What Would You Do on Your Furlough Days?

Old Town Alexandria Patch asked readers of its Facebook page what they would do with their unpaid day off if their company or agency begins furloughing employees due to sequestration.

Federal agencies and private contractors are looking at furloughs for employees as they find ways to make cuts ahead of sequestration.

Sequestration—automatic federal spending cuts expected to hit myriad industries from defense to education—could start March 1 if Congress doesn’t come to an agreement to avert the financial crisis.

If you were furloughed from work one day a week, what would you do with that day?

It’s something foremost on the mind of Old Town Alexandria Patch Editor Sharon McLoone, whose husband would be affected by sequestration. He’s suggested using his day off volunteering at the kids’ school or maybe training for a marathon.

Asking for other ideas about what they would do, here’s what Old Town Alexandria Patch Facebook readers had to say:

“Getting a second job to make up for the pay cut! I wish we could just find something fun to do but our family will definitely be hurting if this happens.”

“…I’ll be writing letters and making phone calls to my sorry representatives in Congress to let them know I won’t be voting for them come next election!”

“…Perhaps one ‘extra’ day is worth the ‘loss’ of income?"

“…I would volunteer for a local non-profit to give back to the community.”

“Home projects, reading, connecting with family.”

"Fingers crossed that it doesn't happen but a 20 percent pay cut isn't going to be fun."

“It’s not going to happen.”

"I've survived the dot-com boom, 9-11 economic impacts, and upwards of 30% retroactive paycuts in the past and will just react as needed...But, I also tend to hack the budget with an axe or chainsaw instead of a scalpel in such scenarios, so it more or less impacts those that I do business with. ...They'll solve this. It's just PR stunts for now."

Share your furlough ideas, plans and thoughts in the comments.