May 14, 2009

No more overtime :(

I've been in corrections almost 14 years now. It has it's good and bad points, but it's always been recession proof. As a matter of a fact when the economy is bad crime goes up & corrections usually sees a boost. Recently the New Mexico state government has demanded corrections cut back on it's spending dramatically. One of the ways the DOC (department of corrections) is cutting spending is by cutting out overtime.

New Mexico DOC has always been one of the 2 or 3 lowest paid corrections in the nation. But because there has always been unlimited overtime our correctional officers hadn't been to terribly upset by this. If we wanted extra money we'd work a few extra shifts on our days off & TADA! A great big check.

With unlimited overtime available to me I've been able to make enough money that my wife is a stay at home Mom with baby #3 on the way. Life was always easy at the DOC, until a month ago.

To put the loss of overtime in perspective we are now living off of 38 percent of what we had been.


Some things we are now doing to live off less money has been to:

-cancel our Net Flix, dish TV, & all magazine subscriptions.

-We are no longer eating out except for special occasions at which time we'll eat at somewhere cheap like Taco Bell or McDonalds.

-I had originally planned on doing around 15 South West Challenge series Multisport races & the Redman Half Iron. Now I will only be doing the few triathlons which I've already paid for. The only reason I'm still able to do the Redman Half Iron is because my best friend will be doing it also & he said he'll pay for the lodging & gas. Thank the Lord for him!

-The races I still plan on doing that are out of town I'll be staying at KOA's & in a tent. To be honest I'm actually excited about this. I've always loved camping out. Now I can camp out & race all in the same weekend!

-We are becoming a 1 vehicle family. We selling our 2007 Ford Fusion. Unfortunately we are about $5,000 upside down, but it's cheaper to pay $160 a month on a $5,000 personal loan than $360 a month on a $23,000 car. Plus we'll be saving $80 a month on insurance. Anyone want to buy an 07 Ford Fusion with 32,000 miles, near mint condition, one owner vehicle? Retail is $15,000. Private Party is $12,100. We'll sell for $10,500. That's $4,500 below what you can buy it for at a dealership!

-I've planted a large vegetable garden so I can ensure my family will still have healthy veggies.

-I'm commuting to work on my bicycle.

-There's a bunch of other little ways we're going to try & save money such as buying food in bulk, buying our clothes & other necessities when possible at Good Will, etc.

Thankfully running & cycling is free;)

All in all I believe God will see us through this unexpected rough time. If you have an opportunity I'd sure appreciate prayers.

Peace Peeps! I'm out!

3 comments:

SWTrigal said...

Cody-WOW! That is quite a pay cut.Is it permanent? The one good thing I guess is your kids will see you more? Sounds like you are cutting where you can-how stressful though!

Tri-Scott said...

Ouch! Just remember that God will never put more on you than you can handle. If it's more than you think you can handle, that is something else! Keep the faith and it will work out in the end.

SgtBeesWife said...

rollover meals, dear! I've learned to use one extra serving of meat per dinner to allow us two "free" meals worth of meat per week. I use the extra to add to things like soups, salads (as a main course), jambalaya and sandwiches. Wal Mart often sells "Day-old" bread at the back of the store- look on Wednesdays and Thursdays as most products expire mid-week, find a bread outlet store (yes, they do have them) and use your crock pot! You can buy cheapie tough meats and season them well and they come out of the crock tasting great! Also, make "Rubber Chicken," bake a chicken one night and have it for dinner. Clean all the meat off the carcass and save it, then boil the carcass with an onion and some celery. Use the broth for soup and then use the leftover meat to make black bean burritos (combine the chicken, some diced onion, a can of black beans, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper and garlic powder)- you can dice up some tomatoes and lettuce to make them taste fresh and to make them more substantial. Serve with rice or a salad and you've got a start on three meals for less than $5.