Michelle Oler of St. Louis resorted to online fundraising to pay bills while sidelined from her contracting job processing rural development claims for the Agriculture Department."The estimate of what I've lost financially due to the shutdown is upwards of $3,500. The anxiety, sleeplessness and depression make it feel like much more," Oler said Sunday in an interview by email. Her GoFundMe page has brought in only $50 so far.While the 800,000 federal workers will receive back pay in the wake of the 35-day shutdown, contractors don’t have the same guarantee of getting back pay, continuing a path of uncertainty for them.Many of those contracted workers are among the lowest-paid laborers in the government economy, generally earning $450 to $650 a week, The Washington Post reported.Audrey Murray-Wright, of Maryland, a National Portrait Gallery cleaning supervisor, told the newspaper that seeing her name back on the schedule has brought little relief, saying the little money she had in the bank is “all gone.” Their future will be decided in part by how quickly federal agencies get running, the fine print of contracts and the kindness of strangers.Oler moved in with two roommates in early December before the shutdown began. The change dropped her expenses drastically from the $800 a month she was paying for rent, utilities, internet, phone, car insurance and food for herself and her cat.Even with smaller bills, though, Oler said she is still looking for a new job because she can't take the stress of working with the government anymore.Kevin Doyle, a father of three, estimated he's out around $5,000 from his contracting job as an encryption specialist at Laughlin Air Force Base on the Texas-Mexico border. He said he didn't sleep and lost weight during the shutdown as both the stress and the bills piled up.Doyle said he will return to work on Monday, but he starts a new job Friday with another company that he hopes will be more stable if talks fail and another shutdown begins next month."We were scraping pennies and nickels together one day to get the baby a Happy Meal," said Doyle, 40. "It's just that bad."Doyle said it could take his family a long time to dig out from under the shutdown's effect. The mortgage and power bills are both two months behind, Doyle said, and he doesn't expect another paycheck before Feb. 28.Doyle's wife can't work because of a back injury, he said, and the family wasn't eligible for food assistance because of past wages. A food bank was out of items by the time they got there, he said."A worker there gave us a $50 Walmart gift card out of the kindness of her heart," he said.The partial government shutdown ended when President Donald Trump backed off his demand that Congress commit $5.7 billion for a U.S.-Mexico border wall before federal agencies could resume work.White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said Sunday that he hopes all federal workers will receive back pay this week. When exactly that happens depends on the agency.As for contractors, Mulvaney said whether they receive any reimbursement depends on the contract.