Surviving on Unemployment Insurance

[Benzgirl]

I was laid off December 2 and my severance pay ran out last week. I have a one-week waiting period, then I get a whopping $365 per week. Considering my mortgage is around $1800, I can't live off unemployment.

Your question is valid, MOST people can't live off UI unless they have a working spouse. The $365 per week will pay my utilities, car lease and COBRA. Food is no longer a necessity, I guess. I was fortunate that I foresaw troubled times ahead and stashed away a lot of money (left it in cash). I also had no balance on my credit cards. Not including the UI, I have over one year to live off of my savings.

If I dont have a job by summer, my only choice is to put the house up for sale. Another glitch is that my tenant is moving out of my condo (rental) by April 1. The rental is up for sale or for lease, but no action yet. If nothing happens, I'll probably do a short sale and hand the procedes back to the bank. So much for my 796 FICO.

I have done a lot of research on Free Training. I was in a 2007 Power Point Class yesterday, offered by a local Computer firm and will take a Dreamweaver class from them in 2 weeks. The local Community COllege is paying for my Paralegal Certification, as well as two additional legal classes. I have an appointment on Tuesday to talk to a Job Works Network to cover my books. I never knew that I could get so much by walking in with my Severance Papers.

I'm in the minority, though. One of my friends (whose spouse does work), said the family will be able to survive until May. Another friend, a single mother with 2 kids, is living on credit cards now. She can't file BK since she did so a few years ago. She has COBRA for herself and is getting federal assistance for the kids medical. She can also qualify for food stamps because she has no savings.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

I have an appointment on Tuesday to talk to a Job Works Network to cover my books. I never knew that I could get so much by walking in with my Severance Papers.

Is Job Works a federal one-stop employment and training center? If so, that's the exact type of place I work. People on UI can come in and we're basically pushing them into training programs. If you're in training, your UI is extended for a period of time, plus the government has that emergency UI extension for (I believe) seven weeks. We're completely overwhelmed by people who've been laid off.

My very unfortunate task is to convince employers to hire my consumers. When very few legitimate employers are still hiring, it's nearly impossible to be effective.

Every day, people come into our office in tears. It is horrible and there's not much we can do.

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

Is Job Works a federal one-stop employment and training center? If so, that's the exact type of place I work. People on UI can come in and we're basically pushing them into training programs. If you're in training, your UI is extended for a period of time, plus the government has that emergency UI extension for (I believe) seven weeks. We're completely overwhelmed by people who've been laid off.

My very unfortunate task is to convince employers to hire my consumers. When very few legitimate employers are still hiring, it's nearly impossible to be effective.

Every day, people come into our office in tears. It is horrible and there's not much we can do.

It's actually run by the county and is called the Employment netWORK. Most of the services available for the unemployed is not what I can use (i.e. Interviewing Skills, Computer Basics), but they do qualify the unemployed for ITA money. I got the third degree when I was on the phone with the director that I needed to go to their "boot camp" before getting the money. I told him I would get "an excuse" from my Outplacement Coach, if he would like.

Right now, when I interview I am up against candidates who also have Master's Degrees and PhDs. The new face of the unemployed are not blue collar workers; they are educated professionals. So many people I have spoken with are competing against their former co-workers for the same positions. Two of the positions I interviewed for were given to internal candidates, one position was put "on hold", and two others were not what I thought they were. I'm trying to network my way into a Temp position underwriting loans (something I did years ago), just to get me through the next few months.

I'm reinventing myself, which is why I'm going after the Paralegal Cert. I've worked in banking/mortgage for 17 years and know enough about the regulations and statues of credit. I am positioning myself to become a foreclosure or bankruptcy paralegal. Heavens knows, there is plenty of that going on. Sure it's a huge paycut, but honestly, I don't care at this point about the money. I have worked full time for 25 years and I'm going stir crazy.

When I went to a seminar a few weeks ago, they said that Unemployment apps in the county were up 300% from one year ago. It's really bad, and not just here. I just talked to a friend in LA. They are cutting everyone's hours at his company to 4 days and reducing their pay by 20% in order to avoid layoffs. One of my friends last week had to layoff 3 of her 10 employees.

Trust me. The tears flow often, and sometimes for the dumbest things. I'm not losing my house today or next month, but it could happen next year if things don't improve.

[justabeachbrat]

Off topic, slightly.
Not on unemployment, but disability.
When I got hurt, my income imploded by 2/3rds overnight--my bills did not. At the place I went for physical therapy, I knew of two patients who went into foreclosure and another who divorced.
I radically changed my lifestyle, Starbucks, before a daily thing, now a treat.
I could no longer afford my place near the beach, have had to move twice to get within limits. Some of my friends still in safe worlds have stepped away, as if I might spread something. The true ones remain.
I started back to school late last year, then had to drop out due to family matters. I am due to start in a week or so, and boy, what a time to attempt a career change.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

It's actually run by the county and is called the Employment netWORK. Most of the services available for the unemployed is not what I can use (i.e. Interviewing Skills, Computer Basics), but they do qualify the unemployed for ITA money. I got the third degree when I was on the phone with the director that I needed to go to their "boot camp" before getting the money. I told him I would get "an excuse" from my Outplacement Coach, if he would like.

