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Doggie Paddling to Save my Life!

11K views 50 replies 24 participants last post by  PurpleSnowflake 
#1 ·
Backstory - OldMan was working, earning a decent wage. They let him go 11/16/12. Applied for unemployment, STILL waiting to hear from them (spoke to them on Tues. and a super. was suppose to call within 48 hours, which was today, no call). He has been at the new job since 1/16/13 and collected his first paycheck today.

Now - The check is half what we expected because he was given a payrate in writing. When he inquired about a much lower hourly rate, they said that the written rate was ONLY for 'custom' work (jobs not assigned points).

So... this is the first check since he was let go, it's half what we thought it would be. I went to the payroll portal online and wanted to cry. His NEW yearly pay is estimated to be..... $30,000.00 LESS than he made in the 10 working months at the old place!

When he was let go, the first thing I did was fatten up the pantry (nearly gone now) and paid off the utilities and my car insurance for the year.

I'm basically at square 1 right now. Starting all over again with nothing in the bank. What we did have in the BEF is now gone. He had to buy tools (that he was told he wouldn't need when hired). The tools made it so he could stay employed.

Here are the hard numbers (and notes... mostly for me to remind myself, but chime in)

His health insurance - $406/mo (paid through to end of March, next payment due 3/10/13) --(apply for lower income rate ins.)
Electric - $55/mo (paid through to 2014, next payment due 1/15/14) -- (nothing more to be done unless I resort to candles)
Comcast - $65/mo (paid through to 2014, next payment due 1/15/14) -- (staying, need the basic to get reception)
cell phones - $65/mo (his has to stay because he needs it due to work mandate, mine could drop)
my car insurance - $840/yr (paid off through 2014, next payment due 12/26/14) -- (not much more I can do to lower it, at state mins now.)
his car insurance - $1800/yr (paid off, next payment due 5/15/13) -- (at state mins.)
my medication - $12/mo (for now)
laundry - $20/mo (get more quarters!)
food - varies (aiming for 75/week - includes all meals for 3 people a day... and a cat)
gas - $20/mo (mine)
gas - unknown (his) -- (it will go up when he gets the company truck, reimbursed .22/mi. does not include the 700/mi/wk commute)

Am I forgetting anything?


(tossing in... nothing left to sell, he's already looking in to other jobs, I can't get a job outside the house)
 
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#2 ·
his car insurance - $1800/yr (paid off, next payment due 5/15/13) -- (at state mins.)
Paid off til this March or March 2014? Just wanted to see if there was a type-o.

That's a lot to deal with suddenly after you just went through the hurdles you've gone through to get to where you are currently. I think its brilliant that you paid bigger bills in one lump sum so you don't have to worry about monthly payments.

Will you qualify for any assistance? Are there local organizations that you can turn to for help - food wise?

I hope this is just a stepping stone to a MUCH better opportunity for you & your family. *hugs*
 
#4 ·
Paid off til this March or March 2014? Just wanted to see if there was a type-o.
No, mine renews in Dec. His renews in May. He will have to start payments again in a few months.

Will you qualify for any assistance? Are there local organizations that you can turn to for help - food wise?
We applied... and was denied. We are in appeals now.
 
#3 ·
Nothing to add to your thinking - just pondering the shock of the differences in pay rates - guess you really cannot dwell on it - it it is really irritating. This too shall pass and things will once again rise positively on your side. Please stay in touch and let us know what and how you are doing with this new challenge. Sure will be nie when that UE comes through.
 
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#5 ·
We're food banks part of the assistance you applied for? I know that they are quite active here - one of my co-teachers goes all the time. Our SA also has some food available daily, as well as the churches.
 
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#6 ·
Thats a lot for car ins. We have Progessive w/ full coverage on 2 cars for 3 people 1 is twenty and are paying $1600. (we all have perfect records) But Mi. is expensive because of no fault and such. Are you w/ 2 diff co. or something.
Esp. if your not working you can do a casual driver rate??

Did you allow a copay fund?
SORRY your having such a hard time.
 
#8 · (Edited)
That has GOT to be tough! Finding out that the pay is HALF of the expected. Grrrrrr.

Does his job offer health insurance? do you can drop the other insurance.

Time to look for another job. ;-) again. Or a second job, until.

Is he still qualified for UI? Find out where the heck those benefits are! This seems to be a common occurance here in MA.. delayed payment. The governor should know about that.

