chegitz and Bunnygrrl are screwed

[chequita guevara]

As you may or may not remember, I'm on unemployment. About two months ago the company for which Bunnygrrl worked (Jacobson's) closed (after going bankrupt in January). Because it was a large company, the company had to give the employees 60 days written notice of a layoff and pay them during that time. It's known as WARN pay, which ran out at the end of Sept. She then applied for, and received unemployment in Florida.

In Florida, however, she was only eligible for a total of $960 in benfits, but, they inform us, she's eligible for almost twice as much through Illinois. All she has to do is send in the paperwork, canceling her claim with Florida and transfering the claim to Illinois. This she did, last Wednesday.

Little did they inform us, however, that this would cancel any back weeks of unemployment owed her, that Florida would cancel the claim before sending anything to Illinois, and that Illinois could still turn her down.

Where does that leave us? $200 short of rent. I won't be able to get anymore money for another two weeks, at least until the 14th. On the 4th, I will be charged a $75 late fee, and an additional $10 a day after the 3rd. By the time I can give them their money, I will owe an additional $175. Fine, I can handle that. The problem is, if they don't get their money by the 10th, they start eviction procedings, which means lawyers fees are tacked on top of what I owe. Payment of the lawyers fees, however, can be negotiated.

More fun.

Yesterday, I went to public aid to apply for food stamps. Because I have $56 in the bank and make $1 a month more than the total of my bills (not counting the fact that we're behind--we chose groceries over bills), I'm not eligible for emergency food stamps. At least we have food in the pantry. I have an appointment Nov 7 to determine eligibility. Now, since I can't pay my rent until I have all the money, the money I have now, plus my unemployment check at the end of the week will be in the bank. They want a bank statement. I'll have all that money in the bank, which will then be used against me.

I have cds to sell, and some handiwork to do for a friend, but that isn't gonna come close to $200 by next Monday.

We'd move to a less expensive apartment (we're paying $759), but we don't even have enough money to rent a truck.

Honesty screws you when dealing with the government bureaucracy. Catholic Charities, however, kicked in $134.01 to help with the electric bill.

[Urban Ranger]

Ah well, that sucks. But I thought you are cynical enough to be careful.

[DinoDoc]

Can Theben lend you money?

[Caligastia]

Thats a bummer man. Dont you guys have any family that could lend you the money?

[chequita guevara]

You would think, but I always chose being honest with the government, cuz I'm not overly fond of the idea of going to prison for committing fraud against the government.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Che,

Sorry to hear about your plight. Hope all works out for you. Your too smart of a cookie to not rebound from this. keep plugging away something will break loose.

Og

[Richelieu]

edit : ...

[SlowwHand]

What's even stranger is that if you have a car, you won't get food stamps.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Can Theben lend you money?

I already owe Theben quite a bit of money. I can ask again, but he won't be at all happy about it.

As well, Dad's BK's are just barely staying afloat at the moment. He's heavily in debt to his business partner trying to keep the companies alive until the economy picks up. Mom only just started working again a few weeks ago.

[DinoDoc]

Do you own your car? You could try one of those title loan places.

[Eli]

And how much do you pay for the hours you spend on Poly?

[Bosh]

I'll buy your CDs at a decent price if you need the money, the one good financial thing about being a student is that we don't have many bills...

[chequita guevara]

Consumer Confidence Lowest Since '93

Oct 29, 11:39 AM (ET)

By PETER SVENSSON

NEW YORK (AP) - Consumer confidence in the economy plunged in October to the lowest level since 1993, buffeted by a weak job market and the threat of war with Iraq, a research group said Tuesday.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 79.4, down from 93.7 in September. The fall was much sharper than predicted on Wall Street, where economists had been looking for a reading of 90.0.

The financial markets dropped on the report. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 129.91, or 1.6 percent, at 8,238.16. The Nasdaq composite index fell 29.88, or 2.3 percent, to 1,285.95.

It was the fifth straight month of decline for the confidence index, which is widely watched because of the importance of consumer spending for the overall economy.

The index fell past a recent low of 84.9 in November last year, when economic expectations were dampened by a recession and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The 14.3-point drop in the index from September to October was the sharpest fall since it fell 17 points from August to September last year, in the wake of the terrorist attacks.

The last time the index was lower was in November 1993, when it stood at 71.9. Then as now, the economy was recovering from a recession, but the labor market was still shaky.

"Recovery in the labor market is the key to consumer confidence," said Lynn Franco, who heads the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center.

Franco said the threat of military action in Iraq and the prolonged bear market also took their toll on consumer's view of the economy.

Economists are usually wary of drawing too many conclusions about the direction of the economy from measurements of consumer confidence, pointing out that what affects the economy is consumer spending, not consumer attitudes.

"The thing to keep in mind here is that consumer confidence ... generally lags behind other signs the economy is recovering," said Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in St. Louis.

"Some of the weakness is probably attributed to events that are hopefully resolved, like the sniper shootings and the port closures out west," Thayer said. "It appears, for instance, that confidence was weak is the mid-Atlantic region where the sniper was."

The Conference Board's index is based on a monthly survey of about 5,000 U.S. households. It stood at 100 in its base year, 1985.

Respondents rating current business conditions as "bad" increased to 27.6 percent from 23.8 percent last month, while those saying conditions were "good" decreased to 15.6 percent from 18.5 percent.

The percentage saying jobs were hard to get rose to 27.3 from 25.4, even though recent job data from the Labor Department hasn't shown any dramatic change in the labor market.

While layoffs have slowed, companies still seem reluctant to hire. In the week ending Oct. 19, new applications for unemployment insurance fell slightly.

Fewer households said they were planning to buy cars, homes, or major appliances. Spending on autos and homes, fueled by low interest rates, has been a bright spot in the otherwise faltering economy.

"The outlook for the holiday retail season is now fairly bleak," Franco said. "Without the likelihood of a pickup in consumer spending, an already weak economic recovery could weaken further."

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
You would think, but I always chose being honest with the government, cuz I'm not overly fond of the idea of going to prison for committing fraud against the government.

I don't mean lying, but asking questions before hand. Such as:

"Will my unemployment benefit here continue when Illinois processes my application?"

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Eli
And how much do you pay for the hours you spend on Poly?

We pay a flat fee for internet service in the US.