Working retail is like being on this huge roller coaster. You get on at first and think, "Life is soooo great…I have a job, the people are nice, the pay is good, etc." You ascend up the track as your hours increase, and you see that nice paycheck at the end of two weeks. Then the holidays/big sales end, and you find yourself shooting down the track as hours decrease and pay diminishes.

The other team members I work with are definitely feeling that strain. We have families to feed and bills to pay, and yet we don't see any hours coming our way. The people who work in the position I used to work in are still getting their 40 hours, while I'm struggling to maintain at least 35 a week. I'm so used to working 40 that the cut in hours is greatly affecting me. My fiance is feeling it too at his other job.

So the idea presented to us was to move in with his mother for three months until we can find an affordable, safe place and save some money. I'm going on maternity leave in a month so most of the moneymaking is going to be done by my fiance. I'm going to be taking care of the baby, finding a job outside of retail, and managing the money that's coming in. The only hesitation I have is that I lived with this family before…and left on completely bad terms. My mother-in-law and I started fighting a lot, and it got very ugly very quickly. It's only for three months tops so I'm not as worried, but I still don't want to be in a situation where I can't fight back if need be…I have to be especially careful because I'll have a baby to think about…and I don't want him taken from me nor do I want to separate the tiny family we have.