No fucking money...
2004-08-22 at 8:11 a.m.
Hmmm... what's been going on here lately? Friday was payday. I love and hate payday all at the same time. I love it because I can finally pay some bills and get the creditors off my back. I love that I can finally go to the store and buy food for my family and buy assorted sundries that have been missing from the home since last payday. I hate it because now, two days later, we're broke again. We treated ourselves to one meal out, bought groceries, made a trip to Wal-Mart for household essentials, paid bills and gassed my car. Now we have nothing. This is a ridiculous cycle. Face it...
K doesn't make enough money.
We're not frivolous people. We don't smoke, drink, gamble nor have extravaggant tastes. I shop at Aldi and Shop 'n' Save for groceries. I never buy anything unless it's the absolute cheapest price available, which is found mostly at Wal-Mart. (Spare me the hate mail, anti WM readers... ) When I buy clothing, it's either used, from ebay or found on the clearance rack at Target or Wal-Mart and must be at least 75% off its original price. I'm a damn good shopper.
We don't have a car payment. We paid cash for the Env0y and K's company pays all the expenses on the M0nte Carl0. The only expense we have is insurance and fuel for my car. K does all the maintanence on it.
We don't go to movies or clubs. We don't have a PlayStation or an X-Box. We don't throw parties. The only luxury we allow ourselves in a dinner or two out a month.
So why don't we have any money? Having three growing boys takes a huge chunk out of the budget. I don't think childless people realize how much it costs to feed three kids. I offer healthy, yet low cost snacks and a variety of tastes in my planned meals, where all food groups are represented. Even with careful meal planning, I spend nearly $150 a week at the grocery store. True, this will change when school starts, but what I save not having to feed them as much during the day will be replaced with an increased lunch cost - $1.75 a day (which, by the way, is well worth my not having to pack lunches - a task I despise).
My husband is job hunting. We came to the realization that in addition to his not earning what he's worth, his happiness is suffering, which in turn, affects the happiness of the entire family. K will be 49 this year. Most people this age start looking forward to when they can work less and begin enjoying life. Instead, we scrape by week to week, living two paychecks down the road. We have to continually cut into long term money to buy E's medication or buy a few more days worth of groceries. It's ridiculous.
I've tried to cut corners the best I can, but we're down to the barebones minimum as it is. Things can't be cut much more. K just needs to earn more money.
He's unhappy, too at the fact that younger people, with little to no experience in the business, are being hired as his superiors. K has a difficult time, as would anyone, taking orders from ~and getting his ass reamed by~ a 25 year old bleach blonde Barbie doll who was hired because of her recent boob job. He is continually overlooked for promotions that are instead given to friends of supervisors or young pukes straight out of college. The last four supervisors hired in his unit are all young, blonde females who recently had breast augmentations. Do we see a pattern here? It's funny how 35 years of experience in the business takes a backseat to a college degree, even if said degree is in Underwater Ethiopian Basket Weaving.
K has decided to get out. He obviously will get nowhere in this company despite their prehiring promise that his possibilities were endless. He needs more pay and heaps more respect.
This won't be an easy task for a man his age. His requirements are high and not many companies, if any, are willing to meet them.
I wish I had stayed in college - maybe I could be the breadwinner for awhile.
I'm too damn old to be worrying about from where our next meal will come!