Lost my job -- I need a plan!

[WannabeWealthy]

All,

After 9 long years at my company, I was let go due to layoffs.

I've accumulated a good size portion of money in stocks over the years (a little over $105k) but I don't have much in residual cash (~$8k).  My severance package hasn't come through yet but even if it did, I'm looking at only around $12k so let's assume I'll have ~$20k cash.  My wife works but she isn't the bread winner.  She's able to contribute about $1250/month for now until her student loan deferment is finally over (Feb 2017).  Then she can only contribute $900/month.

Here's our no-compromise bills:

Mortgage (just did a refi into a lower rate) - $1460/month
Food, utility, etc.. - $1000/month
Cell, Cable, Car insurance, electric, gas, etc.. - $900/month
Metlife long term care insurance - $20/month
No other debt.

I have started collecting UE which gives us $1900/month.  This runs out in April 2017.  We have a 16yo daughter (Junior in HS).

PLAN:  While I'm looking for employment, I've mocked up worse-case scenarios where I don't find a job until our daughter graduates in 2018 and goes off to college (or full-time work).

I'm going to be short by a big margin when the UE benefits end next April.  I'm thinking about borrowing on a CC (balance transfer of 0% - 3% one time fee) to get immediate cash to to take up the slack from Apr 2017 to Dec 2017 (or maybe until June 2018 when DD grads).  I've got offers that are 18 months long.  The reason for this is to keep my money in stocks for as long as possible since the returns on that are much higher than 3% per yr.  And slowly take $200/$300 out of them to pay the loan back each month (rinse and repeat with another CC once the promotion period is over).  This would buy me a LOT of time.  When DD grads, if I still haven't found a job, we planned on moving out of our house and putting it up for rent for $2,100/month and moving into a 1-bd apartment (~$1,100/month).  This would give us some more income from the house to pay on the rent and make us only have to worry about a ~$600/month rent instead of the $1,460/month mortgage.  I'm not touching my 401k plan which has ~$250k.

Does this plan seem feasible?

[Shooby]

  I am sorry to hear this!  That is tough.  Sounds like you are very level headed and thinking things though.   It sounds like you have a plan.  At this point i think you just need to take some time and let things settle in.  And, dust off your resume and get it out there.  You will find something else.  And, this is a difficult time for you as a couple and family.    Try to be kind to each other.  You will be under stress due to this change.  Your wife will be under stress feeling the financial pinch.  And your daughter is going to feel very uncertain, as well.  So, just all hunker down and you will weather this storm.  Do what you can to make it easier for your wife as she will feel a greater burden.  Maybe pick up doing dinner and some of the housework that she usually does, etc.  Look at this as an opportunity to spend some time with your daughter before she goes off to college.  And, let your family wrap their arms around you.  You will be OK.

[WannabeWealthy]

Nov 25, 2016 23:55:25 GMT -5 Shooby said:

  I am sorry to hear this!  That is tough.  Sounds like you are very level headed and thinking things though.   It sounds like you have a plan.  At this point i think you just need to take some time and let things settle in.  And, dust off your resume and get it out there.  You will find something else.  And, this is a difficult time for you as a couple and family.    Try to be kind to each other.  You will be under stress due to this change.  Your wife will be under stress feeling the financial pinch.  And your daughter is going to feel very uncertain, as well.  So, just all hunker down and you will weather this storm.  Do what you can to make it easier for your wife as she will feel a greater burden.  Maybe pick up doing dinner and some of the housework that she usually does, etc.  Look at this as an opportunity to spend some time with your daughter before she goes off to college.  And, let your family wrap their arms around you.  You will be OK.

Thanks for this.  Yea, we are definitely taking care of one another.  I'm sorry I couldn't save up enough for my DD's college.  I got ~$20k in a 529 for her but wanted to have $30k in there for her.

I've gotten several interviews since I got let go and so far, I haven't gotten any offers.  It's very different out there now in the tech field than it was 9yrs ago.  I'm having to solve problems at the whiteboard of most companies and I'm just not good at that.  I've been studying for hours everyday since then to get my skills up to par but I have a feeling it's gonna be a long road.

[Works4me]

Break your expenses out further - currently They total just under $3400 per month. There certainly are things you can do to lower your expenses - the common culprits are cable and cell plans. You listed utility with food and then listed electric and gas with cell and cable.

If you can get that figure down to $3000 you should be able to get by without touching savings. If your UE runs out before you have a professional job, you should still be ok with a "McJob." Look into selling things you don't need, recycling, etc. Also,mary to reduce your bills by about 10% - groceries,melectric, gas, etc.

