Sunday, January 4, 2009
AVOIDING PITFALLS IN HARD TIMES
Pay Day Loans
In these hard times, I know there are a lot of things that tempt us. Planning for dire unemployment in the United States is going to make us more and more desperate. Here is one thing to avoid on your journey through this recession.
Pay Day Loans: I know it can look so inviting. Why not? Get your cash quickly. All you need is a job and a checking account. But realistically it's a trap as expensive as the sub-prime mortgages have been to low income consumers. Pay Day Loans prey on the poor. If you are planning to be unemployed soon don't make the mistake of trying to live with weekly Pay Day Loans or monthly Pay Day Loans, because you are in store for owing more then you have to. Typically most Pay Day Loans charge between 400% and 900% per check. If you have employment, but you are poorly paid, this can be devastating. Some of us don't think about the next week. We think of what is due this week: our phone bills, our gas bills, our medical bills.
Let's say you are over-drawn in a checking account, and get a Pay Day Loan to cover the penalties the bank issues on your account. What about the other bills you must pay? If you are use to budgeting your money, you know how much extra you have every week. For the poor there is little or none extra. (I know because I have been there) So saying you live from check to check, Pay Day Loans are just a burden. If you know that you will have nothing lift after you get your check, what do you think a
Pay Day Loans will do to your weekly average figuring in all the interest they take out. You could lose $200 to $400 a month.Pay Day Loans is a vicious circle that gets you further into debt. It is not the direction someone should take if you worried about today's employment situation.
Until next time, Courteous navigator.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
EVEN IN TIMES OF RECESSION THERE IS HOPE
I think I have wasted time[yours actually] on ranting on the current administration. Sorry, about that. I could not help it. I know it makes me part of the easy-to-target-and-bash-Bush-bandwagon. However, there are a few things that have changed since my last blog. Now, having November rates hovering around 515,000 to 533,000 then just add on 58,000 jobs lost in the first week of December, makes the recession we are facing look daunting. And with more than 4 million people out of work in this country, it seems a bit silly to lower to ranting about a lame duck President. So, is there good news? Mmm yah!
FOR YOU LUCKY DEVILS WORKING IN DETROIT
It looks like the Bush administration will do a back flip on giving the Big three car makers a hand. After telling all the democrats to look at other money to pay for quick fix, the about face you will see in the coming days will surely happen. Now if you were the President of a nation with the worst jobless rate in 26 years, would you just shrug it off? Let the next president deal with it. I don't think that will happen. President Bush faces a bad legacy. Unless you are one of those insanely delusional people that believe the President kept us safe from terrorism. Or if you are willing to give him credit[as I do] for helping aids victims in Africa, there is not much else there for him.
Will the bail out money be used? Yep. I believe so. Already the Fed has used up most of the segment bit off for this quarter. 15 billion dollars remain. So how much of that will be in Obamas' hands when he comes to office? Zip. Nada. Zero. What is left of that 7 hundred billion, it will be in President Obamas' hands in 2009.
FINALLY, ADVICE THAT SOME OF YOU CAN USE
Are there really jobs out there? Oh yes, there are! I am living proof that I was right. Once I moved out of the state I lived in for four horrid years, I am getting call backs and had at least one interview planned this week. Can't really say the same for the state I was once living in. Now I also have been remiss in not addressing important issues for those worried about potentially losing their job from chap. 11 or outsourcing.
Now I know that some of you think what I am about to say is a "no duh," moment. But I am surprised by the amount of people online that seek advice on how to find a job, especially, younger, more Internet savvy people.
ONLINE RESUME
An obvious start, as far as I am concerned, is posting your resume online. Now there are issues of privacy but the traffic you get is miles longer then if you went basic job hunting physically from place to place. In my case, within two day I received two interview offers, plus a few nibbles from in my email box. And please don't worry about your experience, put what you can down and set up a resume online. Now I am not recommending any one job site. I picked Career builder only because I have used it before. It appears to have less spam connected to it then most. Other jobs sites like Monster are fine. All would work. They usually provide free software to download your resume, or for beginners, help you build your own. There is a warning: they do have extra software that you can buy to increase your traffic. I don't think it is particularly important, but if you have the extra bills handy, why not? It is run pretty much like a Temp. employment agency. It has a list of categories. Just take a look and maybe something you are good at pops up. And always remember to include your email address. I can't stress that enough. You might get a good bite. You will get some spam jobs, offers too good to be true. Just be weary when looking at direct email appeals. So have a email that is good at debugging and classifying spam.
