Hubby has a new job!

Hubby and I both have been looking for better employment for some time now. Employment that pays better, has better retirement benefits, steady hours, and is "recession proof". We both feel that his current employment is not "recession proof" in meaning that the product that is sold is not a daily life necessity. When budgets get cut, his current product is one of the FIRST things to get cut.

When he lost/quit his job (due to economy, his hours were cut extremely to the point there was no way he could stay there, so it was a mutual agreement between him and employer) 2 years ago and accepted this job it was with the intention that it would only be temporary/short term until he could find better employment.

Well the economy hasnt gotten any better and it has lasted longer than we wanted. We knew we could live on the salary they offered but it would be VERY ROUGH! When I say rough, I'm talking bills not getting paid such as credit cards, car payments missed, house payments missed, juggling bills from month to month to avoid disconnects, etc.

I was desperate and started figuring out ways to live more frugally knowing we could not borrow money every month to pay basic living expenses. I found the WIR Grocery Challenge thread on MSN's message boards. The gal's over there taught me a lot. There were others on the internet who taught me so much on frugal living also. How to get more for what little money we were making.

Things like changing our light bulbs, when the best time to run dishwasher and washing machine, not letting water run while showering, brushing teeth, saving the cold water while waiting for hot water, turning down the thermostat, unplugging charges not charging their counterparts, ...... I could go on and on. They all have helped reduce our electric, heating, and water bills. We changed phone plans, satelite tv plans (we live in the country and cable or antaena is not available), internet service plans..... we reduced everything we could, and then looked at it again and found ways to reduce them again. We changed home insurance plans saving several hundred dollars a year.

I quit tanning, I quit getting my nails done, I shopped more and more at thrift stores, I repaired clothes instead of buying new. We stretched everything. A chicken that was once one meal for us now became two instead of being so wasteful and throwing left overs away.

Leftovers, now there's a word my family was not familiar with. My husband always said if they were so good then why are they left over and refused to eat leftovers for the first 15 years we were married. He now takes left overs for his lunches instead of eating at McDonals, Taco Bell or Kentucy Fried chicken every day. (Now that saved us a small mint all by itself!)

Oh yeah, back to the reason for this post. Hubby has been trying to get on at two different places for several months now. One being the state highway department and the best choice of the two. The other a waste disposal company.

The waste disposal company called tonight and he can start as early as tomorow. He will give his current employer a notice but if they dont want him to work the notice then he will start the new job immediately. The new job will be steady hours. They haul trash rain or shine, holiday or not. The retirement is a little better than where he's at. He will only be making $80 a week more to start out with, but there's room for advancement and raises and there will be no cut in hours. It's hard work, work he has done for several years in the past when we were first married, but maybe we are on the way up again.

My happiness quickly turned to guilt tonight as I thought about all my family and friends who have lost their jobs in the last few weeks. I've not called my parents yet and he's not called his parents yet. It just doesnt feel right with so many looking for employment. All of you, my family and friends, are in my prayers that good steady employment is just around the corner for you.

It's cold here tonight, raining early today turning to sleet and now to snow. The wind is terrible! Hope everyone is home safe and sound and warm as a bug in a rug!