As far as studying goes, that is great but you need to be practicing at a white board. Draft friends and family. Also explore Toastnasters so that you become more comfortable speaking in front of people.

Finally, you have a good plan in place and your family will survive, maybe even thrive. Security comes from home and your daughter will be fine.

ETA - as an emergency measure, can your wife's loans be deferred or reduced by an income based repayment plan? You might need to live a bare bones budget the first few months your are working again but that can be done. 

[milee]

Sorry, this sounds like a tough situation.  We could give better advice if we had a few more details.

-  How old are you and what type of work do you do?  
-  How old is your wife and what type of work does she do?  Is that related to the degree she just got and will her earnings rise now that she's graduated and has some experience?
-  What area of the country do you live in?
-  Your budget numbers have some things that appear to be listed twice - utilities + electric - and have too many components combined together to be useful for analysis.  Be honest at least with yourself here.  Is it that you don't know the details or is it that you don't want to face the details because they point you to actions you don't want to take?  Hard to make a good plan if you don't have detailed info or if you have it but don't want to face it.

Without more info, my initial reaction would be that it's odd that you think you're going to be unemployed for several years.  If that's the case and an accurate assessment, then I'd be thinking of how to address why that is and seeing if I could make changes like moving, getting a different professional certification, improving my skills, something to get work in less than two years rather than figuring out how best to borrow the money to live off in that time.  Also, if things are really that dire, you definitely need a good, detailed budget and to start making some tough choices about the budget because if you do end up unemployed for multiple years and/or moving or getting a new degree, you're not only incurring your living expenses during all that time but you're also not contributing to retirement or doing any other saving.  Tough hole to climb out of, so it would be good to try to avoid in the first place rather than focus on the best way to finance the hole.

[milee]

One other question - why is your wife only earning $1250 a month?  That sounds like a full time minimum wage job.  She has a student loan, so hopefully has some sort of degree; can she start looking for a better paying job?

And while you're looking for work, since you think it's going to take a while to get a new job, you should be getting some sort of job as well even if it's one of those minimum wage jobs.  I couldn't tell from your post if your monthly unemployment amount was $1900 or if that's the total amount of family income you'd have with both UE and your wife's income.  If the UE alone is $1900, wait to get a minimum wage job until that UE runs out, but if the UE is only $650, then there's no need to wait - start slinging burgers or whatever you can find now rather than running through savings or racking up cc debt.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Nov 25, 2016 23:47:11 GMT -5 WannabeWealthy said:

All,

After 9 long years at my company, I was let go due to layoffs.

I've accumulated a good size portion of money in stocks over the years (a little over $105k) but I don't have much in residual cash (~$8k).  My severance package hasn't come through yet but even if it did, I'm looking at only around $12k so let's assume I'll have ~$20k cash.  My wife works but she isn't the bread winner.  She's able to contribute about $1250/month for now until her student loan deferment is finally over (Feb 2017).  Then she can only contribute $900/month.

Here's our no-compromise bills:

Mortgage (just did a refi into a lower rate) - $1460/month
Food, utility, etc.. - $1000/month
Cell, Cable, Car insurance, electric, gas, etc.. - $900/month
Metlife long term care insurance - $20/month
No other debt.

I have started collecting UE which gives us $1900/month.  This runs out in April 2017.  We have a 16yo daughter (Junior in HS).

PLAN:  While I'm looking for employment, I've mocked up worse-case scenarios where I don't find a job until our daughter graduates in 2018 and goes off to college (or full-time work).

I'm going to be short by a big margin when the UE benefits end next April.  I'm thinking about borrowing on a CC (balance transfer of 0% - 3% one time fee) to get immediate cash to to take up the slack from Apr 2017 to Dec 2017 (or maybe until June 2018 when DD grads).  I've got offers that are 18 months long.  The reason for this is to keep my money in stocks for as long as possible since the returns on that are much higher than 3% per yr.  And slowly take $200/$300 out of them to pay the loan back each month (rinse and repeat with another CC once the promotion period is over).  This would buy me a LOT of time.  When DD grads, if I still haven't found a job, we planned on moving out of our house and putting it up for rent for $2,100/month and moving into a 1-bd apartment (~$1,100/month).  This would give us some more income from the house to pay on the rent and make us only have to worry about a ~$600/month rent instead of the $1,460/month mortgage.  I'm not touching my 401k plan which has ~$250k.

