Doing something about it.

Chris has talked to Mr. I twice this week and both times Mr. I has told Chris that he will make time for him to talk more in depth about Chris' employment with Mr. I. He couldn't really talk more on those two occasions because well.. there wasn't much time and he was working. Ok.. I get that, but Mr. I. really needs to make time for Chris asap!

Mr. I has confirmed that he will square up with Chris regarding hours and mileage owed on Friday. Mr. I. has gone over all the proposals that Chris worked on for him and will be submitting them tomorrow. I have a sinking feeling that he will ask Chris to file for unemployment but to also be "waiting" for things to turn around and possibly work for him under the table. Something that neither one of us is really comfortable with. Stability is a key factor with the both of us. I personally do not like not knowing if we will be able to pay the rent next month or not. Or.. how are we going to get the utilities paid for or where will the money come from to feed ourselves. Yes. I know there are programs out there for these things but if I can find a way to postpone having to rely on these programs, I will. My business is steady but I bring in no way near what we need to pay for everything. I would have to have at least three employees working for me full time to be able to do that. No where near that stage.

So.. I have started to reevaluate our possessions. We have a lot of things. Much of it we accumulated throughout the years and many things that other people have given us. We have so much stuff that our garage is used for storage and not what it was intended for. I think it is time that we downsized. We put Chris' Mazda on Craigslist on Sunday and yesterday he sold it. Not a bad turnaround. I have been going through our storage boxes that have been sitting in closets for months and I can't believe the crap that we have held on to. My, son, Jeff alone has three ipods because when a newer version came out he bought it. There are nothing wrong with these and I think that they would sell. Not like I would ask an arm and leg for them but at least something.

I am not wanting to do another yard sale. I absolutely hate yard sales with a passion. I am not very good with allowing other people (especially people I don't know) rummage through my things and try to walk off with things for free. The last time, I had put a bunch of clothes out and had them marked at 25 cents each. A woman tried to buy five outfits for 25 cents total. When I told her that they were 25 cents each, she scoffed, threw them on the ground and walked off. I am all for bargaining but to me that was such a stinking insult. So, yeah, no yard sale this time around.

I have also found a few websites that buy old cell phones. I am doing a little more research but this seems to be a good idea. Of course they won't pay a lot for them but at this point, every little bit helps. And what am I going to do with all these outdated phones anyway?

There are a lot of people coming up with different alternatives to make money to just stay afloat. Florida alone is saying that our unemployment rate is roughly 11%. That is not really true because those numbers only reflect the people who are receiving unemployment compensation. It doesn't take into account all the people that have used up their benefits. Chris dad estimates about 17%. That is staggering and scary!