By Carla

It’s been six months now since Heather,  Katy and I started telling the world every last little detail (sort of) about our financial “realities” and how the recession was impacting our day to day lives and we figured it was the perfect time for a little makeover. After all, what girl doesn’t like to switch things up from time to time? Plus, we have seen more than 37,000 hits and we wanted to freshen this up for you. So, goodbye dancing green girl with your floppy midsection and hello to a fresh and (hopefully) easier to navigate website. And check out those super hot mamas on top. Huge thanks to Mei Chi for her amazing work on our new look and to my husband (who will not want to be thanked, but will be nonetheless) for his crazy computer skills. 

Be sure to make a note of our new website address, too. We are now Recessionmamas.com.

We thank you for reading and following us along our different journeys and we invite you to come back over and over again!

I’ve lived this recession over and over since 2003. OK you’re asking yourself…2003? Wasn’t that when the economy was still strong? How in the world could I have lived this recession already? Well, I’ve been out of a job 11 times in a span of five years! Let me explain. I get paid to be a television producer in Los Angeles. Most of the time, I work freelance gigs, which means I’m working two to three months on a project and then moving on. Sometimes, the production company or television network will pay to give me benefits, and I’m considered “full-time” or “staff” but that never guarantees I’ll have a job for any specific amount of time. The show I’m working on could get canceled or not get “picked up” for another season. So for anyone who’s ever been laid off even once, I get it! I’ve seen the same look of pity amongst my friends and family for 5 years now! Every couple of months, when a show ends, all I hear is…”Oh, no! You’re out of a job again?!” I know that sense of uncertainty, wondering if I’ll ever work again?! But when I land another gig in a week or two, I know I’ll hear people either say, “Congratulations!” or that all too familiar look that tells me, “Welcome back. You’re one of us again.”

I was supposed to have my hair done at my fancy Dallas salon just before Christmas, 2008. In fact, my appointment was for 10:30 the morning of December 12, 2008. Cut, color, style, the whole mess. I would drop about $200 including tip that morning. But the universe had other plans for me that day. I was called into the office (a major radio chain) for a 10:00am meeting on the last day of my maternity leave with Dean, my 2nd son. My highlights would have to wait. My “position had been eliminated”. I had just been laid off. And just like that, in the snap of a finger, my life was sent spinning. Everything was up in the air. And since no one is exactly handing out radio news anchor jobs right now, for the first time in my life, I’ve joined the ranks of the unemployed, just like millions of other hard-working Americans.

I’m Carla Marion, wife and mom to 2 super cool baby boys. I’ve never had to budget or save money a day in my life. Until now, that is. And boy what a learning experience this has been so far! (Coupons, seriously…? And I have to cook my own meals now? Lovely)

I will, at times, be brutally honest about this new journey … but most times I try to laugh about it all. So join me on my penny pinching adventure as my family and I learn how to make do with the money we do have.

Hey mamas! It’s Heather B.  I KNOW what it’s like to be broke and on the job search. And once you’ve been broke you never forget. I’ve lived through layoffs, job searches and dead end jobs. I’ve sold my plasma for money (not a TV honey… the stuff in your blood). I also survived an entire summer on Ramen noodles. (They were 10 cents a pack!) And I drove a junkyard car for four years. The speedometer clocked over 200-thousand miles and the driver’s seat was propped up with a cardboard box. So I TOTALLY get it!! Life has handed you a crap sandwich and forced you to take a big bite. But don’t panic mamas. Champagne days are ahead. As my great-grandfather liked to quote from the bible “This too shall pass.” Let’s just hope this recession blows by faster than a soccer mom with a lead foot. Until then, feel free to whine, cry and moan. I’ll listen.