The 400.

My husband had an interview at a placement agency that used to be in our town but is now located about an hour away. (They consolidated and the new office handles a significant territory.) The recruiter was very impressed with him and he aced all of the various tests and showed excellent software proficiency. They had already filled the position he had applied for, but she's keeping him in mind.

In the meantime, she told him that for the average job opening, employers are receiving, on average, about 400 applications.

Holy cow! That's a LOT of competition.

I figure that very few of the 400 average applicants are a threat. They either won't know how to write a resume, won't put time into a cover letter, or won't be qualified for the position. Most of the out-of-work people I know are applying for everything they can and stretching their background to try and cover it.

Still, it leaves many, many potential workers who are skilled, who have experience, and who are hungry.

In the three weeks he's been unemployed we've sent out well over 40 resumes. He's had three interviews.

The first went well, but they found someone with experience with their software.

The second was for the placement agency. I have hope that if anything in our area opens up, they'll consider him.

The third is where he is at this very moment. My fingers are crossed. Prayers have been said.

No word on the bankruptcy front. And no news is good news. I'm assuming they were able to notify Capital One and hope that nothing is going to happen to screw up the discharge.

Financial Details

This is what I figured out.

"Gift" Income: $500

Disability Income: $644

Total = $1144

This will cover our mortgage with about $50 left over.

Unemployment @ $275 x 4 = $1100 + $50

Insurance:

Health Insurance $475

Life Insurance $55

Car Insurance (Paid for six months)

_______________________________

$620 remaining

Averaged FPL bill ("Budget Billing") $160

Water/Sewer $130

Phone/Internet/Cable $155

Medicine $40 

________________________________

$135 remaining

(Sidenote: I realize that the internet and cable are both luxuries and that we can drop them if need be; I have a feeling my mom will pay this bill if we have to drop it. I called and got another $10 customer retention credit per month over the next 12 months by telling them about our situation.)

EDITED: A/C Payment $133

That gives us a whopping $2.00 a month left over for gas and food.

I know that doesn't seem like a whole lot, but figure that since he got 2 weeks of severance we won't "need" to touch the unemployment and can roll what would be "extra" in our normal budget to go towards food and gas. 

It helps to know that we won't be losing the house or having the lights shut off. 

One Week Later (Than "Oh Crap")

It's been a long week, but it's also gone by quickly.

My daughter has absolutely loved having daddy home. As have I. I almost feel guilty because there have been so many times I've wanted a long vacation or wanted a break from being the 100% stay at home parent.

There are many opportunities right now.

I've gone into super-focus mode and have revised both of our resumes (two versions for me), looked through every single job available on three websites (jobfocus.com, monster.com, and craigslist.org), copied anything even close to what we qualify for into a document, set up new emails for both of us that are more professional, and sent out resumes and coverletters to each of those opportunities. I've also looked for new entries the past few days as well.

Thus far? Not a single interview had been scheduled. It's been less than 72 hours, though. We waited until Monday to start sending them out. Sent out a bunch Monday afternoon and evening, more on Tuesday, and a handful today.

Really, this couldn't have come at a better time. Because we don't have to worry about my debt anymore (assuming that the discharge happens, and I have no reason to believe there will be issues) we've got more wiggle room.

Options:
- We both find full time jobs and put the kid in daycare.
- One of us gets a job and the other stays home.
- We both get part time jobs and share "stay at home" duties. (I really like this option.)
- We both try to freelance and make ends meet while we look for jobs.
- We both apply for as many jobs as possible, but I get a retail job ASAP just to get some money coming in.
- We win the lottery. (Lol.)

I'm not giving up on our financial goals just yet, but right now survival might be the only goal we can focus on.

Oh Crap.

One week and one day after my 341 meeting I got a call from my husband. It was 8:03 in the morning. "I'm on my way home. I've just been laid off."