I think it is an interesting and timely topic-- but I am sorry that it has it so close to home, Parma. Truth is that many of us have been hit in some way or another-- lost job, lost home value, lost investment value, lost security. 8 months ago I accepted a position that was relatively secure (or so I thought). Now it is a very real possibility that I will be back looking for work again. At the very least, my work environment will change. This isnt the first time I have weathered very tight financial times. When I was in grad school, I lived on an 8,000/yr stipend-- which I was not permitted to supplement with outside work. Granted, that was a long time ago and I was very young, but I lived a very full life on very little. I grew vegetables in the garden, I shopped the discount and day-old tables in the local grocery, I lived with roommates and I took advantage of the many free entertainment options in the college town where i lived (including window shopping and people watching). I didnt have cable -- or even a tv. I didnt use A/C or keep the house overly warm in the winter. I lived simply but my life was far from simple. More recently, I twice took extended leaves from work. Once when I quit my job and took a much needed 6 month break before starting my own business-- and another time when I needed 3 months to tend to a dog who was recovering from surgery. Both times I cut wayyyyyyyy back on my expenses. I had saved money to cover the period and my only rules were that I couldnt cut insurance or stop paying utilities and that I couldnt dig into savings any deeper than I had set aside for the time off. I cut my second phone, paid very careful attention to the nonnecessary purchases and I cooked a lot of cost saving soups and stews for meals. Like Squirrel, I found that I had a large amount of food in cupboards and even came up with some brilliant new soup recipes. This time around I have a lot more to cut-- I am about to cancel my netflix account, xm radio and backup ISP account as I don't use any of them with any regularity. I won't cut cable but I will likely cut back the service. If I am not using my phone for business, I can cut way back on the service. I will mow my own lawn and will make a point to walk more and consolidate errands. I have already stopped making big, frivolous or impulsive purchases for the home and for my wardrobe-- I have missed out on a few beautiful deals but I have a few extra thousand in my reserves. Whether I lose my job or not, I think these were and will all be wise moves. I am a single woman with a single income and have no backups. I have no doubt that I will be able to find work but I can't be guaranteed to find a position at the same level for the same pay. Being proactive just makes sense... plus, it has forced me to open my eyes more to other options-- for entertainment, decorating and dining. It's good to mix it up once in awhile.

We have been in our home 11 years this Friday. We made the mistake of hiring a friend as our contractor. He was first a plumber, then expanded, got his contractor's license, etc. Did a good job, quality work. But, I should have listened to my dad when he warned us about hiring a friend. We had to fire him about 75% of the way through. He was way over budget and it didn't seem to bother him - after all, it wasn't his money. We were pretty lucky with the sub contractors other than going through two brick masons, then having to hire a third one to come back and do little items like steps, etc. Also a vinyl guy who did he screened porch area. We worked with our builder on the subcontractors. Some where people he had worked with, others we chose. Once we fired our friend (of course that friendship has ended!), we of course had to deal with the subcontractors completely on our own. I did much of that as my husband couldn't devote as much time. It actually wasn't bad and if we ever (although I don't see it happening!) build again, I think we would strongly consider contracting the work out ourselves. At least now I have a pretty good list of who to use! We had little things here and there. Nothing major and I can't think of anything that wasn't taken care of pretty quickly. I cannot imagine dealing with major problems for two years (as someone mentioned)!! That is just completely unacceptable. I must say as tired and worn down as you get through the process, not to mention stressed, those feelings really didn't carry over once we moved into the house. Although a friendship ended, and that was sad, we knew it was for the best and didn't dwell on that. We just recently learned that an acquaintance who was friendly with our builder experienced some of the same problems when he built his house with our former friend. Pretty much cemented the fact that we knew we were not at fault. We are very happy in our home and love where we are. I hope you will soon feel that way about your new home. tina

