Have you ever wondering what you are supposed to be doing with your life? Do you feel like your current job is not satisfying? Still trying to figure out what to go to college for? Are you really called to be at home with your kids? Did you miss God's calling? If you answered yes to any of these questions you need to get this book!

Max Lucado does a great job exploring God's word while helping you to personally self explore your true talents and callings. He continually reminds the reader that God had a unique plan for all of us. No two are a like. I personally found that I needed to stop and reflect at the end of each section. Lucado pushes you to reflect on your past to help you find yourself in the future. This book helped me to have a better understanding of the way I'm wired and brought more peace to my life decisions.

This book is a great read for any christian. I don't think that you can be to young or to old gain some wonderful insight into the God's will for you.

This book was provided by BookSneeze.com in exchange for the review. No other compensation was received and the opinion stated above is my own.

Life is full of scary things. Even as an adult there are just somethings that seem scary. One of the biggest ones for me was taking the plunge to stay home full time with my kids. Just the thought brought so many scary ideas to my head. What if the Mr. lost his job? What if we can't live on less then half our current income? What if I want to go back to work but can't because I've been out of my field to long? Even with all those scary thoughts running through my mind all's I could think about is how different life would be if I could just stay home with my babies. If I could just be there for when they needed me. If I didn't have to miss all of their firsts. Needless to say, my motherly instinct kicked in and I kicked my fears to the curb.

We have successfully lived on my husbands income for over 3 years now. It has been one of the best decisions that we ever made. However, if we had not carefully planned it out it could have been the nightmare I feared.

It's open enrollment time at my employ, and while the Mrs and I are decided and done, it seems that most folks have hardly logged on. Since we're going through the second major plan overhaul in 3 years, people have TONS of questions and no clue as to which one to choose.

The Providers and their vague presentations and explanations have come and gone and folks are still sitting around at lunch saying, "I don't know what to pick." Now, I don't intend to demean these folks. Modern health care is quite complicated and an incredible amount of responsibility is in the lap of the consumer. This is a difficult and important decision - more now than ever.

My response, usually starts with, "Here's how we decided..."


First, a little backstory:
We have two options for employer sponsored health insurance. One plan is like a PPO, but they have added some hoops to jump through. The other is an HSA. To make this decision, you really need to know three things about the plans:

• The Deductible (the amount you are responsible for before the insurance actually kicks in)
• The Premium (the amount that you kick - monthly, yearly, whenever)
• The Out-of-Pocket limit (the co-insurance amount you are responsible for above the deductible)
  

After 6 months, HR finally has a response.

A response to what!?

Oh right, it's been a while, so let's get a quick recap of the situation:

• 2008 results come in - Economy is in the crapper, profits are down
• Merit increases (raises) were suspended
• Bonuses were cut by 75%
• 401k contributions were suspended
  
• Part of our 401k match was replaced with company stock
  

The other day, I was reading (and commenting on) a post by Ashley at Wide Open Wallet. Apparently, 2 months of self-employment has her convinced that business credit is a 'necessary evil'.

I'm convinced otherwise.

Once upon a time, I too started my own business. And while our two ventures vary greatly, I know that with proper planning, a business can be started and operated debt-free. All of this got me thinking about two of my previous employs - both of which were small businesses, started from scratch.

But the two were operated very differently.

The first, let's call it One + One, was operated by let's call him Gordon. This was actually my first job out of school. And since I didn't know any different and certainly didn't have our financial act together, it was difficult to see the err of Gordon's ways at the time.

Now I wish I could tell you than Gordon was kindly enough to give me frequent peeks at our P&L, giving me an inside knowledge of our assets and liabilities. Not the case, but also not the focus here. What was plainly visible was the way the business was run. I can recall one summer when business had slowed a tad and we were just into May. Now these were consulting businesses, and peaks and valleys were to be expected. The weird thing was that during that valley, we hired someone. She was pleasant and skilled, but why was she here? I can remember the looks from my co-workers as if to say, "but there isn't enough work for us, let alone another". The valley continued and a month later, she was gone. Another month and one of our senior staff was cut. It was a rough summer.

