Author Topic: Laid Off  (Read 7530 times)

thepokercab

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Laid Off
« on: April 24, 2014, 03:13:37 PM »
.. Well, i wasn't.  But the hammer came down today and a few people got laid off in a "restructuring".  One of the people was a pretty good friend and we had a pretty dark conversation.  He was totally blind-sided by it and kept telling me how he didn't know what he was going to do.  He was particularly worried about money and expressed that him and his wife (with a new baby) only had "a month or two at best".  He was near tears. Got to say, that kind of blew me away because our incomes have to be pretty similar.  Still I felt bad for him. I didn't try to sugercoat things, but did try to get him to see the potential opportunities it raises.  But he kept going back to the lack of income.     

At the same time we were having this conversation, I couldn't help thinking about how much of a life transformation i've been through the last year, or since I found MMM and this community.  In that time we've drastically cut expenses, increased my savings rate, and am happier now because of it. I can honestly say that if I had been axed today, I would have been dissapointed sure, but it certainly would not be an emergency.  I now have a pretty nice cushion to fall back on, and would have plenty of time to figure out my next step.  Hell, i might even take a month or two off.     

I'm also not particularly enamored with my job, so it might even serve as a mixed blessing, forcing me to re-evaluate and get into something that I might find more fulfilling.   These feelings I'd imagine I would have, couldn't have been different from the doom my friend was feeling today.   

Anyway- my mustachian batteries have been re-charged so to speak, and I'm only more motivated to keep on saving and not be at the mercy of whatever corporate whim might come down the pipe.  I think i'm going to do challenge myself to ratchet up the savings rate a few notches in May.     

 

rocksinmyhead

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2014, 03:15:51 PM »
very sad... and a great reminder/motivational moment for all of us.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2014, 03:23:51 PM »
I am close to the end of my own Mustachian journey, so I think I would almost welcome a layoff notice.

I am dreading the day that I walk into my bosses office to tell them I am done.

But for someone still deep into their accumulation phase, I can only imagine what kind of punch in the gut this would be.

CarDude

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2014, 03:31:24 PM »
very sad... and a great reminder/motivational moment for all of us.

Definitely. Live like the ant, or die like the grasshopper.

Milspecstache

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2014, 04:40:24 PM »
Did you suggest this website by chance?  It is a little late to help him in the current predicament but at least it would help him in the future.

the fixer

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2014, 05:54:21 PM »
I got laid off once, just a month after discovering MMM. Best thing that ever happened to me, and I never for a moment felt worried. That afternoon I called up a former employer who'd been begging to get me back, and bam, I was self employed. If it had happened one month earlier, I'm sure I'd have been freaked out.

I also once had a freaky thing happen where I resigned from a job, then on the morning of my last day the company laid off three people! The strangest last day at a company I've ever had. Everyone was freaked out about their ex-coworkers and whether their own jobs were at risk. I, on the other hand, was leaving by choice and didn't have any immediate plans for another job; I didn't need the income. I still don't know how to describe how it felt. The only part I can verbalize was the idea that maybe I saved a fourth person from getting laid off instead.

Stache In Training

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2014, 10:00:08 PM »
I am dreading the day that I walk into my bosses office to tell them I am done.

Dreading?!? I guess if they have become really good friends.  But man, I'm looking forward to the look of bewilderment and surprise, when they find out that I just plain don't need them any more.  I've got my fuck you money.  It's got that name for a reason.

libertarian4321

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #7 on: April 25, 2014, 01:03:29 AM »
Too bad the guy wasn't prepared, because for those who plan ahead, a lay off is just a good excuse to enjoy a mini vacation (or a permanent one).

arebelspy

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #8 on: April 25, 2014, 01:06:21 AM »
very sad... and a great reminder/motivational moment for all of us.

Definitely. Live like the ant, or die like the grasshopper.

Can I be the octopus instead?
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Squirrel away

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #9 on: April 25, 2014, 01:59:04 AM »
It's sad for the guy who was laid off, I hope he comes to the MMM forum for advice.

dude

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #10 on: April 25, 2014, 07:04:41 AM »
I heard similar concerns from a person I work with back when sequestration/furloughs hit the federal workforce.  Had a guy who I know is making @$170K/year tell me he was freaking out because he wouldn't be able to make his mortgage payment -- remember, this was when he was standing to lose only 1/10th of his pay every two weeks!!!  I thought to myself, holy shit.  He drives a Lexus, pays for high-end sports camps for his kid, and was sending him to private school -- and consequently, was very obviously living paycheck-to-paycheck.  He also told me he had almost nothing in his TSP (401k).  Made me really, really happy to be living well within my means and to have available a substantial emergency fund.  I really don't see how people with very high incomes allow themselves to be put in a place where they can be continuously stressed out about money.  The long-term health effects cannot be good.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #11 on: April 25, 2014, 07:05:09 AM »
Good luck to your friend!

Send him our way once the initial shock has dampened.

lizzzi

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #12 on: April 25, 2014, 07:34:35 AM »
It's a reminder that our Mustachian lifestyles aren't about being frugal-rama cheapskates…it's about freedom and independence. Yes, hook your friend up with MMM.

lexie2000

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #13 on: April 25, 2014, 07:59:18 AM »
Over a 20-years span of part of DH's career, he faced possible layoffs 2 or 3 times.  We had a pretty nice cushion that we kept back and added to after making the down payment on our first home and no debt besides our mortgage (which we were paying down as fast as we possibly could); but his was our only income (during most of those years) and a layoff, while not devastating, surely would have set us back.  One of the problems for us was that he worked for a corporate field site in a very rural area where there were few, if any, prospects for finding similar paying jobs.  More importantly his goal of putting in the years to collect a
decent pension most likely would have been crushed.   Over those years we saw several friends, colleagues, and acquaintances get the bad news and were so thankful that he escaped "the ax".

So while I can certainly empathize with people facing a layoff, I am surprised that the experience of the recession did not make more of an impression on people as to what can happen when you live paycheck to paycheck and lose a job.

pom

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #14 on: April 25, 2014, 08:44:00 AM »
Certainly sucks for your friend, I hope he finds something new quickly and once he does, you will do him a great service to show him this website.

As for me, I am above 70% of what I need for FI so a layoff would be great as it would put me at about 80% instantly. I suspect that many mustachians are in a similar situation.

odput

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Re: Laid Off
« Reply #15 on: April 25, 2014, 09:24:32 AM »
Too bad the guy wasn't prepared, because for those who plan ahead, a lay off is just a good excuse to enjoy a mini vacation (or a permanent one).

I thoroughly enjoyed my layoff, largely due to finding this site about 9 months before it happened.  I was solidly prepared when I heard about it.  I was laid off at the end of May, and didn't start my new gig until September (didn't even start looking until late July or so), enjoying the summer weather and the local library. 


 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!