Does this plan seem feasible?

how can you do a balance transfer unless you have credit card debt? those offers don't apply for cash advances, and there will be interest plus the fee. I would try to leave the cc for emergency use only.

Stocks go up and stocks go down. Since you are feeling that it may be a while until you get a job, it may be wise (since stocks are up right now) to figure our your UE, wife's pay, basic bills, and determine money needed to the next 12 months. Consider a transfer of an amount out of stocks into cash/cash equivalents to combine with other income for 12 months of living expense - and plan to have a job before that runs out. 

What did you do, what was your salary, and what are your prospects for getting a similar position? You are in a great position to be able to make it a year - or even longer - without hardship. But don't let that make you complacent. 

Update your resume this weekend, and hit the ground running on Monday. EU plus wife's income does not pay the monthly bills. Trim those as much as possible, and try to replace your income ASAP.

[Pants]

Nov 25, 2016 23:47:11 GMT -5 WannabeWealthy said:

All,

After 9 long years at my company, I was let go due to layoffs.

I've accumulated a good size portion of money in stocks over the years (a little over $105k) but I don't have much in residual cash (~$8k).  My severance package hasn't come through yet but even if it did, I'm looking at only around $12k so let's assume I'll have ~$20k cash.  My wife works but she isn't the bread winner.  She's able to contribute about $1250/month for now until her student loan deferment is finally over (Feb 2017).  Then she can only contribute $900/month.

Here's our no-compromise bills:

Mortgage (just did a refi into a lower rate) - $1460/month
Food, utility, etc.. - $1000/month
Cell, Cable, Car insurance, electric, gas, etc.. - $900/month
Metlife long term care insurance - $20/month
No other debt.

I have started collecting UE which gives us $1900/month.  This runs out in April 2017.  We have a 16yo daughter (Junior in HS).

PLAN:  While I'm looking for employment, I've mocked up worse-case scenarios where I don't find a job until our daughter graduates in 2018 and goes off to college (or full-time work).

I'm going to be short by a big margin when the UE benefits end next April.  I'm thinking about borrowing on a CC (balance transfer of 0% - 3% one time fee) to get immediate cash to to take up the slack from Apr 2017 to Dec 2017 (or maybe until June 2018 when DD grads).  I've got offers that are 18 months long.  The reason for this is to keep my money in stocks for as long as possible since the returns on that are much higher than 3% per yr.  And slowly take $200/$300 out of them to pay the loan back each month (rinse and repeat with another CC once the promotion period is over).  This would buy me a LOT of time.  When DD grads, if I still haven't found a job, we planned on moving out of our house and putting it up for rent for $2,100/month and moving into a 1-bd apartment (~$1,100/month).  This would give us some more income from the house to pay on the rent and make us only have to worry about a ~$600/month rent instead of the $1,460/month mortgage.  I'm not touching my 401k plan which has ~$250k.

Does this plan seem feasible?

All your bills are no-compromise? That's not really a plan...

[giramomma]

Honestly, I would consider selling the house over being land lords. IMVHO, you aren't in a position where you can afford repairs on a house if a tenet trashes them, or if stuff goes. Murphies happen, even to the best of us.

See what you can do with groceries. There's a ton of tricks. Are you shopping at the cheapest grocery store in your city? In mine, you pay an extra $.25-$1/per product for the pleasure of listening to classical music while you shop and having the check out people dress in white button down shirts and black slacks. In your position, it's not a great trade off.

I would buy fruits and veggies in season only. Lots of bananas/apples/carrots.

Switch out some meals to cheaper alternatives. Generic oatmeal will provide your family with hearty breakfasts for about $10 for the whole month.

Soup. Seriously. You and your wife eat soup for lunches. I know its not sexy, but it's cheap, healthy, and filling.

I would also try to look at going meatless for a few meals a week.

I would also consider using a food pantry.

Figure out how you can conserve energy/water/etc. Turn the heat down a few degrees and put on more layers/blankets.

Cut cable. Seriously. Its not a need, it's a want. You can still get internet. That's what we have. Get out of the mindset of "Well, it's only an extra $50. I deserve it. It's my only form of entertainment." I'm assuming you live in a city with a library. Free entertainment.

Your wife also should be getting a second and or third job. Look, I know it sucks. But, she doesn't need to be at home for the kid. I'd assume with you working, it's going to affect your UE benefits.

Is your DD working? Is she helping with car insurance, paying for her clothing? Maybe now's the time to start?

