Unemployment Benefits

There has been a rise in the number of applications challenged for unemployment benefits. Makes sense; companies don't want to pay more than they have to and with more people being let go, there are more claims, which reflects badly on the corporation.

I've had unemployment claims challenged before, and have been told that in my state it's very difficult to have the benefits taken away. Companies with high turnover, due to their deficiencies are more likely to try this, even in good times. I haven't had benefits withheld from me and only know one person who has. I'm not sure what happened in that case, as my information was obtained third hand.

Usually it has to be something egregious; mere incompetence or not meeting standards doesn't rise to the level of misbehavior needed. Someone whose family owned a business once told me that she didn't think you'd lose unemployment benefits even if you killed someone. Then again, thinking it through, how would you prove you were looking for a job? Does unemployment take calls from prison? Are you still able to turn down a job, while imprisoned, because it pays less than your last employment?

The change in my state is that when doing contract work, you must contact the agency within five days of the projects end to ask if they have another project. The presumption in the system is that you quit the job but the agency that employed me when I was cut from a project denies that you quit and then pays. Backwards system.

Checking Your Alumni Calendar

I know I've talked about this before, but please check your alma mater (and any other law school near you) for CLE's. Mine has $10 morning CLE's once a month. It's 1-1.5 credits, which isn't much, but over time can add up. I just looked at their calendar for something else and found a free CLE put on by a law firm's foundation. I have attended this in the past but hadn't thought of it in awhile...I reported last year and by the time it rolled around had enough credits.

I'm in very good shape as I still have over two years remaining to accumulate credits and have over 25 already. I'm waiting for one credit to come through and am in the midst of my statistics course, which will get me nearly to the end. I need Ethics and Elimination of Bias credits. I know I can take care of those in June.

The statistics class has greatly diminished for the spring. At my first class, there were three of us but the weather was bad. Last week there were seven. I doubt it will be too many more than that as I believe between both sections we're under 20 people. That's not many. The professor hasn't given up though; he has realize that it's ethics and elimination of bias that will bring in the people so is planning something for fall. I look forward to finding out what it is.

This week I have also found a free webcast through the bar association; I'm still waiting for the credit for the last one and hope they have a free one once a month. I learned about the last one about fifteen minutes ahead of time but was able to register and attend with no trouble. A colleague mentioned it to me as she was returning to her office to sign in or I'd have never known.

While it doesn't sound like much to get a free credit here and there, I haven't paid a dime for any of the credits I've so far received. Since I started early and have found several sources for free CLE's, I'm sure I won't have to pay for this reporting period.

Picking up the Check

In these days of massive layoffs, picking up the check has changed; you'd think that people on a business lunch would follow the same protocol, but apparently not. Not only is unemployment rampant, but corporations are scaling back their expense accounts.

Last year, when I was traveling, and rarely responsible for feeding myself, our per diem was about $80. I paid for breakfast at the airport and was reimbursed later, but most of the time, I was traveling with a corporate employee who put all the meals on a corporate card. Before I was cut from the project, there was talk at a higher level, of cutting the per diem to $40 a day. That's not much when you're trying to get three meals out of it.

Of course, they were likely looking at lower-end hotels. By "lower end" I mean Hampton Inn rather than the Hilton. Either is fine and the Hampton usually had breakfast included. In which case it becomes easier to eat on $40 a day. At the time, I don't think they scaled back because their employees viewed the nice hotel and nice dinners as their reward for being away from home for the week. By now, in this economic climate, I would be surprised if they hadn't cut back on the pricy hotels. Granted, in some areas, you'd have to stay too far away from the work site if your hotel was cheaper, but in others, it wouldn't be a big deal.

While I miss the points and having the nice dinners, I'm happy to forego traveling.

Paying Attention

I was shocked when I learned that my friend had racked up a credit card balance; she's in a two-income situation and while I don't know whether she has incurred debt for school, she is both going to school part time and co-owner of a mortgage. Her income is healthy and I know she only puts $20/monthly into a 401K. That's a bit scary to me. How?

