New job, new beginnings.

patman99

The bonus isn't 'spent' as such, it will be going into the account on which I have an overdraft. As such, it will reduce my overdraft to less than £100. From there, I can take control of it as I will not be paying £10+ each month in interest charges. With my PPI paying into this account rather than my new one, I should be able to build a surplus to pay for emergencies.

My main aim at the moment is to make sure my outgoings are less than my incomings. What with my invisible income from surveys and blogging, I think I can just manage it.

The next step is to try to get a foot in the door in construction. Have CSCS card, but no recent experience.

Skint_but_Optimistic

Good luck your persistence is a credit to you!

patman99

As I have spent my whole married life trying to stretch my income to feed & clothe 3 people, so am quite good at spending as little as possible.

Got a job interview on Friday morning to look forward to. The job involves working away during the week so has the added bonus of being away from my spouse.

Skint_but_Optimistic

Mr Pat, Mrs Pat and the offspring will miss you loads, but hey, money in is fantastic. Any details?

patman99

The job interview never happened. I received an email from the manager asking me if I had carpentry experience & my own tools (not stated in advert). The answer to both was 'no', so the interview was cancelled.
Had to sign-on with my wife's adviser today as mine was on holiday.
She got really ar5ey about the fact I am refusing to apply for work below £8 p/hr and even threatened me with a sanction.

patman99

Took my car in for service & MOT. It failed on cuts in 2 tyres & a corroded strap on the rear exhaust box.
The place where I took my car doesn't do tyres, so got a price from the tyre shop over the road. They wanted £217 + vat for 2 tyres. On top of that, they couldn't get a new strap despite contacting all their suppliers and even the main dealer. They thought this odd, so I decided to take my Berlingo to a fast-fit where I live.

They sold part-worn tyres, so I went for 4 at a grand cost of £100. As for the issue with obtaining a strap rather than a whole new back box, even they couldn't get their hands on one. However, they did uncover why.
It appears that Citreon found that the straps had a short in-use life and would break, so they changed the way they hung the back box.

Basically, they were using a strap to which 2 hangers were spot-welded. This was then strapped around the back box before it was fitted. Due to the high failure rate, they changed to welding the exhaust hangers direct to the back box. Hence the lack of straps. Hence me having to spend £79 to replace a perfectly good back box just because they had changed the design.

On the plus side, I unearthed an old but usable battery for a Dyson DC16, so this went on ebay. As I speak, it is at £10.50, so that is a nice bonus.

Skint_but_Optimistic

Pooh to job news. Mixed bag with the car costs too. I hope you dont get hit witha sanction from the advisor!

patman99

Battery sold for £12.26. The buyer collected it tonight.
My son sold his iMac to a friend of mine and decided to look at a new hoover. We went to my local retail park, but could only find 1 bagless Vax for under £50. As it was an ex-demonstrator without box/manual, it was up for £35. He refused to buy it as it had a little scuff on it.
Me being not so fussy, purchased it as our Dyson dosn't suck very well. It came with a 12 month warranty, so am not fussed about a small scuff.

My son is now the proud (and temporary) owner of our old Dyson until he has finished paying-off the PC he has bought through my cataloge. He then intends to by a new one.

Also, have now started to volunteer at my local BHF as a function tester.

Skint_but_Optimistic

On wards and upwards. We got a new slow cooker recently. I love a domestic appliance!

Whats BHF?

patman99

'British Heart Foundation'.
One of the best kitchen appliances we have is a halogen cooker. This is one of those cooks using a halogen bulb. They cook really quickly.