lives with us so it wouldn't be just one more but two. My second dd lives with my brother, the next two share a two bedroom with their SOs and my youngest and her SO live with us. Oh and all but one live here where we do. 

My hubby was not previously considering traveling jobs or ones that required a move because of my health issues but I have told him to start considering them and we will manage with my children's help caring for me as needed. 

[KidsHappen]

13 hours ago, luuknam said:

If you can't make staying with friends/relatives work, could you buy/borrow a cheap used travel trailer and find free/cheap campsites in your area (if your vehicle can't tow that much, do you know anyone who could do that for you)? BLM, state parks, etc have places where you can stay for 2 weeks (or some places more, iirc) before having to move, and you can rotate through them. That way you could rent out the house (fully furnished!) or sell it, because the last thing you want is to foreclose on it, and even if you're motivated to sell it and the buyer is motivated to buy it, it can take a while to actually sell it (after we made an offer it took TWO MONTHS before it was finally ours, ARGH!, and that was despite the fact that the house had already been inspected by the previous person making an offer, who died before completing the purchase (obviously we did have it inspected too, as was required by the mortgage company)). Not saying that all sales take that long, but it sounds like you really need to work on renting or selling it now. On the bright side, I feel like in most places around the country house prices are a bit bubbly, so if you do sell, you might get lucky and be able to purchase another home when prices are lower again.

Has your husband gone to employment agencies like Manpower? What about trying to do some menial jobs (mowing the yard etc) for neighbors? You also mentioned medical costs... if you have substantial out-of-pocket costs for medications, could you try asking your doctor if there are older meds you can try that would be (much) cheaper (that may or may not have more side effects... honestly, I often feel a lot of newer meds that are touted as having fewer side effects simply have a shorter list because they're new and people haven't reported as many yet)? 

We have no money to buy a trailer or even rent something without a sell already going through. We do know how long it can take to sell a house. It took us 9 months to sell one the last time we moved. But if it comes to it we will try to sell and work out renting it back for a short time to give us time to find a new place and move household. 

Most of my medications are pretty cheap but I have had quite a few surgeries in the past few years and still need at least one more plus they are still doing quite a bit of expensive testing. We were up to date on all the medical bills until about six weeks ago but now owe about $3000 for the last surgery and some MRIs. I am also seriously past due for dental care (more than just cleaning) and our half is usually due up front so we are still putting that off. 

[KidsHappen]

The company that he signed a contract with contacted him again today and set up a firm time and date for this new interview with the company he would be working for. I can only assume that they must have had some change in the project leader and they want to make sure there is good chemistry between the new one and my hubby. I would logically think that since he has already been offered the job once that it would be fine and he could start work soon but I know that is no guarantee. I am really hoping that is the case though and he would begin work soon. 

[Laura Corin]

18 minutes ago, KidsHappen said:

The company that he signed a contract with contacted him again today and set up a firm time and date for this new interview with the company he would be working for. I can only assume that they must have had some change in the project leader and they want to make sure there is good chemistry between the new one and my hubby. I would logically think that since he has already been offered the job once that it would be fine and he could start work soon but I know that is no guarantee. I am really hoping that is the case though and he would begin work soon. 

Fingers crossed!