I utterly loathe the "Never talk about your salary to your co-workers" taboo (though it seems to be helping ita in staying out of the firing line of her aggrieved co-worker's rage).
I remember sitting down with a co-worker in my division a half dozen years ago and mutually confessing our salaries and the last time we'd gotten increases. It was hard and shameful, but instructive, for both of us: it confirmed what we'd both suspected, that our supervisor was playing favorites. The co-worker, who had started three years later than me and had what she herself admitted was a lighter workload (and she couldn't do anything about it, as our supervisor had explicitly forbidden her to take any of my excess work because I was clearly a whiny goldbricker who refused to do her fair share), was two salary steps ahead of me and making $3-400 more a month.
That info-sharing confirmed and clarified our general sense of unease about the supervisor's ethics and competency, and was the catalyst for a series of fortunate events that led to both of us leaving - co-worker for a job that paid less but made her actually happy, me for a slightly higher-paying job under people with zero charm but a comfortingly rigid sense of fair play and mutual respect. And eventually I got to come back, at another salary increase, to work for my beloved doctor again after the evil supervisor had departed.
The don't-discuss-your-salary taboo was definitely one of the many weapons she used to keep her underlings off-balance, dependent on her, and resentful and suspicious of one another, and both my co-worker and I were so damn happy that we went behind her back and did what we oughtn't.
YWorkSituation,SalaryStructureAndEvilSupervisorMV, obviously.
That's our mortgage.
As much as I dislike living in the middle of nowhere, that is the one huge advantage. This house is so much cheaper than our house in Colorado. Of course, I would never choose to live here long term.
A lot of people are paycheck to paycheck.
Which is what's so unconscionably wrong about "paycheck-cashing" businesses. They take desperate people and make them much, much more desperate.
If I were in Congress, there would be a law saying that (A) all banks must cash paychecks they issue and (B) a certain sort of minimum account, WITH DEPOSIT PRIVILEGES, must be available to all comers.
And we know your dog's name, too, Liese. We're onta ya
Hee! This is true. I am doomed.
Liese (and Kat), my parents have a straw bale house in New Mexico.
Oh, wow, Nonian. I would be really appreciative. Right now we're just reading books and getting all worked up. I may email you later, if that's okay?
And our family is a check-picking-up-family, which causes problems sometimes when we just can't.
Yes, my daughter now owns a pair of MONKEY PANTS!
Whoohoo! Monkey pants! Burrell-baby-monkey-ants!
Hey, boss, you look really foamy in a corset!
Thank dog that is never ever a possibility in my workplace.
beth is a Mainer!
Gives beth the secret handshake.
I may email you later, if that's okay?
Please do. My parents are pretty proud of their house because my mom ( a 4th grade teacher) designed it and they really worked hard to keep costs down. They would love to share their experiences and answer any questions.
Which is what's so unconscionably wrong about "paycheck-cashing" businesses. They take desperate people and make them much, much more desperate.
I'd say about 60% of the bank accounts I saw were paycheck to paycheck. Another chunk (maybe 25%?) - were one to two paychecks ahead. The last little chunk of about 15% would be well ahead.
Of course, people that really have a lot of money don't keep it in a bank account. It's out working for them, making them more money. Huey Lewis had six figures in his money market account, though.
But I think that's a fairly accurate snap shot of "working class" (whatever that means in America) finances. At least in California.
