Wow it has been awhile

Well, we are back. Jen and I have been very fortunate during this period of uncertainty. Doing the walk of shame out of Fidelity on November 12th was very embarrassing. Everyone knows that the layoffs were not performance based, however one can't help feel like a loser. But I remember thinking to myself, " this is happening for a reason". I didn't know what that reason was yet, but it had to be something. This was just too unbelievable that I found the perfect job, awesome manager, great coworkers at the same company as my wife. Something had to be up.

So, I found a little solace in that and then did what ever loser does and immediately drove to GameStop to buy a Wii and some games for around $400. I figured I owed myself a little present and quite frankly, wanted to take my mind off leaving a job (and people) that were so great. Everytime I thought about that fact, it made my stomach hurt. So this would be a nice distraction. I was afraid to tell Jen, but of course she was fine.

So, I started the job search a few days later and was very surprised by how many people came out of the woodwork to help me. I received so many emails from old colleagues and friends who were anxious to help me out. I felt very hopeful and empowered. My worrying ended after a few days. I knew I would find something. What was equally empowering was after Jen and I sat down to do the bills. I received a very generous severance package from Fidelity (those people know how to lay someone off :-) After doing the bills, we realized that if I never went back to work, we could survive fine. That was very comforting to know given the market was crashing all around us.

The next day uncorked a series of events that were just plain nuts. My sister was hospitalized for 2 weeks. Over the next month, I was able to dedicate some much needed time to my sister and her shambles of a life in Willimantic. Long story short, she is doing great. All she needed was a little help to get her back on her feet and thinking clearly again.

Then my father became sick and was hospitalized. My father in law was hospitalized. My wife was hospitalized. I was ready to be hospitalized!

Longer story longer, everyone is doing great and the holidays were fun and relaxing.

Right before Christmas I got an interview at BankRI. Next thing I know, 3 weeks later I have a job. It really was incredible. I landed a job at BankRI as VP of Brand Marketing and Product Development. I started on January 29th (I was supposed to start on the 28th, but had to call in sick b/c of a sinus infection). It is really a lot of fun to call your new boss and say you can't come in on your first day. Great first impression, eh?

I have to admit, I really can't believe it happened the way it did and as quickly as it did. But I am forever thankful.

Now as to why I am posting this here. What this fortunate series of events has allowed us to do is save a lot of money. Since I am being paid by Fidelity for awhile and since I am working again, we think the Cape will happen in 18 months. It would be amazing if we could really pull it off.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Remaining hopeful

I know, it’s been a while, a long while since we posted anything. The last six weeks or so, it has been really hard to think about our quest to reduce expenses to buy a second home. As the economy continued to tank, and layoff rumors increased, I couldn’t help but wonder how all of this affected 18MTTC, but I also couldn’t bring myself to talk about it. I kind of felt like it was obvious – who’s saving for a second home in this economy? Yesterday brought a little more clarity to our situation, but not as much as you’d think.

Bryan was laid off yesterday. It could have been me. It could have been both of us. It was him. It was a horrible day at the office, filled with tears and uncertainty as emails flew around the firm announcing those who were “GONE.” The cuts were deeper and hit closer to home than any of us expected. So many great people that we have to say good-bye to – namely Bryan. It is such a shame that someone who loved their job as much as Bryan did, and was as good at it as Bryan is, is forced out due to desperate economic times. There are two bright spots.

1. Bryan heard from so, so many people at the firm that he was so valued and that this was the wrong decision. This only helped confirm what we already knew, that it wasn’t performance related and that Bryan had made quite the impression in just 6 months. So many people said, “You’ll be back.” We hope so.
2. True to the values of the firm, they treated separated employees very well in terms of severance. We are very, very fortunate for that. With the next six weeks being the holidays – no one is hiring during the holidays, even in a good economy – and of course the state of our economy, we’re not expecting Bryan to accomplish much till after the new year. Fortunately, because of the generosity of his severance – and my ability to bring home the bacon, he can take the time to find the right job for him. We hardly have a money tree in the back yard, but we are so much more fortunate than many others losing their jobs right now, and for that we are so grateful.

So with all that said, we’re not packing it in and calling it quits on 18MTTC. Sure, lots of other things will take priority, but oddly enough (or I guess I should say thankfully enough), after a shake-up like this, we always seem to end up in a better place. We’ll be praying that’s the case this time too. And depending on the success of Bryan’s job search, we may have an opportunity to save some of the severance package. That could be an added bonus to our Cape house savings. We’re certainly not counting on that, but you just never know.

It almost feels wrong just saying that when you know that so many people aren’t getting a severance and struggling to put food on their tables, but you’ve got to remain hopeful – for yourself, for everyone. Just this past weekend, Bryan taught the boys a valuable lesson in helping those with less than we are fortunate to have. At mass on Sunday, they announced the need to restock the community food pantry for the holiday season. This year will clearly be even tougher than in the past. Bryan took the boys right from church (I had a commitment and couldn’t join them) to the grocery store and filled a carriage with food just for the pantry. And then they went right from the grocery store to the food pantry to drop it off. The director of the food pantry explained the set-up of the facility to the boys and how what they were doing was helping lots of people. It really made an impression on them.

Last night, as we explained Bryan’s layoff to the boys, we made sure to emphasize to them that we were going to be ok and they weren’t going to have to worry about having food to eat, as this came on the heels of their charitable donation which was fresh in their minds. We told them that we’re very lucky that Daddy’s company is taking good care of us till he can find another job, and emphasized that most people who get laid off aren’t that lucky. Noah, the insightful, sensitive child asked, “Are you worried Dad?” Bryan said, “No, I’m not worried.” To which Noah replied, “Good, because if you were worried, it would mean that you don’t have enough trust and faith.” I am so happy and proud to be witness to that kind of thinking from my 7 year-old son.

