Day 7: Job This summer I'll likely work just one shift/week at the card shop, and that suits me fine. The other girls I work with – and they are all much younger than I am – are scrambling for more hours, but the fact is that between Mother's Day* and Halloween there really aren't many events that drive people into our shop, and without sales, it's hard to support all of us working at the full schedule.
I am grateful that I can afford to work one shift/week. I've made a lot of financial mistakes over the years, but one thing I did right was treat my retirement savings as sacred. Whether it was the US Savings Bond payroll savings plan at my first job when I was 17, or the 401(k) programs I participated in at succeeding jobs, once I put that money away I pretended it was gone. I didn't make withdrawals or borrow against it. That puts me in the position today where instead of looking at the light summer schedule as a time for belt tightening, I see it as more time to watch baseball.
I'm also grateful that I work with Alejandra, Zoey and Carla. They are twentysomethings of divergent backgrounds and I appreciate the opportunity to hear their perspectives on life.
*Sorry, Dad, but Father's Day just isn't as lucrative.
That was a piece of advice given to me at my high school graduation: pay yourself first (retirement savings).
ReplyDelete