Why is his car insurance so much more than yours? At our age we should be down to the bare minimum due to our long good driving history. That amount doesn't seem like bare minimum.

What about your heating expense?

what happens if you have a dental emergency? a medical emergency?

It seems like you've really gotten the budget down to the barest of them all and there's not much more to scrape.


Have you thought about selling some of thse unpaper towels you're knitting up? I'll bet you can sell those at a pretty penny.
Just a thought.

You've done well so far and you will continue to do ok. If you weren't so frugal and smart with your money - just imagine the position you'd be in now. Much worse. Waaaay worse. Not to negate where you are now though . Hugs

PS: I'm here in MA, probably not far from you. - if you ever want a free brekkie and/or coffee.... I've got a gift card I can use :D
 
#10 ·
Does his job offer health insurance?
Yes... but we didn't take it, the first time he needed to go to the doctor, we'd be wiped out. Under the plan now, $15/dr & $0/rx.

Time to look for another job. ;-) again. Or a second job, until.
He started looking as soon as he got home last night.

Is he still qualified for UI? Find out where the heck those benefits are! This seems to be a common occurance here in MA.. delayed payment. The governor should know about that.
His next work-day off is Tuesday. He will be calling over there again. Because he is working over 32/hr week, he's considered FT (according to UI) and can not collect that week (as if he's collected a dime from them!)

Why is his car insurance so much more than yours? At our age we should be down to the bare minimum due to our long good driving history. That amount doesn't seem like bare minimum.
He's younger than me, he didn't go to drivers ed, he has a higher step, he's still under 6 years driving. The insurance is as low as the commonwealth allows.

What about your heating expense?
Hot water, trash, sewer, snow removal & landscaping is included in condo fees. Any electrical portion of the heat would be on the electric bill... which is listed and never goes up.

what happens if you have a dental emergency? a medical emergency?
He has dental & health insurance. Diva and I have health insurance. She gets 2 free cleanings a year through the insurance and my ex has to pay for any additional medical/dental. I had bilateral alveoplasty.



Have you thought about selling some of thse unpaper towels you're knitting up? I'll bet you can sell those at a pretty penny.
I thought about it, haven't made any yet.


PS: I'm here in MA, probably not far from you. - if you ever want a free brekkie and/or coffee.... I've got a gift card I can use :Dooooh.... coffee !!!!
Thanks everyone for keeping me sane.
 
#11 ·
Sounds like you have thought ahead. Your car insurance does seem very expensive $1800 for 1 vehicle is very, very expensive. We live in Michigan and pay $977 per year including all state assessments for our 2004 truck for full coverage and $501 for PL/PD on my car...for a total of $1478 per year on both vehicles. I'd shop around and see if you can cut the auto insurance costs down...we use Liberty Mutual and they've treated us very well thus far.
 
#12 ·
we use Liberty Mutual and they've treated us very well thus far.
We both have LM. I have had it since the dawn of time, he was able to switch over in November. The reason his is so high is because he is still considered a "new driver" and, he has a speeding ticket on there for a few more years. There is nothing lower for him, this IS as low as he can go for his car, driving experience and driving record. It's just something that "is what it is".
 
G
#13 ·
Lady-V, I know what you mean about the insurance. Rates in MA are really high. When I first had my license, driving an old 4 door sedan, it cost me $2200 a year for insurance. No tickets.


Have you tried looking at the MA Health Connector site or going through the UI office to see if you can find cheaper insurance for the Old Man?
 
#14 ·
Wow, am really impressed how you paid so many bills up-to-date for another year. Great idea!!! Am sure everything will work out for you two. Try and take a breather, don't forget you just paid off many bills. Thinking about everything all at once can really be overwhelming. It really does seem as if you are doing everything you can. Maybe you can get a tracfone for yourself at only $20 every 3 months. Would that help out with the cell phone bill.

Any chance of you growing some veggies in a small garden or pots? If you can you may want to let people know, many times they may have extra soil, pots, even plants.

Hang in there, you are doing everything you can and it might seem like doggie paddling but atleast you are still moving.
 
#15 ·
Thank you! I knew I wasn't crazy and the insurance here is INSANE.

-- Anything and everything hasn't been what it "should be" in MA for quite a while now.

He buys his health insurance through the state (healthconnector), but he's Commonwealth Choice (for people who make over their limits). I am going to send in an application for Commonwealth Care. Hopefully he qualifies for the reduced rate.

