shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Oct 24, 2011 11:49:13 GMT -5
Update: 10 NSD + 10 CSD = 20 of 26 Today just became our spend day for this week, as we took our Beagle girl back to the vet because her swollen glands didn't go away and this morning were more swollen again. *sigh* New, better drugs for her.
dakota: Yay on getting to go see AB! The night he was here, I didn't realize it until 30 minutes before the signing was supposed to start and we just couldn't have made it. Very much a bummer.
erd ruby: To go along with startsmart's suggestion of cutting down the shopping trips, we used to only grocery shop every 2 weeks (for ourselves), but that changed when we started having to grocery shop for MIL, and went once a week for her. We are trying to get ourselves back on every 2 weeks. That means this week, we live without: my tea at work (I'll have to drink the tea work provides) and bread. I think there might be more stuff we're out of, but those are the two most obvious to me. When we shop this way- actually let ourselves run out of things, it helps with creating a shopping list. And going once every two weeks, and actually getting things we need, cuts down not just on the opportunity to impulse shop but also the idea that it's just a couple dollars here and there, because instead of spending less than $20 on what we need (so sure we have room in the budget for that thing we want), we look at how full the grocery cart is and decide we can live without X.
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kcgal
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Post by kcgal on Oct 24, 2011 12:28:22 GMT -5
Good tips from Smart Start and Dakota for buget crunching. Growing up we had left over meal Sunday evening. When we were old enough to take care of ourselves we were to raid the kitchen for food, the cook,my mom was off duty. This meal was called Mystery Meal. We never knew what we would find and if there was nothing to find we could always have PBJ or Pop corn. DGD love blueberry pancakes so I usually try to have a stash on hand. I freeze them and make them with a weight watcher recipe that she loves. She doesn't know syrup is supposed to be part of the deal. I just put a pakage of sugar on it and she eats it like that and so do I. Another buget saver/time saver is to cook 2-3 meals on the weekend. I am the queen of slow cookers. I just bought a new and improved slow cooker and gave my young neighbor my old one. It still worked fine but had a broken handle. I had to use plyers to take off the lid. She can have 2 slow cookers going on Saturday. She was so excited. She has a family of 6. Also the best money saver for me is when I plan the meals and follow through. I cooked meals for every other day. Leftovers usually went to work the next day.I also had 2 quick everything is going wrong today meals ready. It might take a few weeks before you notice a change. Got to break old habbits and at first stock piling took a little money to get started. Easiest place to save money is on the non food items. Give CVS a try if you have one. What is your zip code?
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dakota4600
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Post by dakota4600 on Oct 24, 2011 12:42:30 GMT -5
Red- As usual startsmart is right. It took me 4-5 months to bring our eating out and groceries bills under control. Even longer to consistently stay under budget in both. A few other things I thought of.
1) If you go through a lot of milk, check out Costco and Aldi's- Some of these run milk at $1.99 a gallon as their regular price. Here that is like buy one get one free.
2) Aldi's is also good for staples, flour sugar, canned and frozen veggies. I find the basics are much cheaper there than anywhere else.
3) I stock up whenever possible. Right now we are set on meat for close to 2 months. There have been some great sales recently and I stocked up as much as possible. We have an upright freezer in our basement. I also have enough Cheerios to feed a small army, our store does a deal every few months and the cereal ends up being about $0.50 a box after coupons and sale prices. (I don't use many coupons on food because I make most things from scratch, but cereal coupons are ones that I do keep.)
4) Follow blogs that track grocery stores in your area. They will alert you to good deals and then you can shop based on sales.
5) Make homemade. I love hummus, rarely ate it because of cost, then figured out if I bought a bag of chickpeas (less than $2) and a jar of Tahini ($10) I could make at least 5 10oz servings and the jar of tahini will make probably 50 total batches, which makes the cost per batch $1 since there are few other ingredients to add.
6) Batch cook for nights you are busy. I make enchiladas in double or triple batches and freeze for quick dinners on busy nights. I do the same with meatballs and pizza dough. So on a rushed night it takes 15 mins to get dinner on the table, plus you can multi-task while doing it.
