Sick Day

Going to work sick is a normal part of my life as it is for many of the working poor. When there is no health insurance or sick pay, you just keep going. Last week I kept going but it got too bad when I caught the flu or a cold or whatever it was. I had to call out one day.

This week I received a check for $199.00 and I needed to deposit $196.00 in the bank so I would have the $575.00 needed for rent. Now I'm paying for having that one sick day. I'm not asking for pity, I do have some savings I can turn to in an emergency, and all my other bills are paid for now. It's just a huge nuisance to have three dollars til payday.

My optimism has gone out the window here lately. There was a restaurant hiring and I was sure my husband would be hired with his experience. We weren't expecting one awkward interview over the phone and a negative response. So it looks as if we are sticking with these part time jobs for now, and just scraping by.

Every time I am feeling under the weather and think of calling out I add up the hours of the day in question and multiply them by my hourly wage. I imagine I am picking up my check and it is forty or sixty dollars short. I then figure up how many bills will be due to see if I can afford to be sick. This time I felt horrible. There was no figuring involved.

A Glimmer of Better Times?

My husband has been discouraged every week when he looks in the paper to find less than five jobs. Even the fast food jobs that people say are always available are not there. They have a staff already, and believe it or not, they rarely hire in our area. You see the same faces for a long time. People are not able to job hop as they once could.

He drove two counties away to apply for what was advertised as warehouse and sales positions. It ended up being a small building with a few freezers for those people that sell meat out of a truck. They wanted to hire everyone that showed up. We have no idea what these guys are paid, but it just seemed to risky. Who buys meat off the back of a truck anyway?

Yesterday, he applied at a job not too far from home, and with his telemarketing experience he was hired immediately. It may work and it may not, so without quitting the other job he's going to try it out. The job is as an appointment setter for an air conditioning company and it is commission only. I figure, it's Florida where air conditioning is a necessity and he is good at phone sales so.....We are hoping to at the least bring in a little extra income. We need it so badly right now.

Bills are paid but there is no breathing room. We've also managed to keep Chloe in food and insulin without dragging out the credit card. However, this morning she is worrying me. She always eats, and has been as healthy as possible for quite a while now. This morning she refused breakfast. She was able to go on her walk although she moaned a lot. I gave her some apple in case her blood sugar had dropped, something that regularly happens in the morning. She usually eats right away after her treat. She didn't. We will take her to the vet if she hasn't improved by tomorrow morning. She's eating lunch now and that's a good sign.

We are employed when many are not. We have a place to live and food to eat when many go without. Our survival skills are strong and life will improve. Perhaps we'll even have healthcare one day. Here's wishing everyone out there health, happiness, and future prosperity.

How Much is Enough?

During my virtual stroll the other day I came upon a post by Len Penzo that has stuck in my mind. I tried to create a link here, but my skills are lacking and I'm running out of time before I have to go to work. Please forgive me. You'll just have to go to lenpenzo.com and read the original titled "If you can't live on $40,000 per year it's your own fault."

This article had me pondering the many levels of poverty in our world. What may be unbearable poverty to one may be living well to another. I am one of the working poor. While my living conditions would not be ideal to many, I am surviving. I see others on the same wages struggling in much worse conditions than mine. On the other side, it would be horrifying for many people making above $100,000 to survive on what I make per year.

Surely, I do have empathy for the struggle of the newly poor this economy has created. I know what it is to be on a tightened budget. I must admit, I don't fully understand the people who refuse to be anything but their former job title, turning down work they feel is beneath them. This thinking reminds me of the few Wife Swap shows I saw where they traded a wealthy, shop every day woman for a woman who worked low paying jobs or ran a family farm. That was culture shock for them.

For those of us with open minds, those that can picture ourselves in other situations and wonder "What would it be like if....?" I have a question for you. How much do you need to just scrape by? And, what is your magic number, the salary that would leave you comfortable and set and make you feel as if you had truly made it?

When the Going Gets Tough...

We are in crisis mode at the working poor household. It's the lean season when the snowbirds are gone and business slows. When the corporations start bringing in less money they get onto their store managers to cut payroll, schedule less and send people home early when it is slow.

My hours are fewer than usual but I haven't worried because my husband has always had a pretty steady schedule and paycheck. This year we are both feeling the pinch. He was working six days a week and averaging around 42 hours. It was enough. We were surviving.

A few weeks ago the schedule changed. Two shifts were taken away and he had two days off instead of one. He was worried when he only had 34 hours but I assured him I could tighten up the budget. I was also sort of happy that he had two days off instead of one. We started tackling chores around the house together and even walked on the beach one day.

A few days ago the new schedule came out. He is down to 24 hours. My hours are down to 24 to 32 at this time. It is not going to be a fun little challenge. In fact it is costing us more. I'm sure the stress contributed to my husbands sleepless nights and sore back muscle. He went to the doctor to make sure it wasn't something more serious. Without insurance and without enough hours to cover frivolous things like health care it meant a trip out for the credit card. He also needed medicine which (you guessed it) went on the credit card. Here I was all set to be debt free in three more months. It's always something.

Here I Go Again

I wrote a silly post with an even sillier title about a vacation and then I disappeared. I'm certainly not keeping up with this blog on a daily basis as I envisioned when I started. I have every intention of daily posts and wonderful ideas. Life gets in the way.

I'd love to tell you I've been away on a fabulous vacation but that certainly isn't the truth. The truth is I've been working extra hours and when a spare moment presents itself I've been very busy decluttering my home. While nowhere near a hoarder, I still have a great amount of stuff that's taking up way too much space in my home and in my life. I hope to have it cleared up soon. What doesn't sell in a yard sale will be donated to charity. We moved from a four bedroom home to a three and now to a two but have carried most of the stuff with us. Why? I couldn't tell you.

It's dreadful that I do this but when I'm planning future changes such as a move I live in a state of limbo. I daydream about where I will live or work. I save all the money I can and plan no short trips in the meantime. I just want to move on with my life and get to the next spot so bad. It isn't happening fast enough. The most frustrating aspect of my wait is there is no sign of a recovering economy in my area. Everything is at a standstill.

I manage to make ends meet, but barely. I feel as if I've worked so hard this past year. I've given it my all, gone in almost every time I was called, have always been courteous professional and fast. I've done it all yet when my W2 came back I realized I only earned $11,000 for an entire year of my life and energy. I made three times that when I worked retail management, which required the same amount of energy and only a few more hours, although there is no overtime here.

Wow. This discovery made me blue and then made me realize I need to do this move as swiftly as possible. So I will be squeezing the budget as tightly as possible. Savings must build up quickly because I don't want to live in limbo anymore. I want to enjoy my life.