Why stop at $20? That's $240 annually. How will that help for retirement? Really. That means she doesn't have a big drop in her take-home pay due to retirement savings, which makes it even more remarkable to me that she didn't pay attention to her credit card use until she hit a balance of several thousand.

I admit I'm a bit obsessive about the debt-reduction, but I think it's appropriate; it was only a few years ago that I had a lot more debt than I do now and I don't want to return to that place, especially if we're talking consumer debt. My other goal is to buy a condo or townhouse.

While I'm not quite so fiscally responsible that I have created a strict budget to which I adhere, I'm focused on paying attention. In my case, it means using more coupons at the grocery store, but doesn't mean buying things I don't want/like/need because it's a good deal. I actually know someone who buys canned vegetables when they're on sale. Whether it's a vegetable she likes, or not! While it makes sense to me to stock up on things I like when they're on sale, it makes no sense to buy food I don't like.

Bringing breakfast and lunch to work every day does a lot for me; I save money and am able to have better nutrition. I also have a much better idea of where my money goes and how much of it is going where. I'm not opposed to going out for lunch or dinner, just opposed to doing so multiple times per week and at random. I'm sure that some week in the future I'll end up with too many lunches or dinners out, and that's okay too, as long as I don't fall into the habit of going out a lot each week.

I don't really need anything right now, except contact lenses; as I mentioned before, I can wait a few weeks for that. Next payday I order them.

Credit Card Debt

I talk to more and more people whose credit card companies are jacking their interest way up. One of my colleagues just told me that her interest is being raised on a card she has never paid late. Her credit card company is likely responding to her credit rating, which isn't that great; yet, supposedly that was supposed to no longer happen. She got the letter that says if you stop using your card they won't raise the rate. I told her not to depend on calling but to send them a letter and keep a copy.

I hardly ever use my credit card, and haven't done so for a month now. I seriously considered using it, stupidly, to make a payment that would've made my cash flow a bit tight until the next payday. I ended up not doing it, because that's how you get into trouble.

The key is to change your mindset and not fall into the trap of "needing" things. My colleague says that she has started using her debit card for everything and either she has money or she doesn't. Good philosopy. I still write checks for certain things, as I do business with some entities that don't take plastic. Which is fine. I have a box of checks that needs to get used up and that's going to take a long time.

Workplace Privacy

Privacy in the workplace is a moot point. There isn't any. Unless you use your personal cellphone to contact people, IT may be looking over your shoulder. Of course, there are limitations on that; typically, only certain people are allowed to review e-mails. The reality of many corporations is that they block certain sites and filter their e-mail program, but don't have the staff to monitor everything.

Reviewing e-mail may only be done for business purposes; I know of someone in IT who monitored an employees e-mail for personal reasons and was creating a hostile work environment for that person. Shortly after the employee complained to HR there was a layoff, in which the IT person was included. It's difficult not to believe the IT person was added due to inappropriate monitoring of e-mail.

Speculation

People have always speculated in commodities, most recently, in China, on tea leaves. For us Westerners, it seems odd, but we have people gambling on gasoline, iron ore, food items and precious metals.

While tea isn't on our radar, neither are flower bulbs, yet in 1637, the Dutch Tulip bulb market crashed and speculators lost fortunes. The dotcom crash and current economic issues are merely following history.

Shopaholic Syndrome

I've given up shopping, except for necessities. I need to in order to remain focused on paying my bills. Having said that, I enjoyed Confessions of a Shopaholic and the three out of four sequels I have so far read; most of which were purchased at my local thrift store. I still haven't found a copy of Shopaholic and Baby, though expect that to be available soon. The movie is just coming out. While I'm not opposed to movies, I tend not to see the movie if I've read the book.

