Crunching Numbers

Logic doesn't have anything to do with the panic I am feeling tight now. Just found out Gerd's potential unemployment payout amount, and fear has taken over all rational thought. Now, I KNOW we are okay. We have savings that would supplement unemployment. Gerd is generally pretty employable (I believe anyway). We have a severance package, and a tax refund coming to us (someday soon I hope). But none of that helps me when I realize Gerd's income would drop to 1/4th what his current earnings are. 

What we could pay for using unemployment benefits:

Our mortgage and utilities

Health Insurance

Reduced transportation and gas costs (because I still need to get to work!)

Which is all the good news. 

What we couldn't afford 

Car payment

Life insurance

FOOD (not above because the $150 for gas and transportation wouldn't be sufficient for a family of 4 for a month)

Preschool tuition

Charity

Doctor's copayments or my mental health appointments

Car insurance

Kids supplies or activities

Spending money

Any vet bills or savings for eventual vet bills

Among many other luxuries. 

Now, we do have savings, which means we can get by for a while supplementing with what we have (if we even run past the severance package pay period) but I cannot imagine what we would do (or what others do) if they don't have savings. 

It makes me want to restructure our lives so we could live on less...but realistically the only way we could do that would involve me working more, or us moving into a much less comfortable neighborhood, or both. 

So I'm trying to be extremely grateful we are as well prepared for this as we can be. And I'm praying for a good job for Gerd. And I'm trying to just breath right now.