7) Use your crockpot. 10 mins in the AM and dinner is ready when you walk in the door.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Oct 24, 2011 13:47:27 GMT -5
Red Ruby - I'm not great at staying on target with Grocery shopping, but I am pretty good at meal planning. I cook on average 3 times a week and make sure I make enough that the meal lasts for 2 to 3 meals (easier with 2 adults and a toddler than with 6 people, but still doable). I keep a list of what i cook every month. At the beginning of a month, I look over what we ate the previous months and I have a master list of meals. I sit down and make my list of meals to make for the month. I try to get a mix of crockpot meals, simple meals, and then more time consuming meals to be made on the weekends. I basically cook Saturday and Sunday nights and then I do 1 crockpot meal during the week. When I do my grocery shopping for the week, I'll pick my 3 meals off my list or if I can't decide I'll have DH pick. He never has any ideas, but if I give him a list and tell him to pick 3, then he can do that. Having lists of meals for me has really reduced the oh crapness of trying to decide what we are eating.
sheila - Glad the car got taken care of and best of luck to your DH.
DS is sick today. He apparently has my head cold or allergies or whatever it is. He slept a bunch yesterday albeit fitfully and then last night he slept fitfully. Then DH gets him up today and he is his usual self. Then I go in the bedroom to get dressed and DH is fixing DS breakfast and I come out in the living room and there is a pile spit up/puke. Great. He just zoned out after that. No fever, but DH didn't take him to kindermusic. I was suppose to go with them. So I'm sad that I missed that. I also just want to be home with my boy to give him a hug.
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sheilaincali
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Post by sheilaincali on Oct 24, 2011 13:53:01 GMT -5
forgot to mention this earlier. Had another break in at our construction yard. They pried the door open to the shop and started up a big truck. Used it as a battering ram to ram into a dozen 55 gallon drums of concrete sealer ($500 per drum). Slammed it into a tractor and busted through the other door. Got the forklift started and demolished a truck with that. Used the forklift to try to rip out the entire engine block of the truck. Newspaper claims we have like $30,000 worth of damage the local tv station was out to interview my dad too. So I got to spend some quality time on the phone with our insurance agent and running down to the yard (3 miles away) to take photos and talk to the cops. Freaking hoodlums. Same type of high school kids that have been breaking in for years. They have probably done $100,000 worth of damage in the last 5 years. Not to mention the entire freaking office building they burned down last year. The property is being sold off in parcels but we still have a shop on it and store some equipment there. All of that is being moved down here now. Don't know why dad's partner kept storing it in the old yard considering the history of vandalizism down there. It feels like a So other than that- How was the play Mrs. Lincoln kind of day.
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MittenKitten
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Home of the Circus
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Post by MittenKitten on Oct 24, 2011 14:13:04 GMT -5
21/20 nospends I made my goal!
Sheila: Have you thought about installing webcams in the area? We did it downstairs so we could keep an eye on DS#2 and they work great and are not that expensive. What a pain the the butt! What kind of kids are these and why are they getting such kicks out of destroying property?
Honey: How is life without the girls?
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ses
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Post by ses on Oct 24, 2011 14:17:08 GMT -5
19/27 NSD Wow, be AWOL for a week and get really behind!
After I last posted I quickly organized a spur of the moment weekend Scrabble marathon/sleepover with some friends. So much fun, visit and gossip, play games and eat junk food. Everyone brings some favorite nibbles (candy, nuts, party mix, raisins, pop corn...) and we play games all day and all night until our eyes can barely stay open and we forget how to spell words like "it" and "of", then we find a bed or sofa and crash for a few hours, get up and start all over again.
Even though I wasn't on line with you all, our minds were with you. I needed to cook up a bucket of laundry soap (using Honey's recipe) and everyone was hanging over the pot, intrigued with the idea doing a load of laundry for 5 cents. Then we got to talking and learned most of us were using white vinegar and baking soda for most of our cleaning products. Imagine the savings the big companies aren't getting. A couple of years ago I spent maybe $10 for a package of 25 microfiber cleaning cloths in the automotive dept. at Wally World. Imagine all the paper towels I don't use. Now a roll will last about 4 months. Mostly for messy kitty cleanup.