Now you don't have to post a resume, just log into any of these major job sites and look around. Just be careful. Some sites have a back log of spam and offers you have to go through before you can register with them.
RECESSION OR NO RECESSION SOME ARE BULLET PROOF
Is there such a thing as a recession proof job? I do believe it. There are things that people have to have to just survive. I will name only one in this blog.
Food.
Yes, food is essential. The particular food I am talking about its that which decomposes quickly. That has to be made locally or i. e. can't be outsourced.
Bread and Buns.
Having worked in a large bakery I can tell you there is always a need of fresh bread. Frozen bread from China anyone? No way. The market for that is there. So why not bread production. Flowers, or Sara Lee?
What about soup and spam[the real meat kind]. These to items appear always red hot in recessionary times. Do you have local distributor of spam or soup near you? If your job is heading south or north or across this great big world just think of the kind of jobs that are recession proof.
TAKE A DEEP DEEP BREATH
Think of unemployment rates in other countries. Zimbabwe. Why Zimbabwe? Why not. Once a agriculture powerhouse, now just in ruins. Last reported unemployment rate was 8o percent! Think about that when you see 7 percent and 8 percent in 2009.
I wonder if anyone is really looking at the Great Depression with a clear eye? We are not even close to that period of strife in our nation. By 1933, there was unemployment rate of 24.9 percent! How can any body compare this recession to that era? We can go back to 1974 and 1982 to find similar conditions as some reporters have, but until further notice I will will not listen to undereducated individuals using the Great Depression as a example. We are not there. However, I am open to all things. But my optimism guards against such thoughts, let's hope the rest of the nation has a similar coat of arms. Take care.
Courteous Navigator
FOR YOU LUCKY DEVILS WORKING IN DETROIT
It looks like the Bush administration will do a back flip on giving the Big three car makers a hand. After telling all the democrats to look at other money to pay for quick fix, the about face you will see in the coming days will surely happen. Now if you were the President of a nation with the worst jobless rate in 26 years, would you just shrug it off? Let the next president deal with it. I don't think that will happen. President Bush faces a bad legacy. Unless you are one of those insanely delusional people that believe the President kept us safe from terrorism. Or if you are willing to give him credit[as I do] for helping aids victims in Africa, there is not much else there for him.
Will the bail out money be used? Yep. I believe so. Already the Fed has used up most of the segment bit off for this quarter. 15 billion dollars remain. So how much of that will be in Obamas' hands when he comes to office? Zip. Nada. Zero. What is left of that 7 hundred billion, it will be in President Obamas' hands in 2009.
FINALLY, ADVICE THAT SOME OF YOU CAN USE
Are there really jobs out there? Oh yes, there are! I am living proof that I was right. Once I moved out of the state I lived in for four horrid years, I am getting call backs and had at least one interview planned this week. Can't really say the same for the state I was once living in. Now I also have been remiss in not addressing important issues for those worried about potentially losing their job from chap. 11 or outsourcing.
Now I know that some of you think what I am about to say is a "no duh," moment. But I am surprised by the amount of people online that seek advice on how to find a job, especially, younger, more Internet savvy people.
ONLINE RESUME
An obvious start, as far as I am concerned, is posting your resume online. Now there are issues of privacy but the traffic you get is miles longer then if you went basic job hunting physically from place to place. In my case, within two day I received two interview offers, plus a few nibbles from in my email box. And please don't worry about your experience, put what you can down and set up a resume online. Now I am not recommending any one job site. I picked Career builder only because I have used it before. It appears to have less spam connected to it then most. Other jobs sites like Monster are fine. All would work. They usually provide free software to download your resume, or for beginners, help you build your own. There is a warning: they do have extra software that you can buy to increase your traffic. I don't think it is particularly important, but if you have the extra bills handy, why not? It is run pretty much like a Temp. employment agency. It has a list of categories. Just take a look and maybe something you are good at pops up. And always remember to include your email address. I can't stress that enough. You might get a good bite. You will get some spam jobs, offers too good to be true. Just be weary when looking at direct email appeals. So have a email that is good at debugging and classifying spam.
Now you don't have to post a resume, just log into any of these major job sites and look around. Just be careful. Some sites have a back log of spam and offers you have to go through before you can register with them.