Good luck. I admire how level headed you are. I'd be in a huge panic.

Also, I would tap the 529 money before I tapped the stock money. Your DD can always borrow for school. And you can always pay back her loans.

For jobs, I'd look for non-traditional jobs. I know everyone is saying get a McJob. I think folks under estimate how hard it actually is to get a McJob. I actually had to find a part time McJob and it took me 9 months to find one.  9 months. I'd look for handy-man, snow-shoveling, crossing guard type jobs. These are the places that are take a chance on you. I'd also look at after school programs, etc. In my area, a particular preschool is hurting for before school care. You just need to be 18. Pay isn't great..but the hours are only 6:30-9. That would still leave a full day for networking and job hunting.

[Lizard Queen]

Plan:  increase income and reduce expenses.

(your welcome)

But seriously, if you're planning on being out of work for years, living off CC's is a terrible idea.  That's a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2016 8:41:54 GMT -5 milee said:

Without more info, my initial reaction would be that it's odd that you think you're going to be unemployed for several years.  If that's the case and an accurate assessment, then I'd be thinking of how to address why that is and seeing if I could make changes like moving, getting a different professional certification, improving my skills, something to get work in less than two years rather than figuring out how best to borrow the money to live off in that time.  Also, if things are really that dire, you definitely need a good, detailed budget and to start making some tough choices about the budget because if you do end up unemployed for multiple years and/or moving or getting a new degree, you're not only incurring your living expenses during all that time but you're also not contributing to retirement or doing any other saving.  Tough hole to climb out of, so it would be good to try to avoid in the first place rather than focus on the best way to finance the hole.

  I wondered why you thought it would take you so long as well.  This isn't the Great Recession, any more.  Employers are hiring.  

          There's some reason for the way you are thinking, and it's got to be more than worst case scenario.  Worst case scenario is that you never ever work again, but you know that's not going to happen.  So how did you choose the time you thought you might be unemployed?  And what are you planning on doing to shorten that?  Remember that some companies don't like hiring the unemployed, which is an unfair bias but is real.  So don't look at this as an extended, paid "vacation."  It's an opportunity to find a better job.

[Blonde Granny]

I just read your posts from 2014, which is the first time I believe you laid it all out. Unless you've made significant changes since then, your life hasn't changed much except now you don't have a job and you know you can't keep up with DW spending.

My heart goes out to you, as the choices ahead are going to be painful.

[Gardening Grandma]

Nov 25, 2016 23:47:11 GMT -5 WannabeWealthy said:

All,

After 9 long years at my company, I was let go due to layoffs.

I've accumulated a good size portion of money in stocks over the years (a little over $105k) but I don't have much in residual cash (~$8k).  My severance package hasn't come through yet but even if it did, I'm looking at only around $12k so let's assume I'll have ~$20k cash.  My wife works but she isn't the bread winner.  She's able to contribute about $1250/month for now until her student loan deferment is finally over (Feb 2017).  Then she can only contribute $900/month.

Here's our no-compromise bills:

Mortgage (just did a refi into a lower rate) - $1460/month
Food, utility, etc.. - $1000/month
Cell, Cable, Car insurance, electric, gas, etc.. - $900/month
Metlife long term care insurance - $20/month
No other debt.

I have started collecting UE which gives us $1900/month.  This runs out in April 2017.  We have a 16yo daughter (Junior in HS).

PLAN:  While I'm looking for employment, I've mocked up worse-case scenarios where I don't find a job until our daughter graduates in 2018 and goes off to college (or full-time work).

I'm going to be short by a big margin when the UE benefits end next April.  I'm thinking about borrowing on a CC (balance transfer of 0% - 3% one time fee) to get immediate cash to to take up the slack from Apr 2017 to Dec 2017 (or maybe until June 2018 when DD grads).  I've got offers that are 18 months long.  The reason for this is to keep my money in stocks for as long as possible since the returns on that are much higher than 3% per yr.  And slowly take $200/$300 out of them to pay the loan back each month (rinse and repeat with another CC once the promotion period is over).  This would buy me a LOT of time.  When DD grads, if I still haven't found a job, we planned on moving out of our house and putting it up for rent for $2,100/month and moving into a 1-bd apartment (~$1,100/month).  This would give us some more income from the house to pay on the rent and make us only have to worry about a ~$600/month rent instead of the $1,460/month mortgage.  I'm not touching my 401k plan which has ~$250k.

Does this plan seem feasible?

