Rumor and Conjecture

In case you haven't get gathered, the Husband is a wonderful creature. He truly is. I adore him. We have been together a very long time (11 years), and my adoration of him has only grown. He is a diamond in the rough and I am very fortunate.

He is also a blue-collar worker by choice. His calling in life has always been to work with his hands. We (meaning I) resisted that in our earlier years. I was hung up on the idea of a 'real job' and my preconceptions of it involving a desk, a computer, and lots of beige. We (again I) got past it, and he has a successful career as a Union Tradesman. He finds it gratifying. He has a career path, benefits, retirement. Its been lovely. But, when you are in such a field, sometimes the work dries up. Its just the reality of the situation. Sometimes its timing between jobs, sometimes its just the company you are with and sometimes its the result of a terrible economy.

We have been through such times before. Unemployment is received for a few weeks and we muster on. However, during previous periods of little or no work, I was always much more gainfully employed. Since I took my big pay cut, the Husband has had quite steady employment. Well, now there are rumblings of that coming to an end.

Just rumblings so far. There were some phone calls yesterday to spread gossip about future projects that may not come to fruition, which would mean things are grinding to a halt with the current outfit. The job line at the union hall looks none to promising. Its safe to assume that a layoff would last at least a few weeks, best case scenario.

I have to say, this news caused me some panic. I have a 'worst case scenario' budget I maintain. It actually brings me comfort to have. It proves, at least on paper, that we could survive on unemployment benefits and my income. It would not be pretty by any means, but we could survive. This morning, I revisited the 'worst case' tab of my spreadsheet and just mulled it over.

How would things change?
Entertainment and Dining budgets immediately go to basically $0.
This would definitely involve canceling the cable. We don't eat out much anyway, but that $20-$30 would be needed.
Savings would be suspended.
This actually makes me much more unhappy than the entertainment and dining embargo. Not saving, no matter your circumstances, is not a good idea. Something should always be going that direction. In reality any little windfalls, spare change, survey checks, etc would still be saved. My justification for this is to stop saving to preserve what we have. In 'worst case' we would not have to actively bleed off the savings for living expenses, which is always my goal. I want to preserve the nest egg at all costs, even if that means suspending contributions to it for a time. Again, not my optimal operating mode, but desperate times...
Cash expenses drop by 1/2.
Right now, we take out between $60-$80 a week in cash. $60 goes to the Husband to pay for Parking Expenses (which are reimbursed on his check). He is left with about $10-$15 a week for pocket money. Technically, I get $20 a week. However, that is usually either put in the savings pot, or used to for a fitness class to supplement my 'Personal Care' budget. In either case, that category drops to $40. The Husband has to figure out something else for parking (whatever that is) and I happily get squat.
Slash Groceries and Pets budgets by $20 a week.
Not sure how that would work, as we run pretty lean now. I imagine we would become mostly vegetarian. All pets would do a rotation of a cheaper kibble, and be without some extras.

Is this maintainable?
Certainly not long term. Not for us. We would have to use savings for any unanticipated expenses. Luckily it would be a bit of time before we needed to crack the nest egg, but we would start saying our prayers for a quick job turn around.
Other factors to consider, the Husband is usually somewhat industrious in scaring up a bit of odd work to supplement his downtime. It can't be depended on, but he has a good track record.

Even with a plan, it scares me. It is certainly something that was much easier to stomach when I was in a higher tax bracket. The real question is, were this to happen, how long would I be able to restrain myself from looking for better paying work?