It’s not easy to stick to a budget when you have to deal with pay cuts.
- That was the case for the nearly the past two years.
I’m sad to say that it’s still not back to what it was pre-pandemic but, I’m inching closer. When the pandemic hit, I had to leave the zone controlled HVAC of our offices and my wife lost her job outright. Not only did I have to work from home in my own air conditioning but I had to take a pay cut on top of that. We were in pretty dire straits and weren’t so sure that we could keep up the mortgage payment and all the essentials. That first summer was the hottest in our house ever. We live in a region where HVAC cooling is a very big deal. And to save money, we really cranked up the thermostat setting to the mid 80’s during the day. But we achieved our aim and saved hundreds of dollars that first summer. The next spring, I was able to get vaccinated as was my wife. She had found some online work and I was back to full pay but no bonus structure. Things were better indeed but still tight. And right before summer, the HVAC unit went out. I had half a mind to simply call a handyman I know of who will work on HVAC equipment for cheap. But the more I thought about that, the less it seemed like a very good idea. I’m glad too because really, nobody but the HVAC professionals should be working on our heating and cooling equipment.