Surviving on Unemployment Insurance

[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.

[minDyG]

I'm on unemployment. I survive due to the great benevolence of a wonderful philanthropist I like to refer to as my husband.

[prettyladie]

i receive unemployment. i just recently got it actually. i actually wasnt laid off of my job or fired, i quit. but i guess that is besides the point. i quit because i wanted to pursue a career in the medical field and i wanted more hours. i only get 159 a week. its okay for me i suppose because my parents pay my car note, and my insurance and my phone bill and pretty much everything else and have been even before i didnt have a job, so its alright. i guess it just works out more for others. i hope that everyone who is getting UI that everything works out for you in this difficult time.

[PhoenixAzul]

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.