Surviving Shutdowns

First off, let me just say that I am not in favor of any government shutdown. A shutdown serves no purpose, is actually more costly to the American taxpayer and financially harms federal employees. Now let's get down to it. Federal employees face the threat of shutdown all the time. They're part of the job. Basically, they happen when there's a gap in funding for the federal government. Just google government shutdowns and you find that they're not uncommon. They can last anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks. My point here isn't to give a history lesson or get political. My purpose here is to help you prepare for and survive a shutdown. Shutdowns cause financial hardship. The general public thinks we make big salaries and do nothing. That could not be farther from the truth. We're just like anyone else. We got to work to provide for our families and live paycheck to paycheck like everyone else. Sure, we get a few more paid holidays than some people but don't we boost the economy when we hit that President's Day Sale at Penney's? If we don't have the day off, how are we going to hit those sales, huh? But I digress. The threat of shutdown is always there because Congress has to appropriate funds. Budgets pass or don't pass, Continuing Resolutions pass or don't pass. It's an endless cycle. Therefore, threat of shutdown is always there. So be prepared! I was a seasonal IRS employee for several years. Working 4, 6 or 9 months out of the year makes for some creative budgeting. But we did it and we made it work. Collecting unemployment for those other 3-6 months helps but it's not a substitute for a full paycheck. A lot of seasonals have jobs that they work in the off season. For us, that really wasn't an option as any job I would have found would not have paid me as much and after paying for child care, we would have actually lost money. So unemployment was our "backup". Full unemployment benefit in the state of Missouri (before federal taxes) is $320 per week. $1280 a month is supposed to pay for housing, utilities, gas and groceries. I don't know anyone that can live on $1280 a month. So, as a seasonal, we planned ahead. Since I'm no longer a seasonal employee we don't plan ahead anymore, right? WRONG!! We continue to plan for 2 reasons: 1. Threat of shutdown is always there 2. Anything can happen to cause a financial setback that is not work related Now, this shutdown is on day 17. We're blessed to have my husband working but I won't lie. As this thing drags on, this is going to financially difficult for us. This coming weekend, instead of getting two paychecks, we'll only be getting one. That's going to sting a little bit. But we've prepared so we'll be ok. As I often say, we won't be rolling in money but we won't be rolling pennies for gas, either. So here's my 4 things to do to prepare for a federal government shutdown: (I realize that this won't help since we're already in shutdown. But remember, the threat is always there. The last time we had a long one was 5 years ago. You never know so be prepared). 1. Save. Ideally, you want to put 10% of your paycheck into savings first thing. Dave Ramsey recommends keeping a $1,000.00 emergency fund. (I highly recommend his methods). Even $20 a pay period is something. So get that money into savings. 2. Pay ahead. Work some overtime? Get a bonus? Use some of it to get ahead. For example, we pay our car insurance 6 months at a time instead of monthly. Usually, you get a steep discount for doing that anyway so it's worth it. Have trash service? Pay it a year in advance. House payment? Break it into biweekly payments. You not only pay your mortgage off faster that way but you get ahead on your payments. Or, you know those 2 months out of the year we get paid 3 times instead of twice? Pretend you're paying half your rent/mortgage for the month and put it in savings. Use those "3rd" paychecks to add a little extra to the savings account, to the car payment, utilities, etc. 3. Stock up. When groceries go on sale, buy a little extra. We're loyal Aldi shoppers. If you don't have an Aldi in your area, I'm sorry. It's the best place for inexpensive groceries. If we can't find it at Aldi, we can't afford to eat it. You don't need to be a doomsday prepper to build food storage. Food storage is always a good idea. Having extra food stored can really help in an emergency. Whether it's a financial emergency or a natural disaster type emergency, having some extra food stored away is totally worth it. Put a few extra chicken breasts in the freezer, buy a few extra boxes of cereal. Store those staples to use when money is tight. 4. Do your best to get out of debt and stay out of debt. Unfortunately, debt is a part of life. It's almost unavoidable. You car is broken beyond repair and you have no choice but to buy another one. After years of no car payments, you suddenly have one. Sometimes you have to go into debt and you can't avoid it. But you definitely don't want your credit to be ruined by a shutdown. Maybe your creditors will be understanding, maybe they won't. This one is tough. That's why I say do your best to stay out of debt or at least stay on top of it and when you are working, get those debts paid down as much as you can. So now I've told you how I prepared for shutdown based on years of working seasonal. But here's how you survive a shutdown: 1. File for unemployment. Yes, you will have to pay it back but you have to keep a roof over your head and your lights on. Do that within the first week of the shutdown. Since you never know how long the shutdown will last, it's better to open that claim sooner rather than later. It may take up to two weeks to actually receive unemployment money. 2. Seek out other sources of income. If you're fairly healthy, you can donate plasma. You can earn some extra (tax free) cash for doing nothing more than donating plasma twice a week. That's just one example. I'm sure you can come up with your own ideas. 3. BE POSITIVE! I cannot stress this enough. Being positive is the only way you're going to survive a shutdown. Check the news once a day or call the hotline so you are up to date on when you need to report back to work but check only ONCE! Your social media is going to be full of people giving their opinions on who's to blame for the shutdown and your coworkers are stressed about the situation. It's not a fun time. But it's beyond your control. You can either spend time being angry about something you can't control or you can make the best of it. Yes, things are uncertain and stressful. But be positive. Be thankful for the extra time with your kids, be thankful for the money you're saving on gas and childcare. Look for the positives. It's a crappy situation for everyone involved but you have to stay positive and stay away from the negative. It's the only way you'll survive. From my book in progress, Getting Paid to Breathe: A Survival Guide for the Federal Employee

