One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

My husband checked the status on our tax return yesterday. They adjusted our claim, saying that we made an error on how much we paid in property taxes last year. That knocks our return down almost $2,000; which, in turn, sets us back to being able to survive without employment income to about 6-8 weeks.

We heard from our DHS case worker. We were approved for food stamps and insurance. Unbelievably, the food stamp amount we are granted is $690 per month. We usually spend about $250-$300 a month, so that is almost 2.5 times what we need. Granted, they probably just assumed that we need to buy formula and diapers - which we don't. But even factoring that cost in, its about twice the amount we need. We are planning on stocking up on dry goods and frozen goods and toiletries (if they're covered). Too bad the mortgage company doesn't accept the Bridge Card!

We have been looking into my husband going to college to get a degree in something that's not food. We went to ITT Tech. yesterday. WOW! They want $18,000 a year, clearly the highest in the area. He can't get into Grand Valley because he scored 3 points too low on his GED, but he can get in if he gets a year of GRCC done first. Which is probably the route we will go.

Now he's just got to find a job with a little bit of flexibility so that he can go to school.

Michigan's Economical Problems Hit (Our) Home

Friday, February 27th started out like any other normal day. My brother dropped off my nephew at 7am; I dropped my son off to school at 8:25am; and my husband woke up around 9:30am, to get ready for his shift that started at 11am. At about 10am, my husband's boss called him and asked him to stop at Coopersville on his way into work. A few weeks ago, the RGM at Coopersville was fired for cooking the books; my husband requested to be transferred to that location because it is closer to our home than Muskegon, where he was currently working. We thought that the meeting was in reference to that request.

My husband called me at 10:30am and told me that he had been fired. Downsized, actually. Yes, the fast food industry - which usually is extremely profitable in recessions - is being forced to tighten their belts, too. Apparently HR has a complex equation that is supposed to determine fairly who stays and who goes. Because my husband was one of the newer managers, he was one of several to get the axe. We were floored. This is unfamiliar territory - we have 3 kids and 2 adults to support and never thought that we would be facing this situation.

We sat down Friday night and hashed out our finances. We decided that, most likely, we will have to cancel our trip to Disney World this year. Fortunately, due to God's grace, we had not yet purchased any of the (non-refundable) tickets and reservations for that trip. My husband had lost our copy of TurboTax and we ended up filing about 2 weeks after we had intended to. So, we can count on that check to help us survive over the next few months. Also, during the week preceding the firing, we had paid all our bills and gone grocery shopping. My father also gave us a LOT of meat - turkey and pork. So, while we only have about 30 between us, we are set on our groceries and utilities for a few weeks.

On Saturday, we sat the kids down and told them what was going on. We told them that Daddy lost his job and why. And we told them that we probably wouldn't be able to go to Disney World. I expected crying and bawling, but they surprised me and made me proud. My son said, "So we can't go to Disney World this year, but we can go sometime?" Yep, that's all he needed - to know that we would eventually get there.

Monday was a humbling day for us. We had to make the trip down to FIA to apply for food stamps and health insurance. What a humbling experience that was. There were tons and tons of people there. I never thought I would ever have to go down to apply for those things. We were there for 3 hours and it was just so uncomfortable. After that, my husband went to the Unemployment office to get that ball rolling.

We are looking into him going back to school and getting into a different industry. He's been working in fast food for the better part of 14 years and would really, really like to get away from it. Hopefully we can figure out a way to make it work without having to move out of the state. I just heard on the radio today that Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the union - at 10+%. Michigan has been struggling for the past 6 years and I would really like to see better things happen here.

All we can do is pray.

My Goals for the Next 10 Years

I ran across a question in Yahoo! Answers asking what my goals are for the next 10 years.

Here's what I came up with:
*Taking the family to Disney World next December.
*Having another baby in 2010.
*Going to Hawaii for 10 yr. anniversary in 2011.
*A larger home by 2013.
*Taking the family to Disney World again in 2015.

My son will be 16 and my oldest daughter will be 14 in 2018, so I hope that I will have given them the knowledge and security to deal with the pressures of being a teenager. I also hope that I will be able to maintain my sanity while they do that!

My baby now will be 10 and if I'm blessed with a baby in 2010, he/she will be 8 in 2018. , so I hope that they would still enjoy being a kid and won't try to grow up too fast.

Thanks for asking!