Hunker Down

 I haven’t posted on this financial blog in several weeks, because I didn’t have a grasp on market direction and was challenging certain personal career decisions, but I have a hold on my thoughts of both, now.

First... we need to hunker down, because it’s gonna take a while for the economy to bounce back.  That’s not to say there won’t be a market rise or fall and so on.  The market has been and will continue to be emotionally driven against facts for a while.  However, there are certain realities that cannot be ignored.

1.  The housing eviction and foreclosure ban is good for tenants, but those bills are not going away.  Unless people start working to pay them, it’s like run away credit card debt and will become insurmountable.  

2.  Businesses are laying off workers and closing buildings and preparing for a long delay in opening.  

3.  Individual savings is depleting so that even those who were good are now struggling,

4.  Now, Biden is saying it will be Christmas before things are back to normal.

So.. what do we do if people are not working and bills rise?  Add more national debt... right?  Except, the more we do that each year, our national Interest on that debt takes up more and more of the annual tax dollars leaving less for social, society, and incentive programs.  Less of those, and the ability of the government TO help people goes away.

Now.. Biden has signaled he will open schools and businesses within months despite record virus numbers, even though the vaccines don’t stop virus transmission, so there will be some businesses, but we are coming off a YEAR of shutdown.  A partial opening is not going to help the country’s families at this time, and if government doesn’t understand that they don’t understand how to fix it.

On a personal level, I am moving back towards individual self employment options like before, again.  The reality is that I just cannot handle to emotional and caseload stress of this job with my physical and blood pressure limitations.  However, I am determined to try to stay near or exceed my current income with self employment, and I think within a few months that is a reality.  

Right now, I make about 140 a day, before taxes.  Once you take into consideration taxes, deductions, fuel to drive to and from work, increased costs of eating out for breakfast and lunch, coffee pods at work, business attire, etc.. it’s more like 100 or 105 that I actually net.  100 for 8 hours is 12.5.  When I drive Uber, I make like 13-15 per hour, Appen was 9, Ubereats is 10, and mturk is less.  However, you ALSO have to consider 2 hours of my day currently lost in getting ready for work and traffic jams and 45 minutes fighting my way home.  That’s 9 more hours that could be spent working on my own.

Then, there’s the other non monetary benefits I have mentioned, prior.  I can listen to music as I do it, can take a break whenever I want or even take days off, and so on.  So, I can manage my work TO my health, which is not something my current work can do.

The change back to this style will take place sometime over the next 4-6 weeks, though I am prepared to begin it at any time, if that happens.