{"id":2138,"date":"2020-05-04T23:37:16","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T06:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shescribe.com\/?p=2138"},"modified":"2020-05-04T23:56:01","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T06:56:01","slug":"what-its-like-getting-my-first-unemployment-check-uh-debit-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shirscribe.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/04\/what-its-like-getting-my-first-unemployment-check-uh-debit-card\/","title":{"rendered":"What It’s Like Getting My First Unemployment Check, Uh, Debit Card"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I got my unemployment debit card today.  I was reluctant to apply for unemployment benefits because I never wanted to be one of those people who was dependent on the government for support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t my first time being unemployed. In the last five years, I\u2019ve been unemployed three times: the first time for seven months, the second for a little over a year, and the last time for five months. I never applied for unemployment during those times. The first time I quit, so I don\u2019t think it was even an option, though I wouldn\u2019t have taken it if it was. The second time I was let go and did have the option, but I had too much pride. The last time I was also let go, and I didn\u2019t think I was at the job long enough to have the option, and again, I wouldn\u2019t have wanted to anyway.  Since I live with my mom, I was able to get by on savings, emptying my pension, my last checks, a miracle check that came at random and just knowing how to make a dollar out of 15 cents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I must admit, those were trying times \u2013 stress and anxiety inducing times. Believe me when I say these creditors don\u2019t give a fuck. You\u2019ve been a customer for years, paying on time, never missing a payment \u2013 so fucking what. They want they money. And when you desperate and broke those customer service representatives be gettin\u2019 bold as fuck too. You be like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Me: Hi there, I\u2019ve been with you guys for over 10 years, and uh, recently I lost my job and I\u2019m having a hard time paying. Is there anything you can do for me?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Customer Service Rep: Bitch that ain\u2019t my fault. Nobody told yo broke ass to go charging everything. We want our money.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Me: No, you\u2019re right and I\u2019m sorry. I completely understand. And I want to pay you, it\u2019s just, I don\u2019t have any income right now. Would it be possible to maybe lower my interest rate?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Customer Service Rep: The rates ARE what they ARE.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Me: Surely there must be something you can do. Please I beg of you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Customer Service Rep: ( Huge annoyed sigh)  I guess I can try to see if there\u2019s something we can do. Hold on. (Rep goes away forever and then comes back) Okay look, I\u2019ma ask you a series of questions about your situation, then based on the answers you give, I\u2019ll let you know if we have any programs that can help you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Me: Okay, that sounds great!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                (from there the rep asks the questions and I go on and give my sob story in greater detail, playing up have much money I don\u2019t have and how much I need the help.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Customer Service Rep: (after a few moments) Yep, just as I thought, we don\u2019t have anything.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was one more helpful credit card company out of the four I had to contact. They reduced my interest rate to 9.99 percent from like 27 percent, but only for six months. That lowered my payments from around $130 to $100: nice, but still a lot of money when you ain\u2019t getting paid. Somehow I managed to come out of all that without any late payments…okay just one late payment and that took my credit score down 80 points. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The student loan companies were much better, they reduced my payments to zero, except for the one private loan I have which made me pay $100 for a three month forbearance during which time I was still accruing interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Couple all that with the fact that it\u2019s hard as hell landing a job when you are out of a job \u2013 especially when you are out of a job coming from a low-paying unskilled worker job trying to vie for a professional position. Not only do a lot of professional jobs not want you because they think you\u2019re underqualified,  a lot of the unskilled worker jobs don\u2019t want you either because they think you\u2019re overqualified.  Ultimately, the low-paying jobs always came through the quickest, because with their less than ideal working environments and low-pay, their turnover is so high they can\u2019t afford to be too picky. If you can count, read, write and pass a drug test, you\u2019re hired. Not only are you hired you can start right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However this time around those low-paying jobs that I could always count on were the main places shutting down and laying off workers.  I was just furloughed from one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I could do something like work at a grocery store, I live with my mom who\u2019s 63, and I\u2019m not trying to compromise her health for minimum-wage or something close to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got my last check from work on March 25. And then I got my tax refund. I was trying to hold out and not apply for unemployment, like maybe somebody will read my blog, fall in love with it and hire me to write something, but nothing doing. Then I started hearing about all the trouble people were having applying for unemployment so I thought I better do it before it was too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I applied online and it said it would take ten days for a response. I was hoping I would get a writing job sometime between then and those ten days.  Then I got my stimulus check, and I held out for a couple more days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, I got real with myself. I wasn\u2019t getting a $100,000 writing gig the next day. I needed to certify for my benefits. So on April 17, that\u2019s exactly what I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I guess the force was with me, because on May the 4th<\/sup> I finally got my debit card. And do you know the first thing I bought? A $50 burnt almond torte cake<\/a>. I been wanting to try this cake for almost two years now, but will such a hefty price tag, I shied away from the purchase. It\u2019s not like I haven\u2019t wasted more money than that on food, but I usually do it piecemeal: $10 here, $2, $3, $5 there, but that lump sum is harder to part with. However, this time, since I already had several weeks of benefit checks loaded on my card, it made it easier. That and that extra $600 a month I\u2019m getting which means I make more now than I did when I was working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not to worry, I\u2019m keeping splurges like that to a minimum if any more at all. The fact that everything is shutdown makes it easier. I mean where is there to go? What is there to buy?  I was watching a video on YouTube featuring Suzy Orman, and she was saying that the best thing to do is build up your eight-month emergency fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m an avid Suzy Orman follower, but this time I\u2019m going my own way. I can pretty much live off of half of my monthly benefits, and I\u2019m going to use the other half to pay off my credit card debt.  That\u2019s what gave me the most anxiety the last time, so that\u2019s the first thing I\u2019m getting rid of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So take that credit card companies. You\u2019ve gotten enough out of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while I\u2019m taking it to the credit card companies, I might as well take it to myself as well. It\u2019s okay to get unemployment benefits. You need it. You\u2019ve worked hard for it. It\u2019s okay to accept help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I got my unemployment debit card today.  I was reluctant to apply for unemployment benefits because I never wanted to be one of those people who was dependent on the government for support. This isn\u2019t my first time being unemployed….<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[38,39,40,36,41,35,37],"class_list":{"0":"post-2138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-on-my-mind","7":"tag-cake","8":"tag-credit-cards","9":"tag-debt","10":"tag-jobs","11":"tag-spending-money","12":"tag-unemployment","13":"tag-working","14":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nWhat It's Like Getting My First Unemployment Check, Uh, Debit Card - Shirscribe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How a writer came to terms with needing umemployment benefits, how she plans on spending the money, and what she's bought so far.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/shirscribe.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/04\/what-its-like-getting-my-first-unemployment-check-uh-debit-card\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What It's Like Getting My First Unemployment Check, Uh, Debit Card - 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