[stargazer99]

Originally Posted by amber

Oh, man. That is a quagmire. Where are you from? Why can't you sell and go to Chicago? Will you lose money? About these contract jobs - Is he just going to keep looking for them in Texas once his chicago one ends? It seems like you guys should at least move to a place you like if your husband is going to be travelling all the time anyway.

He's only taking this Chicago job because we're in desperate need of money. He's even talking about trying to cut it short... only 3 months instead of 6, just to get us back on our feet. Though he's been looking for work, he really wants to make a go of the catering business. But with him working only on and off the past few years, we've gotten ourselves deeply in debt, and pay our bills on my salary alone. And the business isn't showing much of a profit yet.

Originally Posted by amber

I mean, why did you decide that Texas would be the permanent place???

At the time we moved, he'd been down here for over a year. And it was his second contract here working with the software he's experienced with. It seemed that there were more job opportunities here, considering his skill set. And his contract was expected to last several more months. There was even a strong possibility that a permanent job would come out of it. He was working with management to get hired full-time. And my company has an office down here, and I was able to transfer, we made the move. It wasn't until we'd bought a house here and sold our old house that we discovered the contract was going to end sooner. The company's management changed, and they started getting rid of people, including contractors. And unfortunately, if there were any permanent jobs down here in his area, they weren't around anymore.

Originally Posted by amber

With expenses, I hope you are still making more money than you would if husband didn't travel.

This time, thankfully, we will only have one house and set of bills to pay. He will be staying with our old neighbor, giving him some money for room and board, but nothing compared to what he was paying for lodging and food on his previous contracts. So most of the money he makes will, thankfully, be used for paying the bills here.

Originally Posted by amber

While he's working, is there anything he can do (like education wise) to make himself more consistently employable to where you could stay in one place? Sometimes school loans are worth it, if that's a possibility. It seems really pointless to me now how you guys are working to live, but you are not really living, if you know what I mean. So husband rethinking employment might be cool. That catering thing is great, though.

I have suggested the school thing, and when he was first unemployed, he did sign up for some computer classes at the community college. But then the first contract down here came up, and he had to give that up. He hasn't picked it up since... but I have made the suggestion. He's at a point now where he doesn't want to depend on others for a living anymore. He doesn't really enjoy working with computers that much, and he wants to be his own boss. Thus, the catering business. He really wants to concentrate on that. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, it's not brininging in the money right now, so he's putting that on hold just long enough to work this contract. We've racked up a lot of debt since he was laid off, because there's been many times we've had to pay for food, utilities, clothes for son, etc., with credit cards because we just couldn't stretch my paycheck far enough. We're hoping to get some of our debt paid off with the money he makes in Chicago so we can more easily manage household expenses when he returns. The rate he'll be paid is pretty good, and without lodging expenses, it should cover more than his other contracts did.

Originally Posted by amber

Sorry your son is having a hard time. I wasn't really like that, or allowed to be like that, all crying and stuff, so I don't know what would help or anything. My mom said "stop crying" and I usually did. Children really do thrive on stability and structure, though, for the most part. Poor little guy.

He is the one I worry about most! I know I'll survive the best I can, but this will be tough on him.

Originally Posted by amber

Edit - Oh, you moved from Chicago. I'm no married person, or a travelling person, but I really think that, unless there are tons more job possibilities in Texas, you guys should move - you don't like it, right? It only makes sense not to live there, unless there really are jobs, or real estate is not a sellers market, or something.

Real estate would kill us. It's so expensive in Chicago. Real estate is much cheaper down here. We would probably take a rather large hit. We paid less for our house here than we got for our house in Chicago. Unforunately, that profit has disappeared, because we've gone through all of our savings just trying to make ends meet. We'd end up losing money on the house here. We wouldn't be able to afford buying there again. But even renting up there can be as much as a mortgage payment.

Originally Posted by amber

Anyway, I don't have any advice or anything, I guess. I just hope you guys really think it out and decide how you want to live your life, and then take those steps, and then I hope everything works out.
:hugs!!!!!!:

Thank you! I do appreciate the good thoughts and suggestions!