A year or so later, business was much better and much steadier. We had acquired a few more staff and had moved into a fancy office that Gordon had sunk big, big money into. As the work continued, so did Gordon and his business plans of the week. Soon it was announced that our goal was to become "the premier such and such in the region" and to have a staff of 10. OK, but why 10? Gordon seemed convinced that bigger numbers would impress clients and bring in more and better work. It didn't. I can remember later at an open house when we were told that if anyone asked, we were to say we had a staff of ten. We couldn't quite figure out who the ten were unless his parents and wife were on the payroll. When folks started counting desks, we'd try and change the subject.

Inevitably, another valley came, but this time I was the one swallowed up. After that, One + One had true staff of five - three of which were in administrative roles. Things made less and less sense at that point. Money seemed to flow like a river, though usually out the door. Was it debt? It almost had to be. Everything was for show, even us employees, and we seemed to come and go with the wind.

The second, let's call it Hot House, was previously a one man show, operated by let's call him Kurt. I actually met Kurt while employed by Gordon. Our biggest client had actually lined us up to work for Kurt. We were jealous immediately. Here he was, one guy, and he had the big project from the big client - the type we'd dream about at One + One. What was so special about him? We'd worked hard, built our company up, with six or more employees at the time. This was when I first began to see that Gordon was running at 100 mph, but in the wrong direction.

After leaving One + One, I started my own venture - a story for another day - and through a mutual friend, caught up with Kurt again. To my delight, He wanted me to do a bit of work for him. I worked on-site at his office, which at the time was an apartment. Technically not allowed by the lease, but the staff approved it at the time, and it was far cheaper than a commercial space. On top of that, he was sharing the space with friend who had a similar, but non-competing business. He was also named Kurt (same spelling) and with the same last initial - the Mrs. was confused for weeks. The other Kurt also had a guy doing part time work for him and the four of us ran two businesses out of a single one-bedroom apartment with make-shift desks and hodge-podge computers. It felt like we were running a speakeasy.

Now keep in mind, I'd spent the last 3 years keeping up appearances for Gordon, and here working with Kurt, appearance was last on the list. Even better, we were getting the good work at Hot House. While we had many of the same clients at One + One, we didn't get near as good of projects - mostly it was the work no one else would take. But Gordon was always taking those jobs, always promising they would lead to better work. I can't say that ever panned out.

A few months later, the lease was up at the apartment and the new management was having none of our little business venture in Apt. 12B. The Kurts, still friends, chose to part ways. Kurt decided to make a real business out of his hobby, offered me a full-time job, and got a real office.

As we were discussing his plans for the business one day, he shared with me that the way he had it figured, if we each billed 20 hrs per week to clients, then we'd break even. ...................... I was floored.

Floored, not only that he shared that with me, but that our business was actually that lean. He also told me how when he mentioned to clients that he was moving into a real office that they could actually visit, that while encouraging and enthusiastic, he could also tell that they didn't care. It didn't matter to them. "Yeah, what's that", he joked, recounting the phone call, "You're moving into a tent on our front lawn? Great, great, I'll bring you a coffee tomorrow. Good for you, Kurt. How's that project coming?"

Another time, we were discussing our work load, and he must have been kicking around the idea of hiring a third person. We still had peaks and valleys at Hot House, but they were more like 'crazy' vs 'manageable' than 'busy' vs. 'bored' at One + One. I can recall Kurt, thoughtfully discussing why someone might hire more help. "Is it to do more work? Just more volume? To be greedy and make more money? Or is it to do better work? I don't want to grow for the sake of growing or take more work just to try to make more money." That very moment was the most secure I ever felt in a job. This guy got it, and I didn't have to worry my job might be the victim of some megalomaniacal scheme. The type of scheme he had clearly been burned by before as well.

The best, was day when a man from the County came to our office. To this day, I have no idea if he was genuine or just casing the joint. But he claimed to be assessing business taxes for the County, and would need to assess our office. Kurt was out to visit a client, so it was on me. As he was talking about the sort of things he was looking for, I though about what we did have there. So what if he was a crook? We had jack squat as far as he could see. Our desks were very nice designer office tables, second hand - they could have been from Wal-Mart for all he knew. Besides that was three computers and some so-so office chairs. Our data was our real value and that went home with Kurt each night. So I let him see the back office and I smirked as he said that we had nothing really of value. Computers weren't even a big deal as, "they go down in value pretty fast". It was yet further confirmation to the way Kurt was running the business.

