State of the Economy

It is weird being a working adult, responsible financially for a family and living through a recession.
There are people in my immediate family who have been laid off, who are waiting to be laid off and whose hours are cut back at the places they work. I have a cousin who has been laid off, a friend who has been laid off, and there seems to be no end in sight.
I am grateful EVERY day that I have a job and that as far as I know it is a secure one. Having said that... we are currently going through a transition and we are leaving one institution and joining another. The pay dates don't match up and we are being changed from a bi-weekly paycheck to a monthly paycheck. The change for me will be quite dramatic as I have to adjust all kinds of payments to a new pay schedule. We get our last bi-weekly payment from our old employer today. At the end of the month I THOUGHT we got a paycheck for the entire month of July and so I was bracing myself to live one month on 1/2 a month's pay and then at the end of the month breathing a sigh of relief when the monthly payment came in. I only JUST figured out (with help of co-workers) that the pay at the end of July will only be for the first two weeks of July and so I have to go for the month of July and the month of August on 2 "1/2" month paychecks.
Ok, Suzie Orman. I get it. I needed to be better prepared for this.
This is a HUGE kick in the teeth though. ARG.
We will be living like the contestants on Big Brother and eating Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches! This sucks