Any other families planning for a furlough?

[tikilyn]

It's funny how much this response made that answer make sense. I was sitting here trying to figure out how they have uncontrollable overtime... it sounded like some strange term for just over scheduling people and not taking responsibility.
So losing AUO would mean that he would have to stay to process all this crap, but then wouldn't get paid past his limit for the day - so pay would stop at 8 or 10 or however many hours even if he was there 12?

Yes and no... He would only be working 8 hours of straight pay. If something happens at the last minute he would have to pass on his work to the next shift, they in turn will have to pull agents off the line to finish his job and so on. See it's a domino effect. He works in the field for 8hrs and the he processes his stuff the last two AUO hours while the next shift is already out in the field.

And a little good news I hope!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/04/house-republicans-unveil-government-funding-measure/

 

[afnaechiquita]

Yes and no... He would only be working 8 hours of straight pay. If something happens at the last minute he would have to pass on his work to the next shift, they in turn will have to pull agents off the line to finish his job and so on. See it's a domino effect. He works in the field for 8hrs and the he processes his stuff the last two AUO hours while the next shift is already out in the field.

And a little good news I hope!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/04/house-republicans-unveil-government-funding-measure/

It's my understanding that furlough days would be auo/avp excusable days, thus as long as there's at least 2 hrs the remaining scheduled days they won't lose it.

 

[tikilyn]

It's my understanding that furlough days would be auo/avp excusable days, thus as long as there's at least 2 hrs the remaining scheduled days they won't lose it.

Not for the Border Patrol. We will lose it permanently.

 

[Glenn]

Talked to relatives out west & they havent heard much. They started major cutbacks at home at the 1st of the yr to build up reserves. Most dining out is gone except for pizza & Chinese.Date nights are 1x a month with no deserts. Lots of other little things as well. The waitress where they ate last has said shes already seen fewer people and/or cheaper meals, no coffee etc. So her income is way down. Hopefully this wont go for more than a month or 2. The really sickening thing is that today the stock market hit an all time high. This economy is totally upside down.

 

[Jasonkat]

I work for the government. My wife works for the government. I will have no furloughs this year as my department is 100% funded and was exempt from the sequester. My wife is an IRS agent and the word on the street there is one furlough day every two weeks starting in June or July.

 

[smitch425]

Please refrain from making political posts. They are not allowed here and this thread is about planning for the furloughs. Please let those of us seeking support during this time to have our thread remain open so we can deal with this and vent together. Thank you.

 

[Jasonkat]

What is the definition of "political"?

I deleted the second half of my post but I stand by the fact it wasn't political.

And, frankly, this entire thread is political. After all it's about a political topic.

 

[punkin]

People around here are very nervous. Thus weekend DH was working on the yard (and so were some neighbors) and the talk was exclusively about the furlough. I have two families across the street who will be affected. One guy is just happy it's this year and not last since his youngest just graduated from college. What he was planning to put into retirement (he's no spring chicken) is now going to go to living expenses. It is just so sad.

 

[psimon]

The notification was in our EMail this morning, with the official letter coning by Post Office no later than Friday.

DoT will have 8-11 days furlough between beginning of April through September..... after the union finalizes their negotiations with management as to how they will be applied.

---Paul

 

[dominiondad]

Wife and I are both Feds (DoD & law enforcement). I received my letter last week, she hasn't received one yet but we suspect it's coming.
Fortunately we are going to be ok, but it has taken a hit on our July WDW trip. We saved for three years and were planning on a few extras that we've now set aside. Park hoppers, a trip to the spa, and dialed back in a few other areas.
We stopped eating out about three weeks ago, although that was only a once-a-week thing. We've also made a few other adjustments such as using side roads for the commute to avoid tolls, smarter grocery shopping, and eliminating gifts between us for birthdays/valentines day, etc...

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

DH hasn't been told officially yet, although it looks like he will be losing one day a week from April through Sept. I have to admit I am very nervous, our savings are not where they should be for this because we just bought a house about a year ago. If need be we will suspend our Dish (can't cancel because of a contract) and we can cancel cell phones. I can cook from scratch more to lower our grocery bill some. We were talking about a Disney trip this summer because we have a free week at Wyndham, we're still thinking of going, but just to get away, no amusement parks while we're there, but we might have to even cut that.

I'm a SAHM and I've been looking for work for two years straight and haven't even gotten a phone call and we're talking retail, fast food, everything. My area was hit hard by the recession and I'm rural so that doesn't help either. It's very frustrating with this coming on top of it. My teens haven't been able to find jobs either.

