Temp worker brings her own lunch
BROWN-BAGGING IT | 'You just have to cut back'
When Bridgette Powell was laid off from her job as an online admissions adviser for Kaplan University in Chicago, she figured it would take her a few weeks to find a job.
She was wrong. She has been looking for permanent work for more than a year and has had to accept temporary positions. She's working as a design center manager in Chicago, her latest temp job, which took about eight months to land.
(Brian Jackson/Sun-Times)
Happy to be working but well aware that economic conditions remain tough for many, the 39-year-old South Holland resident is focused on cutting costs.
"My hair is short, but when I need a trim, I can't afford a beautician right now, so I'll just go to something like SuperCuts or BoRics," which is cheaper, she said.
She no longer gets manicures and she doesn't shop for clothes. "You just have to cut back," she said. She also started brown-bagging it. "I calculated how much I spent per day for lunch.
"I was spending anywhere from $8 to $10 a day, like $50 bucks a week. I was also buying something in the morning to eat."
Now Powell brings a peanut better and jelly sandwich to work "with a bag of chips, fruit, yogurt and maybe some cookies."
The money she is saving goes into a mutual fund account, she said.
The former car saleswoman uses public transportation to commute and is debating whether to get a car.
"If I get one, it's definitely going to be a small, gas-efficient car," she said. "It does not have to have all the bells and whistles, but it does have to have a CD player."
What are you doing to make ends meet? Write to psmith@suntimes.com.