I still buy things, but no longer go to the mall as a form of entertainment; which isn't necessarily good as I understand that shopping malls too are having trouble in these times. In some ways, it's their own fault for having multiplied so much; during my childhood there were different department stores downtown, but initially only about four major malls in the area, supplemented by some smaller malls. Then more malls were built, culminating in The Mall of America. That itself may be recession-proof as it's a hot spot for foreign tourists. The Chinese and Saudi's haven't yet run out of money. Maybe that's next week.

Credit cards are still dangerous for me and for anyone; I pay attention so I won't become like a friend who just realized she has a $4,000 balance on her card and doesn't exactly know how she achieved it. That's the scary part. None of it was due to emergency or necessity. I don't know her budget, how much of a concern it is to her or how long it'll take to pay off. What I do know is that's why I'm paying close attention to my spending and planning ahead.

Lately, I've been thinking about each unnecessary expenditure (defined as those not including regularly scheduled bills, medical expenses, food and gas) before spending money. I went out for lunch one day last week, to a restaurant with a little gift shop. They have a lot of cute stuff, but none of it is necessary, so I looked at it and have a few things in mind for future possibilities but didn't buy anything. The purchases I have made have been a result of a more thoughtful process but haven't added up to that much. I have made a few frivolous expenditures but still have enough money to pay off a small bill. It's only a couple hundred dollars but it's one less bill to pay. I achieved it in part by waiting to buy contact lenses; I have some of the trial ones left and haven't been wearing them every day. It won't kill me to wait.

My mantra is "each month I reduce my total debt." The more progress I can make on that, the happier I will be. Once I eliminate the remaining nagging little bills, I'll be able to achieve my goals more quickly. I'm still torn about which loan to target, the one with the lower rate of interest or one of the set that's tied together at a slightly higher rate.

Happiness and Improving Moods

Many people turn to shopping or drinking for mood improvement or trying to creat happiness. It can help, for awhile, but then you need a new thrill and go back to the mall, bar or internet. It isn't ever going to be a permanent fix.

Interestingly, your mood can be changed by the color you're around; this is why fast food joints all use the same colors. They use the hungry set of colors. Brown, orange, yellow. Yum! I used to go to a yoga class in a beatiful, tranquil, celery green studio. The studio moved and I no longer go there; first, the location was near the other, but not as easily accessible from my area as was the previous studio. I might've gotten over that, but it was in a former restaurant. Brown. Orange. Olive green. Egg yolk yellow. My yoga class remained at the same time but with a huge difference; not only was it annoying for me to get there and get out of the area but I was hungry. I can only take so much annoyance so stopped going to that studio.

Studies have also shown that happiness is derived from experiences rather than stuff, so put down that drink or mouse, leave the mall and go do something.

Rioting in the Street

One thing we don't have to worry about much in the US is rioting. I mean, unless your team won the playoffs. Otherwise? Not so much.

Other areas of the world can't afford such complacency, not even France, which is only one country, the economic turmoil of which, is translating to unrest in the streets. It seems like half the world is protesting the lack of jobs.

Benefit Debit Card

What on earth is the benefit to a card that gets declined when it's activated and the payment amount is the remaining balance? The healthcare spending account person just told me that I should make my payment and get reimbursed. How does that help me? The whole idea of the card is so you don't have to actually do that! Since I'm a new employee and don't have an account for paper transactions, I would first have to set it up, including my bank information so reimbursement will be directly routed to my account.

While I have the ability to do that, it seems counterproductive. Then again, this is the place that didn't make the debit card available at the beginning of the year. Most of us got our cards the last week of the month. Yes, this is a new program starting this year. It would make more sense to me to have sent the card out in December and activated the account Jan. 2.

In the end, they were able to straighten it out without putting it on paper, which is good. My bill has now been paid and my debit card emptied for the year. The benefit debit card is new to my employer this year and will be slick once they get it all figured out.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!
May all your chocolate needs be met.

