Economic Woes...

Now that the news people seem to think the economy is bouncing back and on the upswing, it has finally hit my town.

My husband's company just started with the pay cuts and layoffs that have been in effect elsewhere for some time. Granted, we were lucky they didn't start sooner. They definitely should have, they haven't been doing their best business for a while. Now it's hitting home.

To top that off my business has been receding over the last six months. I had several clients lined up to begin in the summer. This would have completely filled all of my available space. In this economy that was a surprise all in itself.

But for one reason or another, none of these contracts were fulfilled. Unfortunately, this is a cyclical business, and these contracts didn't fall through until after the "cycle" of calls that were coming. That meant that not only did the spots not get filled, but I also lost the opportunity to fill them from any of the other calls I received.

I had to effectively lay off my part time helpers. I didn't have the income to pay their wages. But I still had my full-time assistant. I worried that if I cut her hours that she'd be forced to find another job, and then she wouldn't be available when I need her. I had enough income to support her and me. I cut out every other expense to make this work.

Then I pissed off a client. A full time client, no less. This client had been with me for over a year, and this surprised me. It was over something relatively small, and usually these kinds of personality issues show up early.

Regardless, now I'm really feeling the pinch. I need to cut the hours of my full-timer, which leads to a dilemma of still needing her when I need to pick up after school kids, but not needing her in the morning. Her prospects of finding a morning-only job are limited.

I hear what everyone is saying about the improving economy, but I'm not seeing it. I guess we dodged the bad-economy bullet longer than most and are feeling the effects now.

I had an interesting thought the other day. We've been in this economic slump for basically a decade. We've had small ups and downs, but we really haven't experienced job security or opportunity for a while. I wonder what that means for our future.