shame and exasperation
I don’t even like having to say that I’m tired of waiting on my unemployment check. I sound like one of those people I never wanted to be. That I wasn’t raised to be. I take pride in having a job. I don’t take any in not having one. And what stings even more is that I can’t save. I don’t receive enough money to save. Here’s to hoping I find a new, more stable, job soon. Folks, this is the root of the economic crisis – I am one of over 5 million unemployed. Before that, I was one of untold numbers of under-employed. So I don’t buy stuff I would otherwise buy. It is so frustrating to see all these going out of business sales at the furniture stores – I just bought a home, and I would be a great candidate for being a customer of those sales. But since I’m not working (and before that, I was concerned about losing my job), I’m not buying. There goes some more retail revenue. When they talk about a lack of consumer confidence hurting the marketplace, they’re talking about me. My trip to Miami has been cancelled. My trip back to New Orleans (I was thinking about going to the jazz fest this time) is also dead. There goes hotel and airfare revenue. The wedding Mister Ant and I are saving for – well, now only he is saving for it right now – we won’t be buying rings, a venue, or catering to boost our jewelry or service economies any time soon. And I am not even buying little things, like cable TV, which is a luxury I told myself I could have when we moved, or the new haircut I said I wanted. The longer my unemployment lasts, the worse this will get. The more unemployed people we have, the fewer amount of people we’ll have who are willing to prop up the economy with spending, leading to more unemployment. I hope this scarily big stimulus package works. I hope I get a job before I exhaust my benefits. Do me a favor – if you’re working, save your money like I did when I was working. Then maybe you’ll feel confident enough to buy yourself something nice every once in a while. It might help more of us avoid unemployment.
kids are expensive
I was coming home from a friend’s house last night when I was rear ended. The driver behind me was struggling with his fourteen year old daughter over a cell phone. She had hit him and scratched him and had drawn blood. That’s why he hit me. I am fine. The car is fine, just a scratch on the bumper. I did go to the ER for an evaluation, and everything seems to be fine, just a little soreness that ice and ibuprofen can handle for me. But the girl was angry and suicidal. She crossed from the shoulder, across six lanes of traffic on the interstate, and vanished. The choppers with searchlights came looking for her and by the time I left the scene, over an hour later, she still hadn’t been found. Her dad has to pay for a broken cell phone, the traffic ticket, the higher insurance premiums, and ah… whatever treatment that girl is going to need, provided that they find her. I’ve been praying that she’s okay. It was cold outside last night. Her dad said she had six dollars in her pocket and no friends in the area. I’m hoping that when the troopers call me they tell me that they found her…
I haven’t called his insurance company. Something tells me this guy has enough problems. My insurance company would wind up having to pay for the ER, anyway. And so far as the car goes, it’s a scratch. On the bumper. But I’m still considering calling – something could be wrong with my car that I don’t know about, even though it got me to the hospital and home without any problems. How would I know? Anyone got any suggestions?
Update: The girl was found safe last night. And I did call both my insurance company and his.
sweet and sour
The dentist cost $80.00 for yesterday’s visit. I have to go back at least twice, for a grand total of $305.00. Not bad, I guess, for not having dental insurance. There are no major problems, just some deep cleaning and ah… ahem… a couple of fillings – surface fillings. I also had to pay for parking yesterday. Y’all know I don’t pay for parking, unless it’s absolutely unavoidable. Well, yesterday at the dentist it was unavoidable, so, there went another eleven dollars. One more thing – my goal was to have my will drafted by the end of this month, which is fast approaching. I haven’t even sat down to get started yet. I gotta get on the ball. Well anyway, that’s the sour.
