What Would You Change?

If you knew your husband (or you) was going to lose his job in a month or two, what would you change?

For most of the last two years, my husband has had a really great job, but not a lot of job security.  It was a great relief to me when we finished up the lease on the house we're renting, and went to month-to-month.  Not having a lease to pay out is a big blessing.

In the back of my mind has been the constant thought that at some point we'll finish up the grand adventure we've been having here in Boston and go "home".  Meaning back out in the West, closer to our parents, good donuts, and Mexican restaurants.

This affects nearly everything:
- Should I buy this?  I'm going to have to fit it into a moving truck.
- Should we find a house with lower rent?  Then we'll have a new 12 month lease.

- Should we laze around the house all weekend?  Better check the list of places we want to see/things we want to do while we still live here.

-  Should we buy plane tickets to visit our families this summer?  What if we don't live here this summer?

Twice during this time, we were fairly certain that he would be out of a job within two to three months.  At this point, you really begin to think hard about the money you spend.  Of course, every single time you spend a dollar, that is one less dollar that you will have later, to spend on something else.  We know this.  But that knowledge somehow becomes even clearer, when you are facing the prospect of not having more dollars come in to replace the ones you spent.

As potentially stressful as this situation can be, I count it as a blessing.  I feel comfortable describing myself as a fairly thrifty person, one who weighs the benefits vs the cost of things before she buys, one who has made and sticks to a budget.  But as a result of these times of relative financial uncertainty, I have been inspired to cut back a little where maybe we've become not as lean as we might be.  I have put more frivolous purchases right back on the shelf after picking them up.  I have "made do" with what was in my house, rather than buying.

And I believe we're better off for it.

What would you change?  And should you make that change now, anyway?

Kate