They take around 45 days, and he is paid off until the end of March, so he wouldn't have to start it until April, so, even if they drag their feet and he's accepted, we will know in plenty of time if we need to send in a payment for April to the insurance he has now.
 
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#19 ·
Is having him work more money than being unemployed? I hope so.

You can do this. Hubby and I have lived on less income more than once. The first one was a planned early semi-retirement. We went from two full-time, professional job to one part-time one so he could maintain health benefits. It was a huge drop in income and increase in our quality of life. The second time was not planned. Hubby got laid off from his full-time professional job (he went back to full-time work when we adopted our daughter). The lay-off was a huge drop in income. He tried to work independent for a while but it became obvious that wasn't going to pan out. By the time he was employed again it was 14 months later.

Enough about me ...

~ What are your living costs? Mortgage? Rent? Do you have a lease?
~ Homeowner's insurance? Renters insurance?
~ The old man has a labor related job. He needs disability insurance. Seriously! If him having a reduced salary hurts, imagine how bad it would be if he was so hurt he couldn't work AND so hurt you couldn't work because you were taking care of him.
~ Clothing, entertainment (yes, you need it), gifts, car maintenance, non-food grocery items, vet bills, household maintenance (things do break), etc. I can see you're the kind of person who want to plan for everything.
~ Taxes. Are you getting a federal refund? With your reduced income, will you be paying even less in taxes? If you work and you're not married, would you qualify for the earned income credit? Go to the irs.gov website and calculate what your 2013 taxes might be. See if there is someway you can do the same calculation for MA. (I've paid MA income taxes before - I feel for you!)
~ DO NOT give people your money sooner than you have to. CASH IS KING. The money you spent to pay ahead certain bills might be needed now for an emergency. Pay when the bills are due and pay ahead ONLY if it saves you a significant amount of money.

Don't lose hope. It could be that the employer is just testing him out and he'll soon get opportunities for over-time and custom jobs. As he gets to talk to his co-workers he'll start to get a better sense of what is really happening.
 
#21 ·
Is having him work more money than being unemployed? I hope so.

Currently? No - IF he was collecting, it would have been for more than the check he just brought home. He IS working, he HASN'T seen a dime and can't count on it. He had to apply for at least 3 jobs a week to be considered. He can't turn down a job if offered, or be disqualified. So, he would had to have worked less than 32 hours a week to continue to collect a check... that he wasn't getting. :scratch:



~ What are your living costs? Mortgage? Rent? Do you have a lease? - paid
~ Homeowner's insurance? Renters insurance? - neither
~ The old man has a labor related job. He needs disability insurance. Seriously! If him having a reduced salary hurts, imagine how bad it would be if he was so hurt he couldn't work AND so hurt you couldn't work because you were taking care of him. - work perk
~ Clothing (we have more than enough), entertainment (yes, you need it)(we have video games and internet - priorities, less money = more creative), gifts (Yule is being made, if Diva needs a gift for a friend, my ex pays for that) car maintenance (currently up to date), non-food grocery items (included in above), vet bills (up to date, if emergency visit is needed, vet does accept payment plans) household maintenance (things do break) (short of windows or pipes, if it breaks, it will be done without until it can be replaced)

~ Taxes. Are you getting a federal refund? Yes
~ With your reduced income, will you be paying even less in taxes? Taxes are automatically taken out at the same rate per dollar.
~ DO NOT give people your money sooner than you have to. CASH IS KING. The money you spent to pay ahead certain bills might be needed now for an emergency. Pay when the bills are due and pay ahead ONLY if it saves you a significant amount of money.
It was my choice to pay ahead the bills because I knew that if it came down to it, we could get food from a pantry, but the electric company wasn't as giving. It was decided months before this happened to pay a year ahead on everything, so if something like this DID happen, we would have time to get back on our feet and not live panic to paycheck every week until we could catch up on back-bills etc. It saved us nothing, since the things I paid are utilities and we have ZERO debt. By having the utilities paid, it was a few less things to worry about, especially since we had no idea how long he would be unemployed.
I hope I answered your questions
 
#20 ·
All I can say is "WOW"...makes me glad that I live in Michigan! Best of luck....
 
#24 ·
Yes.... but, I don't think people are understanding... there IS NO unemployment money coming in. How long would you/could you hold off for something that may never happen?

