Stupid Recession

What does it take for a gal to earn a buck? Really.

I haven't had a job in a few years. This has suited me fine for quite awhile. I honestly didn't need it. Jon has been able to support me fine until, well, now. He had a great job last summer and it lasted until he was laid off in November. We figured "Okay, there's money in the bank. He'll just find another job." Well, November turned into December turned into January almost turned into February before Jon found another job. Oh, he was looking, but he didn't find. I was looking too. I thought, maybe there's a job suited for me, I'll just work awhile.
Finally around mid-January word got to his grandpa that he didn't have work and lo' and behold, Grandpa says "Oh, ask your cousin Brent if he needs any help milking on his farm." Jon asks Brent, voila! he has a job.
This whole thing has caused a few problems.

1. During 'laid-off' period our priority with the money we had was to pay the bank back for the car loan. The loan is now paid off and not one payment late. The problem here is we had little money left over for other bills. Jon's cell phone bill had to go unpaid for a little while and BOOM! cell phone company decides to shut off his phone until he pays the bill AND they add a $200 service charge for service termination. Now wasn't that nice? We have paid in $400 to the company and we still owe about $400. Again I say, isn't that nice?

2. It wouldn't be so bad paying $400 for a cell phone bill except #2 problem. Jon's boss (his cousin Brent) refused to give Jon his entire paycheck. What he does is totals up the hours and multiplies it by Jon's hourly wages, gets the total amount, and rounds down to the nearest increment of 50 ($300, $350, $400...) Jon has told Brent he would like his full paycheck, but I think Brent has selective hearing. Now Brent has cheated Jon out of at approx. $60 so far. I know, sixty dollars may not seem like much, but that would really help pay for the gas to get to work and the extra groceries he has to buy because it's too far away to live at home during the work days.

3. Jon and I have no extra money between the two of us to have ANY fun. No dates, movies, or even a fun night in. This has really stressed our relationship. Not to go into details, but it's not very fun arguing about the money we don't have.

Jon has always been supportive of my not getting a job. He agreed I didn't need one and that I hate working. (I'm not lazy, I swear, I just hate answering to a boss, it makes me a very grouchy person) He's been hinting lately that it would be nice to pay off the last of the bills and have some extra money to..say..have some fun.

I've agreed and thus my job search. How long until I find work. Well, March will turn into April will turn into May will almost turn into June. So...around mid to late May I should have a decent job. I will not milk cows.

Meanwhile, support the cause. If you have extra money that has no purpose (yea, right) such as loose change, or savings account money that has no savings goal, give back. I suggest donating to charities that help people out in tough times. The Ronald McDonald House is a good place to start. They help families afford hotel rooms when they have to go to doctor appointments in an "away-from-home" city for very sick kids. McD house helped my parents and brother when my brother was diagnosed with a series of kidney/bladder infections/failures when he was young and needed surgery about every month in the St. Paul, Minn.

This is finally the end of my long post. Thank God blogger saves as I write because my computer shut down (I bumped the cord) just as I was righting "every month" in that last paragraph.

Hugs to all my readers. Don't forget, if this recession has you feeling down, you're not alone. Myself and hundreds of others are here.

Shelby Lynn

P.S. www.coolsavings.com has some nice printable coupons for the other frugal people.