Right now, when I interview I am up against candidates who also have Master's Degrees and PhDs. The new face of the unemployed are not blue collar workers; they are educated professionals. So many people I have spoken with are competing against their former co-workers for the same positions. Two of the positions I interviewed for were given to internal candidates, one position was put "on hold", and two others were not what I thought they were. I'm trying to network my way into a Temp position underwriting loans (something I did years ago), just to get me through the next few months.

I'm reinventing myself, which is why I'm going after the Paralegal Cert. I've worked in banking/mortgage for 17 years and know enough about the regulations and statues of credit. I am positioning myself to become a foreclosure or bankruptcy paralegal. Heavens knows, there is plenty of that going on. Sure it's a huge paycut, but honestly, I don't care at this point about the money. I have worked full time for 25 years and I'm going stir crazy.

When I went to a seminar a few weeks ago, they said that Unemployment apps in the county were up 300% from one year ago. It's really bad, and not just here. I just talked to a friend in LA. They are cutting everyone's hours at his company to 4 days and reducing their pay by 20% in order to avoid layoffs. One of my friends last week had to layoff 3 of her 10 employees.

Trust me. The tears flow often, and sometimes for the dumbest things. I'm not losing my house today or next month, but it could happen next year if things don't improve.

What you're talking about sounds like a one-stop. They're all funded through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and managed by any one of many operators (county, state, community colleges or non-profits - like the one I work for).

I hope our economy bottoms out sooner than later. Of course, that means more people out of work for the short-term. But, it also means an upswing is just around the bend...perhaps even before a lot of people's UI runs out!

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

What you're talking about sounds like a one-stop. They're all funded through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and managed by any one of many operators (county, state, community colleges or non-profits - like the one I work for).

Not exactly one-stop (maybe 3 or 4 stops), but he did mention WIA. They are covering tuition for three classes and we are trying to figure out the books now. netWORKS is willing to cover the cost, but because the books need to be purchased through an online site instead of the school bookstore, we are running into a snag. They won't reimburse me, so the admissions office is working with the bookstore to see if they can get in all of the books. I have no idea how they will pay for the WestLaw susbscription.

Just a sidenote. The place that I went was attached to the Welfare Office. Honestly, I was afraid that things were going to be stolen from my car. Most of the people in there were getting information on their GED. The counselor nearly dropped his pen when he asked my education and what I was making. He also asked if I went through the "job book" in the lobby. Yes, but I really don't plan to make a living as a landscaper.

[AGDLynn]

I don't know if the laws have changed since hubby was on UC several years ago...

No taxes were taken out on UI so you had to pay it back at Income Tax time.

[NinjaPoodle]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

I was laid off December 2 and my severance pay ran out last week. I have a one-week waiting period, then I get a whopping $365 per week.

I was laid off Dec 31st and my severance ends at the end of this month. I'm not sure how much Calif. pays but I will find out soon enough.

[PeppyGPhiB]

I was laid off for seven months in 2002 - the last recession we had. I'm hoping it won't happen again (knock on wood!), but many of my former coworkers from other firms have been recently laid off and I fear our firm could be hit soon. I'm fortunate to live in a state with one of the highest weekly maximums ($540), and indeed the largest UI account in the country (so no worries about UI running out completely). But even back then it was difficult. I was only out of school for less than two years at that point. I had to move back home, which sucked, but at least it allowed me to pay my bills and even save some money. For those of you worried about student loans, you should look into forbearance; it allows you to put your payments on hold for a limited amount of time until you get back on your feet, and in these times I bet there's info on every student loan lender's site about it. I hated putting my loans off back in 2002, but it was a Godsend for me.

Something else I did: I didn't want to risk going without health insurance, so I bought individual health insurance instead of going with my company's COBRA. I was young, so it may not be as cheap for some of you, but I was able to get individual insurance, including good prescription coverage, through my state's biggest insurer for $99 a month. My COBRA would've cost me about $300, so I saved a lot of money by doing it that way.

Benzgirl's comments about the face of today's unemployed was just as true back in 2002 as it is today. I was furious with George Bush's cluelessness back then, and I was pissed when John McCain made similar remarks during his campaign about training programs, education, etc. Most of the programs in the local Work Source office have nothing to offer me, someone with a college degree and computer skills. We can't all be software engineers, and even if we did have those skills, there aren't enough of those jobs to go around...especially when the local companies are flooded with foreign workers here on visas, working for much less than their American colleagues. But that's a whole 'nother issue.