RECESSION OR NO RECESSION SOME ARE BULLET PROOF
Is there such a thing as a recession proof job? I do believe it. There are things that people have to have to just survive. I will name only one in this blog.
Food.
Yes, food is essential. The particular food I am talking about its that which decomposes quickly. That has to be made locally or i. e. can't be outsourced.
Bread and Buns.
Having worked in a large bakery I can tell you there is always a need of fresh bread. Frozen bread from China anyone? No way. The market for that is there. So why not bread production. Flowers, or Sara Lee?
What about soup and spam[the real meat kind]. These to items appear always red hot in recessionary times. Do you have local distributor of spam or soup near you? If your job is heading south or north or across this great big world just think of the kind of jobs that are recession proof.
TAKE A DEEP DEEP BREATH
Think of unemployment rates in other countries. Zimbabwe. Why Zimbabwe? Why not. Once a agriculture powerhouse, now just in ruins. Last reported unemployment rate was 8o percent! Think about that when you see 7 percent and 8 percent in 2009.
I wonder if anyone is really looking at the Great Depression with a clear eye? We are not even close to that period of strife in our nation. By 1933, there was unemployment rate of 24.9 percent! How can any body compare this recession to that era? We can go back to 1974 and 1982 to find similar conditions as some reporters have, but until further notice I will will not listen to undereducated individuals using the Great Depression as a example. We are not there. However, I am open to all things. But my optimism guards against such thoughts, let's hope the rest of the nation has a similar coat of arms. Take care.
Courteous Navigator
Saturday, December 6, 2008
NOVEMBER UNEMPLOYMENT RATES AT RECORD HIGHS: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED?
(Stock photo: public domain)
It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose your own.
-Harry S. Truman
WITH UNEMPLOYMENT CLIMBING TO 6.7% IS IT TIME TO PANIC?
The simple truth is that most of us could of guessed that unemployment rate was going in only one direction. Up. Even the hypertensive Wall Street just purred along with hardly a burp as the Bureau of Labor Statistics came out with their monthly unemployment report. So, should you be worried. Yah, but not to the point of frantic hair-pulling.
WHEN KNOWLEDGE V.S. FEAR, KNOWLEDGE WILL ALWAYS WIN.
At this point in my blog I could spew out a plethora of tired yet recycled cliches used by pundits and journalists alike. "For warned is for armed." This is particularly apt here. Knowledge of the economic situation even at my low education level, having a BA and PH.D in absolutely nothing has nothing to do with accumulating knowledge and using it to protect your future; it is just an instinct. Look around. Have you ever thought that as you sedately clod along at your job, the environment around you may ruin your life? Or even as you complacently think how easy it use to be to find a job, the area in which you live now is actually going to put you in chap. 11? In my last blog THE FUTURE OF UNEMPLOYMENT I made it quite clear that I thought instinct should kick in. Find a State that you think you could work in. Personally, I found Florida a deplorable working environment. It almost ruined me. And what I would have been looking at if I stayed there into October? A 7 % jobless rate. Up from 6.6 % in September.
Now I know the average Joseph and Josephine out there would find all these percents unexciting. But it was the one thing I looked at as I moved far far away from the so-called "Sun Shine State." I now receive interviews and call backs from interested employers. I won't tell you where I am, but I guarantee you it is a State with a lower unemployment rate.
AVOID UNDER UTILIZATION: Or in other words, underemployment
It is strange to romance about a part-time job I once had. I realize now I took it for granted. A part-time job that not only paid the rent, but also gave me health benefits. Those days are long over. The underutilized are people in a awkward situation. If they quit, they lose any kind of income they may ever get for some time, but by keeping it, they may not earn enough to live on. It is not a situation that I particularly ever want to be in. Even a full time job at a burger joint would be more alluring then a part-time job that did not even give you cash enough to feed your fish. Consider this if thinking of applying for a part-time job. Can you get unemployment? Look at the State in which you live. For you, the underemployed, unemployment compensation does not look good.
A IRKSOME LAST THOUGHT:
Does it bother no one that in the waning days of this administration, their last efforts seem constipated. I mean no harm. I am basically apolitical. But they seem to be at the hands-in-the-air, duh point.
So is President-elect Obama our enema?
