In January, my husband lost his job. Thankfully, our stint with unemployment only lasted three weeks. However, we are still suffering the reprucussions of lost wages, a significantly lower income and having two very large expenses come our way in the past three months. Our budget has been pruned over and over again the past several months and we’re still coming up short most of the time.

The stress has been immense and no one has felt it more significantly than my husband. He is the sole breadwinner, I am a stay at home mom. And this economy, I’m having trouble finding ways to add to the family income. The best I can do right now is manage the money as best I possibly can. I know the money woes are prominent in my husband’s mind as works hard to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table.

Darryl Cobbin, former executive for Coca-Cola, has a great series at The Huffington Post about this very thing:

But at the end of last year I hit a career wall. As an executive vice president of marketing, I enjoyed a comfortable salary and all the perks and prestige of being a top entertainment executive. My long term career goal was to be at the helm of an international multimedia entertainment company and I had been elegantly building my career towards that destination. Unfortunately, like so many of us now, I was affected by a change made at my company. I had a choice – to either stay on in a reduced capacity, leaving myself exposed as an extra wheel, or leave and be in control of my own destiny. I chose the latter.

It was a tough decision. It was the first time in my career I was ever in a situation where I had to make a choice to stay or go because of a job reduction. My wife has been a stay-at-home mother for 10 years, so I have been the sole breadwinner, and now we no longer have the long term certainty of a weekly paycheck delivered by a company.

What he describes is quite similar to what our family has experienced this year. And I’m sure it rings true for many others out there. I encourge you to read his articles, I’m sure you will gain some insight from them about yourself and your husband and what he may be experiencing.

Part One
Part Two

I’ll link to the other parts in his series as they become available.

We have a discussion called “Laid Off” going on at The League of Extraordinary Wives. If you’re looking for a place to share anxieties or tip & tricks for these uncertain times, we’d love to hear from you!

Not a member of The League of Extraordinary Wives? E-mail us at wedblissfully@gmail.com for an invitation.

H/T: Lori Lowe of Life Gems
photo credit: stock.xchng