Single person and bills
Posted By: broke and broker on 2008-11-15
In Reply to:
 How does any single preson today make ends meet as an MT? I work a 2nd job and still way behind in bills. Job-hunting for a full time position other than MT is fruitless, as employers take on look at all of your years in transcription and ask you how you think can do anything else. It seems like a curse. The dreaded "transcription" word is getting me nowhere fast when it comes to breaking in to other clerical work. Had I know this would be the case, I would have left the MT field years ago. I can do SO much more than transcription if given the chance. Maybe I should lie on my resume and not mention all the years of transcription.
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Yes, I'm a single person - sm
Two people could not fit in this cottage it is so small. The $1,100 mortgage alone I could not do without working for 2-3 companies consistently. And pay a car payment or take a trip on top of that? Or pay for medical insurance? Forget it, it's not in the budget. If I have a slow week my finances are in ruin. 
Thank you everyone for your replies!
1,000 as a single person with no exemptions
(I'm assuming only, since DP is a renter.)
If she brings home 1,000 a week say, her FEDERAL taxes she needs to set aside weekly are:
$174.90 Tax
$62.00 FICA
$14.50 M-care
-----------------
$251-PER WEEK for Fed Taxes
***THEN THERE ARE STATE TAXES.***
When you take state taxes into account, of course it varies from state to state,...
but they're usually worse than federal. What is she really KEEPING/bringing home?
Let's just hope DP doesn't live in California or similar states.
What would a single person health insurance be
s
You said, "A single mom to me means nothing more than 1 person working"...cont'd
"If they need to make more money to live, maybe they should get another job as I did years ago when I was a divorced mother."
How can you say, "a single mom to me means nothing more than 1 person working." Have you totally overlooked the fact that God knows how many children are involved???
A full-time college student who commutes between work and school is 1 person working.
You make it sound like there is nothing significant about a single mother who is never home and has children that are left unattended to fend for themselves. Do you not realize that this setting is not a healthy environment for a child or the mother??
No offense to the single moms out there working their tails off to raise their children without the help of the father. I don't believe any mother who is worthy of being called mother, would choose to put herself and children in this situation. Unfortunately, there are times when it just cannot be avoided.
To the poster, I don't even know what to say. How you could say such things in such a matter-of-fact tone,actually proves my point without me having to say another word.
Agree! Hard to make it as single person, let alone a family. nm
X
I work for the person. I know. Very excellent person, personally and business-sense.
It is an INSULT to have QA hovering over seasoned MTs who know what they are doing. She trusts her MTs and again if there are questions there is one person, a trainer, who can answer them via phone, e-mail or instant message or you can send the whole report to them if you choose.
Point was is the person willing to make up for the slack of the person who types 1 job when there is
if that is all they WANT to type. Is the person who wants to be a supervisor willing to make up for those people?
You have crap supervisors, editors and mts in the business like you have good ones. Sadly, the really good ones of all of them are few and far between.
I pay all of our bills but I never would
He makes money and I make money and we should each be able to spend some of that on ourselves if we desire. The only time we really consult the other on any purchase is if that purchase is over a certain amount. I do not ASK him if I can buy anything for my business. If I need it and we can afford it, I buy it. If it is a major purchase that might involve a credit line, I would definitely discuss it with him but not ask his permission. It should be shared. When you get married, you are sharing, not one person owns you/controls you or vice versa. I would be willing to bet that at some point during his little outings, he has chipped in for beer. I doubt one person would be willing to supply all the beer for all the guys every single get-together. My DH used to play softball and there were lots of times they'd hang out and have a few beers after and all the guys chipped in for their share of the beer. If he's telling you the beer is always provided for free, I would have a real hard time buying that. Sounds like you are an understanding wife and you deserve time out to go to lunch or do whatever (and some of that time should be without your kids to give you some alone time, too). If he can't see that, he needs a reality check! Leave him at home with the kids for a weekend and see how fast he wants to run out that door once you get home! lol
Can you really pay your bills with only 29K though???
nm
If you have bills to pay you take whatever
you can get. You can refuse a job, but the work will just go to India or some other country and the company can get rid of all but a few MTs who will edit the work.
I have been in this business at least 20 years. I make better than most people these days, but I have not had a raise in 5 years. I have been offered at least 8 positions the past 6 months and not one of them offers what I make now. I test very well, usually getting at least 98 on the highest level of testing, I can do any ESL given to me, I do all Op notes, so I would be an asset to any company, but none will offer me what I am making now, much less offer me more.
Pay bills or make a
list of things I need or want.
Do you have bills that NEED to be paid?
If there is no other job but those with companies that send work offshore, are you going to refuse to work for them? How do you feel about stores that sell merchandise that was once manufactured in US and now outsourced to another country? How about the very merchandise itself. Do you check to see if Liz Claiborne or Nike or other favorite brands are outsourced and decide against buying them, hoping that somehow you are going to force these goods to be manufactured in US and are you willing to pay higher prices to justify American workers wages?
What bills could we possibly have?
That was exactly what one doctor said to me when he called wanting my services and I told him what my charge was. He was in a town 15-20 minutes away and since tapes were the "in" thing", I charged for picking up and delivery, minimal charge.
