This has been the worst year!

[kalikona]

I can say that 2008 has been the worst year by far that I've ever had. This year has left my family and I feeling depressed, upset, and heartbroken.

In February I found out I was pregnant. I was shocked and horrified. I have 3 kids. At the time they were 6,4, and 6mos old. I was so angry with myself for letting this happen. I was on BC but since I was nursing I was taking the mini-pill. I thought I was taking the necessary precautions to avoid becoming pregnant again. Needless to say I was faced with a hard decision. I ended up having an abortion since finncially it would have been impossible to care for another child AND meet the needs of my kids I have already...present AND future as far as financially. In May my DH was fired because of some issues between him and a co-worker. He got back to work pretty quickly...within a week or so. Then in June money from our savings account was wiped out from a debtor who got my account information....that was money we were saving for our trip to michigan set for AUG08 for a family reunion. I was lucky enough that the collector was a an idiot...I convinced him to give me back more than half of what they had taken out. July was an alright month. Then came august. when my DH got the job back in may he let them know in advance and many times after that he was going to be taking a 1 week vacation that we had been planning since before our DD was born. So 4 weeks before our trip he put in the request for time off which was approved. we went on our trip and returned 1 week later. We hd alot of fun but when we got home I had $6 in my pocket and the bank account was empty so my DH was eager to get back to work. I dropped him off and he was told to go speak with the human resources woman and that they were drawing up termination papers. He was completely confused. What ended up happening was he was apparently suppose to take 2 orientation classes before his 90 days were up. He had taken 1 and the second one he was supposed to attend was cancelled. He asked his manager many times when this next orientation was going to happen and his boss kept brushing him off by telling him he'd take care of it. Well he never did. His boss tryed to call us while we were on vacation on our HOUSE phone! HELLOOOOO we were on VACA!! He was trying to call josh to tell him he had to e in at 8am the day he was scheduled to work instead of at noon so he could take the orientation class. of course he didnt leave a message so josh never got that information and was let go.

He started work back up again pretty quickly...within 2 weeks, but since we were broke we had to try and catch up big time!. We just NOW have been catching up with everything from august. september was fine. October was my redetermination for foodstamps and I got everything to them on time by hand. When nov came and went and I had no foodstamps we were scrounging to get food. I contacted as many people as I could and finally had to go up to the office and stand in line for over n hour. Just for them to tell me it can take up to 30 days to process redeterminations. This has never happened to me because I lived in another county for a long time and when i moved I didnt want to be transfered to this office im at. (i LIVED IN THE SAME COUNTY BUT THERE ARE 2 DIFFERENT OFFICES) So when I contacted my caseworker for something else she told me she HAD to transfer me so now Im stuck with this slow ass office who probably just thinks im another broke ass person living on welfare and they dont care to think about anyones circumstances. Its now Dec1st and I still havent gotten my foodstamps. Also, Kai had a seizure while at his wrestling tournament. It was scary! They rushed him to the hospital in an ambulance and I think i kept my composure until they put him up on a stretcher. He had to have an EKG done and they said they thought the right side of his heart was enlarged and to see a cardiologist. We went and had that done today. He had an ecocardiogram (sp??) or for us who dont know medial terminology lol an ultrasound on his heart. And he had another EKG and everything came back normal! So that is the best news we've heard but he still has to go see a nuerologist.

Well today was the kicker.....Last week Josh had thursday and friday off and they told him they wanted him to work saturday. Since he is a temp he said yes because he doesnt get payed to take days off. well he came in on wednsday and they told him nevermind they didnt need him saturday.  Today he went into work and they laid him off.   Im at wits end and I feel completely defeated. Its like every time we get back up on our feet someone kicks us down. My Dh has been through 3 jobs this year. Whenever we get caught up he gets laid off. Since he only worked 3 days last week his paycheck will be so little. We have enough in the account to pay rent and THATS IT!! When is it ever going to end!? I just want things to be steady. I want a steady income for my family and I dont want to have to worry about getting evicted from my home.  Apparently its too much to ask for.

[sumbeach]

Dec. 1, 2008 at 5:56 PM

Many yrs ago, and even now this is happing to me. It is so very hard. But go to the DSS office or call if you can they do have emergency funds, to help. There are angencys that will help, some they never tell you about in your state but there are some. Even try the Untied way they can help too.....Im so sorry your going through all this, But Ive been homeless before with a very sick baby, that had heart problems, and yes We did make it ....

[caitandcarasmom]

Dec. 1, 2008 at 6:54 PM

I know how you feel, totally.  My DH was working a contract gig which ended in September.  Try as he may, he couldn't find a job for 5 weeks!  We had lived paycheck to paycheck before this happened and after it did, man, it was hard.  Things got shut off, people were calling for their money, etc.  He finally found another contract gig that was supposed to only be 2 weeks, but by grace, it's been extended.  All my DH does is contract work (he's in IT), so we never know when he's going to be out of a job.  That makes it so tough, especially around this time of year.  The only thing that I can suggest is to talk to each bill collector that you have and see if they can extend your due dates (if you start to get behind).  Most will let you go 60 days past due before threatening shut off.  Another thing would be to check with churches about food banks and emergency funds.  Our church was able to help us out back in September.  Hang in there, I know it looks bleak, but things always have a way of working out...that's been the case with us...just when things couldn't get any worse, something good would happen.

[Roxannroxy]

Dec. 3, 2008 at 12:59 PM

Im so sorry Jen. I know how you feel. Albert was laid off again as well and we are buried in bills. Just keep praying and have faith. I know its especially hard around this time of year but things will start getting better. I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers. If you ever need ANYTHING please dont hesitiate to call me. I will help with whatever I can. *HUGS*