What did you learn while unemployed?

[bobdole369]

I found out I wanted to join the worlds greatest Navy instead of collecting unemployment.

/sarcasm

No really, I just felt bad my only work experience was in service, retail, loss prevention/security and supervisory roles. A private loan for school was denied and the navy reserve would teach me electronics if I scored high enough on the asvab. A 93 asvab and a physical and I was off to boot camp a month or so later. Almost done with my training about to collect my sign on bonus

Hey gratz 2 u. Do they still do the tech core thing while you live in the awesome 600 series BEQ's right across from the arcade for like 9 months? I made it through tech core and during the reassignment to a-school medical found an issue that got me a general discharge (honorable conditions). I never got my bonus, nor anything back from GI bill...

 

[Anubis]

that i was better than 99.9% of the people who play WoW

 

[Imp]

That I did not enjoy being bored out of my mind, and weekends were the boringest shit to have ever been invented when you have no work/school. No news, no TV, ugh.

Also, matinees from 1pm-4pm during the school year are freaking amazing at the theatre. Less than 20 people per showing, nice and quiet, spaced out, only the dedicated and fellow losers going alone go.

 

[CraigRT]

I went to school for a summer back in '08 and was living with my GF at the time. I had a car to get back and forth to school and could only work part time. I was literally bringing in a few hundred a month enough just to help keep me afloat. I learned the exact same lessons and is partially the reason I am frugal today. It also has a lot to do with age, as people grow up and mature.

Those lessons are incredibly valuable though. Why spend more on something when you just don't have to? I am way better with money now than I was before 2008.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I learned that if you've worn the same set of sweatpants for a week, it's better to throw them out.

 

[slackerinabox]

I learned that being out of work when looking for a job is the kiss of death, and if you're also over 50 it's even worse. A job at McDonalds would be better than not working. I landed a great job at the beginning of the year with a new company - back to toolmaking (manufacturing sector).

While unemployed I learned new skills, got A+ certified and fix computers on the side. Also learned to cut expenses like OP by dropping cable for Netflix etc.

Congrats to you! You know, I was so desperate 3 months into my job search that I was about to do the "work any job, even McDonalds" advice that a lot of people state, and with good intentions. I was about to take a job that paid $30,000 without insurance but couldn't figure out how we'd pay our mortgage, our car bill, etc. In fact, our car got repoed.. Shit got real... Instead I took the detour to get my real estate license and, while that fizzled out, my current job pays a token more than the job I was laid off from with much better benefits. The flex pay even covers childcare! While I understand I'm particularly lucky, I'm so glad I didn't take the first job that jumped at me.

Side note: Lost our 2008 car and bought a 2002 beater in cash and COULDN'T BE HAPPIER- Creditor offered to let me pay off the repo difference at less than my old payment and, after 6 months of stable payments, they just called me with a settlement offer of $3,000 - in two or 3 months I won't have a car loan at all and they'll remove it from my credit report - woot! Moral of the story- talk to your creditors, pick up the phone!

I'm going to do exactly what you did - I started prepping for my A+ and Network+ and will finish that. Learning something during unemployment is GREAT advice. Just not real estate, it sucks out there (even in Manhattan) .

 

[slackerinabox]

I wasn't in a good state when I was unemployed. Thankfully I had a good friend to help me through it, but I was still a wreck.

It was 2008, I had just graduated university. I was of that generation that had spent their entire life being told that you were almost guaranteed to get a good job as soon as you graduated. Then the subprime crisis hit in the US and spilled across the border. Right when I was picking up my diploma. No jobs, at all. Imagine waking up every morning and feeling useless and unwanted.

It took me months until I finally got a job as a driver for a car rental company. I still work there. Decided to go back to school and get some practical training. That's what I've been doing since. There's still not a lot of opportunities out there. Especially here in Ontario. I've got one good career prospect but they've been leaving me dangling for awhile. I'm really hoping they make the final call so I can start living my life.

If it taught me anything, it's to have a great appreciation for those who work the shit jobs. It also taught me the tremendous value of practical training and volunteer work for future jobs.

Preach on - I went to school for what I loved, film, and now that I'm 30 feel like I wasted 5 years of my life.. It's a sad, crushing thing to realize but my parents were right - I should have gotten a practical degree.. But it's not too late, I'm studying for my Comptia exams and need to solidify the more bankable part of my resume. School may be a part of that but I have past due bills to catch up on - slow and steady isn't by choice but practical.

 

[slackerinabox]

First congrats on finding the new job and at even more money, awesome.

Congrats on pulling through to you and your wife.

Congrats on the new addition to your family.

Thanks for sharing the tips.

and finally continued blessings

Thank you, what a kind reply! To continue being honest, my "raise" was small and will probably be wiped away with taxes - don't want to faux brag. But I won't complain about taxes, my family survived due to some gov't programs and I completely want other families to have the same goodwill, so tax me Obama

 

[shortylickens]

And his kid(s) will have a jump start on life with the college fund while yours are wondering why their parent didn't have any savings to help them.

If we keep electing democrats thats what EVERYONE will be wondering.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Hey gratz 2 u. Do they still do the tech core thing while you live in the awesome 600 series BEQ's right across from the arcade for like 9 months? I made it through tech core and during the reassignment to a-school medical found an issue that got me a general discharge (honorable conditions). I never got my bonus, nor anything back from GI bill...

