THE THING THAT STARTED IT ALL is my desire (not a strong enough word) to be free from Fortune 500 Corporate Amerika; my longing to not be a slave to it.  WHY?  Because I resent the amount of loyalty demanded/expected/required while absolutely none is given in return.  I am so dependent on Fortune500 CorpAmerika that I am basically a slave to it.  My entire livelihood is tied to it, so much so that if it were to cast me out (if I were to lose my job), I would be devastated.  It would cripple me and the ability of my family to survive.    

So many of us are living in fear of losing our job, especially in the current economic environment and companies know that.  Moral is in the toilet, and people feel (rightly so) that they have no voice and no choice.  The talkers and pretenders are the ones rewarded.  I don’t like the feeling that a coworker I have a good rapport with is suddenly someone I should distance myself from because someone has taken a disliking to that person.  I won’t do it, but there is that constant nagging it the back of your mind that you may get pushed under the bus with them.

WHAT HAPPENS IF you lose your job?  Do your circumstances dictate that you must find one immediately?  What happens if you can’t, how do you survive?  What are the things that you absolutely cannot survive without?  Without food you and your family will starve, so what are some options there?  What about shelter, will you be able to retain your current shelter?  You have to have shelter not only to protect you from the elements, but to protect and store your belongings.  You have to have clothing and the ability to bathe if you are to have any hope of finding new employment.  If you have kids, they need to be clean and have clean clothes for school or CPS will take them.  And so on, and so forth.  Before any of that happens you need to take some measures to mitigate those risks.  Your rent or mortgage is one thing in which there is most likely no flexibility or wiggle room.  You pay what you pay with no negotiation possible.  Food on the other hand, while still one of the two main necessities, has some cost flexibility.  In addition to buying cheaper food and perhaps eating less (in a worst case scenario), you could grow some of your own food.  Growing just 10% of my family’s food would free up $75 each month.  Thing is, the garden has to be growing before the financial disaster strikes.  So that is one of the first steps I am undertaking.  This is not going to be a blog about me complaining.  It is going to be a record of the steps I take to take back my liberty.