In the beginning of December I started working for a large and well known utility company. My Dad has worked for the company for 30+ years so it was his dream to get one of his kids into the company. I worked as a summer intern at this place in 2006 and 2007 but a full-time position never came my way. I worked several jobs since my intern days but I had always been on the lookout for a full-time position. It is one of those major companies with excellent benefits, raises, perks and good pay. There is plenty of options for overtime. So it would essentially be a dream job for me to help support my family.
My husband works full-time as a manager for an Indoor Miniature Golf Chain. He works long hours but since he is salaried he isn't compensated nearly enough for all the hours and work he puts in. But since he was the primary breadwinner of the family and our health insurance was through the job, he HAD to stay there. We paid $750 a month for our health insurance with a co-pay of $25 every time we went to a doctor. And when you have a toddler, that amount really adds up. Matt was searching for another job with better hours but it was hard to find something that offered benefits. So when the Utility company job came along, it was the perfect opportunity for our family.
I am working 40 hours a week at this job, Monday through Friday from 7:00am-3:30pm. But since the job is over an hour away from me, I have to leave at 5:30 am every morning. It is a drag and one of the major downsides to the job. But the perks majorly outweigh the negatives. I have medical, dental, 401k, life insurance for Matt, myself and Emily as well as pension and saving plan and it only cost me $450 a month for everything. And it comes out of my weekly paycheck so I don't have to pay the lump sum all at once like we did with Matt's insurance so that is wonderful. It really saves us a great deal of money for him to be able to drop the insurance at his job and just bring home a paycheck.
Now for the 1st time in 3 years, he can really look for a job with better hours because he will not have to worry about benefits. Unfortunately he does not have a long time to look because a few weeks ago his boss informed him that he was being laid off. The miniature golf place is doing horrible business. The owner cannot afford to keep Matt at the salary he is currently being paid. And Matt would make more money on unemployment than he would part-time at this place,. It will make money tight for us until he finds a good job, but it is the kick in the ass he needs to leave that job. He would have stayed there with the long hours, never seeing his family and being miserable. He NEEDS to get out of this job. I miss seeing him. Emily misses seeing him. It is time to move on and get our lives better financially.
As for me, I am working the Utility company job. Plus the job I had prior to this as a customer Service Rep for a Communications company is keeping me on as a consultant. I work from home several hours a week at night answering customer emails from one of our clients. I get paid pretty decent money every two weeks to help out with something I am good so why not? I also kept up the secretary job I have had for the past 3 years. This was a job I had through a temp agency when I went back to work after Emily. I left after two years to get a full-time job with the communications company but my boss called me and offered me weekend work. He said I could make my own hours and let myself into the building on either Saturday or Sunday to do typing, filing, emails, contracts, etc for him. It is another part-time job but the money is really helpful right now. Especially with Matt losing his job.
So essentially I am working 3 jobs right now. Plus being a mother to a toddler. Plus being a wife. And living with my in-laws and helping them with finances. It is exhausting. I am basically running myself ragged. There are days where I wish I could just stay in bed and sleep uninterrupted for a long period of time without having something I have to do. I feel like all I do lately is work. I am not getting much sleep but then I never really did. And these extra jobs are really helping us right now and I like both of them since I really like the people I work for on both of them. It is flattering that both employers appreciated my hard work enough to keep me on staff even after I left them to pursue a job at the ulitity company. But both employers understand what a great opportunity it was for me financially.
So I guess I just have to keep at this until Matt's job situation changes. Really, I am lucky to have the opportunities. These jobs help pay our bills, some of the bills for my in-laws and keep us moving forward. And everyone is happy and healthy. There are so many people out there who don't have a job at all. So I am extremely grateful for my situations. Now if a wonderful job with great hours would fall into my husband's lap, that would really make my day.
But we got bills to pay
We got nothing figured out
When it was hard to take-
Yes, yes, this is what I thought about
"Mine" - Taylor Swift
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