Looking back on these two companies, Kurt could have easily been sucked into the same trap as Gordon - hiring as fast as the work was coming in. Anyone could. The difference was the intent - the plan. Gordon, I would later find out, tried to sell One + One. Then all the window dressing made sense. It was all about padding the books - "We have X number of employees, handled over a hundred projects last year each lasting an average of 11 days, and not to mention the year over year increases in revenue...." It was fluff, just to net him a big payday. Kurt on the other hand, wanted quality over quantity. Slow and steady, we churned out work, the two of us handling more note-worthy projects at once than I ever saw at One + One. The difference was intent.

Ashley - and I'm not pickin' on you here - seems to need a line of credit to cover payroll as the profits don't come in as fast as the pay goes out. This is cash-flow insolvency in business. In personal finance terms, this is a matter of not living within one's means. Either way it leads to debt. If you can be debt-free in your personal life, then you can do it in your business. In both cases, you need a plan based on a set of core values. If one of those values is "free from debt", then there is no reason you need business debt.

If Gordon could make his business work the way he wanted with 4 employees, then how is the "more cowbell" approach going to help? We certainly weren't doing better work and adding capabilities with each new hire. Meanwhile, Kurt's business was absolutely killin' it. With two people and a shoestring budget.

If you're still unconvinced, then I'll offer this one parting shot - I know that it's anecdotal, but all of these companies complaining about access to credit in the recent financial crisis are the ones with massive lay-offs, closing their doors for good, or begging for a bailout form the Fed. If I were opening a business, I'd do the opposite those guys. Debt doesn't seem to be such a blessing there, maybe you should avoid it at all costs, even if it means politely turning away work.

2008 was a tough year for lots of companies - mine included. So when the edict came down that there would be no raises given this year, I was bummed but not surprised. Still, I tried to look on the bright side - at least they didn't hand me a pay cut.

This news came along side other "benefits adjustments". Yeah, when you see that phrase on slide one of a powerpoint deck, you know it's not going to be good. The 401k took some hits. Several programs got cut. Basically money would not be so free-flowing around campus. The carrot that they dangled was that bonuses were yet undetermined.


So with my review approaching, I formed a plan:

1. The company’s performance is not my own, so I expect a fair performance rating regardless of the company’s ability to compensate. It may be possible to leverage that next year assuming that things improve by then.
2. No money for raises - fine, I get that - so give me what you can. I’m planning to ask for an increase in vacation time.
3. Continue to work my butt off, and pray that there are better times ahead of us all.

.

The dust has settled and I, your humble blogger, am still gainfully employed. In all honesty, I wasn't terribly worried. My review from last year went well, and this year was looking better. I'd even earned a couple bonuses YTD and am in good standing peers and supervisors alike.

I really had little to worry about other than the fact that you never know how they go about selecting the unlucky few. Sometimes you'll hear afterward, sometimes not. This was the latter. The only explanation is that they just scratched the surface, and if more layoffs come, then a pattern may start to arise. As I said in Pt. 1, there is little you can do now, and anything you do, will likely only make matters worse. That is, unless you can find a few million to take out of the product costs - immediately.

I'll live to fight another day. Will we face another round come Q4 end? Who knows.

But let's say, it is your time, and as noted by Seestellar in the comments of the first post, you know it is coming. Then what?


Consider yourself lucky. Kinda. You at least have some time to prepare. Take advantage.

Get Your Financial House in Order - Where are you? Are you clueless, struggling, stable, succeeding?

1. Budgeting - Do you have a monthly budget that you actually follow through on? If not, then now is the time to start. And while you need to know where your money is going now, you also need to see how your monthly finances will look post-layoff. What does it look like if you go from two incomes to one? Can you survive on one? Will you need to work part-time? Will you need to scale back your lifestyle? Sell your house? You need to know.
   
