Thank you for your words of encouragement.

I always thought the same thing to. I always blame myself for some reason. And I to have also realized that DH & I are not the only ones in this same situation. It is just really hard, when we have just recently got custoday of SD15 and now all this happens. And thank you ME.

DPW....your suggestions are fine. But DH doesn't even have the money for gas to get to his job that he already has.Plus I have tried the cleaning thing through an agency several months back and due to an injury from a former job, I am unable to do the work. So thank you for the suggestions. As far as the babysitting thing, we are new to the area and don't know anyone and I'm sure due to that no one is gonna trust leaving there kids with me.

We're really not holding out for the job he would "like" to have...it is just that no one is hiring. And as I explained to DPW, we are new to the area and no one knows us and I doubt that they would trust leaving their children with me. My DH is a truck driver....and yes we have considered the OTR thing, but we have been that route before about 5 years ago and it almost destroyed our marriage. So OTR is totally out of the question, even just for a few months.

I think about going back to school all the time, but that causes another problem....no way to pay for it. And DH & I are not going to uproot our kids again to move. We have only been here for a little over a year. We don't feel like moving again. Because we can't afford to move for one and will not move back to where we use to live and admit defeat to my family. Which is a whole other topic about my family and why I can't go back there. And yes my parents are helping us a little, but only gets us food & a little gas money. Doesn't pay the bills.

Our kids are BS11 & SD15. SD15 keeps saying she wants to get a job, but when it comes time to go look....she doesn't go because if she would get a job then that messes up her summer visitation with BM. And SD15 says if she would get a job, the money would be for her to buy things...not help us out.

Yeah I know it could be worse and I think about that all the time...and I'm afraid it is going to get alot worse before it gets better. I am hoping to plant a garden this spring because it will help alot. Veggies & fruit is 2 things we can't keep in this house with our kids. I know in my heart that DH & I will make it through this and it will make us stronger....it is just dealing with the stress and depression right now to get through it. Thank you for your story & words of encouragement.

Thank you Selkie

Thanks for your suggestions, I will keep them in mind.

We have kind of already started to live like over the last year. In October of 08, I got a settlement for my injury at work. So we used it to pay off almost all of our debt but about $2K and used the rest to move. We only moved because DH had a better job offer. Well, we got here and the job fell through... so than began the search of a job. He had found a great job and things were going great. Well, due to the oil drilling in the US being cut by 40%, his job was in jeopardy. So he began the job search again and found his current job and quit the other one before they laid him off. Which when he put in his 2 week notice, they told him that they were glad that he found another job, because he was next to go. Well his current job started out great. We own both cars, no credit cards, and pay for everything with cash and if we don't have the money for it we don't buy it. Well things were going so good that when our landlord came to us and said "You have a choice to make...either go into an agreement of rent to own the place you are in or find another place to live." Of course we choose the rent to own because the payment was cheaper than our current rent payment, the area we live in has no other rental properties, and we couldn't get a mortgage because of DH's bankruptcy from his first marriage. Things continued to go great. We thought that for once we finally made the right choices in our life. Well, then in Oct. DH's job started going to shit. He would drive an hour one way to just sit there and not get any pay for it. If it wasn't for DH's parents giving us the $300 as our gift for Christmas....we were going to show our kids what Christmas is all about and not get them anything and take them to a soup kitchen to help serve others. But no, DH & I decided to use our gift to give our kids a great Christmas. Well, after we spent the money....his job really went to shit. He worked 3 days the weeks of Christmas & New Years and not at all last week. He was receiving unemployment, but that ran out today and he has filed for an extension...but we have to wait until they decide if they are going to give it to him. Plus to top it off, he called into work this morning and asked if there was work because he can't afford to keep driving 80 miles one way to just sit there and make no money. They told him that there was work. So he went. He gets there & there isn't any work. He sat there until noon today and did nothing and made nothing. So there was a waste of gas to go do nothing. He checked all the local newspapers & work force website and there is nothing listed that he is qualified to do. I hate the thought that it is going to end up with having to go back driving truck OTR. Which almost ruined our marriage once and in our current situation, I feel it would be the end. I am hoping that my appointment on Friday for assistance goes well. And that will be one less worry for us.

Thanks for the advice....I may have to try that.