Memorial Day

“Happy Memorial Day “ seems to be all you hear in the week prior to Memorial Day. When the very definition of memorial is to remember, it seems odd to say “happy” Memorial Day. A meme posted by one of my friends on Facebook nailed the true purpose of Memorial Day right on the head. It simply said, “Have a Reflective Memorial Day”. It is easy to see how a day of reflection and remembrance has become a happy holiday. A three-day weekend in late spring is the perfect excuse to get together with family and fire up the grill for the summer’s first barbecue. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. We put out our flag, mention the sacrifice of our nation’s military in our prayer before attacking that medium rare steak or even leave a few artificial flowers at the gravesite of a loved one. But do we truly stop to reflect? Do we truly mean our thanks to God for the sacrifices our military and public safety personnel make on a daily basis or do the words just sound good? Do we truly believe in those memes we post to Facebook depicting military cemeteries admonishing us to never forget? That’s some food for thought, isn’t it? So here’s some more food for thought. Memorial Day was first observed on May 30, 1868 as a day to honor the dead of the Civil War by decorating their graves. The date of this Decoration Day was chosen because it wasn’t an anniversary day for any particular battle. In the first decades after this declaration, only the Northern states observed Memorial/Decoration Day. Southern states had their own separate days to honor those who fought and died for the Confederacy. It wasn’t until after World War I that all of the states observed Memorial Day as a day to honor all war dead, not just those who died in the Civil War. Some Southern states still have an additional separate day of remembrance for the Confederate war dead. (Although, with the recent war on history waged by so-called “social justice warriors”, these holidays may be next on their agenda after they rid the countryside of schools, streets and statues that honor Civil War figures). *sigh and eye roll* The 3-day weekend that marks the unofficial start to summer was created in 1971 when Congress declared Memorial Day to be observed on the last Monday in May for federal employees. That may have been the point that it became more of a party day and less of a remembrance day. Is it wrong to hold family barbecues or head out of town for the weekend? Absolutely not. Any occasion that brings a family together for quality time is worth taking advantage of. But perhaps hitting the annual sale at Nebraska Furniture Mart (no offense to them) is probably not necessarily something that honors those who have put their lives on the line for America’s freedom and safety. But therein lay the purpose of their sacrifice: freedom. And we certainly all have the freedom to observe Memorial Day the way we see fit. I would think we could all be a little more reflective in our observance of Memorial Day in the future. Be more sincere in our prayers of thanks for the sacrifice of others to preserve safety and freedom.