Money Can Cause Stress

I feel ya, George

I am stressed.  And not totally because of the reason you’d probably think.  Yes, I am once again a student and it is a bit disarming settling back into that lifestyle.  While it’s certainly different – I’ve not been in classes for over three years after all – I actually really enjoy school.  It’s work, but it’s work that I happen to love.  I even don’t so much mind homework (unless it’s my old friend, accounting).

What’s really got me all worked up is the fact that I have gone from as close to overtime as possible to just three measly days a week at work.  And that’s not counting the multiple weekends I have three-day lectures.  So I only get to work Friday – Sunday.  Unless I’m, for example, learning about the Digital Economy.  Then I don’t work at all that week.  That fact, my friends, has not been settling very well.

Here’s the thing about me; I’m a saver.  I love putting money in the bank.  I love checking my balance.  I love having no debt.  And now suddenly I don’t have as much coming in.  That stresses the shit right of this girl.

For the record, I did save up all sorts of money just for this reason.  I knew my first semester would be a heavy one and I planned accordingly.  I put money away knowing I’d be working far less.  Yet that planning didn’t prepare me for the feeling that would come over me watching my balance go down rather than up.  The saver in me doesn’t like to see that even when I made allowances for it.

So if I go off the deep-end and start panhandling or selling organs in the next few months you’ll know why; it’s because I’m completely insane when it comes to my cash flow.  Here’s hoping I can survive the next fifteen weeks with all my body parts and all my consumer electronics.  On that note, where is the nearest pawnshop?

The Cutting of Hours

January is notoriously slow in the restaurant business.  The holidays have come and gone and with them a lot of that discretionary income families would choose to spend eating out.  With a decrease in customers comes a most dreaded decrease in hours.  The six days a week I generally work have dwindled to a dismal four days a week that aren't even guaranteed.  With girls being called off shift or sent home early when the restaurant is slow, those four days can easily become two.  And it is really hard for a girl to pay her bills on two to four shifts a week.

Now, I find myself in that dreaded position of contemplating finding a second job to supplement my dwindling income.  This is immensely stressful to me.  It's not that having two jobs isn't a doable situation. It's the process of finding another job and interviewing.  It's the scheduling of two jobs around each other.  It's all those little everyday issues that will be a huge pain in my ass.  Basically, I'm stressed about the whole process of not only finding a compatible job, but also scheduling them so I give them both the attention they deserve.  Oh and I'm finishing my law school applications.  Kill me now.

Yeah, yeah, I could just quit my job and find something that has more hours, but I really love working at Hooters.  I mean genuinely LOVE it.  I like looking cute and being silly and as funny as it sounds I like being a waitress.   Yes, I get annoyed with people and hate being treated like an idiot, but overall I love being a server.  This is something I never thought I'd enjoy, yet here I am a year and half later still excited to go to work.  I never dread a shift.  I've never once been late.  I appreciate my job.  If I could work seven days a week at Hooters I would.  I'd love every minute.

Unfortunately the world is not perfect and I can't be a Hooters Girl 24/7.  So I'll start looking for that second job.  Maybe I'll be a server.  Maybe I'll be a casino attendant.  Maybe I'll be a Barnes and Noble nerd.  All I know is I will NOT work at clothing store.  I did my time at Old Navy.  That sentence is thankfully over and I will not be a repeat offender.

So what does this mean for you?  Less Hooters stories?  Hell no!  It means Hooters, plus a little extra.  It means another view into my entirely legitimate life.  It means more Sauce and everyone knows that a little extra Sauce is never a bad thing.