My husband was laid off a year ago. Today, we are better off financially than we were then. This is not a story of a get rich quick scheme, taking internet surveys, or doing direct sales. The only income he has had is unemployment.

How did we do it? We put ourselves on a budget. We powered through credit card debt, then the car payment (which was our biggest non-mortgage mortgage bill) to pay it off. I got my first raise in two years (despite earning an MBA in the interim), and now we can live on my salary alone.