Here’s the sweet: I got a check in the mail for over $700 additional pay out from the amended homeowners insurance claim. Yay! I was only expecting two or three hundred. That’s $700 less that I have to spend on the plumbing job, which is sitting on my Visa right now waiting to be paid off by the monthly due date. My goal is to keep my e-fund from dipping below $4000. I’m hoping that between my income and the insurance company checks, I will be able to meet that goal.
say ahh again
Now that the x-rays are done, I’m off for a real consultation and cleaning. Don’t know how much it’s going to cost. Gas bill for next month is here – it ain’t pretty. It won’t break me, either. But because of the gas bill and having to clean the plumbing job off the Visa, I’m glad the dentist is the only real expense I have between now and pay day, which is later this week. I am trying to pay off the plumbing job without using more from the e-fund… we’ll see how that goes.
lower overhead
Whatever it takes to feel a little better about not working right now…
I don’t have to pay for bus fare, lunch, or the cost of doing work laundry. I’m spending more time at home so there’s less chance of impulse buying (not that I was doing much before). There’s no replacing pantyhose. I’m really scraping the bottom of the barrel there – I can’t remember the last time I bought that. Plus, lunch is cheap. And work transportation would actually probably be tax deductible for me this year. Whatever. Lower overhead is my story, and I’m sticking to it. Every little bit helps!
good news
The legislation that they were considering that would have changed the First Time Homebuyers Credit for 2008 buyers didn’t make it into the stimulus bill. They will not treat buyers differently depending on when they bought during 2008. So although I still have to pay my credit (loan) back, I don’t have to be mad that people who bought in the first half of the year won’t have to. That would not have been fair. I’m still waiting for the money. I already have an account set up for it to sit in. Unfortunately, since no bank wants to pay great interest right now, I won’t get much interest for holding on to it. But something is better than nothing, and it will be nice to have a safety net for my existing safety net savings.
enjoying myself
Funny how when your daily routine is thrown out of whack, you find out what really matters to you. Apparently money doesn’t to me, especially since I paid all my bills into the middle of March already. I haven’t looked at this blog for a week. I haven’t balanced my checkbook or spent much money at all. I haven’t worried about money or thought about it much, really. I was paid my last check by direct deposit today – I didn’t even check my account to see how much it was yet. Wow. This must be what it’s like to be rich. You know, except for the not being employed or having a large savings part. LOL!
Anyway, today is a wonderful, wonderful day! It’s the first anniversary of my being completely, totally, credit card debt free! It’s a year later, and the only balance I have on my card is one that I will pay off at the end of the month. It feels wonderful! Go me! Go me! It’s my birthday! It’s my birthday! Hope you all are having fun reaching for and meeting your goals out there in blog land. I’m going to go back to my business. (Maybe it is about time I balanced my checkbook, after all.)
time is money
Every day I go without income costs me money that I would otherwise have made in that day. So since I’m paying for this time off, I’d better get my money’s worth. I’ve made a list of things I need to do in the coming days. Among them are things that will get money, including filing for unemployment insurance benefits and increasing my homeowners’ claim to cover unexpected expenses for the work on my bathroom. Then of course there’s the typical stuff – pounding the online sidewalk for work.
why i don’t have cable
Actually, I could title this post “Why I Don’t Go Shopping,” or “Why I Don’t Take Trips,” or simply, “Why I’m Cheap.” One of the reasons why I am frugal, besides the fact that I like saving and eliminating debt, is because my employment situation has been precarious for over a year now. They say the recession started back in December 2007. I totally agree with that, because that’s when I was suddenly laid off from my job. I rebounded into a contract position that was supposed to last for about four months. Luckily for me, over a year has passed and I’m still in that position. Unluckily for me, during that time, I’ve been looking for a job and haven’t found one. I’ve sent resumes, I’ve done interviews, I’ve networked, all in the hopes of leaving the contract position for a more stable direct-hire gig. For the better part of a year, I’ve had to live with the certainty that my income was tenuous – the job might last through the summer, it might last at the end of the month, it might last until the holidays, it might last another few weeks… It has taken a certain amount of patience and a willingness to roll with the punches and live in the moment to deal with all that uncertainty. Frankly, even when you’re counting on a direct-hire job, there is uncertainty, but a direct-hire job allows you the illusion of a steady income. A contract job gives you no such comfort.