Also, IF he was collecting, he would be disqualified if he turned down a job he was offered. So, in order to make sure he had no offers, he would have to ONLY apply for jobs that he would have no chance in hell of getting... To us, that constitutes fraud.

The whole "making more from unemployment" train will get us nowhere since he IS currently employed. We are just trying to make the best of what has been presented to us.
 
#25 ·
Lots of hugs coming your way. Its scary. But I have faith that he will continue to get a higher paycheck. Just put it out to the universe, and it will take care of you. You have to believe that. Even though times are tough, you must believe that the perfect job is waiting for him.

and like magic.. there it is. :genie:
 
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#26 ·
Lady V, what does he do? Feel free to message me here or on FB. I have an idea what I think he might do (although I could be wrong) and my DH might have some connections.

And on the UI - I heard someone say that you get paid sooner if you have direct deposit than if you elect a check. We're still waiting here, too. I'm going to have DH sign up for DD and see if it helps. I can go until March before I have to dip into savings, but I would love for the money to show up sooner.
 
#28 ·
Lady V, what does he do? Feel free to message me here or on FB. I have an idea what I think he might do (although I could be wrong) and my DH might have some connections.

I will, ty

And on the UI - I heard someone say that you get paid sooner if you have direct deposit than if you elect a check. We're still waiting here, too. I'm going to have DH sign up for DD and see if it helps. I can go until March before I have to dip into savings, but I would love for the money to show up sooner.

We did have direct deposit elected. We are still waiting to find out IF he can get it. The previous employer. had every intention of fighting the claim (their standard practice).
I'm crossing my fingers for both of them. I know what it feels like to have a "we can manage until... " date.
 
#27 ·
I think you should talk to the unemployment office, not only to find out where his checks are, but to ask about the being under-employed part. After all, you have it in writing that he took this job based on one rate of pay and you now have evidence that he is getting a much lower rate of pay. Frankly, if it is less than unemployment, that is pretty low.

I asked you all those questions because you seemed concerned about whether or not all your budget items are being included.

As to homeowner's or rental insurance, I'd feel more comfortable if you had one or the other. The same goes with disability insurance in excess of what the employer provides.
 
#29 ·
QUOTE=CookieLee-
I think you should talk to the unemployment office, not only to find out where his checks are, but to ask about the being under-employed part.
He has called, his adjuster is not answering, he is leaving messages. He did speak to someone last week, a supervisor was suppose to call in 48 hours, didn't. He will call again on Tuesday (his only day off during the week). As far as being under employed. He's technically not. He worked 34 hours. 32 hours is considered FT.

After all, you have it in writing that he took this job based on one rate of pay and you now have evidence that he is getting a much lower rate of pay. Frankly, if it is less than unemployment, that is pretty low. Thank you for reminding me :lol:

I asked you all those questions because you seemed concerned about whether or not all your budget items are being included.

As to homeowner's or rental insurance, I'd feel more comfortable if you had one or the other.
I fall between the cracks, I am neither a renter or deeded owner. I am not guessing, this is based on the information the insurance agent gave me after I went to their office to apply. OldMan could get renters insurance, but it would only cover his things. In the end, we don't really have anything that is worth insuring that can't be lived without or replaced in time. I do have structure insurance.

The same goes with disability insurance in excess of what the employer provides. It would be wonderful to have additional insurance, but when it's offered free by the employer, and we're already in buckle-down mode, we simply can't afford it.
 
#31 ·
Thanks Nodmicks... they can hold it because there are SO many people unemployed here right now. (see Telephus's post about her DH going through a delay, and his claim isn't being challenged by his employer)

At this point, it's not a matter of the money. We made it through the "no income" period. If we get the money, bonus!, if not, it won't really change what has already happened. We just want an ANSWER so we can put it behind us since he's no longer eligible for further collections, just for the time between Nov 16 and Jan 16.
 
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#33 ·
I live in MA too and hubby was on ui for almost 2 years. He couldn't find a full time job, but was able to work part time. one of his pt jobs was anywhere from 24 - 36 hours and as long as he didn't make more than x number of dollars per week, he was still able to collect (once he made over the amount, that amount was deducted from his ui benefits). this was until the end of 2011, when he found his current job. i'm surprised they are taking so long in starting his benefits....i seem to recall it only took dh 2-3 weeks before he got his first check. of course though, his employer didn't fight the ui, if your hubbys' is fighting it, i can see why the delay.i hope he has better luck when he calls them again. wishing you luck all around!
 
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