Cape house or no Cape house, we’re living a good life. A damn good life.

Having enough...and sharing what you have

Wow, what a depressing time. Amazing what two weeks can do.

These days, everywhere I turn, I’m reminded of the sinking economy and the financial stresses that people are feeling. It’s made me very aware that at this exact moment in time, we should be most thankful that Bryan and I both have jobs with good salaries and we’re able to support our family. While we won’t give up on our Cape dream, in these crazy times, who knows if we’ll make it in 18 months. But in times like these, it does refocus you on what’s most important. The changes we’ve been making in spending over the past few months are really helping us brace for the impact of all of this financial strain. We’re all healthy and have more than enough in our lives to live very happily. I hope the situation makes everyone reprioritize and realize how lucky we are and how we can reach out to lend a hand to those who aren’t.

In the past week, I’ve seen 3 people I know, teachers, working a second job to make ends meet. This absolutely breaks my heart as I know that they all have families that I’m sure they’d much rather be home with. They aren’t working a second job jus for the fun of it. And to top it all off, their primary jobs are teachers – a most noble career. One that has much more of an impact on our society and future than anything I’ll do in my career. Suddenly, the second home does seem as important. But I also want to say that dreaming, or having a goal, doesn’t make you a bad or greedy person. Attainment of our goal will bring joy and happiness to us, but we fully intend to share that joy and happiness. We want as many as possible to benefit from our success, and hopefully we’ll have the chance to share it.

I suppose it’s because I work in the financial industry that there is so much daily swirl in my mind about the economy. I mean it is everywhere right now, but I’m talking about it constantly being on my mind. Not an hour goes by that I don’t overhear someone talking about what the market is doing. Last week I found myself literally sitting at my desk, refreshing my screen to see the Dow go down, down, down. Before this I paid little to no attention to the Dow and couldn’t tell you if it was up, down or sideways. I’m learning a lot and it has been interesting.

So despite a rebound for a day, or a week (wouldn’t that be nice), the outlook for the near future is not great. I’m no economist, just going with what I’m hearing from the smart people around me.

Everyone wants to know these days – what does this mean to me? Here’s what it means to us…not just financially, but from a lifestyle/family priorities standpoint.

• There’s one upside to not having a lot of investments – not as much to lose. Yes, we’ve seen our 401ks tank, but being that those are long-term investments, we’re not touching them and assuming we’ll rebound eventually.
• Continue to eliminate unnecessary spending.
• Maintain a cash nest egg. We’re contemplating temporarily slowing down our 401k contributions to keep more in savings for the time being, should one of us lose a job, or worse, both of us.
• Be really practical this Christmas. We always start out sticking to our budget when it comes to gifts for the boys, but once we wrap it all and try it out under the tree, we decide its not enough and hit the stores again. No going back this year! We can all do with a little less.
• Get more involved with those who need our help. It’s really hard to find a down side to volunteering your time, but there are countless upsides. More time spent volunteering = less time spent spending money. More time spent volunteering = more lives touched in ways that our jobs don’t allow us to do.

I think that this holiday season will be a great time to talk to the boys about a lot of things – thankfulness, sharing and caring for those less fortunate, doing more with less, volunteerism, and getting creative. I feel as though I’ve been summoned – called into action – to protect my family during this time and do our part in the community around us. We’ll keep sharing and hopefully God will keep filling our basket.

18MTTC - we're all doing it

It's just part of our vernacular now. We say it all the time. "18 months to the Cape". We say it so much, that I really believe it. Which is good. You should believe in your goals. Bryan and I will be talking about doing something or see an ad for something that's really cool and comment on how great it would be but then look at each other and say, "18 months to the Cape." It has definitely haulted the thought process on several purchases and keeps the iniative top of mind. Even the boys will say it, which is pretty cool. I think that this is the first time we've set a goal that we could all work on as a family.

The boys are really into recycling. They've learned about it at school and we practice it pretty religiously at home, so they're on board. The particularly like recycling cans and bottles that have a deposit. We keep them separate from the other recyclables and when there's a good amount of them, my mom will take the boys to cash them in. The money then goes into a special jar in our dining room. This past spring, they were saving for special activities that they wanted to do this summer. Trips down to the beach with my mom and dad would typically include ice cream, mini golf and a few fun rides. They decided to save for this themselves and they did. I think they saved around $30 which was in turn all spent on them. Not that they wouldn't have been able to do those things anyway, but I think it's a good lesson to teach them that saving for something can pay off. So now, they're saving their money for the Cape, in a way.

They both really want a Wii system. I'm pretty strongly against it. Not the Wii itself, I think it's awesome. I'm just against it because I think that they have enough electronic gaming options between the computer and their Nintendo DS handhelds. As it is with just those options, it is certainly their activity of choice in their free time and we've had to establish limits or else it would be all they do. What does this have to do with the Cape? Much like Bryan and I are paying of debt and saving for the house, I wanted to give the boys an attainable goal related to the Cape, and I wanted it to be something that they would be excited about and work as hard at it as we are at the house. I suggested to them that they save their recycling money for a Wii that we would keep at the Cape. That way, it would be preserved as something special. Something that they could get excited about related to the Cape - their contribution to the effort. who knows if the Wii will still be the IT toy in 18 months, but at least they've got a goal and they're working towards it.