Add us to the list of BYC foreclosure prospects

[Big C]

We went thru this in the early 80's. Worked in the oilfield and brought home 100k plus per year. My wife stayed home with the kids. We had a wonderful garden and beautiful home that we had really put a lot of money into.
After I was laid off with several thousands of others (our block had 22 homes, all were for sale) Luckily we were able to sell at a loss, but the bank accepted the sale. That was the only thing we could do since my new job (the only one I could find) paid minimum wage. We got the forclosure notice but were lucky enough to sell. We had put in hours and hours and hours into creating our garden, landscape, horse pens, etc... Everything gone. Was the saddest time in our lives. I can empathize with your husband. The only thing that kept me from going crazy was my beautiful and wonderful sweetheart.
There is light at the end of the tunnel since the minimum wage job I took eventually turned into a great thing. We were able to start our own business 16 years ago. Our kids all turned out well and now have their own. We are now able to and have helped see them thru some hard times.
I know that this is no solution, for us the answer to our dilema at the time was our family and still is today.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Hang in there. There are a lot of us out here now. Keep in contact with your banker. Call every week. Call HUD. Just keep calling and bugging the crap out of them until you can get someone to listen.

 

[klf73]

maybe you could work nights (part time) and he works days? Even if they aren't great jobs it helps get the bills paid, it's what we did at one point....

 

[luvarabhorses]

Look at what you have going for you. Your husband is a hard worker with excellent job references. Have you posted his resume on Monsters? Could you join a local church with a huge congregation where you could talk to people so that someone who knows someone will get your husband a job. I know you are in the North but people are people and they generally want to help one another. What else could you show up at, for free, where you could talk to people? Everyday in my community there are free excercise groups, library things, church things, could you volunteer at something that will help your husband?

 

[luvarabhorses]

Does BYC have a Wisconsin thread group? Maybe someone on here knows of something, then you could discuss with them PM

 

[pokey]

just wanted to add that i hope some of the suggestions will lead you in the right direction for help, and God does not close one door without opening another. good luck.

 

[yotetrapper]

Check your local ymca etc., to see if they have free or lost cost programs for kids to go to. Also, some state aidf programs will pay for child care. Then work three jobs. Dont send your kids to "daycare", hire a very young teen willing to work for $4-$5/hour or better yet, $20-$30 for all day. Work all day when your husband does, then one of you stay with the kids while the other works an afternoon shift. When the afternoon shifter gets home to sleep in the middle of the night when the kids are asleep anyways, someone could work a wee hours of the morning job like paper delivery or something. Dont ever go out to eat, buy low cost foods in bulk like rice, beans, etc., shrink your chicken flock, get rid of phone and internet asap. Default for awhile on your credit cards, your mortgage is more important. If you're house is big enough, rent out a section, or room of it.

 

[joebryant]

I wish that the greedy Wall Street monsters and the "people's representatives" who either directly caused this or sat back and looked the other way while allowing it to happen could read this thread while I watched them read it. I'd be interested to see if they showed ANY remorse for what they did to get super-rich... highly unlikely.

 

[ParkfieldFarm]

Thanks for all of your support, guys. Yep, we're cutting where we can...we haven't gone out to eat in quite awhile, we can't get rid of the internet or phone because they're our primary job hunting tools, but everything else is going. It also really sucks that we can't default on our credit card because my mom is the primary cardholder. She's having financial problems, too. We're hoping to get state healthcare/foodstamps/etc by next week.

Let me add that it really really sucks to get a certified notice of foreclosure on a Saturday when you can't call the bank. *sigh*

I've just applied for a dog handling job not too far from my house that has morning hours so I can be home with the kids in the afternoon, and my husband is going to try to get a hotel desk job for second shift (he should be an easy hire, he used to work for a premier hotel downtown before he met me). He wants to go back to school, too, so we're going to see if he can take the kids in the morning to school with him, then I would go to school in the afternoons and bring the kids back home. The University near us has really good childcare and financial aid for families. The thing we can't figure out, though, is how to get my daughter to her school for her half day. We've got one car, and with the University bus passes we may be able to get back and forth satisfactorily, but I hope that it doesn't destroy us in the process.

Thanks for being reading eyes, guys.

 

[rufus]

You need to forget about paying the charge cards and pay the mortgage. It is your asset, hang on to it. File a declaration of homestead on your house. That way you can protect your equity.

Charge cards are a trap. These people are the worst type of crooks. I can't express what I feel about these companies in decent public. If I had my way, they would all be hanging from telephone poles.

In bad times like this, families have to band together. If you have a sister or brother or cousin that is renting, let them move in with you and pay part of the mortgage. They can watch your kids while you work and you can watch their's while they work.

There are economies of scale. A huge pot of beans can feed an extended family. Learn to avoid expensive food, soups and stews are the way to go.

Good luck,

Rufus