Middle-Class Struggle: Spinning Our Wheels

Friday,  July 15, 2011

Yesterday, we finally received the bill for Struggle, Jr.’s upcoming fall semester at  university.  They are asking for just over $2600, quite an increase from last year, but then last year Miss Struggle 2 was also in college as an undergrad, and we were given credit for that on the FAFSA.  Thankfully,  Jr. has been awarded academic scholarships in the amount of $1100, which will cover a good bit of this bill.  Today (after several phone calls) the financial  aid revision forms we first requested over three weeks ago arrived in the mail, so we are collecting the requested documentation of our change in income.   Unfortunately,  Mr. Struggle was required to submit a statement from his former employer to confirm his termination.  No telling how long it might take to receive that info, but he choked down his pride and emailed this afternoon to ask for it. 

We also have to send the university documentation of unemployment benefits, which still have not been approved.   Mr. Struggle has made several phone calls and finally drove to the unemployment office today, where he was told that his employer had not challenged his claim, so the case would be determined by the state and that we should have an answer----and hopefully, some money---within another  two weeks or so.  I don’t know what lower income people do in these cases; can you imagine going without any income for four-to-six weeks?  Thank heavens for the part-time job and the Dave Ramsey emergency fund!

We were told, by the way, that we are not eligible for food stamps because of that part-time job, and because our children are above the age of seventeen.

My vehicle registration and inspection notice came in the mail this week, which caused a bit of a panic.  I believe I mentioned earlier that we were debating whether to buy new tires before taking the car on a road trip (which we had to cancel due to the job loss).  Mr. Struggle didn’t think the two rear tires would pass inspection, but took the car to our local shop this week and mentioned his worries.  Sight unseen, the mechanic said, “Don’t worry; they’ll pass.  You get you some new tires when you get back to work.”  And he proceeded to pass the car!  Did I ever tell you how good It is to live in a small community, where people look after each other?

We have been attending a workshop on résumé writing and job search techniques, which has been very helpful, but Is also consuming quite a bit of gasoline.   In fact, I was told I could not register for the class over the phone or online, but had to come in to sign documentation that I was unemployed, in order to get in the class for free.  So we drove halfway across the county to the community college to register, and then was told today, “Oh, no, you could have done that here at the unemployment office!”  Great communication, huh?

I worked at our church office yesterday (volunteering while our secretary was on vacation) and had several people offer to help us with the job search.  Our Assistant Pastor seems to have quite a few contacts in the business world and is working the computer and phones, passing around Mr. Struggle’s résumé.  I also talked to another church member who has a contact at the company where Mr. Struggle works part-time, and he has offered to forward the résumé to her.  We have not heard back from any of the other companies that looked so hopeful last week, but have gotten a few rejections from other applications. 

The unemployment office found me several job leads at my appointment today.  The counselor there told me the staff has access to a better computer search than Is given to the general public, so hopefully it is worth the gasoline to go for these appointments.

I haven’t tallied up the spending for this week, but we have bought very little.  A bit of gasoline, some groceries and we also stopped by an office supply store for résumé paper and a leather portfolio to carry on job interviews.  Today is payday for the part-time job, and I am babysitting for neighbors twice in the next few days, so that will bring in a bit of cash.

I’m trying to decide whether I should give up my search for a “professional” job, and just knock on doors of retailers in the area.  The pay would be less, but I think it might net a job more quickly.  My biggest concern is what that does to the job history listed on my résumé, and whether I will ever be able to get back into the professional world with my track record.  I’d love to hear your opinion on the matter, if you’ve had a similar experience.