I'm thinking about borrowing on a CC (balance transfer of 0% - 3% one time fee) to get immediate cash to to take up the slack from Apr 2017 to Dec 2017 (or maybe until June 2018 when DD grads). I've got offers that are 18 months long. The reason for this is to keep my money in stocks for as long as possible since the returns on that are much higher than 3% per yr


Overall you seem to have a good plan, but I think this is needlessly risky.  If you recall 2008, the stock market lost nearly 40% in one year.  Relying on a positive return in stocks is not a realistic plan.  There were people who took equity out of their homes to invest, then lost it and still had to pay back the loan with money they no longer had.  So they lost their homes as well.
Stocks can be a great long term investment - but they are not an emergency fund.  

This is great advice: rukh's post #6

"Stocks go up and stocks go down. Since you are feeling that it may be a while until you get a job, it may be wise (since stocks are up right now) to figure our your UE, wife's pay, basic bills, and determine money needed to the next 12 months. Consider a transfer of an amount out of stocks into cash/cash equivalents to combine with other income for 12 months of living expense - and plan to have a job before that runs out."

[WannabeWealthy]

Nov 26, 2016 0:58:55 GMT -5 Works4me said:

Break your expenses out further - currently They total just under $3400 per month. There certainly are things you can do to lower your expenses - the common culprits are cable and cell plans. You listed utility with food and then listed electric and gas with cell and cable.

If you can get that figure down to $3000 you should be able to get by without touching savings. If your UE runs out before you have a professional job, you should still be ok with a "McJob." Look into selling things you don't need, recycling, etc. Also,mary to reduce your bills by about 10% - groceries,melectric, gas, etc.

As far as studying goes, that is great but you need to be practicing at a white board. Draft friends and family. Also explore Toastnasters so that you become more comfortable speaking in front of people.

Finally, you have a good plan in place and your family will survive, maybe even thrive. Security comes from home and your daughter will be fine.

ETA - as an emergency measure, can your wife's loans be deferred or reduced by an income based repayment plan? You might need to live a bare bones budget the first few months your are working again but that can be done. 

We could possibly bring the expenses down a little more, but most of the time we are going over budget by a little bit.  It's always something we didn't account for like taking the pet to the groom, or getting DD some things for school.

My wife is 43yo.  She has already maxed out her deferment.  Income based repayment though is a great idea.  I never thought of that.  I'll definitely look into it.

[WannabeWealthy]

Nov 26, 2016 8:41:54 GMT -5 milee said:

Sorry, this sounds like a tough situation.  We could give better advice if we had a few more details.

-  How old are you and what type of work do you do?  
-  How old is your wife and what type of work does she do?  Is that related to the degree she just got and will her earnings rise now that she's graduated and has some experience?
-  What area of the country do you live in?
-  Your budget numbers have some things that appear to be listed twice - utilities + electric - and have too many components combined together to be useful for analysis.  Be honest at least with yourself here.  Is it that you don't know the details or is it that you don't want to face the details because they point you to actions you don't want to take?  Hard to make a good plan if you don't have detailed info or if you have it but don't want to face it.

Without more info, my initial reaction would be that it's odd that you think you're going to be unemployed for several years.  If that's the case and an accurate assessment, then I'd be thinking of how to address why that is and seeing if I could make changes like moving, getting a different professional certification, improving my skills, something to get work in less than two years rather than figuring out how best to borrow the money to live off in that time.  Also, if things are really that dire, you definitely need a good, detailed budget and to start making some tough choices about the budget because if you do end up unemployed for multiple years and/or moving or getting a new degree, you're not only incurring your living expenses during all that time but you're also not contributing to retirement or doing any other saving.  Tough hole to climb out of, so it would be good to try to avoid in the first place rather than focus on the best way to finance the hole.

- I'm 46yo and am a software engineer.  The problem though is that I've worked into a very nitch industry (film companies) and have never really had a software tech job at places like Apple, Google, Amazon, etc.. where the interview process is brutal.

- DW is 43yo and she's into pharmacy tech. industry but has a desk job at AmeriSource Bergan.  She got a degree in English back in 2006.
- We live in TX

-Nah, the utilities in the groceries was the wrong word.  It really represents things like toiletries, laundry things, soap, deodorant, medications, etc..

[WannabeWealthy]

Nov 26, 2016 8:50:19 GMT -5 milee said:

One other question - why is your wife only earning $1250 a month?  That sounds like a full time minimum wage job.  She has a student loan, so hopefully has some sort of degree; can she start looking for a better paying job?

