As this is the inaugural post for BB Does the Recession, I'd thought I'd start it out by introducing myself. My name is Brenda. I'm 26 (turning 27 in a couple weeks), I live in St Louis with my boyfriend of 5 years, Matt (30 almost 31), and our/my dog, Lana. "Five Years and still no ring!" you say? Yes, we have been together for 5 1/2 years, living together for 3, have had a dog for 2, and I've let it be known it's time to get married for 1. Matt has said that he really wanted to save up some money in case he got laid off from his work, so that is why he has not bought a ring. Well ring-a-ding-ding, Matt just got laid off! Sweet--those fears have been realized and everyone that has been bugging me about when I'm getting married look kind of like jerks now. Well, not really--and I do love you all-- but I bet you won't be asking me that question for awhile! (Yes, in case you haven't noticed I can be quite sarcastic, so you should get used to it. I don't mess around.)
His work decided to give him just two weeks severence (!!). He is also the one that owns the townhouse that we live in. My salary doesn't even cover the mortgage (he made more than twice than I do). These are the days of our lives.
What's worse is that he received an email on Valentine's Day (VALENTINE'S DAY!!!) alerting him of a meeting the following Monday morning with the director of his division and two HR people. I gotta say, in my experience whenever HR is involved with any sudden meeting that pops up out of nowhere... the news ain't good. Matt was hoping for the best and honestly hoped the meeting was about cutting back on internet usage during work or something else other than getting fired/laid off.
Even worse still is that after 2 years living in our townhouse (first time home buyer at that), Matt finally purchased a 52 inch HDTV a week ago. He had wanted one ever since we moved, but I always found something I thought we needed before that. Like bedroom furniture so we could stop living out of suitcases. Or a refrigerator. Or a washer and dryer. Or a down payment on a car. Or living room furniture so he could finally be an adult and buy his own furniture at the age of 29 when he was still using the furniture his mother bought him in college. Said HDTV is not currently in the house as they were out of it at the store since it was $700 off...a heckuva deal at the time. We're now debating on whether to call the whole thing off or I'll pay the $50/month payment (36 months no interest!) to pay Matt back the rest of the money he had generously loaned me for the down payment and taxes on my car I bought last year.
So now we're living in a house with a $2200/month mortgage (a breeze when we were both employed). Matt has a 2 week severence "package" with a two week "notice" (meaning in a little under a month there will be no money flowing in from him) and has some savings and a cool $5000 tax return. That won't last too long. I contribute to the mortgage, but I certainly can't pay all of it. I also have over $200/month in student loans and an almost $300/month car payment since I didn't have the luck of being born to parents that paid for my schooling and car like Matt had.
These are the circumstances we are in. Matt has some contacts he's going to tap to see if he can get this job train rolling, but until that happens I'll be here chronicling our journey. Hopefully there won't be much to chronicle. I do plan on giving my 2 cents about random things--most likely my favorite thing in the world: horror movies!! I know, I can hear you salivating at the news of this--to liven up the discussion.
There you have it, my Inaugural Bawl (don't get it? It's a play on Inaugural Ball and Bawling ie whining/crying).