 

[psimon]

My 24 year old DD graduated college December 2011 and STILL doesn't have a job!

Vicious cycle..... less employed, less having a salary, less paying taxes, gov't has less money has to cut back more, still less employed... and so on and so on!

Not encouraging!

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[robsmom]

During the economic crisis of 2008-2009 my company had a voluntary time off with pay. Well technically it was voluntary but almost everyone participated. What I liked about the approach was that we had 10 days that we had to take over the course of the year. We could do it as 1 day a month to minimize impact in any one pay or you could take it all at one time. This worked well for people because we could schedule vacations, etc. When we were on time off without pay we could not be contacted, be on phone calls, do email etc. I know that it hurt for some people, but the flexibility took away some of the sting. It worked well for the business also because the time off was spread out and not all at once. I read this week about a federal dept that was giving 1/2 people friday and 1/2 people monday but not everyone would have a choose. they needed 50% coverage. I think that our approach was better for the business and for individuals. Would love to see some departments try to be more flexible with this.

 

[dominiondad]

During the economic crisis of 2008-2009 my company had a voluntary time off with pay. Well technically it was voluntary but almost everyone participated. What I liked about the approach was that we had 10 days that we had to take over the course of the year. We could do it as 1 day a month to minimize impact in any one pay or you could take it all at one time. This worked well for people because we could schedule vacations, etc. When we were on time off without pay we could not be contacted, be on phone calls, do email etc. I know that it hurt for some people, but the flexibility took away some of the sting. It worked well for the business also because the time off was spread out and not all at once. I read this week about a federal dept that was giving 1/2 people friday and 1/2 people monday but not everyone would have a choose. they needed 50% coverage. I think that our approach was better for the business and for individuals. Would love to see some departments try to be more flexible with this.

Voluntary time off with pay? Is that a typo?

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I just wanted to say again that you are all in my prayers. I know that won't buy you a pound of beans, but I am sure you are all the prayers of many people, and wanted you all to know that many, many people are thinking about all the folks whose paychecks are cut right now. Hopefully something will happen and this sequester will end.

 

[worm761]

I just wanted to say again that you are all in my prayers. I know that won't buy you a pound of beans, but I am sure you are all the prayers of many people, and wanted you all to know that many, many people are thinking about all the folks whose paychecks are cut right now. Hopefully something will happen and this sequester will end.

Thank you for this.

Personally, we will be fine this year. We have the fund set aside that we are pretty sure we will be losing. So if we can't live withing the new paycheck, it is there to use. I have started to put aside money for next year already. I am just assuming that it will happen again.

The ones I worry about are our local small businesses. We were planning a pig roast this summer but a $300 pig won't be in the budget or all the other stuff needed to host it. So that is a sale my butcher lost. The butcher is a small, local, family owned and operated business. This will hurt him. I tell everyone I can in town about him since I fear him going out of business.

 

[Deb & Bill]

How about reducing what you are putting into Thrift Fund? That moves money from retirement and it becomes taxed current income. But it might give you the extra money you need to get by.

I just retired the end of January. I got my first pension check on Mar 1 (it was 80% of what I should get) and I get my first (hopefully) Social Security check in the middle of the month. Together they will be about 3/4s of my former take home pay. I do have a bunch in Thrift Fund if we need it, but we should be okay. But I made the decision to retire.

Plus we are VA, so neither one of us are affected by the sequester.

 

[psimon]

Reducing TSP contributions is a good way to temporarily up the take-home cash. If things get desperate, you can even borrow from the TSP to get by.

I know a few in my office that are doing the TSP reduction to make ends meet.

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[dominiondad]

I just wanted to say again that you are all in my prayers. I know that won't buy you a pound of beans, but I am sure you are all the prayers of many people, and wanted you all to know that many, many people are thinking about all the folks whose paychecks are cut right now. Hopefully something will happen and this sequester will end.

Thank you. Very much.

 

[lucigo]

My husband is looking at 22 furlough days, basically 4 day weeks from the end of April until the end of the year. We just moved from FL to VA in September for this job at our own expense. My job is ending in the next few days. I started homeschooling when we moved here, so I may have to put him back in school and get a more structured job, but the irony is they are cutting special education also, so my son is the real loser here.

The thing is, I feel like once they take that pay away, I really don't think they will ever give it back. I think they will expect him to go back to 5 day work weeks at the lesser pay.

I have young adult children who moved here with us who can't find jobs, because its a military community and everyone is cutting back knowing what is coming.

I have an 18 yo who would like to start college next year...but for what??? What can you even get a degree in anymore that will lead to a job? Its all so bleak and gloomy.