Facing a layoff
This will probably hit the papers tomorrow: my husband, along with everyone else working with CompUSA here in the Twin Cities, is losing his job. They are closing 128 of 229 stores nationwide. The employees are being retained to liquidate the stock, and so he will be working full time for eight more weeks. Then he will have four weeks of severance pay and then it will be the unemployment line if he hasn't lined something up before then.
I have called pastor and some of my family. Right now, I am sorta kinda okay because I'm in such shock that it hasn't entirely sunk in. I have been pushing Rob very hard to look for another job anyway because in so many ways his working for CompUSA hurt our family, but he hates job hunting like poison and so was reluctant to get started. Now he has no choice.
I am trying to tell myself this is a blessing in disguise.
All right: what do we need to do? I had just taken my bicycle into the shop to have it overhauled, reasoning that I could bicycle to work and thus save myself the parking fee ($115 a month) and gas. I have cancelled my tithe at church. At what point do we call credit card companies, explain the situation and ask if we can have a lower payment, just temporarily? Is it better to call immediately, or hold off as long as possible, hoping you don't need to do it? (I would call if there would be any threat we'd need to make a late payment, since we are very up to date on payment history).
This is one of the precipitating events that would change my dependent care withholding, so I'll talk to my employer today.
I'll be calling to ask about heating assistance, although I don't think we'll qualify, since they'll probably tell me my income is too high (although we have a fair amount of debt, so we're living pretty close to the margin). I suppose I can call my insurance agent and have our coverage rejiggered to raise the deductible so our premium will go down. I have some stock that I can sell to protect the house if need be (I'd set it aside as my if-the-ceiling-falls-in fund, and I guess this qualifies). I will also call United Way. My employer has a 24 hour counseling service number to call for life and family issues; I will check with them, too, for any resources they can suggest.
Of course, we'll apply for unemployment if he hasn't found a job before his wages run out.
We'll continue to use Fare for All, and I know there are some programs through churches which serve meals to people who are homeless, but if you've lost a job, you qualify, too. We can probably get a meal once a week through that. I have printed out a list of food shelves, if we have to resort to that. I have put out a call for help on my LiveJournal to ask people for job leads. I think that if my local friends ask how they can help, I'm going to ask for them to come together for a big gardening party; I plan to put in an extra big vegetable garden to help with food costs.
My next door neighbor is an eBay expert, and has offered to help us sell anything there that we want to sell.
What am I missing?
I have called pastor and some of my family. Right now, I am sorta kinda okay because I'm in such shock that it hasn't entirely sunk in. I have been pushing Rob very hard to look for another job anyway because in so many ways his working for CompUSA hurt our family, but he hates job hunting like poison and so was reluctant to get started. Now he has no choice.
I am trying to tell myself this is a blessing in disguise.
All right: what do we need to do? I had just taken my bicycle into the shop to have it overhauled, reasoning that I could bicycle to work and thus save myself the parking fee ($115 a month) and gas. I have cancelled my tithe at church. At what point do we call credit card companies, explain the situation and ask if we can have a lower payment, just temporarily? Is it better to call immediately, or hold off as long as possible, hoping you don't need to do it? (I would call if there would be any threat we'd need to make a late payment, since we are very up to date on payment history).
This is one of the precipitating events that would change my dependent care withholding, so I'll talk to my employer today.
I'll be calling to ask about heating assistance, although I don't think we'll qualify, since they'll probably tell me my income is too high (although we have a fair amount of debt, so we're living pretty close to the margin). I suppose I can call my insurance agent and have our coverage rejiggered to raise the deductible so our premium will go down. I have some stock that I can sell to protect the house if need be (I'd set it aside as my if-the-ceiling-falls-in fund, and I guess this qualifies). I will also call United Way. My employer has a 24 hour counseling service number to call for life and family issues; I will check with them, too, for any resources they can suggest.
Of course, we'll apply for unemployment if he hasn't found a job before his wages run out.
We'll continue to use Fare for All, and I know there are some programs through churches which serve meals to people who are homeless, but if you've lost a job, you qualify, too. We can probably get a meal once a week through that. I have printed out a list of food shelves, if we have to resort to that. I have put out a call for help on my LiveJournal to ask people for job leads. I think that if my local friends ask how they can help, I'm going to ask for them to come together for a big gardening party; I plan to put in an extra big vegetable garden to help with food costs.
My next door neighbor is an eBay expert, and has offered to help us sell anything there that we want to sell.
What am I missing?