Going on a diet...

...and not the one I talk about all the time on here! I'm going on a financial diet. I'm being forced to now even though I should have done it several months ago. In a nutshell, my salary was just reduced by 20%. That's a lot. They phrased it by saying, "Everyone's hours are going to be reduced to 32 per week." But, I'm still at work 4 days a week. They won't let me just add an extra hour to my day on Mondays and Wednesdays and give me another day off. Because, that would help me out a TON. It would mean I could save at least 50 miles/week on my car. It would mean I could work a second job 4 days/week to help make up the difference. It would mean another day I'm just not here at this place.

So, I have to cut out a lot of stuff. I should have already done this. I didn't need to go out for two girls' nights this past weekend. Luckily, one was free since I had gift cards, but the other one wasn't. I didn't need to buy two bottles of $10 wine last week. Hell, I didn't need to buy new clothes for my upcoming adventure to Egypt! But I did all that. And I have to pay my credit cards off every month. I will freak out if I don't. So, there goes my tax refund. Luckily, it's a large one this year, but $1,000 of it is already out the door to pay for my last class (at least I'll have an MBA, right?). My savings is still non-existent because of all the huge expenses from last year. More than likely, I'll have to stop contributing to my 401(k). That's at least 5% of my salary I can get back. So, I guess that means I only have to try to make up 15% of my salary through a second job? That's less daunting than 20%. But, sacrificing my future for today. Now I get why people today can't afford to retire.

I don't really have anywhere to go with this. Just extremely upset right now. I also feel like a bad person because I would have rather them have lay-offs instead. My job would not have been eliminated. I'm the only person in my department and I can do the office admin's job, so there's one person they could have cut. I'm sure cutting just one of the 6-figure/year jobs would have helped as well. They have plenty to choose from there! Those people would have no problems finding a new job. But, it is what it is and I have to keep going.

This sucks.