RedRuby you have hit on the part of the budget the causes the most angst for most budgets. Bread stores can be a real cost cutter but don't forget the Dollar stores. My small town is not really good for many coupons so I plan around and use the grocery ads extensively. Last February I challenged myself to live on the average food stamp allotment for my state, about $125/mo. It was not easy, but doable. My eyes were really opened, especially when I learned 1 in 6 Americans are using food stamps now. I started cooking mostly from scratch. Mostly for health reasons, but I got tired of eating ingredients i can't pronounce. I documented what I ate for a few months, pulled out my 15 most used recipies and determined exactly what my basic staples are, and how much. Now I only buy those items at deep sales. Now I plan a menu based on my stocked pantry and freezer then check the grocery ads. I usually live on the $125 that food stamps woud allow plus an extra $25 a month to stock up whenever I find a great sale. One big change I made was to make most my own bread products for about a 90% savings. I almost made myself ill when I realized I was paying 50 cents for a cinnamon roll that I could make for about a nickle. If you don't have a bread machine watch the yard sales, rummage sales and let your friends know you are looking for an inexpensive one. I prefer using my mixer and doing it by hand, but a bread machine is easier if you are just starting. A bread machine and a crock pot can provide lots of inexpensive and delicious meals with just a bit of planning. I think you might be able to do the $500 budget if is just food for a family of six. But with the inflation of food recently it mught not cover everything else.
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startsmart
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Post by startsmart on Oct 24, 2011 14:58:25 GMT -5
Redruby- another idea to add to the ones above, I don't recall how old your kids are but why not let them each choose a food "specialty"? Encourage them to choose something to learn to make from scratch, buy the ingredients and allow them to experiment and learn while supervised. Some options - bread
- tortillas
- soup
- smoothies
- mac n' cheese
- lasagna
- omelets
Most kids need some kitchen skills if they're to survive college and living on their own and you may be able to get them all in the kitchen once a week to help create something, even if it's "here chop the broccoli and steam it"
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kcgal
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Post by kcgal on Oct 24, 2011 16:19:21 GMT -5
Don't ya just love the women here. Always ready to jump in and help.
Shelaincali-sorry about your rough start Monday. Good new is the rest of the week can only get better?
Honey-are you rested up from your room mates from heck. I can't help but wonder about parents that let their kids come this far away from home and are in need attitude adjustments. Do they just go wild away from home or were they problem children at home. In which case they should still be at home. IMHO
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Oct 24, 2011 16:39:32 GMT -5
Speaking of making things from scratch, last christmas my brother and SIL gave DH and I some bread machine recipes. One of them was for cinnamon rolls. I made them Saturday night for DH to have Sunday at the men's meeting at church. They were relatively easy (making the bread was) and absolutely divine. A couple months ago, I had never used our bread machine that we got as a wedding presant 6 years ago. We've now used it half dozen times and have not even begun to tap the potential. It is so easy and so much better (and cheaper) than buying frozen bread dough and easier than making the dough the old fashioned way and a bit quicker. DH doesn't like the whole wheat bread I made, so I got some white flour and will try again.
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startsmart
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Post by startsmart on Oct 24, 2011 18:01:50 GMT -5
awesome muttelyn! I can almost smell the cinnamon rolls you're talking about. hmmm. I mentioned it because for me it's so freakin' overwhelming to think I should be making all this food myself, my own pasta and canning and beer and slaughter a cow, build the table from the tree I cut down and then weave and sew some napkins too. Just start with one thing. Pretty soon you'll feel comfortable with it and you can add another thing. Keep going. Use the natural energy given to those under 18 for your own good. I'll list the biggest switches that impacted my grocery budget: - buying 2 dozen cloth napkins on clearance at Wal-Mart
- using rags and towels to clean up spills and clean
- stop buying everything that "looks good" and stay at home, find something in the cupboard or don't eat. Missing a meal won't kill me.
