"How would you be managing, today ...

... if you'd been laid off four months ago ...

... and had had no income since then?? "

We have no debt, and we have 12 months expenses in liquid accounts.
We would be okay.

But, to be honest, DH would have no trouble getting a job... there is a shortage of radiation physicists/health physicists.

Greetings western PA Luann,

Congratulations on having your financial house in order.

(Do you have/feel the need for disability insurance?)

This message was not, as you understand well, I'm sure, intended for people who have been as careful with their money, as provident, as you and your family.

As you know, millions in your country, and in mine, have been less careful.

It hurts me, a (more or less "former", being largely retired) personal financial advisor, to see people who were clients, or folks who considered such, losing their houses ... and our housing market wasn't in nearly as large a bubble as yours: for one thing, our banks were more demanding than yours, so there have been far fewer bad mortgages.

ole joyful

"and our housing market wasn't in nearly as large a bubble as yours:"
My area never had the bubble, so we did not have the bubble burst. Not all of the USA is like what you hear in the news.

Or - as the Pittsburgh mayor put it - we never got invited to the party, so we don't have the hangover!

"(Do you have/feel the need for disability insurance?) "
Already have it!

Ole Joyful - as always you offer up good sound advice :)and we are heeding it the best we can -

I work in the landscape industry - 8.5 months a year, 3.5
months off in the cold climes of Chicago. It's always feast or famine. But what we're doing diffent this year is already putting away now! even though work just started back up last month as opposed to typically waiting til September to put away money. Ten percent of all money received from clients is going into a separate savings account. I don't want to find myself come Janurary not two months in standing in line at the food pantry.

What is it that they say about some ambitious people ...

... "they don't let grass grow under their feet"?

Even lazy folks don't have such a problem for a third of the year, in this part of the world around the Great Lakes!

My landlord, a sod farmer, much of whose work is sodding around new houses, is expecting a really slow year ... a truck manufacturig plant in the small city that he services has just moved the innardsof their plant ...

... to Mexico.

Building near the market, to fill the big demand in Mexico, maybe???

ole joyful

Well, my husband and I had been working very hard over the last several months to get as much put aside as possible.

Thank god we did.

His entire office got laid off today.

We should be okay for at least 4 or 5 months, I would imagine. And we're hoping it won't take him long to find a job, but it certainly is disheartening...I just spent the last couple of hours looking for jobs for him, and could really only find 2 or 3 viable options to apply for.

rivkadr, I hope your dh finds a job soon.

Another thing to prepare especially if you have insurance is to make sure you keep your dental cleanings, work, doctor's checkups, etc., up to date. If you need something fixed, get it fixed now. It's easier to do when you have the money and it could keep you healthy for when you don't.

Greetings to you and your family, rivkadr,

I am sorry to hear that your husband has had this distressing thing to deal with ... and these days are not good times in which to cope with such a difficult experience.

Does his company offer outplacement coaching for people who are being laid off?

I hope that your husband will spend a little while to depressurize, to reassure himself that this is not a reflection of his incapability, but part of the general business landscape these days.

When one is under pressure, it is well if one can examine one's self, looking in an imaginary mirror if one is far from a real one, giving one's self a warm smile and a wink, telling one's self that that person is a person of value, while taking stock and making future plans.

Has he made a list of everyone that he has known through life, with contact info and some info as to their training, skills, type of employment, interests, hobbies, vacation destinations and other items that he might find interesting and useful??

Have you, as well?

Such a list often proves helpful when one needs various products, services or some other things ...

... and when one is looking for an employment position:

... who knows who might know of a situation which might fit one well. Which he's most unlikely to let you know about if he hadn't heard of your need.

Often the more people who know about a certain problem ... the better the possibility of finding what one needs ...

... or, in addition, receiving some worthwile information which might be very helpful as one goes about one's daily business (or pleasure, for that matter).

I send good thoughts and hopes your way, trusting that an opportunity pleasing to him may appear ... fairly soon.

Good wishes to you both.

ole joyful

Does his company offer outplacement coaching for people who are being laid off?

LOL, no :) He worked for a small start-up (tech industry). He's a video game programmer, and that industry is doing okay, but not great -- there aren't a ton of jobs out there right now. So if he can't find something specifically in the video game industry, he may have to branch out, and work in the "real" programming world. We live in Orange County, which has a pretty high proliferation of tech jobs, so we're not too worried. Talk to me in a couple of months, though, if he hasn't found anything by then, and see how worried I am then.

Wishing your family all the best, rivkadr. This is happening to so many families. Hopefully things will improve before too long.
ivamae

We paid off our consumer debts last year, and are very happy to have done so. All we have are mortgages - four of them! Our bad timing meant that when we moved to a bigger house after DH's dad moved in, we were unable to sell the old one. We have a second mortgage on that one that is the down payment for the house we live in. Luckily, we do have a renter at the old house. Our fourth mortgage is the little home equity loan that paid for a new heating system when the CO alarm woke us at 3 am 18 months ago.

If you don't have a CO alarm, get one!

Now that we are living on only my paycheck and a little pension, we can see how much we used to spend. Once DH is working again, you can bet that 6 months of living expenses will be our first investment. Then insulation and new windows, but not until we can pay cash.

Nancy,

Yes ... it's nice to have a (new) window on the world ...

... but sometimes food on the table, mortgage and tax payments have higher priority (plus the "shoes for the kids" that are referred to on one of the forum headings).

I hope that things are settling down for you folks and that you are managing O.K.

ole joyful