| Resources |
If you are in search of more information on how to problem-solve in your career, home life or with retirement planning, here are resources available online.
» more |
| The UnStuck Experts |
The Columbian consulted a variety of experts while seeking advice on how to overcome obstacles in today's difficult economic climate.
» Learn who they are. |
| The UnStuck Blogs |
The rotten economy leaves few unscathed. In this blog, we will offer problem-solving tips and strategies for coping.
» See the suggestions |
|
| About this series |
We invited readers to tell us about the problems that left them feeling stuck in today's faltering economy.
After listening to roughly 75 stories, we picked four whose problems represent the same st ruggles facing many Southwest Washington families. We then paired these four readers with local experts who could see through the obstacles and share solutions grounded in today's realities.
|
| Stories |
|
UnStuck: A four-day series
Learning how to get past life's challenges
Skyrocketing gas and food prices. Slumping housing values. Tanking stocks. A grim job market. The economy's turbulence is jarring nearly everyone. For some, it has upended their lives.
Breaking into a chosen field
Day 1: What to do when a job is not fulfilling personal or career goals
Getting that first career break after graduating from college can be challenging under the best of circumstances.
Advice helped land desired job
Shortly after consulting with the job search experts, Missy Desgrosellier was hired as a marketing specialist for Northwest Ideal Properties, a Vancouver-based real estate company. The position involves compiling information packets about the company's projects and designing Web pages...
Rebuilding after divorce
Day 2: A newly single parent finds it tough to re-enter work force
The possibility of getting laid off never crossed Jennifer Fendley's mind. Her full-time job as a stay-at-home mom was a sure thing - then her marriage ended. Now at 33, Fendley is trying to ramp up a new life just as the economy is winding down. All at once she's trying to find work, save enough money to rent an apartment and figure out how to file for divorce. With all these life changes competing for her energy...
Coping with job loss
Day 3: Loss of breadwinner's job forces tough choices for large family
Settling into a new home is supposed to be a joyful process. In August, Jim and Joan Morton bought a house in Camas with enough room to accommodate their seven children: Joseph, 15; Peter, 14; Alex, 12; William, 10; Katie, 8; Patrick, 4; and John Paul, 9 months. A month later, Jim, a 45-year-old mechanical engineer, was laid off from his job at Integra Telecom Inc. in Portland. Suddenly the house with room for the family to grow was boxing them in. ...
Retiring on a shoestring
Day 4: A smaller nest egg can still make a retirement omelet
When Shirley Ashcraft turns 66 in June she wants to celebrate by retiring from her receptionist job. In the four years that she's worked for the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce she's socked away savings, but it's been too little too late. Ashcraft didn't plan it this way. It was divorce that pulled the financial safety net out from under her. ...
More Stories
July 22
Getting unstuck: There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but these penny-saving tips will help take a bite out of your expenses
Linda Caton of Vancouver goes so far to conserve money that she collects dust from the bottom of cereal boxes rather than spend a dollar or two on a container of bread crumbs. To her, today's excess canned-vegetable liquid is tomorrow's ...
July 20
Getting unstuck: 5 great places to visit on your next staycation
Surging energy costs have many Americans rethinking their summer travel plans. Fortunately, the Northwest is rich with beaches, parks, museums and other family-friendly attractions only a tank or two of gas away. These inexpensive trips provide an es ...
June 19
Getting unstuck: Single-income survival
Factoring in cooking, cleaning, chauffeuring and child rearing, a stay-at-home mom is worth $117,000 a year in unpaid wages. That's according to a 2008 report from Salary.com, a Waltham, Mass., compensation consulting company. It' ...
June 17
Getting unstuck: Embracing simplicity Getting unstuck: Embracing simplicity
At a time when many Americans are plotting out what they can buy with their economic-stimulus checks, the two dozen or so people who meet each week at the Camas Friends Church are figuring out how not to buy much of anything.
May 30
Unstuck: Vancouver woman has concocted winning recipe for sustainable living
Monique Dupre can feed her family of four on $65 a week. The 29-year-old stay-at-home mom doesn't chase sales or clip coupons. You won't find boxes of cereal, crackers or Hamburger Helper in the kitchen of her downtown Vancouver home. H ...
May 23
Unstuck: The dirt on starting a garden
Urban farming is spreading like zucchini plant. Proponents say it's a way to provide healthful food cheaply. "As we see oil prices and food costs rise, people are going to have to rely on their local community," said Kendr ...
|
|