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spruby
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Post by spruby on Oct 24, 2011 19:30:48 GMT -5
Just a quick drop in to say hi. Things are crazed at work - you would think I had been gone 3 months. On top of that if everything had stayed frozen where I left it - it would be easier to come back to a bunch of deals unwinding. yuck. request - please think good thoughts for me - I have an interview tomorrow for the department director where I work on a temp basis - it is a long shot, no more money and tons more work - but it would give me an opportunity to "right the ship" so to speak (imho). The odds are low - but I have to at least try my best. it is really the only job I want period - but I also know that if I don't get it - I will have to find a new job. I can't be fired - but it won't be an environment I want to stay in and what little fun I have now will be quickly be gone. so if you would please send good thoughts/karma/prayers/ju-ju whatever my way - i would appreciate it! 'cause I'm going to picture you in my head as a bunch of cheerleaders routing for me on the sideline - game on!
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mizbear
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Stand back. I have a budget, and I know how to use it.
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Post by mizbear on Oct 24, 2011 20:00:28 GMT -5
spruby- DONE!
dakota- SO jealous!
Keep your paws crossed- so far the week is going well.
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moneysquirrel
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Post by moneysquirrel on Oct 24, 2011 20:22:28 GMT -5
Update: 14 NS day & 6 CS days
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ses
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Post by ses on Oct 24, 2011 20:26:33 GMT -5
Moneysquirrel-- I got a package today! Can't wait to try it. I had a big blood sugar spike today so I will have to wait awhile.
Honey-- will the mortgage changes the President wants to make help you?
Spruby--I have the paperwork to fill out for LTC insurance as soon as I can get to it.
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spruby
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Post by spruby on Oct 24, 2011 20:34:59 GMT -5
ses - yeah on the LTC! Did you go w/the fed program or find a better one?
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ses
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Post by ses on Oct 24, 2011 21:12:03 GMT -5
spruby--I'm going with the federal plan--if they accept me. I couldn't find anything that came close in terms of coverage and cost. Now if I will only NOT procrastinate.
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reeneejune
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Post by reeneejune on Oct 25, 2011 0:40:16 GMT -5
I almost posted earlier, but as I re-read what I had typed, I realized that it was all so negative I didn't want to spread that around. I'll leave it at this: work sucks, customers suck, I hate the holidays, and people are stupid. Today's Woman buys 3 items: one for $2.49 and two for $0.99. They're all included in a buy one, get one 50% off sale. She asks me why the 40% off coupon didn't come off of the highest priced item. I explained that because it was a B1G150% deal, the $2.49 and one of the $0.99 items are considered the "sale" items and so the coupon came off the other item... and that technically, the coupon shouldn't have came off the third item because while she didn't get an automatic discount on it, it's considered a sale item and thus not eligable for the coupon. So she got more of a discount than she should have in the first place. She insisted that since the two lower priced items weren't specifically listed on the sale sign, that she should be allowed to use the coupon on the higher priced item. (don't ask, I really don't follow that line of logic either) So she wants the address to corporate. If you'd like, the phone number is at the register, but we don't have a mailing address for these sorts of issues. She just can't believe that. I figure it up in my head, and she's making a huge deal about less than $0.30. So I take her to the register and tell her that since she's insistant, I'll give her the discount that she's expecting. She won't hand over the receipt so I can adjust the price for her! To review: She paid: $2.49 item #1 $0.49 item #2 (half off with BOGO) $0.59 item #3 (40% off with coupon) $3.57 total She wanted: $1.49 item #1 (40% off with coupon) $1.98 items #2&3 (at regular price) $3.47 total I offered: $1.49 item #1 (with price adjustment to match coupon) $0.49 item #2 (with BOGO) $0.59 item #3 (with coupon because it's a pain in the ass to take coupons off) $2.57 total What she should have paid: $2.49 item #1 $0.49 item #2 $0.99 item #3 (because coupons are supposed to exclude items included in a sale, regardless of whether they choose to buy two to get the discount or not) $3.97 Two hours and a big margarita later and I STILL can't figure out what in the hell she was mad about. Thank goodness it's my friday.
