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I was just wondering: how are people who cannot find work in the current economy, and/or may have been laid off and cannot find a job to replace the one that was lost, able to make ends meet financially?
For example: even though they may not have a job, they still have to have a roof over their heads, be able to put food on the table, pay for energy and heating costs, etc. But with no active job salary coming in, how are they able to do it, on a practical and everyday basis? Do they stay and/or live with family members who can help asssit them financially, for as long as they are out of work? Also, what about those who have no living relatives? I can see how practical measures like food stamps can assist them with the need for getting food, but even with that, how are those out of work able to keep up on an apartment or mortgage payment, for instance?
Food banks and assistance from my church helped me get through my unemployment. If I didn't have that kind or amount of assistance, that period of my life would have been much more stressful and depressing.
You lose all your savings, pawn or sell anything you can, pay only the essential bills, eat less food, never go anywhere, give up cable and the internet, cut your own hair, shop for clothes at Good Will, eat a lot of Ramen and Swanson dinners, go without health and dental care, never eat out in a sit down restaurant, pray your car holds up or doesn't get re-possessed, and go to job interviews feeling like if you get hired you will have won the lottery.
Stress never ends and depression sets in as a permanent state of mind.
''Friends'' and family abandon you and people treat you like a loser who is to blame for how your life has gone in the proverbial toilet.
You never carry cash and you check your bank account daily to see how many bucks you have left before you go to the dollar store for milk.
Pretty soon you feel like an outcast and you no longer shop for pleasure or can tolerate being around those who are not like you, i.e., unemployed.
Your values change, you trust nothing as permanent in the economy, and you thank God that when you were evicted that one good person helped keep you with a roof over your head.
My biggest thrill now? The day I pay the rent. This means I can rest easy for a bit until the next 30 days go by as today I have a job and tomorrow I might not.
Then it starts all over again...
I really like Dave Ramsey's plan, and trying to do it myself. It basically goes like this:
1. Build up a quick emergency fund of 1K-5K in savings for unexpected expenses
2. Save and put all extra money into paying off debts asap
3. Save up at least 6 months of living expenses for an emergency fund.
Course in today's climate, I'm not so sure I would even feel comfortable with just 6 months. A year's salary is more like it.
What about people who don't make enough to save much (if anything), even when they ARE employed? I make what's considered a good salary in any other part of the country, but here in the Bay Area as a single person, it just barely covers my monthly expenses. Luckily I have other means of support, if it were needed, but saving a year's worth of salary? Not gonna happen anytime soon.
When I was laid off in 2010, I received unemployment benefits that would have lasted two years (I got a new job in 8 months). It was only about 1/2 of what I had previously made, but gave me just enough to pay rent and a few other expenses @ $1900/mo. So I guess that's how some people make it, at least in the short run... of course, this is only possible if you didn't QUIT or get FIRED.
Most are doing the best they can with government and private aid. If and when this dries up, civil unrest will ensue, and many on the margins will die.
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