My Wallet and My Weight - There's a Correlation

I have been below the poverty line for a few years, but this is the first time I've felt it as hunger. The last couple weeks I've been going to bed hungry and filling up on water throughout the day. It isn't bad so far, but if I lose another 5 pounds, I won't be eligible to donate plasma (not that that's an option right now anyway). On the plus side, I will be able to fit into some jeans I haven't been able to in a long time.

Collection Agency Warning

I just got a letter from GE threatening to sic a collection agency on me if I don't make my minimum payment this month. This is crazy! GE is behind most of my cards, and the Dillard's card they are threatening me about has the smallest balance of them all. Besides I made a partial payment on it last month. How stupid is this? It is one of the ones I paid today, so it didn't cut short my stress free day.

Payday

I got my direct deposit and thank god it is more than I thought it would be. I was able to pay 3 bills today! Unfortunately, I am still more than 100 dollars short of meeting my minimum payments this month (thanks to 4 separate overdraft fees at the bank.) I feel much better though. Much. I am going to take a happy day and let the stress begin to remount tomorrow.

The New Job

I got a new job 2-1/2 weeks ago now. My usual - typing from home. This one is full time with occasional required overtime, which is great compared to my last job which often didn't provide any work. It looks like I'll soon be losing this job though. I haven't been meeting production requirements of 6500 lines per week. I haven't even hit 4000 lines per week, so 6500 seems completely out of reach. I'm just hoping they'll opt to demote me to part-time (which is 3500 required lines a week) rather than fire me. Stress...it's a way of life.

Making Credit Card Payments Online

I have set up things to pay my credit cards online now - not automatically since I know I don't have the money to pay them all every month. I just go to each individual site when I have the money to make a payment. This has helped. Staying completely away from the mall helps me not spend anything there. (Of course, this month I had to go to the mall anyway, but in general I don't go anymore.) Saves money on gas not having to drive there to make payments too. I do still have to drive to Kohl's to make that payment though because their website is just not working for me. Amex's website is also difficult sometimes, but eventually it will work.

Making Credit Card Payments with Plasma

This for me is nowhere near a sure thing. The first 5 or 6 times I went in they did not accept me. Either I didn't weigh 110, my blood pressure wasn't above 99 systolic, my iron level wasn't high enough, or my pulse was too high. They do all those tests every time you donate, so I never know if I'm going to pass. They just say to come back tomorrow if I fail, but I have had to do that many many times now.
The worst thing that happens there is the machine malfunctions. It's happened twice now since I've started going there - Talecris. The machine somehow does not do what it's supposed to and does not return my blood. Then they tell me not to come back for 56 days. That's 2 months! That's about $550 dollars I can't count on. And donating plasma is the only thing I can do when I am unemployed. My experiences at this place has, however, changed my reaction when bad things happen. In the beginning I would get so upset! Now I don't get upset. There is just nothing I can do about it if I failed the test today or the machine kept my blood. Instead I start thinking of a lot of "what ifs" that I never used to, which I'm sure is not a good way to think either. If I had come in earlier, later, been seated one chair over, failed the test today, passed it yesterday, etc. I might not have to forego the plasma donations for 2 months.

Paying Credit Cards By Spending on Them

I lost my job a couple months ago and had no savings. So making my credit card minimums the last two months had been tough - meaning I can't pay it. It just occurred to me to buy stuff at these stores and then return them as my payment. It does show up as a credit on your statement when you make a return, so we'll see if this works. I've spent a couple hundred dollars this week in this effort, so if this doesn't work I'll be farther in the hole. Crossing my fingers.