2. Debt - Debt is always a burden on your finances. Trouble is, lenders have dialed in the terms so that you don't feel it as much when everything is A-OK. There is no good debt. Each is a liability - another weight holding you down. Don't wait until the payments are unbearable to address your debts. As much as I want you to start the debt-snowball and get out of debt, right now we're going to put that on hold until your situation is stable. A storm is coming, and you're going to need an umbrella.
3. Emergency Funds - Clouds are on the horizon - the emergency fund will be your harbor in the tempest. It's time to pile up cash and that budget you just put together will help you determine just how much you can put back each month. Any readily accessible, FDIC insured account will do. In these crazy financial times, know that your local banks or credit unions are far safer than the mega-banks. Save as much as you can, as fast as you can.
4. Retirement Accounts - Don't forget about these. Once you are laid-off, you'll want to roll these, either to a traditional IRA or a SEPP IRA - depending on what your next carrer move is. A good financial adviser can help you through that. Whatever you do, do not rob these accounts. Early distributions or loans against them can mean steep penalties and the fact that your principle is no longer pumping out returns.

1. The Search Begins - What are you going to do with your life? Is this the time to stay home with the kids. It may be. God has a plan, we just occasionally need a nudge. When I was laid-off, we had the good fortune of being able to survive on one income. Uncertain for what I would do next, we decided that I should take some time and become a stay-at-home-dad. What do you want to be if and when you grow up? Maybe this is the time for a career change, or the time to start freelance work for yourself. What ever you decide, be ready. Get that resume polished up. The sooner you get another job (assuming you want one), the sooner that 2 month severance package starts to look like a big bonus.
   
2. Keep the House Together - You and your family are about to go through a lot of emotions - fear, rejection, shame, guilt, failure, paranoia, anger. Remember what is important - you, your family, your spouse. Talk about everything. Cry if you need to. Make an appointment with your pastor and get some spiritual guidance. Pray. Employers will come and go, but don't let the stress and emotions of this even destroy your marriage or drive a wedge between you and your loved ones.
3. Reflect - Spend some time in reflection. Just you. No TV, no spouse, no friends, no kids. Take the time to unpack the baggage and re-center yourself. Make sure your priorities are straight. Look at this event as an opportunity - how can you take advantage? Look back on your former employ - what would you do different? What will you look for in your next job? Don't rush into something because you think that you have to. If you do, consider it temporary and don't stop looking.
4. Accept Support - I was impressed to hear about how my company was handling the layoffs. They weren't just handing out checks and booting people out. They were offering placement services galore. As always, it's not what you do necessarily, but how you do it. They've been handling these very respectfully, and you've got to appreciate that. Take what they offer you - severance, services, whatever.
   

I caught word of layoff rumors at my employer last week. Our factories have gone through cut-backs this year, and a couple even closed. We're hurting just like.... well, every other company. We've gone through all of the cost cutting exercises, temporary travel restrictions, best cost practices, etc, etc... But so far, the restructuring really hasn't hit the white collar staff let alone my department.

You keep hoping that things will turn around, things will get better.

And they will, but likely not soon enough for some. The rumors got a hint of credibility this morning when it was reported on the local news. Reported as a rumor, but they felt is was credible enough to read.

Today, it was all the buzz around the office - everyone hoping that the next guy had answers, or maybe you had heard something? It was getting deep, and I couldn't wait for the day to end as management's actions gave hint to the impending notices.

One friend asked, "Have you been through this before? Why aren't you worried?!?"


The answer is, yes, I have been laid-off before, and I watched several happen as an outside observer in the tech-town we used to live in. But now the bigger and more important question: Why aren't you worried?

I wish this post could be some magic formula, some secret trick to avoid being one of the unfortunate few. It's not. No-one can give you that. Maybe a pill to make it all better after it all goes down. Nope, not that either. But it is what I know about surviving a layoff, about keeping it together, about keeping your sanity, and thus why I am not worried.

