How much can you save?

LucyTheDwarf

Thank you for that Shelley, I have joined.

On a completely different note:

I need help. And I feel like sharing my frustration and anger at myself with you all, as you're all nice people and you can then tell me I'm stupid and laugh at me and make me feel better about it.

I think I'm a workaholic. But it's worse than that - it could be forgiven if I was being a workaholic to boost my income and therefore savings pot, but I'm not. I work too many unpaid hours.

Firstly, let me explain the overtime procedure. We find ourselves snowed under. We approach a manager, and tell them this. They will then ask permission from a partner for us to work overtime - they will agree a number of hours with them, and we can then happily work the agreed (say) 3 hours, for time and a half. If we work 4 hours, the last was unauthorised, so we still get 3.

Well, that's how it works. I can't be bothered with this approach, because I'm paid a 37.5 hour week, but am given at least 50 hours work to do. Not doing the work makes my life hell, as I have to deal with the consequences of missing deadlines and targets, and as I'm in a senior position, I also have to deal with the consequences of everyone else in the office missing their targets and deadlines. If I claimed overtime, I'd be seeing my manager daily, and I'd never get my number of hours agreed as it'd be about 3 hours a day.

So, what do I do? I took my first lunch hour of 2009 today, and only because the server was rebooted and we had to switch our computers off for 45 minutes. As it's only day 4, that isn't remarkable, but I probably took an average of 2 lunch hours a month in 2008. Assuming there are 20 working days in a month, I was doing 18 hours for free a month. Half a week. Over the year, that's 216 hours, which would earn me £1935.36 gross at normal time, and £2903.04 at time and a half.

I am paid from 8:30 until 17:00. I never leave the office before 17:30, and often work until 18:00. I would say on average I work 45 minutes extra after 5pm, a night. Spread across the 52 weeks of the year, this is the equivalent of £1747.20 at normal time, or £2620.80 at the overtime rate.

This evening, as I have been out of the office all day, I decided to log onto my work emails, to see what's happened. Fifty emails and 1 hour 45 minutes later, I am still working (and feeling miserable about it). I put in about 4 hours a week from home, on average, but I have been known to work a full day on a Saturday or Sunday, when I'm particularly busy. 4 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, would have got me £1863.68 or £2795.52, depending on the hourly rate used.

Totalling this all up:-
At normal rate:
Lunchhours £1935.36
Working past 5pm £1747.20
Working from home £1863.68
Gross £5546.24
After tax and NI £3826.91

At overtime rate:
Lunchhours £2903.04
Working past 5pm £2620.80
Working from home £2795.52
Gross £8319.36
After tax and NI £5740.36

I should have had a minimum of between £4k and £6k more last year in my pocket - or between 300 and 500 a month extra (which is my regular saver taken care of).

So basically, I have given away time to my employer, which they charge out to our customers at £65 an hour, for free. I feel utterly miserable, have no idea why I feel the need to log on... I didn't even consciously think about logging onto work... I just did it... I feel pathetic about my hopelessness. No wonder they love me at work... I do everything for nothing... I have been told I'll be the last one standing in the case of redundancies, and am really grateful for this - and I'm well aware that my hard work is the reason for this, but still I can't help but feel used... I'm a total doormat.

Lokolo

Sounds like my future to be honest. I am following my uncles footsteps. He tells me he gets paid for 9-5 everyday but is usually still working until 7/8. I said thats rubbish and he said its part of the job, no overtime pay!

Lame.

But the starting salary is quite good, £27k after graduation, I can't really complain.

So once I get my £100k and have a businsess I can get away and get some more hours to spend with family

Good Luck Lucy whatever you try and do! xxx

JimLad

An interesting dilema you are in there lucy...

From what i can understand, there is a procedure in place for taking overtime that you do not indulge in as you feel you do too much?

Is there anyone else in a similar position to you? What do they do?

Perhaps you could make 2009 the year that you start to claim? Even claiming half of it would be a vast amount.

JimLad

Lokolo wrote: »

Sounds like my future to be honest. I am following my uncles footsteps. He tells me he gets paid for 9-5 everyday but is usually still working until 7/8. I said thats rubbish and he said its part of the job, no overtime pay!

Lame.

But the starting salary is quite good, £27k after graduation, I can't really complain.

So once I get my £100k and have a businsess I can get away and get some more hours to spend with family

Good Luck Lucy whatever you try and do! xxx

I shud imagine the reason why you get a nice starting salary is the fact you have to do 3 hours extra every day.

In the end it prolly works out as the same per hour as someone working only 9-5 on 20k

LucyTheDwarf

I could start to work nothing but paid hours, and claiming all my overtime... but I'd probably not get enough time approved, wouldn't get work done and would have to explain to my clients why I haven't done what I'm paid to do!!!

My manager is in the same position as me. He never claims any overtime either, because he has so much to do. He regularly works til 3am. We both know we need to stop, need the company to see that we haven't got enough time to do the work, that there's a problem... but they've already made 3 redundancies... they're not going to take on any more staff. We stop hitting deadlines and they'll start losing customers and then there will be more redundancies.

It wouldn't be so bad if I had the juicy salary in the first place...

LucyTheDwarf

I just realised, that at 3.55% Kaupthing Edge has the highest rate of all my instant access savings accounts. I'd taken my eye off the ball for a bit... next best is HSBC online saver at 2.25%, if it hasn't been lowered yet. Most pathetic the Halifax web saver at 1.1%, followed by NatWest e saver at 1.3%. *misery*

JimLad

LucyTheDwarf wrote: »

I just realised, that at 3.55% Kaupthing Edge has the highest rate of all my instant access savings accounts. I'd taken my eye off the ball for a bit... next best is HSBC online saver at 2.25%, if it hasn't been lowered yet. Most pathetic the Halifax web saver at 1.1%, followed by NatWest e saver at 1.3%. *misery*

Why dont you transfer all the others to Kaupthing edge and close them? Or is there a limit to the amount u can save?

LucyTheDwarf

I don't want to... I'm being wimpy about it all.

Lokolo

My ISAs are still in variable rates. 3.55% for Eggs ISA from 07/08. Barclays Tax Haven a ~3% (goodness knows to be honest) for this years ISA, but not filled up yet.

Luckily I put £1,300 of my money in 7% fixed for 3 months in Halifax, once thats matured (end of this month), I will fill up ISA.

Then what? Who knows, who knows.

LucyTheDwarf

I'm feeling rather depressed about it all. Back in the summer I knew the rate on all my accounts, at any given time. Now I just don't want to know. It's not going to earn much anywhere, so why should I bother looking at what's available, and being miserable about 3% being the best on offer?

I've put a tiny amount (£40) to Zopa. I'm getting about 9% there after fees and bad debts... but I'm scared about it still, and I prefer instant access accounts, so I'm wary of putting any more than this there...

Also, I'm putting £10 on the national lottery tonight. I'm stupid! But I have decided I can afford to throw away £10 in the very small chance that I might win a million. (Or a hundred, that'd be nice too).