Nope, we were in a coastal town and within a 5 minute drive to the beach. Lots of ocean breeze, but still its hot all year round. Yes, Michigan has humidity and heat too, and yes it can be miserable to be in but it’s not in the 90’s or 100’s year round and we do reap benefits from that humidity like lots of rain (as opposed to droughts). Lawns are lush and healthy, plants and trees alike thrive here. It also never gets so hot that you can fry an egg on the hood of your car. Then there are the thunderstorms. When the humidity peaks, they come in for a quick shower to cool things down. Open the windows and that breeze with it’s smell of the rain is heaven. Say what you will Elmer, but as far as I’m concerned there is really no comparison. I’ll take Michigan’s summer of months of humidity along with it’s snow and ice in the winter over that dry relentless heat any day. I don’t miss it at all. LOL Forgot to add, I’m in one of those suburbs too, about 45 miles north of Detroit. When it comes to snow, it’s the perfect spot because we’re too low for the northern squalls and far enough north to miss the Ohio Valley Blizzards. We usually don’t get more than 6 inches at a time during the season. We live on a hill and the AWD on our SUV’s has no problem driving threw it, but the views are beautiful.

First of all, thank you for your caring, for your own personal stories and for your wonderful advice. I really needed it all! I'm sure that this cold virus that's knocked me out these last 3 days is because my non-stop stress had left my immune system a bit lacking. BTW, I am so liking and needing all of your advice here, that I'm printing it ALL out to keep rereading. It's like a pick-me-up before bed and first thing in the morning after DH heads off to work. Second, Oakley, I hear you and everyone who's warned me that having DH around a lot more during the day will be a lot like having him in my way and under foot (LOL)!. Just a (kind of) funny story: Last month, instead of heading straight into his study after dinner, DH told me that we needed start getting into the retirement mode and so he was going to help me clear the table and do the dishes every evening. Ummm, ok. Next thing you now, he's telling how to do dishes "better"! I put up with it for 2 nights and then kicked him out of the kitchen! Don't get me wrong, he's the kindest, most thoughtful guy and he actually is really good at just about everything, including cooking. But, he's been the boss of his/our clinic for 37 years with no one above him and so he's just used to telling his staff and his patients what to do. I not take well to being "bossed around". He's learned this over the years, but (sigh) I see it starting up again some after he retires. To all of you who suggested not throwing him a retirement party for our close friends between Christmas and New Years, good advice. I'll wait until after. Thank you. To all who suggested hobbies: DH has been an avid golfer for almost all of his life. He is the last of his foursome to retire, so he will have that for sure. Like I mentioned, he is an excellent cook who loves it, and he does want to help cook and plan our meals. That's ok. He's good company to grocery shop with to some extent, although like most men who don't shop on a regular basis, he tends to forget and block the aisles with his cart. AND, being a doc and former pharmacist he drives me crazy sometimes reading the ingredients on every package! Anyhoo, he loves to read, and hike, and work around the house. And since we have many projects waiting for him, I'm sure he'll have plenty to do. As for me, I don't golf and don't enjoy hiking. But, I do plan to start volunteering again after the first of the year. Regarding volunteering, good idea that we should start talking about it now! With both DH and I having worked in medicine for many years, we do want to get involved in that aspect. I did MUCH volunteer work at my kids' school over the years and am thinking about that again. Another opportunity may be with Habitat for Humanity, which one of our good friends is involved in. For DH, as although I love to decorate, I don't like sawing, hammering, etc., and absolutely hate painting. Also, I've just learned that one of my neighbors is involved in gathering and distributing home goods for foster kids who have timed out of the system/program. She and others help set them up in their own places with furnishings and utensils, etc. That would be right up my alley! Regarding becoming couch potatoes versus keeping in shape, we have an Elliptical, Body Blade, weights and a Bowflex here and are planning on turning one of our guest rooms into a workout room right after Christmas. I'd also like to join a gym, for swimming, which I love. DH is slender and in great shape, but sinks like a rock in the water, so he’s not interested in swimming for exercise (LOL)! And, neither one of us is much into watching tv series, etc. We do love watching the news every morning and evening, but some golf, college football (we're BIG Sooner fans!), some History Channel and (for me) some HGTV is pretty much it. My darn keyboard is acting up. It keeps missing letters and freezing up! I don’t want to lose what I’ve already written, and so I’ll post this and go on from here.