How will this affect me if the Government does not extend the Continuing Resolution that expires 18 March 2011.

I am told I will continue to work as an "Excempt" Employee but I will not get paid until the termination of the furlough. I will still have medical benefits (some others are not so lucky) but any Routine physicals or preventative dental appointments will NOT be paid, those things need to wait until the termination of the furlough.

I do not know how long it will take for a new Federal Budget to be passed, but I am guessing a government shutdown for a long period would not happen as the people of the country including the people who write and pass the laws would not like it.

The biggest impact on me is the no pay until the furlough ends. I am glad that I have a emergency fund for this. I would like to be able to continue to work on my savings goals but this paycheck anything I have extra is going into the routine bills part of the Emergency Fund.

This will be my first "government shutdown" as a government employee. Around work there are a few people who have been through at least one before. Depending on there status as exempt or non-exempt and benefits being cancelled vs suspended seem to weigh in on how stressed the employees are.

As A Dave Ramsey and Susie Orman follower I have a hard time seeing why the government is having such a hard time with the spending budget. If it was me instead of trying to deside which things get cut and which get more I would just use 2010's budget then figure out how much more we are spending than we have and then use that percentage for a across the board budget cut. We would then be in a Zero Based Budget. Then Next Year use the 2011 zero based budget as a template and start reviewing the things that are in the budget and start cutting back spending in some areas to start reducing the deficet.

Of course some would say some programs can't afford a cut...well if the program is so important the people will fund it or the companies and program will get creative in there money saving efforts. Even across the board cuts people would complain, but atleast they would get some funding even if it is less then they are used too.