Well, he thought that was ridiculous and told me I didn't have any "expenses" associated with this job, so what was I charging him for other than doing the reports. BTW, he got my name and number from his partner in the office who thought my charges were more than reasonable and willing to pay for it to get what he called "great" service.
Of course, we have no expenses, we live free, not having to eat, buy gas, pay all the same bills they do. You know, the necessities of life!!!!!!
Go figure!!!
we did just the opposite, but now bills alone about 2,500.....
We had a place similar to yours on a slough with lots of wildlife...loved the wildlife. Used to sit out on the deck and watch the great blue heron, raccoons, muskrats, ducks, etc. But never got it paid off as we kept building on as kids came along (3). We were there 30 years and finally sold to move out of the flood zone and into a new, easy-maintainance one story with smaller yard up near the hospital. The other place was so hard to paint and maintain that I knew we had to move before we couldn't take care of it anymore. Problem is our mortgage alone is 900$ month! Not as steep as others on this posting, but lots for us as the MT thing is not bringing in the money I expected! The house is worth lots more than we paid for it, and I keep saying we should sell it and rent until the big housing "adjustment" that I keep predicting, but family won't budge!
Keep the bills out of sight--sm
For me they are the biggest distraction. I can ignore the phone, tune out the noise but those stinking bills in my line of sight are the worst. I either have to go online and pay them or call so and so and tell them why I am late. I don't pull them out until after I am done or before I start. Otherwise, they stay in the drawer. Now, I keep the paid receipts on top of the desk to remind me why I work like a mule!
High bills
In Georgia, it's not unheard of for the power bill to exceed $300 during summer. In fact, it's expected. I can't believe the posters with two-digit bills. My water bill is $65! Everything around here has gone up in the last year. My doing MT was supposed to be for extras and fun money, but it's not turning out to be so.
I have plenty of bills to pay...
Hubby had open heart surgery and was off work during the busiest season last year. I now handle ALL the bills except his truck insurance and truck payment to the tune of at least $5000 a month and that doesn't include the $75,000 hospital bill that the insurance doesn't pay. I couldn't do that if I didn't stick to my guns. Sure, we're not in the best of shape right now, but we are scraping by with a little ingenuity and things will get better for us...but I surely will not work for peanuts,never have, and never will...and neither should you.
You have to prove you're worth it that extra $.01 or so,(ahem), but in reality, we really need to stick together. Fighting amongst ourselves doesn't solve the problem.
that's determined by your bills!!...
There is an easier calculation but I think most companies require 1200 lines a day nowadays. Some 800 to maintain fulltime. One way to figure it is that you take the amount of lines x cpl and divide by 8. If you typed your other stuff in word, check the line count to see what you have done on a good day when paid by the hour. Hopefully you are getting paid characters and spaces as opposed to just characters.
If you figure you can put out only 800, which is still a good bit, 800 x 0.08 cpl divided by 8 would be $8/hour. 1200 lines would be 12 an hour. So, if you are currently making 10 an hour, you would have to put out 1000 lines a day for $10 an hour.
It can be done.
What? Not only easy, but I did it Still pay bills.
But I do make what I need to pay my bills
so I am satisfied and like I said, just work part time, not full, work the time I want.
for tracking congressional bills
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Kansas utility bills
Hi, I live on the Kansas/Oklahoma border have a 3000 sq ft home (2 levels) and 2 boys who don't know how to close doors. Anyway, our last electric bill was $260.00. This was keeping thermostat at 80 upstairs with ceiling fans going in every room. If it gets too warm, you just go downstairs where you have to wrap up in a blanket as there is a good 10 degrees difference in temp. I have to admit, I thought mine was high but am now thinking we don't have it too bad. Good luck to all and hopefully, we will still be able to pay these next year at this time and the rates won't have put us all in the poor house.
arkansas utility bills
Wow. I live in a 6 room house and my last bill was 328.00. We have very high rates here.
Used to, but compared electric bills
I used to never turn my computer off. Then my grandchildren visited me for 3 wks. Because I did not want them playing on my computer (they had their own laptop), I kept mine off when I was not working. When the electric bill came it, it was almost $60 less, so from that point on, I began turning it off between the hours of 5 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. plus my days off (and I get more done around the house as well) -- continued with the same savings. Figured I can buy a new tower for $720 a year in savings.
I keep the unpaid bills on my desk
and put the college tuition bill right on top. Money motivates.
Nice doesn't pay the bills. They still only pay .06 line.
You need to be a speed demon to make any money there and top pay is still only .08 per line at 225 lines per hour. No thanks. I prefer to work a 40 hour work week, not an 80 hour work week.
Curious, how much of household bills is BF carrying?
is withdrawn?
If you are carrying the lion's share of the bills, then you surely will be better off when you have cut the ties and are in your own place.
If he is carrying a good bit of the bills, and you are then responsible for them when he moves - whoa - think about this. Will any childsupport you manage to get suffice for what you are taking on that he is paying now?
I worked as one, too. It paid my bills. Barely.
