The Waiting is the Hardest Part

I was ok until this week with this whole unemployment thing. Now, not so much.

I hate not knowing what's going to happen.
I hate not knowing when the second interview is going to be with the housing design company.
I hate knowing that I have to shell out $150/month on health insurance starting 5/1.

The waiting truly is the hardest part.

I feel like I'm just stuck, going nowhere, in this big black hole. The longer time goes on, the further I'm sucked in.

I had an interview 2 weeks ago with an online housing design company that I thought would be a great place to work. I thought the interview went pretty well and he told me that everyone always gets 2 interviews. That was enough to keep my hopes up for a little over a week. I sent my requested weekly "check-in" email, no response. I sent my second email yesterday, no response. I don't know what to think. I LOVED the company. If the money was decent, I'd accept a job there in a heartbeat. Now I'm questioning everything and in all honesty, there just isn't much of anything out there that I'm qualified for.

I've been scouring websites, magazines, the paper, anything I can think of to try to find some sort of full time employment. At this point, the reality is starting to set in... without a full time job, savings is starting to be held up, I'm having a harder time reaching my goal of paying off my credit cards and student loans, and money is just starting to be all around stressful.

The biggest thing though is that this schedule is killing me. I'm sitting here working three different jobs again, just trying to piece things together. I am working at PT job #1 at 5am twice a week and then on the other days I'm working at 8:30 at PT job #2. It's killing me. I'm also teaching lifeguarding classes on the weekends. I spend more time in the car than I should, but there's no way around it considering that I go from A to B to C to B to D all.the.time. The sad thing is these jobs are no more than 10 miles from the house.

I'm so impatient, I know that. Right now it's only getting worse though in this never-ending wait. I hate waiting.

Money, Money, Money

Awhile back I wrote about saving money and how it's almost a game to me. My addictions to coupons and sales continues, but now I have a new love: mystery shopping.

You see, when I was in high school, I worked at a high(er) end specialty shop in Kohler. Customer service was always key; you needed a smile on your face and to bend over backwards to accomodate the customer. Whatever they wanted, within reason, they got. It stuck with me; it's not necessarily that the customer is always right, but it is necessary to accomodate the customer whenever possible and there are no excuses for less than exceptional customer service. Mystery shopping allows me to evaluate that customer service and then on top of that, get paid! I regularly order pizza from Papa John's, shop at Harris Teeter, and do some shops around the mall. I shop for two main companies; Corporate Research International (www.mysteryshops.com) and GfK (www.cybershoppersonline.com). I've made a good bit of money off of both, but you really have to be careful. Not all shops are worth the time. Some are ridiculous amounts of information (Exxon, for example) for little to no pay. Eating out has become a new favorite... everyone loves a free meal!

CRI is my favorite. I've done 45 shops for them to date and have never had a late payment from them. It's a good day when I get an email from them saying my money is on its way! I do Papa John's and Gate gas station shops (buying beer!) through them. Easy surveys, fast pay... what's not to love?

GfK is a close runner up. I've done countless shops for them and they pay through PayPal. It's always a race to pick up the shops through them though, especially in a tough economy. The shops go FAST. Their reimbursements and pay are fantastic, usually $11-13 for a short 15 minute shop and then filling out a survey for about 10 minutes after the shop. Easy, easy, easy!!

Who doesn't love free stuff? Have fun, make some money, and get a few free (or severely discounted) things.

Rollercoaster baby

Ok, no rollercoaster of love, but definitely a rollercoaster... of cost.



According to AAA's Fuel Price Finder, gas one year ago today was $2.77/gallon. Their website has this handy dandy little ticker at the top with averages:

Area Average : $3.141

Last Week: $3.544 Last Month: $4.083 6 Months Ago: $3.463 Last Year: $2.779

Average Cost To Fuel A Vehicle With a 15 Gallon Tank: $47.11Last Week: $53.17 Last Month: $61.24 6 Months Ago: $51.94 Last Year: $41.69

Now, today, gas for $2.77 sounds pretty sweet. In the past year, we've gotten accostomed to gas prices being in the $3something range, and recently, $3.99/gal was a deal. Oil barrel costs had gone through the roof, affecting our consumer cost.

Enter Hurricane Ike on 9/13, and welcome the 2008 gas crisis. North Carolina is one of those oh-so lucky places to only be serviced by 2 pipelines (Colonial and Plantation) coming from the coast, and when they're pummelled by a hurricane, supplies are diminished. The highest I paid for a gallon was $4.04, but that was pre-Ike. Thankfully in our area we were able to find a few stations with gas at $3.99. Five cents do add up, but it didn't stress me out too much.

Running out of gas did.

