This week I feel I have kept up with the ab/back exercises
and while at work the other night I found out about an AMAZING thing our
company offers to every single one of it’s employees! The company pays for and
offers a service to try and get the employees to be able to live a healthier
lifestyle. This means discounted gym memberships (still not in the budget for
me though), education on nutrition, diet, and exercise. There is a food and
workout journal along with tons of other resources! AND… when you do these
various things you get reward points. When you get enough points (it is a lot)
you can cash them in for products.
Yeah, some of the products are things like an ice scraper
for your car, a pedometer, a calculator/clock/calendar thing for your desk, and
other cheap and cheesy prizes. BUT… they also have a lot of cool things (of
course for more points) like Dunney and Burke purses, Kitchen Aid stand mixers,
Fossil watches, Movado watches, iPods, Blue Ray players, surround sound
systems, flat screen TV… the list is huge and amazing! Now you ask, are points
easy to earn? Yep. I earn points for filling out anything on my food journal,
more for my work out journal, some for keeping track of my weight, more for
reading the articles they post and answering a few questions, logging in the
Dr. appointment I had a few weeks ago, logging in my dentist appointment, and I
even got 250 points for just asking my HR manager about the program.
So of course I sit on my butt to read all this stuff about
living healthier… ironic. But, it is one of the few things I can access from
certain terminals in the store. This keeps me entertained when I cannot leave
my register but have absolutely nothing to do. So, in a way, I get paid to
check it out and participate.
Next topic: next week’s resolution.
I am thinking more and more that next week’s resolution will
be to fix a budget and stick to it. In the past I have not had much to worry
about and when I get paid I pay my bills and depending on how much is left I
either spend it on food and such throughout the time till the next check, or I
put it into savings. This just is not working out so hot for me and to pull off
this Hawaii trip I will need to stick to a plan so I have money to spend when I
get there and will still have some to show after I get back. I had a basic
budget set up for my last paycheck that I got (something I did at work while I
was bored) but then I screwed it up and was supposed to wait for my substitute
pay to come in before paying the credit card bill and screwed it up. So, the
last two days have been “babysitting” days while substituting and so I brought
in my computer and worked out a budget. I have it outlined for what days I
should get paid, when I will pay bills, how much each one will be, how much I
should still have at the end of the month, how much I have for spending money,
and everything I think I should have mapped out. I am still finding some things
that are going to need to be put on there, but it is a working document so I
can modify it as I go along. I also have it set up to where I can compare the
estimated amounts versus the actual amounts that I end up spending and getting
and such.
There is only one problem with this budget still… there just
is not enough coming in! Student loans are killing me! Substituting is coming
to an end and this next check will not be much larger than the last one that
still was just enough to cover the loans. I can only work up to 30 hours at my
other job and I have been getting up in the 20’s for each week so asking for
more hours at work is not really possible. Another job is in order, but with
only a month before I leave to teach in Hawaii there is not time to apply,
interview, etc. before I have to leave again. And once I get my first check
from Hawaii I should be ok and able to put a lot away into savings to cover
what the paychecks cannot when I get back.
Then I remembered that home income opportunity. I did make
about $200 one month with putting in about 5-10 hours of effort. So, that is my
new focus in the next couple weeks. If I can sign some people up I can cash in
the money right away and still will get a check at the end of the month. As it
is now I make about $25 a month doing nothing with it, which still is not bad
for doing no work!
So, if you are interested in green products that replace
what you already use let me know. This means it is nothing extra to add to your
budget each month, but simply switching stores to safer products. They make
around 400 different things so there is always something for everyone! It is
also really scary to find out that Fabreese Air Effects puts 89 air pollutants
into your home every time you use it! Or that Ajax, Dynamo, and Fab Ultra
liquid laundry detergents contain formaldehyde? It can cause asthma and allergies
and is a known carcinogen but they only mention that it is in there on
technical disclosures for workers. They are not required to list ingredients
like food labels are. Corox, Fantastik, Fabreze, Formula 409, Easy-Off, Lysol,
Mr. Clean and Spic and Span contain ammonium compounds or ethanolamine, which
are classified as asthmagens. These things can trigger asthma attacks and can
actually cause new cases of asthma in people who do not have it! Why would you
risk exposing yourself to these things? Especially on a regular basis!
I cannot wait to get my own place again so I can decide what
comes in or not… No sugar, no horrible products, no tempting bad foods, etc. If
it is not around, I will not be tempted to eat it or use it.
Final Topic: Jobs
Job applications SUCK! I have filled out so many of them and
am so tired of having to do them in the first place that I am about to write
one of these to the next job I do not get. http://www.chaosmatrix.org/library/humor/reject.html
Currently I am also working on an application to stay in
this town (that I really want to leave) in a teaching position that I could do,
but it is not the subject I really want to teach. I would also have to take the
Praxis II test for the content area before I could become certified and that is
a lot of money. It is a lot to get a job in a town I do not want to be in and
teaching a subject I do not want to teach. But hey, it is a teaching job right?
At least that is what everyone says now. I really wish I could find all those
people that told me finding a job teaching science, especially physics, would
be extremely easy. Now everyone with experience is getting those jobs even if
they cannot really teach the subject. It is crazy and soon I shall be certified
in 3 states and still jobless. I do not even think I will get to be picky about
jobs and will jump on the first one I get an offer for!
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