A Game of What If (Including My First Ever Shout Outs)

What if iamtheworkingpoor.blogspot.com did not exist as a blog? What it it was a community resource center instead? What would you see at The Working Poor Resource Center?

First of all there would be a building with several rooms for all the many subjects or uses. There would be meetings, classes, childcare for those attending, and help available for those facing severe poverty, others climbing their way out of debt, and newly poor people unsure of how to make ends meet.

I would invite people like Connie to teach a few basic cooking classes so people wouldn't feel the need to eat out so often on a small budget. When they had a few cooking skills under their belt I would introduce them to The 99 Cent Chef so they could search for new recipes to suit their tastes and budgets.

When they expressed a need to tame their spending and craft a budget I would introduce them to Monroe on a Budget for all sorts of tips. If they were stuck on spending and collecting more stuff and couldn't even fathom another way of life I would send them here for a valuable lesson.

If they were feeling deprived while trying to get their budget under control and save I would call upon Adam at The Magical Penny to give them a pep-talk.

When they were ready and had saved some cash and were healing financially speaking I would send them here, and here for lessons on how to start investing for the future.

There are many more people out their doing wonderful things on the Internet. This is by no means a complete list. I have wanted a chance to introduce readers to some of the blogs I have enjoyed. I don't follow or Facebook or anything of that nature because as I said it would just make me feel guilty for not keeping up with it all. I am out there reading and I've enjoyed making these introductions tonight so it's a feature I may use again. Life may be difficult at this time but remember to have fun out there!

Splendiforous Giveawayapalooza!

As you all know by now, today is my one year blogging anniversary. I wrote a brief post last night but feel I need to do something else to commemorate the occasion. I realize I have a small site, without a great deal of traffic yet I still want to try a giveaway. Please help spread the word. Nothing fancy here, as I am still a techno-moron. I will put every ones name into a hat and have my husband draw a winners name. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post.

The prizes: "Miserly Moms, Living on One Income in a Two Income Economy" and "Frugal Families, Making the Most of Your Hard Earned Money" by Jonni McCoy, and "Debt Proof Living, the Complete Guide to Living Financially Free" and "Debt Proof Your Marriage" by Mary Hunt. All are used books but the spines are in excellent shape, so they still seem practically new. They would be an excellent start to a frugal hints collection to help a recovering spendthrift change their outlook, or for a young couple just starting out.

As I said I am a techno-moron, I don't Facebook, or Myspace, or Tweet, and I don't even own a cell phone. It took me almost a year to figure out how to make a link to another site on my blog. My kids have to set up any electronic crap around the house. It's embarrassing really, however, work takes a lot out of me and I have a tremendous amount of work to do at home with Chloe's medical care among other things. If I did Tweet and Facebook and Youtube and all of those modern things it would just create more things that I could feel guilty about. I feel bad enough when I miss several days on my blog, I would be just a complete mess if I had other electronic obligations. How do you more connected bloggers manage it all?

Back on topic, do you want to win four books? Just leave a comment here. Want to help a sad technically challenged blogger not be embarrassed when there are only two entries for her contest? Send your friends here so they can have a chance to win as well. Come back Saturday, November 6th to see who won.

Thank you all for reading, and joining me on this journey. It has been quite a year. I'm not sure if I have accomplished any of my goals from the first post long ago, but I do know I am working towards some changes. Things are getting steadily better, and anything I learn along the way I will share with you.

One Year of Working Poor

Hey everyone, it's my one year blogging anniversary. If you haven't read the very first post feel free to follow the link and have a peek.

10-29-2009 A look Back

I've enjoyed the community I've found here, the feedback from readers, and the lessons learned from other bloggers. Still not sure what I expect from the whole thing, but I do plan to continue and hopefully get better as I go along.

This anniversary post is much shorter than what I had planned but I closed tonight and open tomorrow. I am feeling old, tired, and completely worn out so sleep will take precedence over writing. There will always be other nights. Have a great week-end out there!

