First Things First....

Picture this, and believe it or not, there is one good thing about losing a job during this Great Recession we find ourselves in....extended unemployment.

Just after we found out I was pregnant with our first child, I was let go due to downsizing and lower sales from my job.  It really was not that big of a deal because both Ray and I had decided that I was going to be a stay at home mom when we had children.  In fact, when we bought our home, we based everything budget wise off of only his salary.  My salary was bonus.  But, I still wanted to be working up until the baby came, and I applied for and started receiving unemployment benefits as I looked for a job to hold us over.

I never found that job, and baby Derrek arrived.  So, I called the local unemployment office and told them, as they requested we do, that I was no longer going to be taking the benefit.  The lady asked me why.  I told her that I had no intention of working at this time and that it would, in effect, be stealing.  She spent 15 minutes on the phone with me trying to talk me out of it and to take the money the government was offering.

Huh?  How was that possible?  What would be the benefit of taking advantage of the system?  What's more, is that some family and friends tried to convince me of the same thing.  But, I stuck to my guns and the unemployment checks stopped coming, even when many thought we were nuts.

Now, every state and their unemployment laws are different.  If all goes well, I should hopefully be eligible for an additional 20 weeks, then 14 more on top of that by reopening my old unemployment case.  The laws are funky and different now, and I will only collect while we are job searching.  If Ray finds a good job and I can continue to stay at home or I end up finding a great job, we will obviously end those benefits again. 

I don't normally do what other people tell me to.  Especially when I find a moral issue with it in the first place.  Taking the unemployment benefits when I knew very well I was not really looking for a job did not sit well with me, so I did not do it even though the "free" money was VERY tempting.  And, I am glad we made that choice.  If all goes well, the benefits will kick in and help us get through a period when, frankly, the only income will be Ray's monthly weekend drill pay. Money that would no longer be available to us had I continued to take it before. 

Doing the right thing really does make a difference.  Sometimes, the difference between feeding your family or losing your home and not.  So, let's pray I hear back from unemployment next week and that we can start putting that money away in savings for July when Ray will no longer be getting severance and his National Guard course will be over.  And that Ray will be able to secure a great job that will both meet our financial needs AND that he will love.