Debt Collectors

Right now, I know two people who have been having trouble with debt and debt collectors. What's interesting to me is that people don't cut out the unnecessary in order to take care of these things. I'm happy that I'm currently able to make payments on all my bills, even though it doesn't feel like I'm reducing anything. I won't feel like debt has been reduced until I manage to pay off another student loan, even though it'll be awhile before that happens.

I know, unnecessary is in the eye of the beholder, and the last thing I'd pay for is a gaming subscription or satellite tv. My quasi-useless items are internet access and my cellphone. I use the internet a lot more than my cellphone and sometimes think I should switch to a pay-to-play phone. Except I don't have long-distance on my land line and have several contacts on the same cell carrier so have free calling for those people. I do a lot online, including communicate with friends, blog, shop and look for jobs. I also read the paper. Which is likely why my local paper has filed for bankruptcy. I don't know whether I'd pay for a subscription to the paper online when there's so much free content out there.

I think I have eliminated most of my unnecessary expenditures and I know I'm more thoughtful when making purchases, whether groceries or anything else. I'm bad for the economy, but have been bad for it for several years now.

Billable Hours

Before the economy completely imploded, I was working on a project at a big firm, the associates for which told us that they liked the client (who has since filed for bankruptcy) and because of that, had responded to their request for a reduction in billing by cutting their bills in half.

Because of the economic crisis, clients are telling law firms that billable hours only encourages them to prolong the agony; while that may be true, it's likely true of any industry that does consulting, be it legal, HR or accounting. I would expect that though law firms are in the news because of this, that it's also true that other types of firms are being asked to change their billing structure.

The problem that I see with this is that you can't really charge a flat fee for these sorts of work; for one, you don't know how many hours are needed, whether others (like document review attorneys) are being brought into the mix or how complicated the project really is. And, if you haven't thought of this on your own, people misrepresent things. Until you're actually in the midst of the project, there's no way to know what it will be. I think billable hours are just fine to begin with, but it makes more sense to me that you might provide a reduced rate.

Personal Finance

Mint is a site that helps people track their personal spending. It seems like a good idea, but I'm trying to cut way down on my personal spending right now; my tactic has been not to spend unless I'm required to do so.

So far I'm doing pretty well. I have to do the math this weekend and see what checks haven't cleared at this point; at this point I have about half my paycheck remaining and have paid all bills that are due. I get in trouble sometimes because a bill that's paid with an actual check takes nearly forever to clear. I hate that because I sometimes forget to check on it before allocating money remaining in my account.

A few weeks ago, I miscalculated and had $13 remaining in checking the night before I got paid. That was cutting it a little close when I needed to fill my gas tank. I'm enrolled in a loyalty marketing program at my local convenience store chain and have been using a $100 gift card from the point program. I have filled my gas tank three times, bought a car wash and still have $28 remaining on the gift card. I get a lot of bonus points from re-loading the gift card.

I'm still trying to read the books I already have from the thrift store but may take them to the book reseller this time. I haven't decided whether that's going to be worth the trip; the last time I did that, I got about $7 and it didn't seem worth the effort.

Culinary Recycling

While I've never made a dessert out of leftover jelly donuts, I do believe in using leftovers, though I tend to clean out my refrigerator weekly. Then again, I was raised on food made from scratch, not food made from boxes. The only box my mom really used was the traditional Kraft Macaroni & Cheese box. And not very often.

My leftovers don't go into anything fancy, especially since I don't start out with such high-priced items and am not a fancy cook to begin with. I've never tried making croutons or crackers, but have a recipe for crackers that I need to try. Crackers are expensive and are one item I make a point of buying at Big Lots or the Dollar Store. It makes sense to try making them.

Change we Don't Like

Obama promised us change. So far I haven't seen any, really, but was amused to learn that his staff was traumatized by a technology outage and didn't really know how to communicate in person, answer the phone or take messages on paper.

I realize the world has changed, but these are things that should reasonably be expected to happen in an office. People should be familiar with emergency procedures and apparently using those cute little pink message pads are part of it. Also, using a land-line phone is important. In a real emergency, say, a hurricane hits DC, you really need to have a land-line because your wireless isn't going to happen. And people? It's nice to actually talk to them. In person.

