I'm not really sure what this page is for, or if this is appropriate. Really, I just need to vent. We are so broke. We aren't going to make it. I'm in my last semester of school, but I don't think I'll be able to finish--meaning more time spent at a bad job earning no money. My husband was laid off last April, and has been unable to get a job since then. Everyone in our area has been laid off. We can't move, because if I transfer to another school I'll be farther behind, and farther from getting a job that will actually help. All our savings are gone. We didn't apply for unemployment because we thought we could make it without help--never thought he'd be out of work this long--and now we don't qualify because he didn't work the right quarters last year.

I've told my family we have plans with my in-laws, and my in-laws we have plans with my family, so we can avoid going to anyone's house for the holidays. I don't want to sit in a room full of people giving gifts without being able to give anything back. We found some toy trucks on ebay for my little boy, but it's pathetic. My husband just keeps saying everything will be okay, but I don't see how it will. Even if he went back to work on Monday, we're so far behind we'll never catch up. Our insurance is going to run out soon (we had COBRA from his last job), and then I will be terrified. Toddlers get sick.

I know from reading the other posts here that I am just feeling sorry for myself; we are blessed with health and at least a modicum of happiness most of the time. But I am literally sick over our finances.