Stuff I Learned...

...from having a full-time job and then having it turn into only working 16 hours a week

1.  It is always a good idea to try to make yourself as irreplacable as possible by appearing eager and positive about everything you do at work even if you hate it.  (I only hated a few tasks at work, mainly scrubbing the finishes off of coins to put other finishes on them.)

2.  No matter how valuable you are to the team at work, if the boss can't afford to pay you, you'll probably get laid off.

3.  Know what you're good at and be sure to do those things when you've finished your assigned tasks.  Make your boss like you by not constantly bugging her (or him).  This is what made my boss decide to keep me on, even though it's just a tiny bit, rather than some of the other employees who have been working there for five years.

4.  Sometimes you have to spend money on things and sometimes you can still wear your old socks that all have holes in them and jeans that don't fit well at all.  You shouldn't feel bad about buying stuff that you didn't absolutely need, especially when you get the best deal possible. (although I have definitely been wishing I didn't buy that stuff but it's not like I could know this would happen, or that I'd have a crazy hospital bill for that matter)

5.  There's pretty much always more stuff you can sell (or try to sell because I tried to sell some of my clothes yesterday and they only bought one item).  I also plan to sell my netbook and books.

6.  Connections are super important.  Always be friendly to people who work at places where you shop because at some point you might be applying for a job there.

That's pretty much it.  I'm going to go try to sell some books now and then update my resume with my most recent information and then go apply for jobs.