This is a huge contrast to where I'm working. I'm being trained to have conversations in person, via telephone or by walking down to someone's office. Because anything can be responsive to a request under the Data Practices Act in my state, we err on the side of not creating documents. We all know the Bush administration had trouble with production of electronic data, and the idea here is just not to create data.

There's Always Someone in a Worse Situation...

The poor gold-digger girlfriends. I feel so bad for them; bankers with crazy incomes stressed out and no longer having crazy incomes. The gravy train has stopped. No more unlimited credit cards; no more attention from Mr. Moneybags.

Umm, here's a thought, they could get jobs of their own. Maybe that would be a bad idea in this economy. I mean, a girl can't be expected to support herself, can she? Then again, what do you put on your resume? Look beautiful, shop fabulously?

I truly do believe this is a worse situation because it seems like glorified prostitution. The men are supporting these women financially, but based on the info in the story, it seems there's no emotion involved, at least on the part of the distant men. The relationships seem superficial at best and now that the men are in a financial crisis, have different expectations than were out there to begin with.

Overt Displays of Wealth

Remember when conspicuous consumption was the norm? Logos all over everything, to announce the amount of money you'd spent, lasted a couple of decades. It used to be that it was, ahem, very personal products that were transported in plain brown wrappers. In fact, in my college town, the personal products store was called The Plain Brown Wrapper.

Now? Sex shops aren't under wraps anymore but high-end consumer goods are carried about in unmarked bags, so as not to identify the expensive purchases. In some malls and shopping districts, it probably doesn't matter; there aren't enough low-end stores around to fool anyone.

Debt

I'm not the only one worried about debt, but as most of mine is student loans, I'm in a much better situation than those who have sub-prime mortgages, who relied on being able to refinance later on, or those with variable-rate credit cards, or who relied on being able to transfer their balance to the next card.

I know a couple of people who played the credit card balance game and were successful in moving balances around to take advantage of low interest rate offers. What I don't know is whether they were able to actually reduce their debt this way; in any case, they found it shocking, after several changes, when the next card wouldn't play.

By that time, they had established the game on their credit reports and the bank realized they were going to keep the account open for six months. Of course, opening and closing accounts every six months likely had an impact on their credit ratings as well. I don't think that game exists any longer.

The credit card game people, at least those with good credit, play now is how to get the best deal on travel. Apparently, Capital One has better conversion rates. Which is fine if you use it and pay it off. My credit union card has a low rate for straight up transaction conversions but fees are higher for ATM's.

Not that I'm going anywhere.

Looking Busy

I've had several jobs in which I wasn't kept nearly busy enough. I hate not being busy; if they catch on, they might not think they need you. Plus, there's only so much time I can waste online.

Last year, when I was traveling, I wasn't nearly busy enough; when I started this blog, I had a lot of downtime and would write posts and e-mail them to myself, to cut and paste later. I was in a place with net filters that ruled out blogs, as so many do. Right now, blogs are filtered only if the system catches on. Meaning that I can read blogs, but the minute I post in the combox, it's blocked. I learned that the hard way and now have a different computer, with which I won't make that mistake.

While I'm not always busy now, I'm moving forward with a couple of projects and am going into a busier period. I don't know how long it'll last, but hopefully for several months. I'm fortunate in being somewhere that I'm definitely needed, even though the projects don't move as fast as I'd like.

Technology

While I'm not the first one on the block to acquire new technology, I'm well aware that people trade up for something new in seemingly ridiculously short amounts of time. One of my friends is always getting a new something; she has a good job, can afford to buy new toys and has plenty of people to whom to hand things down.

That was the trend for everyone for the last several years. Now it seems that people are waiting or buying fewer new items. Credit isn't readily available, nor are jobs, so people are being more conservative in spending, at least partly out of necessity.