Mindful Spending

I had a post in mind and I was ready to write this morning. First I visited Donna Freedman's blog Surviving and Thriving and what she wrote made me forget all about my plans. She wrote about being frugal on purpose so that you could spend on those few items that are really important to you when you are able. She wrote about cherries but I was thinking about my purses.

Choosing What and Whether to Buy

I have been poor to various degrees all my life. Frugal living has been a necessity not a conscious decision. When the children were little, everything was about them. I was just the mom. I spent very little on myself. I would buy a cheap black pocketbook because it would go with anything. I would spend no more that ten dollars and keep it until the straps broke and it fell apart at which time I would venture into a department store and purchase another ten dollar black purse.

Near the time of the empty nest I decided that I was worth a few extra purchases and I was really tired of the one black purse. I went online and found a nice green purse (my favorite color, how did you guess) and spent gulp twenty four dollars. A few months later I was shopping for work clothes and shoes. Yes, I was using a credit card because it was an emergency need, but I paid it off in three months. As I was walking quickly through the store just getting what I needed I came to a halt in front of the expensive purse display. They were on sale 60% off but still, remember I never used to spend more than ten dollars.

With the discounts the purse I fell in love with was still over fifty dollars. I walked around with it, sure that I would feel silly about spending that much on a second green purse. I wasn't a label fiend either and this had the designers name right on it, which I usually hate. However, the color was beautiful and shiny, the design was unique. I felt like I had one of Monet's water lilies on my arm. I made the purchase thinking I was buying a quality item I would have for a long time. Surely it would last much longer than those ten dollar purses of long ago.

The edges of the corners and zipper pulls peeled and the lining ripped within three months. Meanwhile I use my twenty four dollar Internet bag every day and it still looks new. I can't imagine buying a $3000.00 bag. I feel bad enough over $50.00.

"All That We See or Seem is but a Dream Within a Dream" Edgar Allan Poe

I think my subconscious was trying to teach me a lesson the other day. At work I went to the break room for my lunch. A brief word about our break room and then I'll continue. Our break room is about the size of a walk-in closet, it is filthy and ant infested, and they shove spare furnishings and shelf fixtures in there so we have even less room. There is no sink to wash our hands and we are not allowed a refrigerator to keep our food in because they say corporate said if we had one it would encourage theft. We are however allowed one old microwave and we also have a bulletin board with a notice warning us to never attempt to gather and form a union.

Now back to the story, I entered the break room and it was already crowded with a few people from other departments. I took a seat and pulled my book and my sandwich out of my bag and proceeded to grumble silently in my head as they continued with their loud conversations. Usually I look forward to as quiet a break as possible to unwind a bit from the sales floor with the constant beeping of the machines, the piped in music, and the cacophony of conversation. I ignored them as best as possible and read a bit of my book. There was one woman who spoke loudly and excitedly about her life and two others kept asking her questions. I ate my lunch quietly and then left, end of story or so I thought.

The next morning I woke from a dream. In this dream the woman I sat near during lunch and I shared a ride to a class our company was sponsoring. We drove in her SUV to an elementary school in the evening. They had rented rooms after hours at the school to hold their classes. We left the class (I can't remember what it was about.) and we were driving home when it started to snow and we had to go very slow. That's about it, I woke up and wondered why I had that very odd dream. I thought about it all day. I hate having work dreams, because the work I do now isn't particularly pleasant but it brings in a much needed paycheck. I go to work collect my pay and come home and don't like to think of work all the time. It bothers me a bit when it invades my dreams.

A day later I figured the dream actually had meaning. I was ignoring my fellow humans at lunch and seeking my solitude in a book. I should have joined in and reached out instead of always being so reclusive. What about you? Has your subconscious ever taught you a lesson?

Dispatches from the Land of Negativity

Working with the public is always an adventure. You never know what the attitude of the day will be. Large corporations usually work hard to please all of their customers to keep a steady customer base. Some companies become overzealous in trying to make all customers happy at any cost. I work for an overzealous company.

