It's long

By which I naturally mean the amount of time that I have to go without a day off on my current work schedule. I'm working eight consecutive days. Worse, the four-hour shifts for which I was originally scheduled have now been turned into eight-hour shifts because the person doing the scheduling right now has very little experience in that capacity. However, it does mean more money that I can put toward my mountain of debt. I'm looking forward to maybe paying off state taxes--which were abnoromally vicious because I did a lot of freelance work in 2008 and Oregon likes to bone people who don't spend all their time working for the man--and even a small credit card or two. If I can get ahead of schedule on eliminating debts this summer, I'm more likely to survive this winter when income is slim. After all, having fewer payments to make each month means fewer bills I can forget to pay and also means that the money I would have applied to one credit card or loan can go toward more quickly paying down another.

So I guess long isn't always a bad thing, but it sure feels bad right now.

Comments 6

randxian Jun 21, 2009

Bummer dude. I suppose scheduling would be one of those things that sounds deceptively simple. It always seems like when you get someone who is supposed to lighten the workload, it actually increases the workload until that person becomes proficient at his or her job. Just hope that person doesn't leave once he or she gets good at it.

honestgamer Blogger Jun 21, 2009

It's a case where this person has been around for something like 10 years, and likely will not be leaving anytime soon. She did the scheduling all last summar--and did it badly then, too, though not this bad--and only fills in when our actual manager (who does the scheduling the rest of the time) is away. The problem is that the lady doing it right now is not someone who takes criticism well. So she'll continue to do things badly, yell at anyone who hints that there might be imperfections in her style and not really "learn" anything. It'll be an issue whenever she's given the task of doing the scheduling.

By the way, the extra hours that I'm picking up aren't sufficient to pay off those things I mentioned, not all by themselves. I've also listed some games on eBay and I have money coming in from a freelance assignment I did last month. So there are a few sources of revenue. Hopefully, I can keep 'em coming.

Pro tip: don't get credit cards ever. If you want something but can't afford it, just wait to buy it until you can. Credit cards are the gift that keeps on taking.

Halon Jun 21, 2009

I haven't worked in over a month but I start a 50-hour per week job in two weeks. I guess this is how I'll be spending the next 45 years of my life so hopefully I get used to it quickly.

What will your job be? It'll help a lot if it's something that you enjoy. 40-hour-weeks doing a job you hate are much worse than 50-hour-weeks doing one you love.

Work for financial analysts at Dow Jones. I just got out of college and didn't exactly want to work in the financial field but DJ is a great company and fantastic resume builder so this will do for now until I find something better or go back to grad school. Beggars can't be choosers in this economy.

ManOWarr Jun 25, 2009

I don't know how financially prepared you are, but right now Dave Ramsey has a special going on his Total Money Makeover book for $10.00 that a lot of people have used to help them overcome their debt very quickly. Here's the link if you're interested: https://www.daveramsey.com/store/prod326.html