One Step Forward & Two Steps Back

Like many others right now, I’m facing financial difficulties partially because my employer doesn’t give raises because most of the employees get incentives except for me then with the cost of living being high, I’m scared of my financial future.

On top of that, my next escrow analysis next year, will likely put my house payment with taxes and insurance to 70% of my monthly take home pay. It’s already over 50% of it. With that being said, I am working on getting a second job.

Booked a trip a long time ago which I had the inkling of what was going to happen, I would not have done it.

My fault, my problem and my responsibility. Sharing because I don’t think that I am alone in this. My budget doesn’t match up to my obligations. Grateful that I have a roof over my head and a job. Seeking a second job which I mentioned before.

For those of you who are not in my situation, please don’t judge. I have two rescued cats who cannot be given up on again making it 5 for them.

Understand and not judge.

Thank you,

Leslie Elizabeth David.

Second Job

Never I thought that I would’ve considered getting a second job but I am now. At a time of the idea of being able to do things I love on the weekend, I have to consider my financial future. Why now? You ask might thinking. My employer doesn’t give raises because most of the employees get sales commission except for me.

After my last home escrow analysis, I realized in one year that there might be no funds left after my house payment, utilities, and small credit card debt so the job is in my future. My future move might be a dream that never comes true so I will enjoy my time there later this summer.

The good news that I have read is that fuel prices are supposedly going to drop noticeably later this year which will effect anything and everything that is shipped positively.

How are you on your budget? Are you cutting back on anything? Do you have a house payment still?

To calm my nerves, I’m watching more Agatha Christie movies on Britbox on Amazon which seems to work.

Hope your day is going well.

Yours Truly,

Leslie Elizabeth David.

Stress

Stress is defined in this context as physical, mental, emotional strain or tension that is caused by a situation, occurrence or factor per Dictionary.com.

For the past month or so, a business has been put charges on my credit card although i have canceled the service multiple times plus my financial institution has finally blocked my card after continued failed disputes. To help the myself and those affected, I did contact the BBB in the home State of the business plus the Attorney General in my State. The ongoing charges have caused stress because I feel helpless in getting it stopped and my funds returned.

My “friend” who blamed me for crashing her ex’s father in law’s funeral because of my side hustles returned without apology like nothing has happened. Her ex husband and former brother in law were hovering over my social media after she went to the funeral. At this time, I am not contacting her at all. Ever since she became my supervisor years ago, she feels that she’s superior to me which I believe that we are all created equal and each have God given talent and abilities. One of her adult children lives in another State not nearby her who has no contact with her although he is married with young children. She blames her ex husband for that. To level up, I am far from perfect and I make plenty of mistakes too which I made a big one on a popular buy/sell platform which I humbled myself and fixed the situation this weekend.

Work. My employer chooses to not have a written handbook of policies and procedures which bit them in the butt recently. A coworker who overshares her personal life and under performs her duties used the meter machine to create a package label about $20 without permission and payment. Amazingly, she still has a job! To help keep her job, she buddies up with almost everyone except for me. She tried but I knew that she was playing to gain influence. Plus, I do her duties now that she had when I started because I get the job done in a reasonable amount of time. Her ex sister in law that works for an in house attorney who got her the job cannot afford to have her record tainted. This job is a job. I have chosen not to become friends with anyone there my instincts tell me too.

As we all know in our mature years is that life is stressful so how we manage it is crucial to our health and to our mental well being. Lately, I laugh about work and about my friend’s bad decisions but the money thing eats away sometimes. My fur babies bring me peace and love so I in return give them lots of treats and kisses to relieve stress.

How do you manage stress? Depending on the severity of the situation, do you change on how you cope or deflate it?

Thank you for your time,

Leslie Elizabeth David.

Decisions

Decisions. Decisions. Toughest thing to do when it comes to relationship, money and retirement sometimes.

My decisions are mainly based on my intuition or feeling like it’s the best to do. Such as, “If it doesn’t feel right, then it isn’t,” with logic and critical thinking.

A friend of mine who doesn’t like her job because she’s social and works alone. Conveniently, there’s an opening at a place that has a job opening similar to her previous job before this. Then, on top of it, her current employer remarkably comes out with a crazy new personnel policies that sound questionable at best. She’s not even communicating with her daughter about it who got her the job along with my comments that some of the policies are a breech of individual freedoms. Red flag.

In point of my friend’s dilemma, one should be a of clear mind and have all the information available before making any big decisions. Honestly, think that most of us are concerned with adult children and grandchildren.

Wish you and yours only the best!

Leslie Elizabeth David.

Update: After conversing with her, I decided to check out Glassdoor and Indeed about her current employer which I was wrong and I learned more about it. The reviews are horrendous from former employees. I encouraged her to persevere while she starts her job search and finds new employment.

Reverse Psychology

For the past few weeks, someone who I’ve known for many years didn’t appreciate her new job with weekends off which her daughter helped her get. It was difficult for her from working retail in well known national supermarket chain to working by herself in closed quarters. It got to the point that she was going to quit although her work environment at her previous employer wasn’t the greatest where she tried to get rehired immediately. I encouraged her to be grateful and to face the challenge head on.

A couple of days ago, I texted her that we should switch jobs so that she can be social and I could be alone. Immediately afterwards, her tone had changed because we used to tell each other stories of our jobs when she was working retail so she had a change of heart quickly. Now, she’s appreciating her new position at her new company.

Sometimes reasoning doesn’t always work for someone who might benefit from seeing the bigger picture until the tables are turned. She’d rather be alone than work with my coworkers which was her turning point.

Reverse psychology use it wisely and sparingly. It was a rare occasion for me.

Take good care of yourselves.

Leslie Elizabeth David.

Humility

Humility generally means state of humbleness.