1. Don't Panic. Panic is contagious, and spreads fast. It does no good and you tend to make bad decisions when you panic. When was the last time someone when through a horrific event and later said, "Wow, good thing I panicked!" Never. Doesn't happen. Besides, whether you know it or not, there are people who look up to you, people who depend on you. People who look to you as their rock. The best thing you can do is be that rock. Be that calming voice of reason when all hell breaks loose.
   
2. Find Solace in Your Diligence. If you've been on the ball, then you've likely got one of those budget things, and maybe been saving some money in an account or something. The Mrs. came out looking like an absolute genius after I was laid-off some years back. When we got home that day, we went over the budget to find that we were.... ok. We could make it on her income alone. Especially since we had been aggressively paying down our debts. We also had some cash tucked away in the baby emergency fund. Those three things gave us great peace on what was one of the worst days of my life. Seeing that storm coming, she had us in high gear leading up to it. If you haven't been doing these things, this is why you do them. If your plan is based on the best-case scenario, then welcome to life - it doesn't work that way.
3. Put it in God's Hands. This is likely the most important one. Maybe you've heard the phrase, "Control what you can control". Well, this one is out of your hands. Seriously. Your past actions and performance may determine your fate, maybe not. Either way, it's out of your hands and quite possible that anything you do will only make matters worse. This is likely the largest part of why I can be so calm during something like this. Because I choose not to worry or act foolishly, but rather to pray to God, and put it to Him. If it is his will, if it is my time to go, then so be it. We don't know his plan and if you want to make him laugh, tell him your plan! When I was laid-off, I later saw it for the blessing that it was. I'm not saying that it was easy, but I later saw that it was time, and that God removed me from a poisonous situation that was only bound to get worse.
   

1. Don't Panic. Yeah, we're still not going to go there. B r e a t h e. Maintain your dignity and your composure - be professional. If you play your cards right, then you'll walk out with a healthy severance and maybe even a letter of recommendation. The world hasn't ended, just your job.
2. Know your rights. You may want to do a bit of research if you know that this is coming. Know what your employer can and cannot do. Know your rights as an employee. Can you collect unemployment? Have you been unfairly treated or discriminated against? Don't just assume that they know what they are doing and remember who's best interest they have in mind. Document everything, and know that all internet activity is monitored on the company network, so do your research from home.
3. Your New Job Starts Today! That is, your full-time job of finding a new job. Time to hit the bricks and press the flesh, because the sooner you get a new steady income, the sooner that severance package looks more like a big bonus. Or maybe it's time to consider a job in the art of homemaking. Yes, you too can be a stay-at-home-mom or dad. There is no shame in it, and it can be a great time to bond with your kids. Take the opportunity if you can.
   

• Health - Stress in the workplace translates to stress at home, stress on the commute, and then more stress at work. And we all know how good high stress levels are for a person. This can lead to - among other things - loss of sleep, and let me tell you, thats not a pretty picture. Once you get into the cycle, its hard to get out. The longer you stay in this situation, the more of a toll this will take on your health, and it will start to show in your work, appearance, and attitude. Do it for your health - physical, emotional, and mental.
• Family - You may think that your work issues are just that - yours. If you are married, think back to when the preacher talked about mine is yours, yours is mine, and all that 1+1=1 stuff. Yeah, your spouse is going to feel this too. If you let this go on for too long, then you'll start to see it in the kids too. If you're single, well, do you really need to complicate your relationships further? Do you find it too easy to meet someone new? Yeah, I didn't think so. How cordial and attractive do you think you'll be if you are spending 8+ hours per day in work hell? Do it for the sake of your family.
• Spirit - You don't have to be religious to appreciate this one. Some employers and managers are working overtime to break your spirit, to crush your hope. Maybe they don't want you to leave, but they just want you to fall in line. No one should feel hopeless or trapped at work. For those who are Christians, how do you think this will affect you walk with Christ? How will this affect you ability to be a good steward of your time, talent and treasure? Ponder those for a bit and consider the spiritual side of choosing to stay in this position. Would the Lord want to see you like this? Do it for your spirit.
• Career - After getting out of what will hopefully be the worst job of my career, I can remember thinking, "what a waste". And it really was a waste of my time and skills. They didn't deserve or appreciate any of the good I had done, or any of the business they had because of me and my skills. I'm not being boastful. I have unique skill sets they despite their best efforts, they were unable to replicate in other employees. And clients valued those skills. I know they lost business, as it was a former client who I eventually went to work for. How much of my life, skills, energy and passion did I waste on those ingrates? It's probably not worth pondering beyond that. In the end, what was important was that I was out, and I could finally think about advancing my career, improving my skills and being appreciated. Otherwise, my career was going nowhere. Do it for your career.
• Time - What is your time worth to you? Sometimes it's just spending too much time in a commute. Some employers respect your time outside of work, while others choose to piss all over it - they own you, or so they think. I once worked as a temp at a job that required employees to work 54 hours per week - a full work week with 14 hours of mandatory overtime. We were compensated for it appropriately. I can recall discussing this with my father, and how they wanted me to sign on as a full employee. I'll never forget his advice. "There are jobs where you don't have to do that". He was dead right. If fact, most don't require that. The pay was good, heck, for my age and experience, it was great pay, but the time was killing me. Up at ten after four every morning, home after five, and back in bed around 8pm. Those three hours were all mine.... Ug. Do it to get your time back.
  
