Putting children on hold
Hometown: Virginia Beach, Va.
Field: Art director; Cabinet shop foreman
Out of work for: 7 months; 1 year respectively
After years of having professional positions, a two-income household, a large mortgage and other debts, my husband and I were both laid off within 5 months of each other. We are extremely discouraged in our job searches. We are applying for different types of positions that we would never have considered before.
Since my husband is a master craftsman, I decided to incorporate him and try to build a woodworking business for him but in this dreadful economy, people aren't remodeling or purchasing handcrafted goods. He has been applying for government jobs, police departments, construction, and various other positions with no luck
I'm a graphic designer/creative director finding some freelance and part-time gigs, but not enough to pay all our bills. We've cut back and refinanced all we could. Even being accepted into a home modification plan to reduce our mortgage payment, I'm terrified it's going to bite us in the butt later. I'm 41 years old, and we were planning to have a baby last year before we were laid off, but now our (lack of) income doesn't justify my dream, putting us in a tough spot.
NEXT: Trying to stay optimistic