And while you're looking for work, since you think it's going to take a while to get a new job, you should be getting some sort of job as well even if it's one of those minimum wage jobs.  I couldn't tell from your post if your monthly unemployment amount was $1900 or if that's the total amount of family income you'd have with both UE and your wife's income.  If the UE alone is $1900, wait to get a minimum wage job until that UE runs out, but if the UE is only $650, then there's no need to wait - start slinging burgers or whatever you can find now rather than running through savings or racking up cc debt.

She's not.  The other part of her expenses is paying off a car note ($400), a CC bill ($200), and the student loan ($470) + her expenses for going to work (i.e. fuel for the car).

[WannabeWealthy]

Nov 26, 2016 9:47:32 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Nov 25, 2016 23:47:11 GMT -5 WannabeWealthy said:

All,

After 9 long years at my company, I was let go due to layoffs.

I've accumulated a good size portion of money in stocks over the years (a little over $105k) but I don't have much in residual cash (~$8k).  My severance package hasn't come through yet but even if it did, I'm looking at only around $12k so let's assume I'll have ~$20k cash.  My wife works but she isn't the bread winner.  She's able to contribute about $1250/month for now until her student loan deferment is finally over (Feb 2017).  Then she can only contribute $900/month.

Here's our no-compromise bills:

Mortgage (just did a refi into a lower rate) - $1460/month
Food, utility, etc.. - $1000/month
Cell, Cable, Car insurance, electric, gas, etc.. - $900/month
Metlife long term care insurance - $20/month
No other debt.

I have started collecting UE which gives us $1900/month.  This runs out in April 2017.  We have a 16yo daughter (Junior in HS).

PLAN:  While I'm looking for employment, I've mocked up worse-case scenarios where I don't find a job until our daughter graduates in 2018 and goes off to college (or full-time work).

I'm going to be short by a big margin when the UE benefits end next April.  I'm thinking about borrowing on a CC (balance transfer of 0% - 3% one time fee) to get immediate cash to to take up the slack from Apr 2017 to Dec 2017 (or maybe until June 2018 when DD grads).  I've got offers that are 18 months long.  The reason for this is to keep my money in stocks for as long as possible since the returns on that are much higher than 3% per yr.  And slowly take $200/$300 out of them to pay the loan back each month (rinse and repeat with another CC once the promotion period is over).  This would buy me a LOT of time.  When DD grads, if I still haven't found a job, we planned on moving out of our house and putting it up for rent for $2,100/month and moving into a 1-bd apartment (~$1,100/month).  This would give us some more income from the house to pay on the rent and make us only have to worry about a ~$600/month rent instead of the $1,460/month mortgage.  I'm not touching my 401k plan which has ~$250k.

Does this plan seem feasible?

how can you do a balance transfer unless you have credit card debt? those offers don't apply for cash advances, and there will be interest plus the fee. I would try to leave the cc for emergency use only.

Stocks go up and stocks go down. Since you are feeling that it may be a while until you get a job, it may be wise (since stocks are up right now) to figure our your UE, wife's pay, basic bills, and determine money needed to the next 12 months. Consider a transfer of an amount out of stocks into cash/cash equivalents to combine with other income for 12 months of living expense - and plan to have a job before that runs out. 

What did you do, what was your salary, and what are your prospects for getting a similar position? You are in a great position to be able to make it a year - or even longer - without hardship. But don't let that make you complacent. 

Update your resume this weekend, and hit the ground running on Monday. EU plus wife's income does not pay the monthly bills. Trim those as much as possible, and try to replace your income ASAP.

I have no CC debt.  Some of these offers actually will send you a check that you can put into the bank.  I had talked to someone on the phone about this.  However, even if it isn't, I could probably put the money as a surplus into one CC and have all my bills be paid by that CC.  I think there are ways to let this happen.

[WannabeWealthy]

Nov 26, 2016 11:32:32 GMT -5 Blonde Granny said:

I just read your posts from 2014, which is the first time I believe you laid it all out. Unless you've made significant changes since then, your life hasn't changed much except now you don't have a job and you know you can't keep up with DW spending.

My heart goes out to you, as the choices ahead are going to be painful.

DW has come a long way since then.  Her debt has come down to a little over $11k.  She has learned her lesson and we are even closer because of it.

I've been interviewing for tech positions but just haven't impressed with demonstrating basic skills at the whiteboard.  A lot of it is nervousness and anxiety which causes my mind to freeze. Some of it is not remembering these basic skills/knowledge from college because I don't use a lot of it during normal work.  I need to change that if I'm ever going to stay in the tech industry.