• Financial - Money isn't everything. Staying in a bad job, because the pay or benefits are good, is no excuse. Benefits change, and the pay may be good now. What about when the bonuses dry up and the raises are less than inflation. Besides, is it worth it? Is it worth doing something you hate, working for someone you detest, or taking their abuse just to have a few more coins in your pocket? Your job was good, but when the company reorganizes and decides that you are going to be traveling 3 weeks out of every month as opposed to 3 weeks out of every year, then what? Are you going to stay out of loyalty? Because of the money and the promise that "this is temporary" and "we'll take care of you" or "we'll make this right". Yeah, right. You can lose years this way. Years of financial uncertainty because you are waiting on them to get their act together, and "take care of you". Get your act together. Do it to retake control of your finances.
  

• Family - First, talk to you spouse about this. You've likely expressed your displeasure before, but let him/her know that it's time - You're ready to jump ship. Make sure that you both understand what this will mean for you both and what your plans are going forward. As with any family or money decision, the two of you need to be on the same page about this. Maybe you're overreacting. Maybe not. Talk to your spouse.
• Plans - Have a plan! If you are jumping ship, what are you jumping to? Another ship? Your own ship? Enough with the analogy, what are you going to do? Time to get after those job leads and start pressing the flesh. Don't overlook the freelance/self-employment option, but know what you are getting into. Also, there is nothing wrong with not working outside the home. Stay-at-home moms and dads provide a valuable service to their families and should not be looked down upon - do you know what it would cost to pay someone to do what they do? Maybe a break from the ol' rat race is just what you need. The point is - have a plan.
  
• Money - You'll still need some of this, so you can't both be stay-at-home parents, as great as that sounds. Take an evening or two and rework your budget based on your impending income changes. Can you make it on one income? Can you make it on less than you are making now? Keep in mind that a reduced income will likely mean a reduced out-go. Meaning what? You'll likely have to cut your lifestyle. Maybe you already live well enough below your means to absorb this, but you would be a minority in America. If you don't have a budget, then there is no better time or reason to start one. I will always credit our family budget as the reason why we didn't fall into financial ruin during my employment woes.

Like many Americans, we've been through some health insurance woes. And for every bad experience we've had, we've probably heard another 10 horror stories from friends and family. Its a mess. I've never claimed to be an insurance expert. But who is? I always thought that having insurance meant that they'd pay for your claims, or at least a portion. I don't know why I thought that. Doesn't other insurance work that way?

Who's Really Footing the Bill?
Think the insurance company picks up the tab for your health care claims? Think again.
You and XYZ Corp pay directly for your healthcare. Both your premiums and XYZ Corp's contributions pay for XYZ Corp's claim expenses. Our healthcare plan partners provide discounted provider networks and process our claims.
That means you can positively impact your pocketbook and the company's financial strength simply by carefully watching how you spend your healthcare dollars.So when you need healthcare services, think before you spend. Buy only what you really need. Make decisions like it's your money. After all, it really is!