I hate being unemployed.
Well - I don't exactly hate not working. I like not having to set an alarm and I am getting some projects done around the house. But I don't like not being paid.
Money. That's what I want.
I'm very fortunate in that this time I was laid off which means I do have a brief cushion of income that if I can find a replacement job quickly enough, could mean extra cash to pay off those credit cards.
But it's not looking good.
I know, it's still early days. But I'm not liking what I am seeing out there. Or rather not seeing.
As expected, mortgage jobs are practically non-existent and the few I have seen have been at a much lower pay rate than I am accustomed to.
In case we have just met, I am a planner. I'm not a worrier, but I do like to consider all possible outcomes and plan accordingly.
For instance, at what point do we sell the house? That may seem an extreme reaction, Rob certainly thought so, but hear me out:
If I am not able to find a viable job and I run out of my severance and the pittance I will get on unemployment, how long will it be before we can no longer make the house payment?
Rob is almost entirely commission sales of a luxury product. Having the sole bread winner in our household be dependent on luxury product sales is a bit nerve wracking.
Anyone in the market for quality exterior home lighting at a great price? Call Rob at 817.881.6898 for more info on Jellyfish Lighting. Ours is currently set up for Easter and it is so pretty!
It was nerve wracking even when he wasn't the sole bread winner.
And he does well. So I have no immediate cause for alarm, but I'm a planner, so what if?
I'm already concerned that I do not have enough set aside for retirement. If push comes to shove, it doesn't make sense to me to dip into those funds to save my house. Especially not when my house already has nearly $200k in equity.
Doesn't it make more sense to sell the house and move into something smaller? Or move somewhere else altogether?
Rob and I discussed it - he mostly thinks I'm over reacting. I just think I am trying to prepare myself. I like to think if I am prepared, I won't need it.
This is the same philosophy that made me a great wedding planner. If I needed something at one wedding and didn't have it, it went in my emergency kit. One of the men forget their socks? Got 'em covered. Can't open the wine? Corkscrew added. DJ equipment failure? Key songs loaded on my ipod.
The funny thing is, once I was prepared for those things, I never needed them again. And that's how I look at this.
Prepare for the worst case scenario and I won't need it.
And for me, selling my house would definitely be a worst case scenario.
Rob does not share that approach. I did get him to look a little bit ahead though and he thinks barring any unforeseen issues with his employment, we will be able to get by until at least the end of the year, even if I don't have another job.
We also have agreed on my minimum salary requirements - subject to change the longer I am unemployed. But now I know I don't have to take just anything.
We also agree that my minimum salary requirements increase if I have to work outside of the home as our expenses will increase. At a minimum, I would need a workplace appropriate wardrobe since I'm guessing jeans and t-shirts won't be acceptable. Or sundresses. Throw in an odd formal gown (two wedding dresses anyone?) and well, you get the picture.
Then there's the extra gas and that is IF we can work out transportation with just our one car. I might need to get a new one just for me. Which is something we'd been discussing but are not quite in that space yet. Which would also necessitate additional insurance.
So yeah, still concentrating on work from home opportunities.
I'll also be cutting back on expenses - which I should have been doing anyway. And I had, sort of.
I'm glad I already did the bedroom makeover.
oh Emm GEEEE.
I finished my dresser - one down, one to go. And I don't want to make this post a commercial (too late) so I'm just going to leave you with the photo for now. Look how good it looks!
Another thing I hate about being unemployed? The actual job search.
It's challenging enough when you are looking in a specific field (mortgage loan processor), but if you still don't know what you want to be when you grow up and you are willing to change careers?
Fuhgeddaboutit.
And you don't have a college degree either??
One of the reasons I liked mortgage was it is one of the few jobs that I ever came across that didn't care that I did not have that slip of paper - that never held me back. And the potential to earn was much greater than any admin job I'd ever had. Even the ones that paid well.
But I'm struggling on how to parlay my experience and skills into another career. I'm confident I could learn to do almost anything. But I don't know how to search for it.
Also this seems like a good place to give a giant EFF YOU to bogus job listings. I've set up some job alerts - like you do - but I keep getting alerts for jobs and when I follow the link I have to jump through half a dozen hoops by which point I no longer care what the job is I'm over it.
And I can't figure out how my work from home alert keeps sending me DoorDash, Lyft, trucking school, and nursing jobs.
First of all if I had a car, I would already be doing DoorDash or something similar. I don't need a job alert for that. Second, I cannot drive an 18 wheeler from the comfort of my home.
And I know a lot of those personality tests think I would make an excellent nurse but I would not. No thank you. Nurses work far too hard for far too little (I don't care how much they make, it isn't enough) - and I don't deal well with sickness.
Also whichever company sold my email can kiss my ass because now I am getting SO MANY ways to earn money scam emails I'm actually missing important ones. I feel like half my day is unsubscribing from email and STOP text messages.
tldr: I need a job.