Can we talk?

You have one of those moments when you can take a deep breath and relax. When going through a rough time, it's almost an intoxicating feeling! I had two of those moments last week.

When hubby was working, he had a cell phone that could be used for limited personal calls. We also have a cell phone and a plan with the least amount of minutes because it doesn't get used that much. About a year and a half ago, we decided to eliminate the telephone line to the house because it seemed like a waste. We could communicate with people either via our cell phones, email or Facebook. Why spend another $20 a month when it's not necessary? Unfortunately when hubby lost his job, we also lost the cell phone.

One cell phone with 450 monthly minutes +
Numerous phone calls to make to former employer, unemployment, potential new employers =
Overage charges

Eeks - not what we need to add to our bottom line right now! We could add a second phone and/or increase the cell plan, but we want to hold off on that as long as we can. A work cell phone is not uncommon in hubby's field, so the chances of him getting another one with a new job are good. Why be under a 2-year contract for a phone and/or expensive plan that we do not need? I ordered a new home line that first week but cancelled it because hubby thought we should get a no-contract phone. That wasn't the best decision because the stupid no-contract phone gets one (sometimes two) bar at our house. G-R-E-A-T! On top of that, the per minute charges for those phones isn't exactly a bargain either. As stupid as it sounds, we began rationing our minutes. After a couple of weeks of that, we decided to order the home line again, which we got last week. WHEW! I can finally talk on the phone without a timer in my hand!!!!! And thank God...we're almost finished with the current billing cycle, and we have at least an hour leftover. We should be able to avoid extra charges...at least this month.

The second time I could take one of those deep, intoxicating breaths was last Friday. The week before, we received a letter from unemployment. They scheduled an informational (investigative) meeting regarding his unemployment benefits. His employer said he would not contest benefits, but you never really know until it's reality. The letter made us worry a little more for a whole week. I had to leave during hubby's meeting, but when I returned home, WHEW! Turns out the meeting was not necessary, and we can anticipate benefits to begin soon. The meeting was scheduled because of the incompetence of the employer's HR rep...which doesn't surprise us. His employer contracts their HR services out to another company. This company is so totally worthless; they've screwed up so many times on just our stuff that I want to strangle someone.

And now that I can breathe again, I've got to remind myself that I just need to keep breathing! We are heading into a new month, which for us represents a new budget...a much leaner budget. Neither one of us is looking forward to the cuts that we have to make, but we will make them in order to keep our family clothed, fed and sheltered. We're very blessed in that our expenses are very low. It's still going to be tight for us, but since the only debt we have is the house, we don't have to worry about repossessions or credit problems. The house payment itself is about the same as an apartment in our area, so it is definitely within reach for us even on a much smaller income. God has been good to us, is good to us and will be good to us! Of that, we have no doubt!

Question: Have you ever experienced one of those WHEW! moments when you feel as though the entire world has just been lifted from your shoulders? What kinds of events make you tense up so much that you cannot breathe deeply? Do you wish you wouldn't have worried so much after the hard time passes?