Reducing Hours at Work?

For the last year I have had to work a lot of hours each week, with the minimal being around 45 the most 60. It has become normal to me, and I depend on the paycheck now. Well I found out today that the overtime will be eliminated for the store. This is devastating me so much. I am trying to buy a home, I have to take care of my son, and I have to pay bills. If my overtime was temporary, or short term, I would not depend on it so much. This will be a reduction of on average $50-$100 a week. Not such a small amount. I am having questionable thoughts about what I should do., and I am also losing some of my passion for my job.

I have been with this company, with the exception of my time off for an injury, for close to three years.  I am an assistant manager, but make very little hourly compared to what I have in the past. The place I work is like a family, and I love going to work. It is the corporate that is cutting back on everything. We have more than doubled our sales each month compared to where we were 12 to 24 months ago, and I do not feel as though they appreciate the people that bring the customers in and pay their incomes.

So what does my future hold? I have two more classes this fall to complete my associated degree in business management. Should I work a second job to make ends meet? I live in a rural area so finding something comparable may be difficult, or I may have to commute. Another option is to work even harder from home, or find a company that will allow me to do customer service or business management from home. Wow I am just at a loss at the moment. I need to find a way  to make up at lease $100 a week to be sure I can cover everything and provide for my son.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

On to the Third Semester of School

I have finally gotten well enough to return to work full time, and still going to school full time. Today is the last day of semester two, and it feels good to get through. Semester three starts May 26th.

School has gotten very difficult through the first two semesters. I think it is because I have had so many things going on, but school is hard. You have to work for your degree, no matter what personal problems you have in your life.

The best tip I can give any single mom on going back to school is to schedule your time and study hard from the first day. It is hard when you have a little one knocking at the door or yelling in your ear, but you have to figure out times that work best for you.

Personally I work until 10:30-11 p, then I study until about 2am. Some days it is even later. Nights are the best time for me to study in quiet. I can do a few things during the day, but I cannot grasp anything with the noise in my house during the day.

There have been days that I wanted to just give up, but then I think about my life. I would be stuck in a minimum wage job and never be able to move up. My business management degree is what I need to make me and my sons future better.

NEVER GIVE UP! It will be worth the hard work.

Thank God for the motivation and the opportunity.

Back to School

I have made a big step in my five year plan, I am returning to school. I already received my acceptance letter from Pike Peakes Community College in Colorado Springs, CO. I will be going to get my associates degree in applied science focused on business management.It is a two year program and there are so many opportunities for this field of work.

I decided to choose something that I know and I am good at. I have seen so many single moms decide to take courses in medicine or other things, that they do not use. There are at least five women that I personally know that has a degree in some medical field, but they are sitting at home not using the skills they learned because they were not really interested in the field. They actually thought it would be easy money, and nothing in life is easy.

I am scared of this big step in my life. It is even scarier to me than becoming a single mom. I have faith though, I will work hard and focus on our future. This is something that I am doing for both my son and I. Life is to short to just wait for something to happen, we have to make things happen, and that is exactly what I am doing. I am making my life better for me and my family.