Going through a furlough — a temporary non-work, non-pay status, also known as a reduction in hours or a partial layoff — is a financial hardship. Even if you’ve gotten into the right mindset, paychecks will still be smaller for a little while if the furlough goes through. Even if you’ve fully internalized that the … Read more
After several weeks of discussion, there appears to be a clearer target for many Department of Defense civilian employees regarding furlough as a consequence of the sequestration of funds that went into effect earlier in the year. These employees are now looking at 11 days of unpaid leave through the end of September. This is … Read more
I was chatting with a coworker a few days ago, and the topic of price-check guarantees came up. A price-check guarantee at a grocery store says something like this: “If an item rings up for more than the price on the shelf, we’ll knock $3 off of the lower price. If the item is less … Read more
Utilities make up a dependable expense in a family’s budget. Along with grocery expenses, it’s also a place that usually has a bit of slop that can be removed if things get tight. And if cleanliness is next to godliness, certainly we all take regular showers or baths. The extent to which we do this … Read more
Many stores offer loyalty cards. These plastic cards often come in pairs: one for your wallet, and a smaller one with a hole in it for your keychain. Presenting the loyalty card at checkout entitles you to special prices on particular products, as well as other periodic perks like announcements of special sales, follow-on coupons, … Read more
Printers have sure come a long way. I fondly remember by Commodore MPS-801 dot matrix printer with 42 pixels — total — for each letter. It used continuous fanfold paper and only printed in one direction. Fast forward thirty years. (Yikes!) Now our current printer does full color, two-sided, in pretty much any font I … Read more
My recent post on running a practice month on a furlough budget had a comment from Dan: I created a furlough calculator for everyone I work with. It quickly made its way around the globe and many civil service employees are using it to project the near future. It is a simple excel spreadsheet that … Read more
Time and money aren’t the same thing. Time is much more valuable than money. We only get so much time to prepare our legacy. “They aren’t making any more,” the saying goes. A person with plenty of money wants to spend less time doing routine tasks, and can afford to pay to spend less time. … Read more