This post was submitted (anonymously, as always) to our Savvy Confessions group. Got any advice? Leave it in the comments.

Hi, fellow Savvy Confessors. I've got an issue I've been struggling with that I could seriously use some help on. I am in a job where I am paid to be "available." I am paid salary (based on an hourly rate at 40 hours a week) regardless of how little or how much I work. Some weeks I work four hours, and some weeks I work 40. Sometimes I have whole weeks off at a time — but only with extremely last-minute notice. Usually, I don't know my schedule until late the night before or early in the morning the day of.

There have been only three times since I started this job almost two years ago that I have gone over 40 hours, but I was compensated for overtime. I am on the books and paid weekly via direct deposit, but receive absolutely no benefits — health, dental, 401(k), etc. After 20 months, I am still on the same salary as when I started. For the most part, it's an amazing job — the actual work is really rewarding, my boss is really nice and friendly, and (as you can see with my fluctuating schedule) I have plenty of downtime to myself. All in all — a really awesome job!!

So what's the problem? Read on.

Have you ever dealt with a co-worker's hygiene issue? Offer your advice and thoughts to this reader who posted in our Ask Savvy group.

Ok, so a co-worker of mine VERY casually mentioned to me that she has bed bugs. She spoke as if she got "rid" of them but what was still itchy because of paranoia ("They're gone but I'm still itchy . . . I think it's just in my head" is more or less what she was saying). I KNOW that just vacuuming won't get rid of those things. I told her "you need to throw things away and find the source." I was so stunned that I couldn't remember if I also told her to call pest control. Just that when I told her to throw things away she replied with "it's so expensive to get rid of things" and she was looking at cheap alternatives online. She was also focused on the fact she thinks it's her sister's fault for being messy (I know being messy doesn't help but it's not necessarily the cause of the issue either). 

When I repeated the part of getting rid of things she said "oh, maybe it's the carpet . . . I don't like that carpet anyway." I panicked and a few minutes later I spoke with the VP's assistant (we are a small business  with eight people in my department and 25-50 people or so total. We also deal with about 14,000 customer needs a month too.)

Read on for more.

This reader posted in our anonymous Savvy Confessions group, saying that she's frustrated with her pay.

I know it's a rule that talking about how much you make at work is forbidden. I have been at my job for five years and I recently found out that someone who does significantly less work, has only been with the company for two years, works at a lower position, and does not have a degree makes the same as I do. It's very frustrating because I still live at home and am saving as I cannot afford the cost of living on my own with the amount I make. Not only does she make as much as me, but she also doesn't use our health insurance (she gets it from the state as a single mom) or invest in her 401(k), so she probably takes home twice as much as me! I would never not pay for my insurance or not invest in my retirement just so I can have more money in my pocket. With my review coming up, I just pray that my boss compensates me fairly for all the hard work I do.

Pose your own anonymous questions or off-load your work confessions by posting in the Savvy Confessions group, and I'll find the right expert to help you out.

This reader posted in our anonymous Savvy Confessions group, asking if how she should behave with her friends since she makes a lot more money than they do. Do you have any advice for her?

I make more money than my friends. Like a lot more. Many of them are barely scraping by while I'm living comfortably. I feel really bad about it and I try to cover up my lifestyle by not talking about the trips I'm taking and never inviting them over to see my apartment. I don't want to flaunt what I have in front of them. Many are working nonprofit jobs and are still students while I have been out in the workforce for a while and am pretty successful. How do you think I should act? It's quite stressful but I do it so that my friends won't feel uncomfortable but maybe I'm overthinking this. What do you think? I need a second opinion!

Pose your own anonymous questions or off-load your work confessions by posting in the Savvy Confessions group, and I'll find the right expert to help you out.

This reader posted in our anonymous Savvy Confessions group, asking if she should continue charitable contributions now that she's unemployed. Do you have any advice for her?

I've been a sponsor of a child through a charitable organization for the past few years. However, I recently became unemployed and I am trying to find ways to save and cut costs. I've been debating about whether I should stop sponsoring the child, but of course, I would feel bad discontinuing my donations. Should I be thinking of my own finances first?

Pose your own anonymous questions or off-load your work confessions by posting in the Savvy Confessions group, and I'll find the right expert to help you out.

