Cut backs are a BITCH!

The recession is really, really starting to have a big impact on me personally. I wrote a couple weeks about how we were having to go to 4 days a week cos we were slowing down.

How quickly things go from bad to worse.

My company has been approved for the work share program, and immediately went to 3 days a week the moment we were approved!

Employment Insurance will pay up to 55% for 3 work share days a week. To give my company credit, they did wait til they were sure we'd be approved in order to not hurt the people too badly. Even though there is no "waiting" period , which, when on regular benefits, the first 2 weeks are an UNPAID waiting period, the fact is we won't see any money from E.I. until the end of April at the earliest.

So for the next 4 weeks we have to somehow live on just over half a regular paycheck. It will be retroactive from the date of approval, so we will get a lump sum and then will regularly get benefits every 2 weeks.

Yesterday I spent hours on the phone cancelling things like my gym membership ( I can exercise in the gym room here at the condo ), called my cell company and regular phone company and switched everything down to the bare minimum and then decided to switch Internet companies cos if I go with a bundle of cell, phone and Internet, it will save me 50 dollars a month. ( I'm really not keen on this...can we say MONOPOLY??, but needs must and all that ) Cut out a few other things too and including my reduced bus fare, I've managed to shave $200.00 bucks a month from my expenses.

The local Dollerama store sells canned food, and packaged mixes so yesterday afternoon, I went over there and stocked up on stuff like soup at 2 for $1, cans of stew and noodles that the kids like to snack on for $1 each ( at the grocery, stew and raviolis and things like that are close to $2 each), paper towel, hand soap etc. that I would pay much more for, even in groceries like No Frills and Food Basics.

I was pretty upset when I found out we were going to be only working 3 days a week. I had really hoped it wouldn't come to that but the reality now is, there's a very real possibility that if things don't pick up soon, in all likelihood we will be on 2 days of work only. I sure hope it doesn't come to that but it seems likely.

In the news I read that Toronto got 9 billion dollars from the Federal Government to build 4 more Light Rapid Transit lines that will link outlying areas and link areas to the airport. The project is expected to take between 4 and 6 years and I was thinking wouldn't it be a boon to us if we got the contract for the electrical. Hope our sales is thinking the same and bust their butts to do whatever they can to snag a contract that would have the ability to save us.

I have been in worse situations, right now I'm still employed and I still have benefits and I know I'm lucky. We had more than a few times over the years where neither hubby or I were working when the kids were small. We ate a lot of ground chicken and ricearoni and homemade soups, stews, ate a lot of fillers, pinched pennies til they shrieked and we made it. Mind you, neither of my kids are big fans of ricearoni or ground chicken to this day because of it, but they ate, they had a roof and we were never reduced to using food banks. It was when I started using resale places and second hand stores for clothes for myself and for them. I also was part of a group of other moms at the school and we passed the clothes between each other as the kids outgrew them and that really helped a lot.

Although I am not happy about this downturn, I have to think logically and start deciding what is essential and what is a luxury. A person becomes accustomed to their life style and we think that luxuries are in fact essentials and in reality we can live without a lot of this. I have an answering machine as part of my phone, so why do I need a call answer service on my phone line? The answer is I don't. So I go with the one that doesn't cost extra, same with my cell phone, the people that call me know when I'm available if at work, know when I'm home, anyone else can just call back. I'm sure I will find other ways to save as well. Have to look upon this as a challenge.

But I can't stress enough to myself that it could be horribly worse. What would it be like if this was 3 years previous and we were behind on all our bills, threats to repossess the car, creditor calls constantly, the gut wrenching fear of knowing we've done it to ourselves with the drug addiction. I'm able to sleep only cos I know I am all caught up, nothing is outstanding. I was even able to change over the cell phone from my son in laws name to mine and when they ran the credit check said all is in order! What a pleasant surprise that turned out to be cos I finally had proof positive that paying every bill every month on time has repaired my credit rating. I've come too far and struggled so much to let those payments get behind again. The beauty is I've provided myself with a way out because, if worst comes to worst, our credit is so much better and $25,000 less than it was it makes it easier to consolidate things through a bank insead of killer loan companies!

So that's where things stand, I'm sad at having to give up things, I hope that like in the past, this is cyclical and things will turn around.

I used to watch the show Roseanne, cos I could really relate to it right from the beginning, the struggles, in the last year of the show there were works to the theme song. I think about these lyrics a lot.

If what doesn't kill us is makin us stronger
We're gonna last longer
Than that greatest wall in China
Or that rabbit with the drum

If there's one thing that I've learned
While waiting for my turn
Is that in each life some rain falls
But you also get some sun

And we'll make out better than OK
Hear what I say?
Yeah, any day.

There's something about those lyrics that pull at my heart, we WILL make it but boy , life's curve balls suck at times.

To wrap up this post that has turned into a freaking NOVEL on an up note, next Friday is Good Friday and I will be celebrating my youngest daughter turning 21, a bit belated celebration for my son in law who turned 30!!! on April 1st and Easter of course with a dinner and 2 cakes for the birthday people, both celebrating milestone birthdays. ( This is the child I despaired of being able to raise past the age of 10 as I was sure she'd end up killing herself with her tomboy ways lol)

It's always fun and silly when we get together and someone pulls out the latest theme to take goofy pictures of each other wearing the latest lol

So life goes on, just in a different direction, guess I'm being forced into enjoying the simple life and ya know, that can't be a bad thing in the end can it?

Cathy