Thursday, March 19, 2009

Unemployment

Yesterday was the day a lot of people dread. Work has been so slow for Aaron's company and it finally came to filing for unemployment. I have not had a lot of experience with that, so Aaron and I filled out his papers and faxed them in, not sure of what is going to happen. My husband is our main provider. I work, but I make a good $40 dollars an hour less than him. We heard that the max he will get for unemployment is $475 dollars a week! That is way less than half of what we usually bring home. Living in the San Francisco Bay area is tough. Living expenses are so high. If it were up to us, we would move far away but we have to stay here to be close to Christian. Between the two of us we bring home good money, but are some how only having an extra $200 bucks a month for groceries, gas, and leisure! (Thats not a lot!) We have had his truck for sale for about 6 months now and no one has even asked about. Selling it would give us an extra $300 a month to go towards bills. But now that he is not working, we do not know what we are going to do because we wont even have enough money to get by. It scares me. We pay $681.00 a month in child support to Aarons sons' mother. It gets garnished from his pay checks. Now that he isnt working it is up to us to make that payment or else it goes into arrears and interest is accumulated at 10% per month. It adds up fast! It stresses me out that we cant afford our own home and our own bills and are forced to pay such a high amount of money to her even though we have Christian so often. I really just need to put my trust in God. He is who will get us through this. I just pray that he blesses my Pampered Chef business and blesses Aaron with sidework. I know if we didnt look to God for guidance on this, it will break Aaron and I. The devil is always trying to interfere with us and we have to make it our mission not to let him divide us. Anyone else out there dealing with unemployment??

7 comments:

JohnnaB said...

Girl, that stinks! I totally hear ya. Last year we were like that...not unemployment...but too many expenses, and not enough moolah! We did Dave Ramsey, and really helped us climb out of a heap of...well, you know! :) Praying for you guys! Stay on track together...and you can do it!

JohnnaB said...

So sorry girl! That's the worst! We struggled with this last year. Not with losing a job...but too many expenses, and not enought moo-lah! We did Dave Ramsey, and really helped us pull it all together. You can do it! Stay focused, and pray! :)

Unknown said...

Love, love, love you! I hate the "for richer or poorer" part of those darn vows. You know we had a bleak couple of years. It was super stressful! You have to hang on tight to God's perfect plan. He knows way better than we do. Lots of love.

Pauliwog said...

Hey Brittany,

I know that you don't know me, but I just wanted to let you know that I will be praying for you and your family! Thank goodness God is in control!
I hope that things go well for you with your pampered chief business (I'll be praying that they do!! ...and I hope that I win that cookbook! :) lol) Thanks for your kind comment.

Anonymous said...

sucks. sorry guys. i haven't got laid off, but with a 100% commission job in the stock market, we've had to make some big changes. we are renting our house, living with parents, cutting way back and have been reading Dave Ramsey's "total money makeover" that we are getting excited about trying. If the car is your biggest thing, I would call the finance company and tell them you can't afford it anymore because of the circumstances. They can either take it back from you or work out some other solution. Good luck and Godspeed to getting another income.

Nancy said...

So glad you commented on my blog. Times are so tough right now, I know how you feel. With faith, we will get through it.

Shelly said...

Hey Brittany! I wanted to encourage you to definately follow your thoughts on relying on God through this. Mike got laid off on November 30th and still hasn't found a job yet. He is our main provider and we have two boys on the way in the Middle of May. We have definately been relying on God through this and He continues to provide for us. There is a lot of truth to the verse "don't worry about tomorrow..." We are living day by day and I feel God blessing each day. He is showering us with love during this time. Try to enjoy the ride and look for Him in the simple things. This will pass and you will carry with you the lesons you will have learned. Learn much!!