Think of all the vast crisis-filled days that this administration has weathered, all their efforts seem anti-climatic. From Katrina to the hands off approach with the Israel v.s. Palestinian issue. How with 533,000 people out of work in November, this president, President George W. Bush accomplished what few have even dared when things got so bad: Absolutely nothing. I don't blame him for the greed that left us in such a dire situation. But I can't help but think this man has given up, even though he has until January 20, 2009 to make a mark in this nation. Okay, lets talk remorse. Chatting to reporters about personal remorse is one thing, yet unable to show emotion in that direction makes me think that emotion never really existed.
-Courteous Navigator
Sunday, November 16, 2008
THE FUTURE OF UNEMPLOYMENT
Is it so bad to speculate what it may be like to be unemployed? What is the future of unemployment? Even though you think job security is tight at your place of work. Well, look at the national average for unemployment. Okay, it doesn't look good: the national average for unemployment in October is 6.5%. And when the figures come out for November, it will be even more grim. When people give advice about saving, do they include watching where your job is in the scheme of things? How does it look for a worker at Chrysler right now? Rest assured that if you see a dark cloud heading your way, best bet is to get out of the way.
DO THE MATH WITH IT COMES TO UNEMPLOYMENT: the Bureau of Labor Statistics may help.
Bureau of Labor Statistics can help you see how we are doing nationally. 1.2 million jobs lost in the last ten months. Grim news indeed! And you will here that a lot "Grim." But before you bury your head camel-like in sand. Think about this means. It might make you think about your own state. Look at Florida in September. 6.6%! How does that make you feel? One of those states with unemployment rate higher then the national average. Mmmmm, Time to find a better place to live? It might be a option considering you may have to survive.
WHEN IT COMES TO PLANNING FOR UNEMPLOYMENT LET THOSE SURVIVAL INSTINCTS KICK IN
Some believe this may be Depression rather than a recession. The semantic differences are nothing really. Use either word, and it will spell U-N-E-M-P-L-O-Y-E-D. Are you willing to leave a place you grew up or a nice home with kids to find a place that is actually hiring? If you are willing to move, think of where you might go. Family in Wyoming? Right now the State of Wyoming is at 3.3% unemployment. Even if you didn't have family here think of it as an alternative to . . .well nothing.
THE TRUE PICTURE OF UNEMPLOYMENT
The true picture of unemployment should never be in front of you like a Hamlet's ghostly father. It may look daunting but consider it a sign post. A warning. The future for you can be read ahead. Make preparations-instead of fretting. Look at all alternatives. Should you move to a better work climate? Can you? These are small but important little things to think about when you get your unfriendly pink slip. I hope to give some friendly advice about life after work. Unemployment and unemployment compensation are two topics i will discuss next time. Until then, Take Care.
Courteous Navigator
DO THE MATH WITH IT COMES TO UNEMPLOYMENT: the Bureau of Labor Statistics may help.
Bureau of Labor Statistics can help you see how we are doing nationally. 1.2 million jobs lost in the last ten months. Grim news indeed! And you will here that a lot "Grim." But before you bury your head camel-like in sand. Think about this means. It might make you think about your own state. Look at Florida in September. 6.6%! How does that make you feel? One of those states with unemployment rate higher then the national average. Mmmmm, Time to find a better place to live? It might be a option considering you may have to survive.
WHEN IT COMES TO PLANNING FOR UNEMPLOYMENT LET THOSE SURVIVAL INSTINCTS KICK IN
Some believe this may be Depression rather than a recession. The semantic differences are nothing really. Use either word, and it will spell U-N-E-M-P-L-O-Y-E-D. Are you willing to leave a place you grew up or a nice home with kids to find a place that is actually hiring? If you are willing to move, think of where you might go. Family in Wyoming? Right now the State of Wyoming is at 3.3% unemployment. Even if you didn't have family here think of it as an alternative to . . .well nothing.
THE TRUE PICTURE OF UNEMPLOYMENT
The true picture of unemployment should never be in front of you like a Hamlet's ghostly father. It may look daunting but consider it a sign post. A warning. The future for you can be read ahead. Make preparations-instead of fretting. Look at all alternatives. Should you move to a better work climate? Can you? These are small but important little things to think about when you get your unfriendly pink slip. I hope to give some friendly advice about life after work. Unemployment and unemployment compensation are two topics i will discuss next time. Until then, Take Care.
Courteous Navigator
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