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sheilaincali
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Post by sheilaincali on Oct 25, 2011 8:41:09 GMT -5
Spruby: Sending you good ju ju for the job that you want Muttley: I really need to pull out the old bread machine and use it more. We got it from the IL's and have only used it maybe 5 or 6 times in the past 10 years. We do make some bread in the oven but I want to try some bread machine bread again. That's for the reminder that I need to use it. Dakota: Alton Brown is DS' hero. He has several of his shows on DVD and loves watching them. He is part of the reason DS wants to be a chef when he grows up. reenee: You are a saint! There is a reason that DH tries to limit my interaction with the general public- working retail would likely end up with me in jail. Shanen: How is your MIL doing post surgery? DS had his first offical Youth in Govt. Model UN meeting last night. He came home super stoked for the rest of the season. He had fun. Knows like 10 of the 35 kids in YIG. The ones he doesn't know are kids at the high school level. He was brought up as an example of how they are supposed to dress in business casual attire. I thought it was mandatory for all meetings but I guess regular school clothes were fine yesterday. I felt bad that he was all dressed up but he was all "It's cool mom" He has to go to the cities (Mlps, St Paul) for a state wide "Kick off" meeting on Saturday that he is looking forward to. So far so good with the school year. He has his same group of friends, likes his classes, is kicking butt as captain of his knowledge bowl team. Now with the YIG stuff I hope we can keep this momentum up the rest of this school year.
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dakota4600
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Post by dakota4600 on Oct 25, 2011 9:32:37 GMT -5
There were lots of kids at the AB event last night and he asked that they be allowed to come up first and get their books signed since it was a school night. I didn't get my book personalized, because they go by ticket number and I was 659, I figured even if half the people left and it took 30 seconds a person to sign, I would be waiting close to 3 hours. Even though I love Alton, sitting around for that long just to have him scrawl my name above his signature wasn't worth it. He was really funny, he spent a little over an hour answering questions from the audience.
Shelia- I loved Model UN when I was in college we didn't have it at the jr or high school level.
SES- Good luck on the LTC
Spruby- Gook luck on interview!!!
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sheilaincali
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Post by sheilaincali on Oct 25, 2011 10:28:44 GMT -5
Dakota- I have zero experience with Model UN so I am going into this pretty blind. He seems genuinely excited about it. He is not an athlete- he is definitely more of an academic so we try to encourage him to participate in things like that. He was pretty nervous about it at first but came home excited. Trust me- for a 13 year old boy to be excited about something not involving a video game- it's a pretty big deal. So we are back at square one (maybe one+) with DH's job prospects. Had a great interview yesterday. They had 5 people in there including the Senior Vice President of the company for nearly 2 full hours. Gave him a tour of their lab (which they never do because of all the propriatary processes). Told him they would call next week after their annual budget meeting. Then they call this morning to tell him they are "reluctant to bring someone on so close to the end of the season and possibly have to lay him off over the winter" so they "hope to have something for him in the spring" They claim they "really don't want to lose him but hope he will be patient in the mean time". So same place different day. I should be thankful he has a job in the first place but it's just so frustrating. His current employer is getting their asses handed to him by the competition (namely the people DH interviewed with yesterday) and he has no idea if they will keep him on this winter. He is technically the "senior" guy but that means nothing to them. I fully expect him to get laid off again this winter for anywhere from 8 weeks to 4 months. Which means that since UE is $1400 a month and COBRA is just over $1400 a month that we will once again be insurance free for a few months again. We seriously haven't had insurance coverage for 12 continuous months since 2007. It's been one of those weeks and it's only Tuesday.