I hated that job because I could so totally empathize with the people I was collecting from. Plus, we had to be real hardnoses. The thing is that our "numbers" were tied to our bonuses. The more you collected, the more money you made. I lasted 9 months and received two raises and promotions to keep me there before finally finding another job. By that time, I had developed sleeping problems and an ulcer and started smoking again.
There were a few bills that Arnold would not sign - not passed
x
Oh dear, maybe you could pay some bills or surf the net while she's impressing herself
Insurance companies already know. Doctor bills them you know.
I'm not running for political office. Who would be interested in my medical records and what could they do with them if they did have them?
Not everyone bills based ona 65-character line
An MT billing gross lines would stand to lose a great deal with a smaller font.
See, not so confusing.
DH pays the big bills and know he won't have more taken out on him, we don't share checking ac
I have mine and he has his but like I said before, he pays for my car, his and the house note. Just moved here in 2004 and not planning a move, ever hopefully! But, as in my previous post, I have as regular employee been told to take off everything that pertains to my working at home (before becoming IC), room, DSL line, phone (have to have to use the DSL), computer, printing materials, all so I keep all receipts in all years plus we have 3 tax bills for 3 different properties for this past year (just sold a home where I used to live) but all that is kept. What I am saying is I have been told for years as an employee working from my home ok to exempt these. I do not like TAX TIME!!
Sounds great. You gonna pay the bills for
nm
A husband to take care of the bills and the health
nm
You need to talk to the people who pay the bills where you work. nm
x
When you have a QA person that is picky and another QA person that is very lenient where does that
leave the MTs because some are getting a lenient reviewer and others are getting one that picks at everything. How do you reconcile that issue with the difference in QA mentality. Some people make out well and the other people could be just as good but dont. I wonder about that.
The person MTSO pays is the person who
dsf
But if that account is paying your bills, you must negotiate and be flexible. IMO
I know you can only lower a little bit, but to let them know that you are flexible and care about keeping their account may just encourage them to stay with you. I can't afford to let an account go without just a little negotiation.
Does paying your bills rely on offshore? No. Easy
asdf
Yep if I needed a job, beats not eating/paying bills - nm
xx
Correction note to husband. Meant BILLS NOT AUCTIONS LOL
Freudian slip. Have to read whole post to get joke. LOL.
How are you planning to deal with the oncoming high winter heating bills?
I'll be bumping the thermostat back another degree or 2, down to whatever leveI I can not be cold at. Otherwise there will be less "fun" money spent if it has to go to the oil companies!
One person's "custom" is another person's
"house arrest". I'd never go to the Middle East because of how they treat women. I don't agree with their laws or "justice" system. For example, the woman who was gang raped as punishment for the actions of her 12-year-old brother, a boy who wasn't even an adult. How's that for a "custom"? Let's not forget bride burning. Burqas.
Besides, foreigners don't follow our "customs" when they come to this country. Half of them don't even bother learning English. Instead, we're expected to pay for healthcare and foodstamps for illegals and print everything in Spanish.
I won't be oppressed or treated as a second class citizen, and I wouldn't treat others like that either. A "custom" is more like putting up a Christmas tree, not being abused based on your gender.
i'm sure it will vary from person to person.
I recently did the same thing and am loving it! The freedom from time clocks, the better company, make losing the benefits well worth it to me. You need to set up a plan to have $ set aside for taxes though. I should have done this years ago!
Wrong person. I'm not the person you were
any money. You have a sucky attitude, a "poor me" attitude. Get off your lazy whiny a$$ and work instead of complaining and you will make money. I have one account at 10.5 cpl, two at 14 cpl and one at 15 cpl. I make a lot of money, even on the 10.5 cpl. But I'm not sitting around whining either. And I didn't whine when I made $6 an hour.
I am a single mom
of 2 beautiful girls, 10 and 8. I support myself. I do not make my ex pay child support and he sees his children whenever he wants. It is possible to be a single mother in this world and not be bitter and angry. I have it better than most divorced single parents, but I have worked hard to get it this way. I guess my point is that whatever the situation, it can be changed to achieve the desired outcome. Everything takes time, love, and a lot of hard work, and being 30 years old and having gotten where I am today, I am quite proud to be a single mom.
Just a PS - and I'm single
no kids, never married. You all should start with the AAMT, which from what I can see, is nothing but a huge joke.
single mom
I raised 2 kids, boy and girl on my own. Something you might want to think about is sharing babysitting services. If you only type in the evening, possibly you would keep someones children during the day (save them money) and then they could keep your children in the evenings so you could work (or vice versa). There are ways around the childcare issue. You just have to use your imagination. If you are part of a church and your church has a church bulletin board, advertise through your church for "adoptive grandparents", an older woman or couple that need the interaction and would be willing to help you out and in turn you could possible cook dinner them them during the week or even clean their house, etc. The barter system is a great tool that people forget about.
Not OP, but every single job I have had
I needed to be trained for multiple reasons. Are you an MT? I doubt it because all MTs know you need training for the company's software, acct specs, how they do things in general. It does not matter how much exp a person has, you will always need to be trained on a new job regardless.
35F/single/1 13 yo son
nm
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