[alabamagal]

You should focus on getting a new job. If you need retraining, get it. When you file for unemployment find out if there are resources for job retraining. Unemployment does not only give out money they have programs that help people find work.

My cousin was laid off several years ago. She has a degree in computer science. She was in her mid 40s and whatever system she had worked on was obsolete. Through Dept of labor she got retrained in some type of web based software developer program. Her training was paid for by UI. After a year training she got a job, basically starting her career over, but still a good paying job

[WannabeWealthy]

Nov 26, 2016 14:01:40 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

You should focus on getting a new job. If you need retraining, get it. When you file for unemployment find out if there are resources for job retraining. Unemployment does not only give out money they have programs that help people find work.

My cousin was laid off several years ago. She has a degree in computer science. She was in her mid 40s and whatever system she had worked on was obsolete. Through Dept of labor she got retrained in some type of web based software developer program. Her training was paid for by UI. After a year training she got a job, basically starting her career over, but still a good paying job

Yes, I'm enrolled in their programs here in TX.  I have an interviewing workshop the first week of Dec.  I'm also going to check with the VA to see if there are any extra opportunities that I can be enrolled in being a veteran.

[Wisconsin Beth]

You might want to check into local government jobs too. There are some odd tech jobs. For example, my fire dept. has someone who handles ID photos, the online training videos and photography at big fires. I think her job title is something like media specialist.

[Blonde Granny]

As a volunteer at the VA Medical System of the Ozarks I can tell you that the VA medical systems are always looking for employees. Have no idea of the pay (as a volunteer I'm paid nothing) but local postings will show on your nearest VA site. There are IT, maintenance, you name it. The veterans are always placed at the top of the list of job openings.

The VA does offer this: www.benefits.va.gov/vocrehab/

[phil5185]

$105k stocks
$250k 401k
$20k cash
maybe $50k home equity (is this the Plano house?)   Good job on refi'g to capture equity and moving it into other investments.
SUM - $425k Net Worth. You've done well in the last few years.

IMO you should stop planning for failure (ie, extended Unemployment) and plan for a successful job search. And then make it happen, don't drag it out while you hold-out for that perfect career enhancing position, take a job that meets the requirement, jobs are for earning money to feed, cloth, shelter you and your family. Later (next year?) you can shoot out a few applications and try an upgrade.  And don't rent the house, get an apt, sell the house, yada.
Too much time out-of-technology pushes you out of technology. (Eg, in your shader work, in just the last few yrs, you see major technology shifts - the algorithms change often, the desired effects/outputs change monthly, etc. 
But you don't need to work specifically in your specialty to keep yourself marketable, you just need to stay active.

I've been interviewing for tech positions but just haven't impressed with demonstrating basic skills at the whiteboard. A lot of it is nervousness and anxiety which causes my mind to freeze. Some of it is not remembering these basic skills/knowledge from college because I don't use a lot of it during normal work. I need to change that if I'm ever going to stay in the tech industry.

Interesting - I've been retired for quite a few yrs, I haven't seen this. When I interviewed engineers, I knew their education level from the resume & I could easily pick up their knowledge/experiences in a 20 minute coffee break - the character assessment was the tricky part.  But I've never put an applicant up to a whiteboard. A "think on your feet" test?  

[giramomma]

How much is left on your wife's car? Does it make sense for you to pay it off with some of that cash?

I don't understand how your wife can have 11K of total debt, but still have student loans to pay off.

Have you used recruiters to help you find jobs? Gone to your city's job resource center to help you prep with interviews? Are there any certifications you can get to help you? Monster says there's over 1K software engineer jobs in TX.

I would be totally freaking out in your shoes. I would not spend down the stocks. You at best, with the stocks have 350K for retirement. You are used to living on what, 5-6K a month? That's never going to last you in retirement. 

Have you looked at your tax situation? Might it work for you guys to adjust withholding now, that you have less income? Is your wife contributing to retirement? If so, how much? I'd rather her reduce retirement for now to keep you guys afloat.

[simser]

So I lost my tech job earlier this year and I had 2 options: move to where the tech jobs are, or focus my job search on the area I'm at.

Moving is always an option.

Also here's what else I did: couponing and loss leaders. They saved me 100's of dollars on my food bill. Literally. I even started canning and stuff to take advantage.

Libraries. I did a lot of movie borrowing from the library. I was there at least once a week.

Use up what you have. You'll be surprised at what you had extras of.