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Honeylioness
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Post by Honeylioness on Oct 25, 2011 10:56:18 GMT -5
UPDATE: 21 NEO - Goal: 25 16 NSD/CSD - Goal: 20I look at my numbers and wonder why when they seem to be on track I still feel so out of control financially at the moment. I need to take another look - though I know some of it has to do with my feeling pressured before the kids left - and some of the spending I did then. I also think I made an odd mental jump financially prior to actually getting some of my funds in hand that is causing me to feel as though I have taken several steps backwards. 3cats - Your last post really caught my attention. What can I do to help? reenee - I would be joining Sheila as a cell mate if I had your job. Heck, there are times when as the customer behind such a moron I have been known to NOT keep my opinion to myself when they are being that way. Gee, go figure .... I probably would have offered her a dollar out of my own pocket just to shut the h3ll up and go away. startsmart - Great tips and ideas about cutting the food budget. I will admit I lump my cat's food into my grocery budget along with shampoo, toilet paper etc. spruby - Hope the interview went great! sheila - So sorry to hear about the set back with your husband and his job search. Insurance is one of the big bad boogie man things I am trying to ignore at the moment. I will write more later. I do need to finish a website post about my weekend and how I started to reclaim my home. What I will say is who knew it was possible to claim you had "cleaned" a bathroom and still have sections of the counter be fuzzy? Or that you "swept" but I pulled dust elephants out from under the couch and other furniture? Guess the next time around I will have to do a hands on demonstration about what "cleaning" really means. I am in a bit of weird place this week ... probably because I have an actual end date for this job - Friday, November 4th. While I knew it was coming it is still a mental adjustment to realize it is real ... not sure if that makes sense to anyone other than myself. I have been trying to stay focused on the positives thus far: * The other lay-off'ees last day paid was October 14th. * I have been able to get an additional 3 weeks of pay. * Having pushed my term date into November I now get company paid medical through November 30th. * I will still get my full severance, 3 months of COBRA payments, cash out seven days of vacation and five hours of unused sick time, and two months company paid Transition services - with an option for a third month. * I have done the right thing in preparing these HOW TO directions for Joyce and Steve, and can look myself in the eye. * I will have the second week of November off to do nothing except prepare for, then hang out with, startsmart!!!!!
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startsmart
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Post by startsmart on Oct 25, 2011 11:19:01 GMT -5
Today's Motivation comes in the form of a boy... One of my best friends from college is in the Bay Area doing dissertation research and we're making plans to hang out. Of course I have to get all my work done or I can't have fun for being stressed. Just getting his msg last night reminded me how much fun we used to have ice skating on the tennis courts, snowball fights, debate trips, movies.. all good stuff. Plus, he's adorable and on a very memorable trip we named all of his future children. reenee- I think it was obvious. She wanted a dime and was willing to spend probably 20 minutes arguing about it. dakota- the story about the kids getting their books signed reminded me of a quote from Arrested Development: "There's not a lot of logic to it. It's kind of like on a boat with "Women and children first." I mean, why should they…" ~GOB sheila- I will never understand why otherwise smart companies will let good employees and prospects go like that. Bring them on, use the down time for a flexible schedule to train and update skills and then get them back to work. My old company used to take the field guys and bring them in slow times to help marketing, update procedure manuals, even cover for the other projects that were going so the guys working could have a break. honey- it takes awhile to settle into new income expectations. I am definitely working on raising my income and in the meantime it's making me worry more than I would like. Instead of investing my energy in those low, negative emotions (worry, anger, fear) I am consciously focusing on the high energy, positive emotions (hope, love, faith, joy, trust). Also, SUPER excited to hang out in person and see Boston again and meet you and brag to the ladies here how lucky I am to see all those quilts.... ;D but I'm so in denial that I leave in 2 weeks. Such denial.
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reeneejune
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Post by reeneejune on Oct 25, 2011 12:55:22 GMT -5
Sheila and Honey - It would be a crowded cell with all of us in it. Though I'm sure we'd have such a good time chatting we'd be surprised when Start and SES show up to bail us out. Start - About 2 minutes after she finally left, I thought about it and I actually had a couple dollar bills and some change in my pocket... and I seriously considered going out into the parking lot and giving her a dollar just to shut up about it. But that probably would have offended her even more. I think the worst part about that whole thing was that when I finally got half a second to think about it and realize that it was such a small amount of money, I heard my district manager and store manager in my head telling me "It's less than 5 bucks. Just give her what she wants so she'll shut up and go away" And so I tried... and she was MORE offended that I would do that. She was just spoiling for a fight. I mean really, do some people get up in the morning and decide that they're going to ruin some retail worker's day by finding any way possible to make a complaint? The good news is that the coworkers that were with me last night have both said that they'll stick up for me if upper management tries to give me crap about this. And out of all of this, I've figured out a fool-proof way to reduce retail turnover by about half. Retail management has to stop expecting that employees will have 0 complaints. Because no matter how amazing of an employee you have, eventually they're going to have a personality conflict with a customer. And it might even be something as stupid as smiling at someone who's in a bad mood. I once got a complaint because I offered to save a customer some money with a readily available coupon! They were offended that I assumed that they "needed" to use a coupon to make their purchase. Ok, now I'm going to make a conscious effort to stop talking about this because it's my day off and just thinking about it stresses me out.
