Starting over from scratch?

[Ultralight]

Let's say that because of some situation outside your control you had to start over from scratch. Now, I don't mean you were reborn. What I mean is, for instance, you lost your job and you could not go back into your field and you lost your home at the same time. So you are rapidly both jobless and homeless.

What would you do to reboot your life? How would you claw your way out of such a hole?

Have you done this before?

Personal stories would be greatly appreciated. And I am also interested in hearing any ideas people have as to what they would do under such a scenario.

[Tammy]

Live with one of my kids or return to my parents home on their farm. And contribute any way I could to their households until I could get a job.

[iris lilies]

I don’t have a job to lose. And I am old, so this is a scary scenario if you mean I lose all my money.

DH and I can squeeze down to a small simple place that is cheap. Well as
I think about it, there is a vacant farmhouse in Iowa that we could move to, his dad‘s place. But I’m not so sure that place would be inexpensive to maintain. Big house, cold winters, and sooooooo ugly. I would rather rent an 800 sq ft bungalow.


DH could earn enough to get us to slide by and I suppose I could get a part-time job of some sort but I have a hard time picturing myself being employed because who would hire me? I would have to give up every one of my hobbies. Every. One. Well I suppose I could grow inexpensive flowers from seed that costs practically nothing.I could be a member of a local garden club wherever we might land, that wouldn’t cost much. But I would have to give up the Bulldog habit.

[Gardnr]

My parents are gone and I have no children. I have a Nursing License, having just renewed, and OR Nurses are in high demand across the country so I'd hitch up as a traveler and the only expense they have is food and transportation. I could bankroll in 5 years and retire.

[Ultralight]

I ask this because I need to officially turn in my two week notice by Tuesday at my current job. After that, there is no going back. So if someone pulls the plug on the new job I will actually be unemployed AND homeless since my last day at my job would be roughly Aug. 9th and my lease ends Aug. 11th.

So I could be living this scenario! LOL

[SteveinMN]

You were writing here several weeks ago about possible Plans B and C, including staying with family and finding a temporary home for Harlan. I think you've just got to figure out a realistic Plan B and explore executing it if the worst happens with the new job. But I think it's also in your interest to keep the offer and associated logistics moving (without pushing over the line to "pest").

[pinkytoe]

I don't think I would turn in my notice until the other job is a sure thing. As a staffer at a major university who sometimes dealt with hiring/separations, I don't recall that two weeks notice was ever mandatory unless it has something to do with benefits you are taking with you.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Turn it in if you have a job offer. Worrying about a job offer going away, eh so unlikely it never occurred to me. But no don't quit a job until you have an actual job offer. But I wouldn't assume you couldn't go back into your field even if the worst and super unlikely happened. I mean the field change thing is tricky because one's field may not be the most promising for jobs, but there's not a lot of demand for people without experience in a field either, and probably less when not young. So it's hard to decide when to hold them and when to fold them.

I'd live with my boyfriend eventually, if I didn't have that option I'd live with my elderly mom (and living with my mom would be really bad). I'd try to stay off the streets I mean and not become a homeless statistic if I could help it (not that I'm that close to the edge but ..). And I'd keep trying stuff, brute force like, like maybe if I acquire more skills then I'll get a job, maybe if I went into this field I'd get a job etc.. Almost sheer brute force. Because it often seems noone fricken knows anyway, doesn't seem anyone can really give advice on what one should do, unemployment office had no ideas for me. And those who do give advice are often wrong, I networked for career advice even when unemployed and got some real in retrospect off-base advice. So one just tries stuff, because it's better than not trying stuff!

I mean I do know what it is to hit a brutal and hopeless wall and I may again. This job isn't permanent. It was me of two people they decided to keep this long, so I've done great, and I'll be out of a job soon if I don't find another before then because hey contract work means you're always near crisis.

[catherine]

I think I missed the news! Which job have you accepted, UL??!! Exciting!

I don't think it's likely for that scenario to occur. If it did, the advice to live with someone until you get another job is good advice; I think I'd be inclined to actually go back to my former job and apartment and see if they would take you back--even as temporary employee and/or month-to-month renter.

[ToomuchStuff]

What did you do at 18? You have some savings now, since becoming a minimalist, correct? Have you sat down and figured out what you need to survive? (income verses expenses) and your debts you need to tackle?

[Teacher Terry]

Before I give notice for a job I always make sure to have the new job offer in writing. A friend of mine moved across country for a job with his entire family and no job when he got there and it was a professional counselor job. After that I required offer in writing for me to quit. We would live on our pensions but if my house disappeared we would have to move to a cheaper area because rent here is too expensive.

[JaneV2.0]

The only way I could lose my house is if somehow I couldn't pay my property taxes. And if that happened, I would sell and downsize and invest the difference. If I lost my corporate pension, I would still have SS. If, for some reason, I lost that too, I would eke out a living selling on eBay or Etsy. If I had to, I could live pretty cheaply.