Two girls and a blog: My Rant about Minimum Wage and living paycheck to paycheck, and a lil about Amy Winehouse busted for Marijuana

Living Paycheck to Paycheck Gets Harder

I was reading this and man this sounds like my life. The sad part is that it seems like my paycheck is gone before I even get it..well actually it is if I think about it. Once I go into overdraft to keep my power from getting disconnected. I would rather pay the $25.00 overdraft fee than go with out lights. Plus the $25.00 overdraft fee is cheaper then paying reconnection and disconnection charges wich can run from $10-300 depending on the territory you live in. I am constantly having to set up payment arrangements on everything in order to keep everything copesetic. I am going into overdraft trying to keep my payment arrangements. YOu could easily get a payday loan...but damn the interest and fees will rape you in the ass if you dont pay it back right away.

The solution to this would be to get a better paying job. Unfortunatley, I am with out a car right now...and the job I have now is in town, my son goes to school about a 30 minute walk away..I feel kinda stuck. Any decent job in this area you would need a car at least to go to, I have qualifications damn it..but I dont even bother looking. I would rather walk and take care of my son and myself. At least I dont have to pay a car payment and for gas. I guess I am saving at least $500.00 by not having to pay for that. Thank goodness cause as it is, I am making about $1006.00. I really dont even know if that is before or after taxes.

Its sad when you have to rely on your income tax credit to come around to pay for the things you need to get your head above the water of the flooding bills and debt that surrounds myself.

Its funny when you have to choose what bills are more important to pay...hmmm..the $15,000 to the repossesed mustang from back in my irresponsible days or pay my rent. Rent wins everytime. Ive never been the type to save my bills phone numbers in my cell phone before but damn I have my banks automated phone # on my speed dial. I have my electric company saved in my phone. Thank goodness Cingular has their customer service # programmed in their phone.

The funny thing that I was reading the other day in my latest issue of readers digest. So we have this thing called Congress right, aren't they supposed to be here to help us? Well how can they understand what we are going through when they have not a clue about living paycheck to paycheck. First of all, it had been years since minimum wage was increased, and what kindof increase is this that we had, a dollar? Not even that, I googled the Federal Minimum wage chart and check this out. Federal Minimum Wage Increase for 2007

Minimum wage only increased to $5.85, shit that is pretty close to one gallon of gas and a pack of gum.
Increases set by the Federal Government:
July 24, 2007 $5.85
July 24, 2008 $6.55
July 24, 2009 $7.25

Here is their explanation of their shitty raise:
"Such wages are referred to as "commensurate wage rates" and is based on the worker's individual productivity, no matter how limited, in proportion to the wage and productivity of experienced workers who do not have disabilities that impact their productivity when performing essentially the same type, quality, and quantity of work in the geographic area from which the labor force of the community is drawn. "

Thank god there are some people that realize that this is one crappy kind of a raise:
Minimum wage $9.50? Democrats say maybe

By Chris Zappone, CNNMoney.com staff writer
July 27 2007: 3:19 PM EDT

"NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Just days after the first increase in the minimum wage in 10 years, Democrats on Capitol Hill led by Sen. Edward Kennedy are discussing a further increase to $9.50 an hour.

Kennedy (D-Mass.), one of the original sponsors of the recently enacted minimum wage hike, announced this week his intention to propose legislation for a new increase, Laura Capps, a spokeswoman for the senator, said. The proposal, if passed into law, will aim to take effect in 2009 after the current minimum wage law expires.

No time frame was given for the legislation although an aide in another Senate Democrat's office confirmed there would be a push for another wage increase.

The recently-enacted law, The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, raised the federal minimum amount to $5.85 from $5.15 on Tuesday. That will increase to $6.55 next year and $7.25 in 2009 under the current law.

The $9.50 figure would be half of the expected average worker's wage as of 2011, according to a statement released by Sen. Kennedy's office."

