My Life Before My Job Was Moved Out Of The Country

For almost five years my husband and I had it made. With an income of $60.000.00 a year we led a great lifestyle. We both worked in a small factory on the evening shift. We enjoyed working together- it gave us something in common. At home we could discuss our work and know what the other person was talking about. If the shift had been a bad one we could sympathize with each other. We took our breaks and our lunch together and often worked on the same lines together. The shop seemed to be growing and expanding on a regular basis and a false sense of security crept into our lives. We often joked about the fact that the parts we made were for "American made" cars, yet they were shipped to Mexico for further assembly and then shipped back to the United States for final assembly-we had no idea that someday the joke would be on us!

During the summer we would take a week long vacation and go fishing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was only a four hour drive from home but we usually made it last longer than that. We would stop to eat and then play at a casino for a bit- we had no special time limit- we had no time clock to punch for 7 whole days! This was our time to relax and enjoy no matter what the cost. After all our jobs were secure and the company was growing. My husband had a 401K so we figured we were set and would be ready by the time we retired.

Summer was also a time for camping and we started a family camping trip. The first year it was just my husband and I and my daughter, her husband and their kids. We went for a weekend and spent the entire Saturday at a theme park called Michigan Adventure. My husband and I paid for the whole thing- it was worth it believe me! The next year we had 17 members come along for the trip- again we paid for everything except the tickets for the theme park. We had so much fun and took tons of pictures so we could always remember it. The third year(and unfortunately the last year) we had 27 people attend. It was just too cool to believe! My husband and I got to the campgrounds a day earlier to get things ready for the group. The night they arrived he had cooked brats in a beer bath-80 of them! Everyone chipped in what they could and somehow my husband and I still spent close to $1000.00 on that trip! Like I said we had a great lifestyle- who would ever guess that our income would drop to a mere $750.00 a month?