I had been better. I had money in my bank account. I had a friend come down and was very good with not spending a lot of money. Then the student loan payment hit again, and I'm back to where I was. Except I've got less money in the bank than before. And I've got MUCH more stress from personal issues. That's neither here nor there, but it's making things much more difficult.

The next schedule that's out for work, though, is promising. My department is in charge of the Santa's Workshop, and I'm getting 39 hours one week, somehow. Most of the full time employees aren't even getting that much, but I volunteered early to be put on for as many as they needed working both in my department and in the promotions department. So while at the end of the month I'll be getting more hours, it'll be mid-November before I'm able to see the effects of that in my bank account.

Also, though I have tried calling my credit card company and getting a new card issued (I have the account paid off, no balance, I just need a new card for emergencies), I haven't received it yet. And while I've also called the student loan company I'm with to request a forbearance on my loan, they haven't sent it to me either. It's not because my parents aren't getting it to me, because somehow they've gotten much better at getting me my mail. I'm just wondering if there's a black hole somewhere between the post office and my house. Which isn't that far away at all. Next week on Monday I'm going to the bank and calling the loan company, because I need to get it all taken care of, and fast. If I had an emergency and my debit card declined, I'd like to be able to pay for things that needed to be done.

The past few days have been spent on job listing websites, trying to find something that's going to get me out of this hole. There's not a whole lot going on in my real life at the moment, except for the friend coming in from out of town next week. It's going to be interesting trying to balance less than no money, the need to work as much as I can, and the price of gas with entertaining someone. Luckily for me, however, my friend realizes the situation I'm in and is perfectly capable of entertaining herself if need be. She just needs a break from her family and home, which I perfectly understand.

So far on the job front I've been emailed by several companies trying to get me to be an independent agent. I can't do this, I know this for a fact. I've tried doing it before, but it's never worked out for me. I need more structure than that in my employment. The few places I've actually put in applications have turned me down, but that's not stopping me from going for at least half an hour each day to browse through other jobs and apply, and usually I'm there for much longer than that. Let's just hope that this all works out in the end and I'm able to find a decent job, AND that my current job is willing to cut me down to less hours a week so that I can actually attend my new job. I don't think that will be a big issue. They want to keep me on there, I know this, and I want to stay there, but I'm thinking more and more that it can't be my primary employment.

And hopefully when I get enough money and can make an annealing kiln, I'll be able to start selling some glass beads. Right now I'm still getting all my supplies in, but I learned from a friend, and it's an interesting way to relax and earn some extra cash. Add this to the fact that my sister's mother-in-law, who loves the family and lives blocks away, makes jewelry for a living, and we might just have a joint venture partnership once I can anneal my beads and sell them. Which would be a great deal of fun, trust me. I'd be busy, making beads and dealing with two jobs, but for the money I need to pay down debt and get out of this hole, I'm more than willing to put the time in.

If only I could find another job. This week I'm down to two days of work, and I've got company coming in this Saturday. Fortunately, she knows my current situation and isn't expecting to go out and live extravagantly, but at the same time, it's going to really suck having to entertain on negative money.

I have, however, spoken to my manager and she knows that I need as many hours as possible, whether or not I have company here. And she's more than willing to help me out and get me anything she can. But I work in the camping department of a nationwide retail chain. And camping isn't very much in style during the autumn. The hunting department is getting lots of hours, but I haven't taken the federal tests to sell guns, and they have enough people up there already, so there's really no way I can get on up there with enough time to get me out of the hole. I am looking for other jobs in the area, it's hard. Most people are hiring for seasonal, and as soon as we get our Winter Wonderland set up (within the first week of November), our department is going to be staffing a lot of it, so I know I'll have more hours. And yes, I could cut back to lower hours there if I find a full time job somewhere else, but it's hard to FIND because it's coming up on the holidays and nobody wants to commit to full time employment.

I'm looking on Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com, hopefully I'll find something and cut back to less hours at my current job. It's just hard to find a full-time job listing that doesn't require previous experience and has set hours.

I would have gone to the bank today, but the VP, the only person who can manage the overdraft charges, wasn't there. So I have to go back tomorrow morning. Luckily, the bank is close to where I live, so I'm not using too much gas to get there. If it's a nice enough day I might just ride my bike (assuming I can find a pump for the tires) or walk.

For now, I'll just clean the house so my parents stay happy with me. I said I'd do it Saturday and got busy with other rooms, so it's off to scrub the bathroom.

Introductions

So, it's the first post of a new blog. I might as well start here with who I am and what I'm doing here, right? I'm a college-aged young woman living in the Midwest of the United States. Currently I'm trying to survive the financial crisis (which all the politicians are so willing to remind us is not a recession) and make my way up to Canada. I've already got a family up there willing to sponsor me, and knowing that they're ready to take me in and help me out when I get there makes that part of the process so much easier, but at this point it's hard to see me getting there.

I don't have a college degree, even after five years of college, and I work 35 miles (that's about 56 km for you folks who think in that) from where I live. Add to that the fact that I'm only part time at work and gas prices are ridiculously high right now, it's no small surprise that I'm struggling to make ends meet. No, let me correct that, I can't make ends meet. At all.

Here's the best part of it: I live at home with my parents. I don't pay rent, and they buy all the groceries. All I have to pay is student loan payments (which are what's killing me), my cell phone (because the home phone is now a cell phone, they don't let me use it, and left me to pay for my own), gas to get anywhere I need to go, and any time I eat out, or go shopping on my own. I also cover medical expenses, and as soon as next summer comes around, I won't be on my dad's insurance anymore. I've got slight medical issues, but without insurance, the cost of my maintenance medication is going to be in the hundreds of dollars a month. Compared to about $50 now for all of them. (And no, this isn't the main reason I'm moving to Canada.)

This blog isn't going to be about the gory details of my personal life, it's more to document the problems that I'm going through as I try to survive in an economy that's not just tanking, it's capsizing. I'm also trying to contemplate expatriating and moving to another country, and all the problems inherent in that when it has to do with a person being afraid of change.