(I had to throw in this pic of Sarah Silverman to keep my from getting angry. I love her. Its almost like the look on her face is sympathy for the working lower class citizens. Either that or shes just taken the best shit ever. I think its because she has her own show. SOmething from the pic tells me that.)

Now back to what I was saying: Did you know Congress gets an Annual pay raise EVERY year? Did you also know that their Health care plan is the best you will ever find in the United States.

I couldnt even afford Health Care if I wanted to, it would run me around $130 every two weeks, no including co-pays and all that other good shit.

I have to rely on medicaid for my son, for me..well I just hope Tylenol solves the problem.

From Readers Digest: The cost of Health Care in America

"Millions of other insured middle-class Americans aren't nearly so lucky. Between 2000 and 2003, seven in ten adults who were driven into debt by medical expenses had insurance at the time. In 2001, 42.5 million people in insured households paid 10% or more of the family's net income in medical expenses. They are America's underinsured, caught in a Catch-22: too well-off to qualify for government programs that support the poor, while not nearly affluent enough to pay their health bills without wrecking the family finances. And there's no rescue in sight, for the system is broken at every link along the chain -- from insurers who protect profits by raising premiums and restricting coverage; to doctors who can't keep up with the skyrocketing costs of malpractice insurance as well as the burdensome paperwork that some carriers require; to companies whose soaring medical costs force them to push more and more of the expense onto their employees."

At one time, I was in this category. I busted my ass and used to be a Sergeant at a State Jail. I would work no less than the 20 hours overtime a pay period. I couldnt afford the health insurace. I couldnt qualify for assistance. I finnaly had to make sure my overtime would cover the cost to have insurace. I sacrificed being at home during holidays, birthdays and saw my son maybe one day out the week when I was extremely exhausted.

"NEW YORK (AP) - The calculus of living paycheck to paycheck in America is getting harder. What used to last four days might last half that long now. Pay the gas bill, but skip breakfast. Eat less for lunch so the kids can have a healthy dinner.

Across the nation, Americans are increasingly unable to stretch their dollars to the next payday as they juggle higher rent, food and energy bills. It's starting to affect middle-income working families as well as the poor, and has reached the point of affecting day-to-day calculations of merchants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 7-Eleven Inc. and Family Dollar Stores Inc.

Food pantries, which distribute foodstuffs to the needy, are reporting severe shortages and reduced government funding at the very time that they are seeing a surge of new people seeking their help.

While economists debate whether the country is headed for a recession, some say the financial stress is already the worst since the last downturn at the start of this decade..."

Read the article for more...click here

(I think Charlie Day can understand my feelings! Fuck yeah I just wanna drink a beer with him and my girl!)

Well on a postive note:
Now that I am poor as hell, have to walk, and living paycheck to paycheck. I am happy because I have more time with my son. He sometimes gets upset because we have to walk..but we have one of the best relationships a mother and a son can have.

Ok now what I have to do to stay sane!
I appreciate the little things, I cried when I saw the final episode of sex & the City on TBS, not even on HBO, and I was so happy that Mr. Big went after Carrie in Paris. (was it paris? I cant remember)

I write run on sentences and dont care. I dont use spell check on purpose.

Oh yeah and I laugh about Amy Winehouse and all these other Exhausted performers:
Check this one out..this one I am gonna laugh about tonight.

Amy Winehouse Jailed in Marijuana Bust

Amy Winehouse Jailed in Marijuana Bust

"OSLO (Oct. 19) - Amy Winehouse was arrested and held overnight in Norway for possession of a small quantity of marijuana, police said on Friday.

The 24-year-old's husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, and a third person were also arrested in their hotel room after police received a "credible tip" from an unnamed source.

The group had about seven grams of marijuana and was brought in for questioning on Thursday night. They were released on Friday morning after agreeing to pay a fine of about 500 euros each.

"This was a minor quantity of a light drug, so the size of the fine is normal," prosecutor Lars Morten Lothe at Hordaland police district told Reuters.

Reports that Winehouse has been suffering from an eating disorder, drug and alcohol abuse have dominated tabloid headlines over the last year. "