primitive has embarrassing question

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=362x947

Oh my.

This, from the cobweb-congested "jobs" forum on Skins's island:

Pool Hall Ace  (1000+ posts)      Tue Oct-12-10 11:42 AM
Original message
 
Embarrassing question, but I have to ask it.

A little background: Six years ago, I got married and relocated. My husband told me I never had to work again, as he was getting ready to retire. He was flush with cash at the time, and I believed him.

I found out that his entire story is a lie, and that he has pissed away any money he has ever had. I cashed out the equity in my life insurance policy and opened my own bank account. I need to go back to work -- in fact, I want very much to go back to work. I already have a part-time job, and my goal is to be so busy working that I don't have to spend any time with my husband.

So here is my question: many job applications ask for starting and ending salaries. While I could give a ballpark figure, I don't remember exactly what I made at my last job. How accurate do these figures have to be?

Yes, I realize I have been stupid, so please, no lectures.

DaveJ  (1000+ posts)      Wed Oct-13-10 02:04 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. Can't you call and ask your previous employer?

I presume that's what employers do, call and ask...

Anyway, this is not to lecture, but don't worry about being stupid. I've been through catastrophic life events too, that were a result of trusting people. I've found it necessary to maintain a cautious distrust toward everyone. But I think that distrust is a natural state of mind most people have. Like me, you were probably raised in a good family and therefore assumed everyone else was good. Only to find out that people come from a variety of messed up backgrounds. I was married to my previous wife 6 years before I got out, and then made sure the next girl I met came from a good stable family, and sure enough she's amazing and there is nothing to worry about now.

[Mike220]

This is why I keep at least my first and last pay stubs from a job. And I keep them all for three years before getting rid of all but the first and last. 

[littlelamb]

What a dumbass how can you not know what you made

[Tucker]

What a dumbass how can you not know what you made

She's a DUmbass alright. She was looking for a sugar daddy. Her expected life of leisure was just an attempted scam and she got scammed.

[I_B_Perky]

What a dumbass how can you not know what you made

Exactly! I know what I made from every job I ever had and that is spanning some 35 plus years. I can even remember what I used to charge for cutting grass and shoveling walks when I was a kid.

Then again we are talking about a dummy. My advice to her is to just look up the min wage at the time and put that down because I seriously doubt she ever earned more than min wage.   

[JohnnyReb]

My first hourly job with a big manufacturing company paid me $54.45 after witholding for a 48 hour week. A few months later, after getting on the graveyard shift, I was making almost $100 a week for a 64 hour week.....and I was taking a full load at college at the same time.

Hey, when you're young you feel like Superman.

[miskie]

This is why I keep at least my first and last pay stubs from a job. And I keep them all for three years before getting rid of all but the first and last. 

I don't even do that - I just keep my taxes and use that as a baseline reference. But then again, Its been a long time since I have been unemployed for more than a few weeks. Actually, now that I think about it, I need to go back to circa 1991 to locate a jobless period.

[JohnnyReb]

I don't even do that - I just keep my taxes and use that as a baseline reference. But then again, Its been a long time since I have been unemployed for more than a few weeks. Actually, now that I think about it, I need to go back to circa 1991 to locate a jobless period.

I guess I've been lucky. I have never drawn an unemployment check because I've never been unemployed. When I was very young and hot headed, I once walked off the job in the middle of the night (3 am) and was employed by 8 am the same morning without having that job waiting for me. I've quit one day and was working somewhere the next doing something.

The one time I was "unemployed" for 8 months, I made more money at odd jobs than if I had been working....and I was building my house at the same time.

Being raised on a farm and being made a jack of all trades, master of none is an advantage.

[miskie]

indeed - for me, that unemployed period was only because I had gotten back from the U.K. after taking some college courses over there. And during that time, my previous employer sold the business.

If I recall, I was working again in a matter of weeks.

[true_blood]

That sounds like a marriage made in heaven, huh?!? Been married for 6 years and he pulls the wool over your eyes and now, you had to open your own bank account and want to work all the time so you don't spend any time with your husband. Doesn't sound like this ends well.

[Vagabond]

What she really means is that she thought he was rich, not just comfortable.  So, she decided to marry him and enjoy life in the lap of luxury.  If they properly managed their resources, they probably could have managed to not need to work but, she being a DUmmie was probably hitting the principal.  Now, he has her off the bank accounts and told her that she can only spend money if she makes it.

It wasn't a marriage in hre eyes, it was a wealth redistribution scheme.

[diesel driver]

I guess I've been lucky. I have never drawn an unemployment check because I've never been unemployed. When I was very young and hot headed, I once walked off the job in the middle of the night (3 am) and was employed by 8 am the same morning without having that job waiting for me. I've quit one day and was working somewhere the next doing something.

The one time I was "unemployed" for 8 months, I made more money at odd jobs than if I had been working....and I was building my house at the same time.

Being raised on a farm and being made a jack of all trades, master of none is an advantage.

Same here. 

Built the addition to my house myself, including wiring, plumbing, and telling the county building inspector he was full of shit when he wouldn't pass my foundation because I hadn't poured 16 inch thick footers.  I couldn't, because the footers were on bedrock! 

I've always worked at least 2 jobs, sometimes 3, including doing the occasional odd jobs that don't pay money (such as cleaning up brush piles for a construction company for the firewood).

Jobs are out there, you just have to want to work.