Name: Marcus Powell
Age: 30
Location: Chicago, Ill.
Dilemma: Adjust to shrinking work hours

Last January, my architecture firm cut my hours to three days a week, which meant I lost 40 percent of my salary, too. My first objective was to see how long I could make it on that much less. What luxuries should I cut? How do I stretch things as far as I can? I realized that if I discontinued my cable TV and Internet, put my student loans in forbearance, and stopped all payments to my 401(k) and savings, I made just enough to squeak by each month.

Once I exhausted my cost-cutting options, I looked for other paying gigs. Because architecture firms were laying people off across the board, I needed unconventional solutions. For a few months I looked after a friend's 15-month-old daughter on my days off — actually a welcome change from the office environment.

But when work cut me to two days a week, I had no where else to trim. After a conversation with my mother about designing a deck in her backyard, I asked if she would support me to quit my job and build that deck. At 30 years old, I feel ashamed to request money from my parents, but I felt good about offering my services and working for it. She welcomed me back to Houston with open arms — and an open wallet. She offered me $2,500 (more than I needed) to cover a month's worth of living expenses, including cell phone, utilities, credit card payment, and rent; she paid $1,500 for the materials to build the deck, too. It was less than she would have paid hiring an outside contractor, so I like to think we both got a deal.

So I headed home, designed and built mom's deck and recharged for a month. I worked on my resume in a relaxed atmosphere away from the stress and pressures of life in Chicago; I worked on portfolio projects that had been on the back burner too long. Now that I'm back in Chicago, I start a new architecture position soon. I definitely owe my parents a few fancy dinners.

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