The Talk

Now that I have this blog going, it's time to post a new item. This is an important step you need to take if the furloughs really happen and I am pretty certain that they will.You need to gather your family, significant other, girlfriend or whomever you are close to, and have a discussion about a change in finances to make sure they are on the same page. Say something like, "I will be getting furloughed starting in July and it will amount to about 10% of my pay. We will not have as much money to spend as we had before so we need to slow down our spending." Explain that you need to discuss your financial plans for the coming year and think of ways you can reduce. As you work this out with your loved ones, it will make it much easier to adjust to the new pay. That way you can avoid some of the tension that finances cause in a household. You might inadvertently forget to mention the probable 3% raise you should get in July and the 2.75% other raise that coalition MOU members will probably get in January. Of course we are not totally sure about all that, but it's best not to plan for it.

Next time: One of biggest money saving tips for working folks in LA.

Welcome to the Get Your Ten Percent Back Blog!

This blog is intended to help those City of LA employees who are now experiencing a 10% cut in pay due to furloughs. I thought it would be helpful to share ideas about saving money so that we could reduce the impact of the reduction in pay. I am sure that there are lots of ideas out there that will help and, maybe with a little effort, you can get back the whole thing.

To start with, here are seven ideas about getting your 10% back:

1. You probably got a 3% cost of living raise on July 1st, so the cut is not really 10% but in fact only 7%. See, we've already eliminated 30% of the pay cut!
2. You now have an great excuse not to spend money. You can say, "Sorry, I'm now taking furlough days and I can no longer afford it. This gives you the excuse to not spend money on things that you felt obligated to pay for but really didn't want to.
3. Cancel HBO, there's nothing good on anymore anyway. You might have even forgotten that you are paying $15 a month extra for it.
4. Many people pay a gardener to do their yard work and pay a gym to get exercise. Why don't you fire the gardener, mow your own lawn for exercise and cancel the gym membership?
5. Limit yourself to going out to eat no more than once a week.
6. No, this is not the time to buy that new car. There's no telling what the City will do when the deficit doubles in FY 10-11.
7. Because of the way tax rates work, your taxes should go down more than 10% for a 10% cut in pay.

Those are my ideas for the moment. There will be more later and I welcome your ideas as well. Also, feel free to comment on the City's financial picture or even ask questions about the City's financial situation. I would be happy to answer what I can as long as you realize that this blog is in no way official City of LA business.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Larry