Am admitting that I was wrong about my coworker taking my keys out of my purse for they were found from the bottom of my purse under the lining of it. Found both sets of them. Apologized to everyone who spent time looking and told them my fix to the situation. Humbled myself to own up to my mistake and corrected the problem.

Don’t presume my coworker is innocent quite yet. This coworker confided in me years ago that she was fired although never proven for stealing at a company to which I am quite familiar with since their first location is in my home State. She doesn’t like people who are from my home State. Since then, she used the company meter machine to mail a package for her ex husband so she can no longer process the mail. Then, she had to speak with the police about another matter not of speeding but of petty theft. When I first started, I was away from my desk and she had someone going through my purse. Creepy and chose to quiet about as was in shock and no one would believe me. To my knowledge, nothing has changed regarding her employment.

Was I wrong to think it was her? Cautiously my answer is both yes and no.

Stay humble. Be alert and safe.

Thanks again,

Leslie Elizabeth David.

Purpose

Purpose defined by Oxford Dictionary is to (noun) “the reason which something is done or created or for which something exists.” “A person’s one resolve or determination.” Verb of “having one ‘s intention or objective.”

Purpose in life gives meaning to our lives by serving others in one capacity or another. Our purpose is best found by what or whom we are naturally drawn to that becomes our passion as well. Our reason for existence.

In my younger years, I volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House, a homeless shelter and new born to one year old children’s nursery while serving as a leader of a singles group. It gave me purpose to help make the world a better place although my contribution was small but significant. Currently, I’m helping my two rescue felines recover from abuse and neglect by their previous humans. Being present for them.

Many are “called” to be teachers, physicians, veterinarians, preachers, police officers, fireman and the armed services. Artists share their gifts of music, paintings and words.

Rick Warren wrote, “The Purpose Driven Life,” meant to find our meaning for existence and using it to help others. Although its writing from a Christian perspective, the information in it is very useful to find one’s purpose.

This is the time to use your gifts and/or passions to help make a difference in this world. You still have time to live with purpose if you haven’t yet.

Yours Truly,

Leslie Elizabeth David

Side Hustle

“Side Hustle” defined as a secondary source of income in addition to a primary job. In recent years, side hustles for seniors have become popular to supplement social security and pensions. As with anything, please consider due diligence before committing to it especially ones that expect you to invest to get in on something which is a red flag.

After some research I found that freelance writing/editing/proofreading, tutoring, bookkeeping/accounting and virtual or present office assistant. Others are pet sitting/dog walking, crafting and selling homemade goods and gardening maintenance for others all found on a general internet search on Google.

In addition, Poshmark and Mercari are good for those who want to clean out a closet and make extra cash as well. Some people on both apps are making good money working full time in their closets presenting their items in live shows. Doing a live show is like doing a sales presentation in the corporate world which is difficult to do if you never done sales but one can learn with practice and patience. In my younger years, my side hustles were babysitting and working at Dress Barn years ago.

Truthfully, being active outside of the home is a good thing plus the extra income doesn’t hurt either.

Leslie Elizabeth David

Tuesday

My life has been complicated by some people at work who have nothing better to do.

The saga continues from my last post. My house keys were taken out of my purse likely when I had to go to the main floor to process which I thought I had noticed but figured they had dropped inside of my purse somehow. It turns out that two of my coworkers who are insecure and who feel they are superior to me took them out of my purse. Later on when I got home, I saw that they were truly gone so I rushed back to go to through my stuff to find my keys then came back to call a locksmith. After an hour wait, he finally showed up only changing the front locks.

Since then, my coworkers are acting weird and moody which I ignore. Told the General Manager that my keys were still not found yet which he was looking towards the dynamic duo and seemed to know what is going on. My immediate supervisor seems to be taking in stride though. So, I stick to my job and not show emotion which drives them crazy. Let my neighbors know of a possible attempted break in to my house that might occur on Saturday while I’m at work.

Truthfully, no one should have to deal with being bullied or being cornered at work. Workplace harassment should not even be a concern. We are mature adults. We are to be an example to the younger generations now how to act. Unfortunately, this is real life. Trust your intuition if you’re dealing with harassment too.

Thank you for your time,

Leslie Elizabeth David.

Finances

Hello Friends,

Finances refers to one’s monetary affairs that includes assets, debts, income and expenses that’s a broad term for describing financial matters both personally and professionally.

Growing up, there were formulas on how to designate income received from working that included housing (rent or mortgage), utilities, transportation, groceries, leisure, donations and savings. Truthfully, most of my life, I haven’t followed any budget plan. Mine has always been written down on scrap paper designating funds to where they needed to be. During my time of unemployment after being at one job for over 21 years of service, I learned what I could live without.

In addition, I learned and lived emotional spending which I am guilty of again that causes the most problems. Truthfully, I’ve been dealing with stuff at work and with my friends so I had to make the decision to sell my stock and pay down my debt which is all of $2500 or less. Also, I plan to reinvest in stock at Public once again where I can buy partial shares. My stocks were doing great like LB, BRK.B, BYND and SPYD. I got in on LB when the shares were about $10 which is much higher now.

The good news is that my groceries, electric and gas are slowing decreasing which helps my paycheck. Being on my own with my two felines, I have to make sure that only having to pay on my mortgage with escrow plus only utilities allows me to save.

How is your financial health? What changes are you making to make your money go further? Are you retired or still working? Are you only investing through your retirement plan or have investments outside of it?

My situation is different than yours since I moved 1200 miles away from where i was living for almost 35 years and plan to move again closer to family in the long term. Mentioned this because everyone’s situation is different so judging others doesn’t help them or put a positive light on you. My response would be, “have you ever thought about this?”

Thank you for your time,

Leslie Elizabeth David.