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mrslynch
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 22, 2010 10:58:15 GMT -5
Posts: 176
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Post by mrslynch on Oct 25, 2011 12:58:54 GMT -5
I'm just popping in with a completely self-indulgent post. If you're not a regular reader of my blog (and if not, why? Just kidding! ), you might have missed the part where I finally decided that I was going to start a writing service business. One of the main functions I can perform is content editing. I have already reviewed one ebook and am in the process of reviewing another one (for free...trying to build up some goodwill and references). I'm really excited to have finally figured out what I can offer (besides sarcasm and snarky humor) and get this business going. It might have been expensive but going to the blogging conference was some of the best money I've ever spent. The connections are turning out to be priceless! I'll be back later...
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startsmart
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 12:45:52 GMT -5
Posts: 4,438
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Post by startsmart on Oct 25, 2011 14:07:15 GMT -5
Are any of my buddies here participating in NaNoWriMo in November? That's National Novel Writing Month, the challenge to pen 50,000 words in 30 days without killing thyself. If you are add me as a buddy so we can distract encourage each other! I'm on the forum here: www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/kellyinca/novels/crime-family-just-another-thanksgivingand if you're not participating and just want to read about my new novel and an excerpt from last year's novel take a looksee. It's dark, full of odd humor and talks a lot about crime. I lurve it.
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mrslynch
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 22, 2010 10:58:15 GMT -5
Posts: 176
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Post by mrslynch on Oct 25, 2011 14:22:37 GMT -5
startsmart--i am participating this year. i have the idea and everything. the hard part is going to be finding time to write! honey--congrats on the girls leaving but i truly am sorry about your job. sheila--ouch. that's a lot to handle. i do know how you feel about dh, though. i'm still trying to work through everything and i can't help but wonder if it's not worth it.
i have decided that marriage counseling in the middle of the work day is hard. i'm exhausted and it's even more difficult to concentrate on work.
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sheilaincali
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 17:55:24 GMT -5
Posts: 4,131
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Post by sheilaincali on Oct 25, 2011 18:49:26 GMT -5
mrslynch: You know where I sit on the subject. I hate to sound cynical but somedays I really think my life would be easier if I hadn't tried so hard to fix things. Sorry that sounds really unhelpful in your current situation. It's just been one of those "Seriously! what else can go wrong" type of weeks. I am sure I will feel differently next week.
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spruby
Established Member
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 23:35:01 GMT -5
Posts: 255
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Post by spruby on Oct 25, 2011 20:09:34 GMT -5
honey - yeah the girls are gone!! and I'm glad you were able to negoiate the extra for your job - just getting the extra month medical is big
ses - I will be asking you constantly if you have signed up for LTC yet. so have you? this is your money/life!!!!
mrslynch - therapy in the middle of the day is way to hard - i always did mine at the end of the day - when i could walk to the car in the dark so no one could see my red eyes after crying
3cats - you ok?
interview update - 3.5 hours long - went better than expected - didn't feel like the job was rigged - big problem/issue - i've never officially managed a staff at this job - so can i do it! arrggghhhh - fingers crossed - my odds may have gone from 1% to 5%
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mizbear
Senior Member
Stand back. I have a budget, and I know how to use it.
Joined: Jan 2, 2011 13:12:46 GMT -5
Posts: 3,958
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Post by mizbear on Oct 25, 2011 23:10:41 GMT -5
reenee- I could do an online fundraiser for the bail money!
start&mrsl- Where do you sign up for the novel thing? I haven't done that in ages...
mrsl- Congrats!
Will check in Thursday.
My grand opening party is tomorrow night so I will be here, but not here. Wish me luck- I need it. Hmmmph- I just realized it IS Wednesday- better go to bed....
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