Be prepared for Unemployment. It sucks. I have never met a worse system. They actually got confused when I got a part time job to help out and thought that 4 hours a week was going to mean I wouldn't get a full time job (no...I wanted something that I could do and continue to do).

Recognize your career will change. You won't be doing the exact same thing as you were. I went from tech to a construction based company (they're techey). Who cares?

[milee]

I'm confused about the budget stuff.  Sounds like you and your wife have separate finances and that might be part of it.  All I can say is since you think you are at risk for long term unemployment, it really does make sense to make big spending cuts now, rather than digging more of a hole.  Yes, it stinks to not only be unemployed but also eating rice and beans while watching whatever TV you can get without cable, but the future you who has to pay all that off will thank you later.

You and your wife both seem like you have decent skills and you mentioned that you're closer than ever - which is great.  That will help a lot.  

The only other thing I'd be acutely aware of in your situation is how quickly tech - especially software - skills go stale.  You're smart to realize you need to either get more training or take a different approach.  Better to get all that started ASAP rather than a few months from now when tech employers are already going to start wondering why you've been unemployed for so long in a reasonable economy.  

Any chance you have any ideas on a software product you could produce yourself?

[cronewitch]

Tighten your belt even if you don't need to. Don't borrow on credit cards unless you are starving. Find other cash sources even small ones like working for a temp agency or freelancing. Cut daughter expenses like she can buy her own makeup or other things she wants, prom etc. Review each expense like car insurance maybe raise deductible.
Doing something like delivering pizza can bring in a few hundred a month. This will count with unemployment so you don't run out until later. I was temping 6 hours a day once and still got 109 a week unemployment and filled a gap on the resume. Find something like janitor where your wife and daughter can help work and you are free day times to look for work.
Do not relax and think you can wait until after Christmas. Hiring people will miss several days work and won't be back into work mode until the middle of January so it can cost you over a month and a half to wait.

My ex once painted apartments while unemployed for free rent so made more unemployed than working. Because he was unemployed we cut expenses too so were saving money beyond any extra income.

Take advantage of Christmas, offer tech support for people setting up complicated tv's or install software for them. Use your skills or do labor but earn 4-500 a month extra somehow.

[Deleted]

How much total owed on cc, school loan and car? 

[Deleted]

I did do a balance transfer last month because I got a 0 fee, 0% ... hadn't seen one of those in years. I would not do it for sp ding money though, but if it would pay of her debt and free up short term earned income (i.e. not really add to overall debt) then maybe, maybe...

[WannabeWealthy]

Nov 26, 2016 16:57:44 GMT -5 phil5185 said:

$105k stocks
$250k 401k
$20k cash
maybe $50k home equity (is this the Plano house?)   Good job on refi'g to capture equity and moving it into other investments.
SUM - $425k Net Worth. You've done well in the last few years.

IMO you should stop planning for failure (ie, extended Unemployment) and plan for a successful job search. And then make it happen, don't drag it out while you hold-out for that perfect career enhancing position, take a job that meets the requirement, jobs are for earning money to feed, cloth, shelter you and your family. Later (next year?) you can shoot out a few applications and try an upgrade.  And don't rent the house, get an apt, sell the house, yada.
Too much time out-of-technology pushes you out of technology. (Eg, in your shader work, in just the last few yrs, you see major technology shifts - the algorithms change often, the desired effects/outputs change monthly, etc. 
But you don't need to work specifically in your specialty to keep yourself marketable, you just need to stay active.

I've been interviewing for tech positions but just haven't impressed with demonstrating basic skills at the whiteboard. A lot of it is nervousness and anxiety which causes my mind to freeze. Some of it is not remembering these basic skills/knowledge from college because I don't use a lot of it during normal work. I need to change that if I'm ever going to stay in the tech industry.

Interesting - I've been retired for quite a few yrs, I haven't seen this. When I interviewed engineers, I knew their education level from the resume & I could easily pick up their knowledge/experiences in a 20 minute coffee break - the character assessment was the tricky part.  But I've never put an applicant up to a whiteboard. A "think on your feet" test?  

Hey Phil!  Yea, net worth is a little over $500k right now.   The house could probably sell for $320 and we owe about $200k on it.  I'm hard pressed to this house go as big companies are headed here next year (Toyota's main plant) and the housing is crowded.  My home is building about 15-20% every year.

Yes, the tech industry has changed a lot in the time I interviewed too.  I never had to go to the whiteboard but that seems to be the norm these days.