We just so happened to be in Myrtle Beach for a long weekend when Ike hit and the crisis began. The pictures were insane coming from stations all over the Southeast, primarily Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas. People lined up for hours, fights ensued, and it was chaos. We found gas in SC the night before we left, but the truck was sitting in our driveway empty. Slight panic ensued, but luckily C found gas on his way to work Monday morning.

Now that things have been fully restored to pre-Ike situations, we won't see any more pictures like this:

Prices are dipping down, hovering above $3/gallon, but that's a HUGE improvement over $4/gallon. We're already pretty frugal and conservative with gas usage, so it doesn't affect us too much, but it's the bigger picture that is an issue. Higher gas prices drive up the price of everything. Talk about a budget crunch...

Shopping those sales...

My recent addiction: shopping the sales at CVS, RiteAid and Walgreens. Slightly lame, yes, but I am constantly amazed at how much I'm saving each time I go. I am getting the hang of it. The thing is, you have to know what the regular store prices are to be sure you're actually getting a good deal. Sometimes I make a mistake and don't save any money, paying the same I'd pay at the regular stores I shop, and occasionally I'll pay more. Thankfully, those mistakes are few and far between; lessons learned the hard way.


It's no secret that these stores tend to be on the pricey side when it comes to shopping for the necessities, but I've found that with some careful planning, topped with creative uses of coupons and rebates, the upfront cost is pretty minimal.

I'll gladly spend 10 minutes a week sitting in front of the Sunday ads and making my little list of things I know I have coupons for. That 10 minutes usually pays off for us, saving $10, 20 or even $30. You can't beat the BOGO dish soap and having a coupon on top of that, so you're getting 2 bottles of dish soap for $1.50. It's hard enough to come by some of the coupons, much less coming across two of them for the same item at a time. Like store sales, coupons are cyclical. By the time you're finding sales you're actually interested in, it's tricky finding coupons that match your best interests. Not impossible, but in times like these... I'll do everything to save a buck or two.

Living in a Material World

Living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl

I know this is taken slightly out of context, but Madonna's 1985 song "Material Girl" is all too relevant in today's society. Amazing how times change so much but yet so little.

I'd like to think that I'm not all that materialistic. I really would. Part of me believes though that everyone is materialistic to a certain extent. The other day I was on a message board and it amazed me what material items people associated with class and social status. Is it really all that important that you live in the nicest neighborhood, drive the latest "hot" car, wear all the fashionable trends, and eat at the trendy restaurants? What about the high dollar items... the designer jeans, handbags, sunglasses, etc., that are all about the label? Why the latest gadgets? Why so much stuff?

I can't seem to wrap my brain around it. I know, I know... it's all personal preference, but still. I can't help but think even when I spend $10 on a shirt from Old Navy if I'm getting the best possible deal or if I really need it.

I look at our house, and while cute, is not grand by any means. That's ok. I don't need that. I need a roof over my head that's not going to tumble down. Our house is 1096 square feet, not big at all, but we have the basement. When that's finished off, we'd be lucky to hit about 1600 heated square feet. To me, that's plenty of room. We don't need anything bigger. Honestly, we don't. 2 people and a dog are very comfortable in even just the upstairs. I think part of the reason I like the house so much is it really makes me think about needs vs. wants. Do we really need that for the house? Where will it go? What will it take the place of? We (ok, I) have so much crap down in the basement it's not even funny. I'm trying to get rid of some of it, I really am. I've thrown out a bunch of stuff in this whole Clear Out the Crap Campaign. What's even worse is the last time I went through my closet I gave away so many things that were in great condition... hardly ever worn.

To me, materialism isn't necessarily labels and a status symbol. It's also the "need" for so much stuff. I fall into the latter definition. Labels and status symbols don't interest me. I have no desire for the big flashy jewelry, designer handbags or a new BMW. The only reason I have a Coach wallet is because it was a gift. My "old" '97 Accord does me just fine... it gets me from point A to point B and is a safe, reliable vehicle. That's not to say that I wouldn't love to have an '08 Accord, but I don't need it. Mine does just fine, why replace it? Our small house does us just fine, why upsize?

I do fit into the "stuff" category, although I really am trying to get better. I think that redoing my closet really taught me a lesson. Clay suggested that it would be really nice to have all of my clothes in one place instead of 2 (the guest closet/dresser and the master closet). I arranged the closet so that could happen, but still gave up a TON of stuff. It was good though. Why keep something I don't wear?

Honestly though, I don't know of a single person who won't admit that they have their moments of want when they don't need the item. It's human nature. Where is the line drawn? If you can afford the high end apparel, does the label become justifiable? Are people buying it for social acceptance or are they buying it because they like it and the price tag is affordable to them? How much stuff is too much?

It takes a lot of effort to really step back and take a look at what your needs vs. wants are and where to draw the line on how much is too much. Each person is different, but I just can't justify spending hundreds of dollars on a purse, over $30 on a pair of jeans, etc. Is there a general line of materialism?