This reader posted in our anonymous Savvy Confessions group, asking how to deal with a boss who doesn't appreciate her. Do you have any advice for her?

I recently started working for this company and I don't have much experience in the field so I had to learn a lot on the job. I've been working here for three months, and they put a lot of pressure on the employees to get things done quickly and well.

Most of the mistakes that I make are due to the fact that I'm still trying to get the hang of things. But otherwise, I'm one of the fastest workers. However, my boss just sees the mistakes. I go to work early, but he just notices that I'm one of the first people that go home (it's actually the hour that everyone is supposed to leave at). I live far from my work, so I don't want to go home too late. And most of the time, I do go back late. This leaves me with no time to clean my place and work out. I'm getting frustrated because I don't have time to myself. I love what I'm doing and I had studied for this, but it is shock, because when I was at college, I had part-time jobs and I found time for everything and now . . .

My contract is for a limited time, and I'm afraid that they won't renew it. I need to turn the things around and I don't know how.

Pose your own anonymous questions or off-load your work confessions by posting in the Savvy Confessions group, and I'll find the right expert to help you out.

This reader posted in our anonymous Savvy Confessions group, asking if she should confess to a mistake she made at work. Do you have any advice for her?

I've recently started working at a new job, and a few days ago I realized I made a mistake on a project I've already submitted. The drafts were seen by my boss and by the client, and neither of them picked up the mistake, which is actually a bit odd. I know that once this project is released someone is bound to pick up on the mistake and the client will be really angry. I'm losing sleep over this, the mistake can't be rectified (it's been printed about 30,000 times) but I don't know if there's any point to coming clean because there's nothing anyone can do now. Should I wait until the mistake is noticed and then apologize profusely? I'm scared I'm going to lose my job over this and I hate thinking that because I really love my new job. I haven't told anyone about this, not even my partner, because unfortunately it's not the first time I've overlooked an important detail and I feel so embarrassed. I'm having a lot of problems in my personal life right now and my great new job has been the best part of my life for the last few weeks. I really don't want to mess that up too . . . if anyone has any advice I would really welcome it.

Pose your own anonymous questions or off-load your work confessions by posting in the Savvy Confessions group, and I'll find the right expert to help you out.

This reader posted in our anonymous Savvy Confessions group, asking how she might live it up on a small income without going into debt. Do you have any advice for her?

I finally found an apartment that I can afford and I'm moving out of my parents' house in about a month. I'm usually pretty good with money, if you look past the occasional dress buying, and have never been in the red. I'm scared that once I move out I will have to cut down on an already-minimal social life to avoid debt. I would like to be able to visit out-of-town friends once in a while and go on small trips and vacations, but how do I do it on a small income (I'm a college student) without ending up in debt?

Pose your own anonymous questions or off-load your work confessions by posting in the Savvy Confessions group, and I'll find the right expert to help you out.

Have you ever dealt with an unpleasant co-worker? If so, offer up your advice to a reader who is thinking of leaving her job because of her colleague. And if you have any questions of your own, ask them in the Ask Savvy group!

I work as the sole designer for a small company dealing with breast cancer patients. I love helping people and I love what I do! I have been with this company for three years, longer than anyone else on the current team. Six months ago, we brought in a few new employees in the production department. One of these employees has been consistently going out of her way to make inconsiderate remarks about any design concept and artwork I've worked on, referring to my work as "clip art," among other negative terms. Most of the time she just makes these comments in passing, when I am midproject or consulting someone else. She butts in and rips my work apart and makes fun of it in the process.

Read on for more.

This reader posted in our anonymous Savvy Confessions group, asking if she should give her friend a reality check. Do you have any advice for her?

I'm not sure if I should bite my tongue in this situation but I'm a little worried about my friend. She's talking about buying the latest smartphones and she recently went on a trip to Vegas. Oh, yeah. She's also unemployed. I know that her parents don't give her any money, so she's probably just living off her savings or digging herself deeper into credit card debt. I'm wondering if I need to stage a money "intervention." Do I give her advice or should I just leave her to her spendthrift ways?

Pose your own anonymous questions or off-load your work confessions by posting in the Savvy Confessions group, and I'll find the right expert to help you out.