Top 10

It has been requested that we blog about the top ten things that we learned during our 18 months of unemployment. Since that is something that I'd like to record anyway, I thought it was a good idea. So, here it is:

10. When I think food storage, I've always thought of things like sugar, flour, cream of.. soups, tomato sauce, etc. While those are all good things to have, one of the first things that I realized while living off of food storage is that you really need to have what you would use to make meals. My new food storage plan is to figure out a meal that everyone will eat that you can gather everything for and store. Then accumulate enough stuff to make that meal several times. Then, move on to another meal. After you've done that a few times you should have a decent storage that can create actual meals, not just random items that may or may not work together. - Kristi

9. I learned that happiness is not contingent on having employment. A lot can be said about this last sentence, like, "but it sure makes life less stressful," and, "that's easier said looking back." Now that I've been offered a job, nothing really has changed as far as my contentment with life. It's just like trying to find happiness in things you can buy - they're fun for a while and then it's back to normal life. An expensive car is only fun and new for a month or two, then it's just another car to get you from place to place. It's been a stressful time, but not 100% of the time. It's been a happy time, but not 100% of the time. - Don

8. Don really became quite the professional interviewee. We estimate that he's applied for about 245 jobs and interviewed for 35. Once we finally realized the benefit of customizing his portfolio for each interview, we knew we'd struck gold. - Kristi

7. When Don's back got so bad that he couldn't even walk across the room, sleep, or even carry on a conversation, we suddenly realized what was important and what wasn't. Up until that point our biggest goal was to not lose our house. Suddenly, that really didn't matter anymore. We had money saved up from a contract job that we were using to pay our mortgage payments. When we had to choose to use that money for the house, or to help Don get better, there was really no wondering about what we would do. Of course, we helped Don get better and figured that if we lost the house, so be it. There were so many miracles that added up to make it so we could do both. It's amazing really. However, while we are very grateful to still have our house, we're even more grateful that Don has his health (at least mostly) back. - Kristi

6. Even though we had a really good-sized savings when Don was laid off, we went through it very quickly. We could not have survived without help. From our unemployment insurance to the overwhelming charity and kindness of others, we were consistently given assistance that allowed us to stay afloat. While it was very humbling, we recognize them as huge blessings. We have been counseled repeatedly to double our fast offerings during trying financial times and we know that by doing this we were blessed over and over again. Having this experience has instilled an overwhelming desire to be able to pay it forward and be aware of others' needs and be able to help and hopefully bless the lives of someone else in the same way that we have been blessed. - Kristi

5. I found that it's important to have something, some goal, to work towards. Even though I spent a lot of time applying to and following up with jobs, I needed to keep myself busy and not let myself get lazy. I decided last year to apply to BYU's MBA program. This took a lot of time and dedication. The biggest part was studying for the GMAT exam. It ended up not working out, because I didn't do so well on the GMAT (the second attempt was worse than the first), but it prepared me for the application process at the U. When I applied at the U, it was after the deadline. But because I had applied at BYU, I had good essays already written that just needed a little tweeking. Because of that, I got into school a year earlier than expected. - Don

4. A friend of mine taught me her cash budget concept. It's a very simple concept where your budget has two sections. One is for the set every-month expenses and the other section is for the variables. I pay all of the set bills first, then take the remainder and divide it between the variables. The whole concept is to "tell your money where to go instead of wondering where it went." So, the variable amount I get from the bank in cash, then put it in a little folder with tabs in it dividing it into the individual sections. This seriously stretched the amount of money that we had so far!!! I cannot believe what we lived off of. Since date money and family fun money were a couple of my variable tabs, we even got to have some fun while really living off of very little. I can't imagine ever leaving this budget behind. It's a keeper! - Kristi

3. As I mentioned before, we were able to do some fun things. This was HUGE in keeping our sanity. Some things that we did cost money, others were free. But, we had to get out and still enjoy life. - Kristi

2. The single most important thing that I learned during this time is something that I'm not sure I can explain. But, I'll try. I feel like I've always felt like I trusted the Lord to help us through tough times. But what I didn't understand until a few months ago was not just to trust in Him, but to trust Him. I don't want to just submit to His will, although that is important too. I want to align my will with His. I feel that as long as that is my goal, it doesn't matter what trials come my way. I know that He has a plan for me and that whatever happens, He is in control and I trust Him. As long as I am focused on this knowledge, I can feel complete peace no matter what else is going on. - Kristi

1. I don't know if this is the most important thing, but I learned how important it is to not be judgmental. Before I was out of work, if I saw someone who didn't have a job for a long time, I would just make assumptions about how hard they were trying to get work. I thought they should just go get any job in the meantime to support their family. I now know that it's not that simple. I applied and interviewed for lots of jobs that I considered get-me-by jobs, like restaurants, retail, and delivery jobs. Every one of these was the same story: No one was willing to hire me because they could tell by looking at my resume that I would continue looking for work and they'd have to replace me. I was overqualified for these jobs and under qualified (as far as years of experience) for jobs in my field. I realized that it's impossible for me to know anyone's full circumstance. - Don