Monday, May 17, 2010

Times are tough, I get it... really.

I’ve worked in my office for 5 years, I didn’t get a raise for almost 3 ½.. As a matter of fact, Nobody did. My boss would say we don’t have any money coming in and yadda yadda... and yes, I do understand that. I work for Plaintiff’s attorneys, so unless we’re settling cases and winning trials we’re paying out to get medical records and reports, filing documents with the court and all that fun stuff. I kinda let it go, thinking that we’d get raises when the 2 attorneys that gave notice in February left (because hey, we would have more $$$$ every month, right?) But no, another attorney left.. And nope.. They hired 2 new guys and still no mention of any pay raises for any of us.

But in the 3 years since I haven’t gotten a raise: my rent’s gone up, I got a car, and not to mention the Kid I have to feed, clothe and provide for without any help from anyone (I am his ONLY parent). When it got to the point where I was like ok, ya know what, I just can’t do it anymore like this I had to step up and ask Big Bad Mr. G for a raise and what he gave me was not nearly what I had hoped for or even close to what I really needed. And No, I’m not being greedy here.. It has been 3+ years and I HAVE to move. You can read about my living situation here. I can’t exactly tell this guy it’s not enough, because in all honesty it's something. I need to Keep my job and I like my job but I’m not above going out to look for another one, even though right now I know that my boss needs me here (there have been a lot of changes and I’m one of the only people here who really knows what file belongs to what attorney not to mention the absurd computer illiteracy of the older guys here)

The fact of the matter is though that if I want to get a nice, 2 bedroom apartment and not have to worry so much about money, I need around another $300 a month. This is New York, rent’s not cheap and I don’t live in a high class area either, I’m just determined to keep the kid in the same school. I refuse to rent someone’s basement ever again and I’m not going in without a lease (which are the 2 biggest mistakes I made when I moved to the hell that I’m in now even though it hasn’t always been like this, they were pretty nice and left me alone for the first year)

I’m not above asking for a little help from my friends here on the interwebs either.. Some PR or some something online to make a few extra $$ legit. Maybe I can find something my sister who just had a baby can do too. Times are tough, trust me, I know it. Getting a second job isn’t totally out of the question if push comes to shove but I already do 40+ hours a week here and I try to spend as much time with my kid as I can.

1 comments:

Lys said...

I hear ya re: the raises - except I worked for a HUGE Defense firm and while the staff didn't get raises/reduced bonuses, etc. the associates made bank, and then some while we (the staff) did their work. Go figure. Now I'm in a great firm but I hear ya re: needing a second job. Have you looked into freelance writing, etc.?