Saturday, October 02, 2010

How $37 Can Suddenly Seem Like... Not A Lot... But More

I get paid on the last business day of the month.  That's it.  When I was a single mama, it meant paying all the bills and doing one massive grocery shopping trip at the start of each month.  Frozen vegetables and meat stocked our freezer.  Sometimes I wished I could get a fridge/freezer combo where the freezer was larger.  Once Tom and I married, I rejoiced in fresh fruits and veggies.


A few weeks ago I got a notice from the payroll department showing how my September check would be reduced by 50% for my days on leave.  Dates were listed along with amounts, but there was no real explanation.  Last week I got another yellow slip in the mail detailing dates and deductions, but again without an explanation.  The deductions on this form were about half of the original amounts.  I ridiculously assumed that the second form canceled out the first. Nope.


Apparently they hadn't docked my pay for all of my maternity leave in August.  So my check was docked half pay for nine days in August plus 22 days in September.  Take out taxes, my standard deductions and the money that goes straight to my car payment, and I was left with a very small check.


When I called the bank Thursday morning on somehow I got off the phone thinking the direct deposit was for $37.  When I called Payroll later in the day, I learned that I'd overestimated my wealth.  In fact, my check for the entire month of September was $32.48.  Sweet!


All is not lost; I should be receiving a sizable check from State Disability, which will cover about 2/3 of what's missing.  I called Wednesday to see when I can expect it because it seems to be overdue.  The customer-no-service person I spoke with couldn't tell me if the certification I'd sent in had been received, only that it will take 10 days to process my check and two days to send it out once it's processed.  Could she tell me how much to expect?  No she could/would not.


So, yes, we are in a mad scramble to gather our funds from various sources to just pay the mortgage this week.  The money we'd set aside to maybepossiblyhopefully make our biennial trip to Chicago at Christmas?  Gone.  Happy Christmas everyone.  We can't come see you, but we still have a home!


Fun times, to be sure.

3 comments:

Bossy Betty said...

Oh yes. I remember some of those paychecks from maternity times. It's quite a blow to see the reduced amount AND have another little person around depending on you! Hang in there!

Anti-Supermom said...

Sorry, I only got 4 weeks off because we needed the money... so I feel your pain.

Maybe Chicago will work out, keep your chin up, Shan.

Rebecca said...

Should I get on my soap box about how our society doesn't support new parents who need to bring in an income and still need to be good parents to new little babies!?

I'm sorry. I know how it feels...

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