Salls’ Life

1. Salls’ Life What could (but I sincerely hope doesn’t) happen…

2. Lost job at Shen, due to teacher cutbacks • Stress over job loss led to separation from wife, who kept our house • With no other teaching positions open locally, and needing some income, got a job making $8.00 per hour • Before taxes, I’m pulling in $320.00 per week • After taxes, I’m pulling in $272.00 per week • I need a car to get to my job, and to transport my kids when I have them. Unfortunately, when I was initially laid off, I forfeited my leased man van. Now, I need to get a cheap car to get me around. I have good credit, so I can secure a high-interest car loan from a local dealer and get into something for about $200 a month. Of course, after gas ($150 per month) and car insurance ($50 per month), my transportation costs are around $450 per month. That’s about $4,400 a year. • Because I have kids, I need to have my own place. I scored a 2-bedroom apartment in Waterford for $400. With three kids, a 2-bedroom place is inconvenient, but it’s all I can afford (and I’m not even sure I can afford it). With another $200 per month in utilities (phone, cable, hot water, heat, electric), I’m at just over $600 per month, or $7,200 for the year. • While I could probably get by on $50 per week for food, my kids will be with me around half the time, so I’ll need another $50 a week to account for their needs, too. That might be the most unrealistic expenditure thus far. That adds up to roughly $5,200 for the year, though. • Naturally, I don’t have a lot (or any) money to spend on clothing, but I’ll probably just need to “maintain” and buy some essentials. Hopefully, that won’t cost me more than $200 for the year. • I can live without a lot, but I don’t want my kids to when they’re with me. If I spend just $25 a week on entertaining them, which is outrageously low, that’s $1,300 for the year. • All toll, between rent and utilities, transportation, food, and entertainment, my total expenditures come to $18,300. That, of course, doesn’t even factor in health insurance (which I probably wouldn’t get with my employment), debts I currently have (such as student loans, credit cards, lines of credit, etc.), or any other essentials or things that might come down the pike (like birthdays, car maintenance, toiletries, etc.). • My total income is only about $14,400, which means I’m painfully short (to the tune of about $4,000, minimally).