Editor's Note: This is the second in a weeklong Times' "Stretched Thin" series looking at how the weakened economy has affected business and daily life in Green County.

ALBANY - When the door at Ogden Manufacturing closed last year, Tina Moulton, Albany, and Deb Schultz, Brodhead, found themselves without jobs.

Moulton, 50, worked for the company for 13 years, while Schultz, 54, worked there for nine years. They were two of about 115 people put out of work.

They find themselves struggling to find a job and to makes ends meet, but they also find themselves angry at the company.

"We trained the people who took our jobs away," Schultz said.

Mouton went to Mexico last year to train people how to do her job. She said the company told her the jobs wouldn't leave Albany and wouldn't go to Mexico. By the end of the year, however, that's where her job went.

It's hard for Moulton to accept the fact she's no longer working.

"I thought I'd be there until I retired," she said, sitting at her kitchen table with Schultz. "They told us we were making a profit. Then they went to Mexico to find cheaper labor."

"It's so unfair," Schultz added. "They're taking advantage of the people down there."

Moulton, who went to Blackhawk Technical College to learn how to weld, has never been laid off, she said.

"I never thought of losing my job," she said. "I cried. I was devastated."

Many of their co-workers were emotional when they received word that the company would close.

"I was so mad," Schultz said. "It felt like we were thrown away like garbage."

Schultz woke up at her usual time, 4 a.m., the first day she was off work, she said.

Both women went through times of depression and anger, but they realized it wouldn't do them any good to stay angry or discouraged.

"You can't just stay in your house and be depressed," Schultz said. "It helps to vent. Eventually you just say enough is enough and you move on."

They lean on each other for emotional support to get them through the tough times, the times when they worry most about the future. They help each other with ideas to save money and ways to make their money last longer.

They both had money saved, but that can only last so long, they said. Without full-time jobs the two women have made cuts in living expenses.

Schultz's husband still works, so there is some income. Moulton, who is single, has to rely on her unemployment checks and has made as many cuts as she can in her living expenses.

"I'm willing to make sacrifices," she said.

She pays the utilities, mortgage, insurance and taxes from her unemployment checks and then makes due with what she has left. Her kids bring over food once in a while to help her out.

It's hard for her to ask anyone for assistance. She's been able to get by and pay her bills without anyone's help, she said.

Schultz and Moulton shop for groceries where they can get the most for their money.

"You learn to economize," Schultz said. "You figure out ways to make your meals go farther."

Being frugal only goes so far, however.

"You don't sleep well when you think about the bills," Schultz said.

"Sometimes it's hard to sleep at all," Mouton added.

Both women want to get back into the workforce, they said, a place they've been their entire lives.

"I'm constantly putting the word out that I'm looking for work," Mouton said. "I try to talk my way into jobs when I go out to look for work but there aren't many places that are hiring right now.

"I go to two or three places a week (to apply for jobs) but I'm running out of places to go. I've had one interview since I got laid off.

"It takes away your pride," she said.