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I am unemployed, but not eligible for unemployment since I didn't get laid off from a job. I'm also temporarily disabled after breaking my hip a month ago. It's going to be probably 3 months until I'm at full strength and able to walk/lift/bend normally. I'm not even allowed to sit at a 90degree angle, so I can't even go to a desk job. I'm very very very fortunate that my husband has fantastic health insurance through his work (looked at the bill for breaking my hip..$24,381 if I hadn't had insurance. I thanked the Holy Mother for my husband's boss and his company).
Before I had my accident, I was interning and volunteering in my field as well as being a semi-paid, semi-volunteer youth swim coach.
We're only making it because we live cheaply. We have a tiny bit of credit card debt, about $200 at the moment. I am participating in a clinical trial for a potential diabetes cure that pays $100 a visit, 1 visit a week for 10 weeks (I would do it even if they DIDN'T pay, but the pay is a nice little help for our grocery bill). Husband and I ride our bikes to our respective work to save on gas (it's only about 10 minutes, and actually FASTER on bike than it is in a car b/c of the road that we have to travel). We do.not.waste.food. Whatever we have, we eat. I've got a Topsy-Turvy tomato planter hanging up in the breezeway of our apartment to help me with the veg bill. We're also co-gardening with some friends of ours...in exchange for produce, we help weed/water/plant and do some other stuff in the yard. We're fortunate to have a great apartment in a not-so-great part of town. Our building is fantastic, and the general area is great...but the neighborhood isn't trendy or high class or whatever...but that wasn't important. We have a 2bdrm 1.5 bath and just pay electricity for $650 a month. Taxes are also super super low in this area as well. We save cash by using our gigantic windows as solar heat (I kid you not. The windows face in such a way that we have sunlight nearly all day. When we leave in the morning, we open the blinds all the way and let the sucker bake all day long. We got through winter in great shape).
I just...never thought it would be this way. I have a masters degree, and worked my butt off through high school and college, and was raised on this key theory of "study hard and you'll have a job"...and it turns out that this isn't true. Every single rejection letter feels like someone is punching me in the gut. But the rejections I can handle, because it's at least a response...but the silence is what kills me. The jobs where you never hear back.
*le sigh*
I hope things get better soon for everyone.
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Buy the ticket, take the ride!
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