Jill+Bouchard+II

Assignment 3 Page 82 STRESS AT WORK

I face a lot of stress at work. First is the commute, I now have a forty five minute drive to work, after eighteen years of working ten minutes from home. My whole trip is crazy highway, full of people driving fast and erratic. The other day, on my way to work, I saw a three car accident that brought all traffic to a stand still. I was in traffic so long that I was really afraid I would be late. When I get out of work at nine thirty at night, I sometimes think that I could just fall asleep on the long boring highway trip home. Second, is the pressure to sell. I work in a jewelry store, and with this bad economy it’s getting harder and harder to sell luxury items. Yet pressure is put on me everyday to make my goal. Finally, I stress myself with the thought that this job is challenging enough. What brain power does it take me to show some jewelry, cash someone out, box and bag their item. The stress of this job is knowing I can't put up with these things much longer.

Assignment 1 Page 80 WAYS WE ECONOMIZE DURING THIS RECESSION

During these tough economic times I have found several ways to stretch my families’ dollars. First of all, we don’t waste money going out to restaurants. Instead, some friends and I have a dinner swap. We all get together and bring a dish we’ve made along with extra Tupperware. Each person takes a portion of what everyone else has made. You arrive with one meal, but you go home with a weeks worth of dinners. Second, I don’t spend a lot on clothes. Especially for my four year old daughter, who just keeps outgrowing everything. Jenna is my last child, so I just drop off everything she’s outgrown to my local children’s consignment store. When they sell her clothes I just use the money to buy her new things there in her size. Finally, with a family of eight we have to get creative when it comes to entertainment. We once spent over a hundred dollars taking all the kids to the movies. Now we just make some popcorn and rent a movie at home, or make some snacks and the kids all enjoy a game night. In the long run I have found alot of fun ways to cut back, that I’m sure to continue even when this economy improve.