My Soa thingymajig

BeautyandtheBeast_3

I bet you have a PS3 or X box - most lads have some kind of gaming device, could you hold football competitions - like Pro Evo and get them to come round with some beers? Or even a 'SingStar' night???

sdt1986

Jesthar wrote: »

Heh, shame - in my book real men DO dance - couldn't consider a man who didn't, really!

Hobbies don't need to be expensive, for example my archery club required annual membership (which wasn't much) and about £5 a week, and you just used the club kit. I did buy my own gear after a while, but there was no need to if I didn't want to.

Once again not meaning to be negative (becoming a regular saying that)

But stuff like that really aint my thing! Im not going to turn into a fan of stuff like that out of the blue.

Mrs._Irwin

Well, if you won't change the way you do things, you're not going to change anything are you?!

I think a Fifa championship night is a very good idea.

I was going to suggest a drama group, night class or how about volunteering? One of our mates has been doing dry-stone walling and other conservation things in his spare time.

Jesthar

sdt1986 wrote: »

Once again not meaning to be negative (becoming a regular saying that)

But stuff like that really aint my thing! Im not going to turn into a fan of stuff like that out of the blue.

Hence the winky

Well, let's try this another way - aside from going out and getting rhubarbed, what do you enjoy doing?

euronorris

I'm gonna be harsh here. You ARE making excuses!

You don't ALL have to do the same thing at the same time. You can do things at different times/days with different mates.

You don't HAVE to keep up with their drinking on a Friday/Sat night (or any other night for that matter). You have the option to decline. What's the worst they can do? Tease you? So what? Ignore it.

You also say that you don't really enjoy it anyway. So why bother? Is it just to see your mates? Good mates will make an effort to see you whether your drinking loads or not.

If you want to sort this out you have to start being more realistic with your finances and more firm with yourself and your mates.

I love fishing! The initial expense is costly, yes, but after that, it can be pretty cheap. Do you not have any friends that have a spare rod? Then you could go together and share their stuff with them.

Dancing wasn't the only suggestion. Cinema, theatre, days out, concerts, sunday football. Yes, there is an expense with some of them, but a) it's less than an average night out is costing you and b) you don't have to do it every week.

You need to figure out what is a realistic budget for entertainment for the month and stick to it. It's hard at first, but it gets easier! Trust me!

I remember you saying that your family left the country. Is part of the issue here that you miss them and so are always looking for ways to fill your time?

euronorris

sdt1986 wrote: »

Although im feeling happier that i have some overtime to rinse and after that i hope to get a pay rise even if its only an extra £200 a month.

I did a rough calculation and to achieve an additional 200 quid (net) increase, your salary would need to increase by roughly 3,500 per annum!

Again, roughly, this is about 19% increase on your current salary! I don't think it's realistic to hope for that kind of increase in pay. Especially not at the moment. Most companies are making redunancies and freezing the pay of the other staff.

If you are fortunate enough to get a payrise this year, it will most likely be between 2 and 4 %.

So, just a word of warning.....please don't rely/plan on your income increasing by that amount until you have had it confirmed in writing by your firm.

sdt1986

BeautyandtheBeast wrote: »

I bet you have a PS3 or X box - most lads have some kind of gaming device, could you hold football competitions - like Pro Evo and get them to come round with some beers? Or even a 'SingStar' night???

We do the fifa on the xbox every so often, and im arranging a poker night once a month. Its just doing it and making sure people turn up otherwise its a white wash.

sdt1986

euronorris wrote: »

I did a rough calculation and to achieve an additional 200 quid (net) increase, your salary would need to increase by roughly 3,500 per annum!

Again, roughly, this is about 19% increase on your current salary! I don't think it's realistic to hope for that kind of increase in pay. Especially not at the moment. Most companies are making redunancies and freezing the pay of the other staff.

If you are fortunate enough to get a payrise this year, it will most likely be between 2 and 4 %.

So, just a word of warning.....please don't rely/plan on your income increasing by that amount until you have had it confirmed in writing by your firm.

My payrise is part of a promotion that is on hold, so it is very realistic.

euronorris

OK, well that's more hopeful. But why is it on hold? Due to the recession or other reasons? ie, is it likely that it could be put on hold again?

I would still advise to plan on not receiving this extra income. That way, if it doesn't happen, you will still be OK. And if it does, then you will have extra cash to throw at the debt and get rid of it more quickly!

sdt1986

euronorris wrote: »

OK, well that's more hopeful. But why is it on hold? Due to the recession or other reasons? ie, is it likely that it could be put on hold again?

I would still advise to plan on not receiving this extra income. That way, if it doesn't happen, you will still be OK. And if it does, then you will have extra cash to throw at the debt and get rid of it more quickly!

Due to the recession they cant give me my new job properly that ive now been doing for 3 months, as there is a bar from America on recruitment so there isnt actually a job available but its a crucial role that they cant get rid of which makes things akward.

So out of the call centres pot for bonus they give me £200, but it can be annoying because if i were back on the phones id be on £14k basic, a potential of 600ish a month bonus (and im good at the job so would more than likely be top 3 every month) plus theres nearly always overtime available at time and a half whilst on the phones. So im worse off doing a better job but the prospects are much greater, akward situation.

Im not banking on it, i dont bank on anything till it happens. However If it doesnt happen in december i will be certainly requesting to go back on the phones or ill look for another job thats starting 18k + bonus.