Despite my colleague, whose husband gets a new cellphone all the time, the cellphone industry's numbers are going down right now. I know a few people who don't have a cellphone, but not too many anymore. There must be more people like me out there; my phone is three years old and I keep talking myself out of getting a new one. It's great to have something new, but I see no reason to take action when my current phone is good. My backup phone is also just fine.

Since cellphone manufacturers send their wares worldwide, it only makes sense that a worldwide downturn in the economy would have an affect on their sales. Existing markets are saturated with people who are off the consumer bandwagon for one reason or another; emerging markets aren't emergingi as quickly as it seemed either. As for me, I just don't want to incur one more bit of recurring debt.

Applying Myth to Business

And I'm not talking the patron saint of retail here, Santa Claus.

Businesses go through different philosophies, based on who's marketing what. Right now, at least in India, the trend is to apply Hindu Myth to business. I'm not sure whether it's effective or if it would be practical to export; I'm guessing it wouldn't go over in some parts of the country, such as the Bible Belt, but would be perfectly acceptable, if not preferable on the West Coast.

I haven't read about anything like this taking place in the US in a long time; perhaps because we've been in a bit of a cynical era and downsizing in large part for many years. Maybe a change in the way business is practiced would be a good thing; it seems that ethics right now are a quaint old-fashioned notion, or something that can be manipulated to achieve our desired result.

Networking Groups

Networking groups have been around for a long time; informal networking for those who are networkers by nature and habitually keep in contact with others, which proves to be mutually beneficial.

The rest of us? Not so easy. Some network via groups related to their college, whether it's a Fraternity or Sorority, sport team or some other campus group; small business owners may join formal networking groups designed to increase business contacts. Where I live, there are small business networking groups formed by geographic area and profession. Meaning there's one attorney in the group. And one insurance person. Along with one of whatever other business owners have joined. They sometimes limit their membership to one each of professions listed. Other groups are more general.

In addition to these, people have other affiliations, sometimes related to current or former employers, along with membership groups such as Lions Club, Eagles, Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo and the American Legion.

Lately, the trend has been for state unemployment offices and church groups to sponsor networking groups. A new twist is to have accountability. It used to be the only entity to which one was accountable, at least in my state, was the state unemployment office, which, in my state, has hoops through which one must jump in order to obtain unemployment benefits. Apparently people now must be accountable to others as they seek employment.

In the current economy, that's probably a good thing; it's too easy to become complacent, especially in light of the possibility of unemployment benefits being extended and/or increased. It's definitely preferable to be working, but taht isn't always a possibility.

4-6 Months of Savings

I've never sat down and determined what the dollar amount for 4-6 months of savings was; I've mostly been in a position in which savings was not a serious possibility, due to expenses and debt compared to income. Now that I'm working and finally have a paycheck that's stable for awhile, and have all the deductions applied, I know what my takehome pay will be; up until now it has fluctuated due to additions and changes to my deductions.

It took awhile because the pension fund is automatic so was a deduction on my first paycheck, as was parking, the amount for which changed immediately; these were followed by my benefits payments once I was eligible. Because there was a problem with a fax machine, my deferred compensation was added later, as was my healthcare savings plan as I didn't go into that for last year. Now that I know how much money is left for me to spend, it seems like it should be plenty to pay my basic bills; the trick is going to be maintaining my austerity program and getting the other stuff taken care of.

Housing, utilities, loans, cellphone, insurance, gas, groceries and haircuts are the typical expenses. I spend about $100 on gas monthly at the current rates; however, my grocery bills fluctuate and I don't pay close attention. My first objective will be to keep track of how much I spend at the grocery store and how I spend it.

I haven't been paying as much attention to coupons lately and need to be more diligent about that. Grocery prices seem to have gone up lately, but my store still has two for one meat coupons, which is good. Last week they had a lot of produce coupons, but for items I don't use or wouldn't use two of quickly enough that they wouldn't be wasted.