Nah I'm in the 800 barracks for duty days, otherwise I'm lucky enough to live off base. Don't get me wrong, shit still sucks. I hope medical finds something I don't know to be honest. I'm past 180 days of active.

 

[alkemyst]

I have never been unemployed, been working 25+ years.

However, if I became unemployed; I sure as fuck would think I should have done better first.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

If we keep electing democrats thats what EVERYONE will be wondering.

haha good one lol

 

[rh71]

that i was better than 99.9% of the people who play WoW

noooooooo you take that back!

but yeah lots of kids on WoW. In my guild they were professionals by day and just looking to unwind at night. Obviously then, not a serious raiding guild. So how many nights a week did you guys raid?

 

[Anubis]

noooooooo you take that back!

but yeah lots of kids on WoW. In my guild they were professionals by day and just looking to unwind at night. Obviously then, not a serious raiding guild. So how many nights a week did you guys raid?

4,


minchar

 

[coloumb]

Kudos to the OP for cutting costs - but it will be interesting to see if the OP can continue to live on the same cost cutting measures while bringing home more $$$ per month.

Everything the OP is basic common sense and I unfortunately have dodged the unemployment bullet so far. But, if I were unemployed - I'd milk it for all it's worth and possibly learn something new ["go back to school"]

 

[njdevilsfan87]

It was 2008, I had just graduated university. I was of that generation that had spent their entire life being told that you were almost guaranteed to get a good job as soon as you graduated. Then the subprime crisis hit in the US and spilled across the border. Right when I was picking up my diploma. No jobs, at all. Imagine waking up every morning and feeling useless and unwanted.

It was the same exact thing with me, except I was a spring 2009 graduate. I worked at my university that summer, but ran out of money and I had to move on, so I crashed at my parents, as did most of my other graduated friends because they couldn't find anything. At first it wasn't bad. It was great being free of all stress, and I kept telling myself I would soon find something. But months passed... and hundreds of applications later, I still had nothing lined up. It wasn't like my resume was bad, I mean I was coming out of mechanical engineering with a 3.7 core grade point average, and a over a year of real research/lab experience was pretty good, but there was still nothing really available. A lot of companies were on hiring freeze.

Finally I landed a job as a part-time web developer. How could a personal hobby, end up being more beneficial (at the time) than four years of engineering school!?! Anyway, as much as I liked it as a hobby, I wanted to keep it as a hobby. So I only did that for a couple of months and then went back to school... Finally my good resume paid off and I was offered a full ride as TA. So I was a TA for a little over year, and now I am an RA, which I really enjoy. I got lucky and landed into research which deals with high powered electronic cooling, and since I'm a hardware enthusiast and love overclocking... the two relate to each other.

Having experienced unemployment right out of school, I really appreciate what I have going for me now. I can definitely see how being unemployed cause people to spiral into depression, because I felt like I was heading down that path. There was one day where I saw a Walgreen's hiring sign, and so I walked in. But the thought of getting up early and having to go work there (even as a temp job) after all of my hard work as an undergrad almost made me break down right on the spot. And so I left...

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

noooooooo you take that back!

but yeah lots of kids on WoW. In my guild they were professionals by day and just looking to unwind at night. Obviously then, not a serious raiding guild. So how many nights a week did you guys raid?

Virgin Broadband

The two main ingredients needed for a World Of Warcraft profile

 

[slackerinabox]

Kudos to the OP for cutting costs - but it will be interesting to see if the OP can continue to live on the same cost cutting measures while bringing home more $$$ per month.

Everything the OP is basic common sense and I unfortunately have dodged the unemployment bullet so far. But, if I were unemployed - I'd milk it for all it's worth and possibly learn something new ["go back to school"]

Saving money's become an addiction, so I'm hoping it'll stick. The time=money paradigm throws us off though since I'm not going to be an in at 9:01 out at 4:59 type anymore - my appreciation for the previously detested desk job means I'll be putting in more hours and working until I'm exhausted, by choice. The tricky part will be to continue to curb eating out/take out now that I'm already exhausted (2nd day of work!) and my wife is taking on picking up the baby and dealing with that stress. We have a few staple meals that are super cheap, easy to freeze, and relatively healthy - these help but it's easy to get bored. [Quick meal tip - "inside out turkey tacos:" ground turkey, taco seasoning, black beans, served over brown rice. Less than a buck a serving and super healthy (with a side of broccoli) - perfect for me because I can't cook. Also, hangar steak is awesome for a cheap ($2 something a pound on sale) protein fix when you're bored of chicken. ]

I'm also feeling guilty about my wife being the sole breadwinner for so long that I want to spoil her and the baby. I think the best thing is to get her one blow out gift (perhaps an expensive bag) and call it a day, versus constantly picking something up for her. She's been very patient through my failed commission only career and months of seemingly sitting around (though, really, I watched maybe 10 hours of tv in total the whole time and played the xbox once - I felt too guilty to have fun) so my mind is over compensating - "haven't had a vacation in years - bed and breakfast for the weekend!" I know it's not constructive so I have to fight the urge.