Remember this slogan, "The Customer is Always Right?" That is an untrue sentence. It cannot be at all times. Yes, products are shelved wrong, tags are missing, or something is damaged. Mistakes are made, everyday and several times. However, there are also cranky people with personality disorders who come in looking for a fight. They shout, spit, and throw things. Some feel that every store clerk is out to cheat them. Some want every rule bent just for them. They will swear that everyone else allows them to use a starter check, or that the other clerk took a Dannon coupon for a Yoplait product.

Some workplaces are incredibly positive. Management is polite, workers are encouraged and all is right in the world. Other places can be a tad on the negative side. When walking down the hall to the time clock at my workplace there are several bulletin boards. One side of the time clock has notices and reminders. "You must fill out this form correctly or else." "You must be in proper dress code at all times, or face termination." "Discussing pay rates with other employees is an automatic termination." "This is how our store is ranked according to our customer surveys. You must do better or we will hire new workers to replace you." On the other side of the time clock is a chart showing cashiering scan times among other things. They list the bottom performers here with their names. On the opposite wall is a bulletin board with a sign above it that says "Wall of Shame." On this they place mistakes cashiers have made with their name. They also have a list hanging next to this with workers names on it that says "Top Offenders." This list is for people that make more than one mistake.

There was an incident recently where an employee was almost terminated. A young employee noticed his name at the top, right under "The Wall of Shame" header. It amused him so he snapped a picture of it and posted it on his Facebook page. The office manager snooped about and saw it online, called corporate, hauled him into the office and made him remove remove the photo. He said corporate wanted him fired immediately but the manager said other than this he was a good worker and she wanted to give him another chance.

This company is striving to please every customer and build a loyal fan base. They make use of those surveys attached to random receipts. After shopping a customer can call in rate their service and then leave feedback on a machine. Some people call in with genuine compliments, and occasional complaints. Others just rant about some random weirdness. Of course corporate takes everything seriously. There is another list that makes it to the wall occasionally that is titled "It Had Better Not be Happening Here!" This list is the details of customers complaints. Several people have called to complain they were turned away from a ten item or less lane. Another complained that someone refused to take his four dollars in loose pennies. One complained that the air conditioner was too cold.

Working here makes me feel as if I am taking part in that old fable about the old man and his son taking the donkey to market. People complained the old man was walking while the young boy rode the donkey so they switched. Then others complained so he made his son walk. At one point he carried the donkey. The moral was you can't please everyone at the same time. When will this company realize this, make some rules and stick to them. As it stands now, the place is teeming with negativity. So many changes need to be made. As I put that uniform on I feel a cloak of dread wrapping about me. It doesn't need to be that way, but that is their corporate culture.

Hey big companies, treat your employees well. You know the ones your customers see every day, the ones that help you bring in lots of money. Make a positive environment for them, train them well, and don't let a few unruly customers mistreat them. Your sales will go up and you may be able to keep some of your workers longer. Just a thought. You can make a positive change or keep carrying your donkey as usual. Your choice.

Where Has She Been?

Working, and cooking, and catering to a demanding dog, that's it. I've worked several odd shifts and after chores about the house just haven't had enough energy to post. Finally, tonight as beans boil in a pot, and a homemade apple pie bakes in the oven I feel I can spend a few moments catching up. I always feel so guilty when I am away for long periods, but I realize I do need sleep and sanity.

There is cause for celebration in the working poor household. This month I made the final payment to Lowe's for our washer/dryer. If you need an appliance I highly recommend going to a store like this when there is a six or twelve month no interest special. The prices are much better than those rent to own places and if you pay enough each month there is no interest. It's well worth it not to cut into your savings, if you have any left, and not having to pay a credit card company extra fees.

Speaking of rent to own stores...have you done the math? Next time you get one of their flyer's in your mailbox notice what products they offer, and multiply those payment amounts by the number of payments. Look for similar products in a department store. The price once all the payments have been made is sometimes as much as twice what the product sells for elsewhere. In my opinion they take advantage of the poor and ill-informed.

That's it for my brief update and rant. I may be on a more even schedule this week and back on track.