Anyway, that doesn’t matter anymore, because this is my next-to-last day on the job. I’ve known the end of my contract was coming – either last Friday or sometime this week. That’s why all my bills were paid last week. That’s why I never had cable turned on in the house. That’s why I didn’t buy a new handbag and snow boots and lined leather gloves like I intended. I’ve been working with employment agencies, searching the ads, and sitting on top of my savings in anticipation of this very moment. I will file for unemployment, again, when I’m eligible. I’m fine, and if it’s all the same to you, I don’t want any condolences, ’cause I am energetic and optimistic and happy for the opportunity to move on.
People have asked me about buying a house when I knew my income wasn’t “guaranteed.” All I can say is that no one’s income is guaranteed. If I had bought my house in December 2007 when I had a direct-hire job with benefits, after getting a new certification and job title, I’d still have been a laid-off new home owner! Paying a mortgage with unemployment, savings, and splitting bills with Mister Ant strikes me as the same thing as paying rent with unemployment, savings, and splitting bills with Mister Ant, especially since I purposely didn’t stretch into unaffordable payments when we got this house. The consequences are different if a repair is needed, but other than that, nothing could persuade me that I should be renting instead of owning right now. I am exactly where I need to be.
I am a hustler. I always find work. My bills always get paid. Period. And I won’t be unemployed for any longer than I can afford it, even if it means taking another contract job instead of the direct-hire I’ve been holding out for.
By way of advice, if someone else reading this is in a slippery employment situation or laid-off, I suggest reading this nice post by Converting a Spendthrift. I agree with everything – except the crying part, LOL! That’s not how I get down. I have never cried over losing a job.
treasure hunt
I filed my taxes over the weekend. My direct deposit is on its way, which includes my $7,500 Federal Home Buyers Tax Credit.
Of course, a couple hours after I finished my taxes, I heard something about the Senate passing a bill to double the home buyers’ credit. I also heard that the new credit would not have to be paid back. Now this is a part of the Obama stimulus package that’s still not law yet. But its passage may be imminent. I need to know if this will affect me – there could be almost $5,000 dollars in this for me if I can take advantage of it. But there are so few details in the media coverage. I would hate to have to actually pore though the minutiae of the legislation just to find out what I want to know. But if I can file an amendment and claim it – believe me – I will! As it stands, not counting the homeowner’s credit, my refund was only $500. I made too much last year to take full advantage of paying interest on my student loans, which I’m used to doing – I wasn’t expecting that, and it was a real bummer. Also, I didn’t have enough deductions to itemize instead of taking the standard deduction. But it’s okay – at least I don’t owe like last year. Next year, maybe I’ll get more money.
EDITED TO ADD: From what I’ve found, someone has to buy their home AFTER the bill is made into law. Which would exclude recent homebuyers. Which would include me. Which means others who buy after the stimulus is made into law don’t have to pay their credit back and can get as much as $15,000 or 10% of their purchase price. But not me. I get less than 10% and I have to pay it back. Color me bright red angry.
EDITED AGAIN: Turns out that there is legislation before the House to repeal the requirement that home owners who bought between January and July 2008 pay their credit back. There is NOTHING IN THE WORKS FOR PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT BETWEEN JULY 2008 AND FEBRUARY 2009 AND THOSE PEOPLE STILL HAVE TO PAY THE CREDIT BACK.
NOW I’M LIVID.
I called my congressman. It probably won’t do any good.
I finally took the time over the weekend to get my January net worth numbers done. My net worth went up, but that’s only because of the check I received from the homeowner’s insurance company, which is going to cover more than half the cost for fixing my bathroom. Less income (less hours worked) and home buying/moving expenses clobbered my ability to save or pay down debt. Not counting the insurance check, I’m down about $500 this month. However, the household expenses are starting to wane. I can still get my momentum on if I can just keep my income steady. I’m working on lining up a new gig. We’ll see, and hope for a blessing.
