Back filling the big hole I dug with my credit card

Piquant_2

I really hope the interview goes well for you tomorrow. It is so depressing looking for work, even the most optimistic among us find it drags us down.

I like the sound of your dream job, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

I've been doing some mystery shopping too, not very much comes up near where I live and it's not the sort of thing you want to spend petrol on as it defeats the object a little. Wish I could get my finger out and put some bits on ebay, I hate listing so much....

Piq

PiggyBankShaker

pennywisepoundstupid wrote: »

Good luck for the job interview tomorrow.

Thanks pwps.

PiggyBankShaker

Piquant wrote: »

I really hope the interview goes well for you tomorrow. It is so depressing looking for work, even the most optimistic among us find it drags us down.

I like the sound of your dream job, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

I've been doing some mystery shopping too, not very much comes up near where I live and it's not the sort of thing you want to spend petrol on as it defeats the object a little. Wish I could get my finger out and put some bits on ebay, I hate listing so much....

Piq

Hi Piq! Welcome to my diary! Nice to have you aboard.

I'm on the train. All very relaxed and not at all anxious, which is either very good or very bad, I think.

Oh the dream job! It is perfect, just perfect (with the exception of only being a 12 month contract, but the possibility of permanent) the pay is good and there benefits too, which I've never had before. It is working for a company who does work that I am truly passionate about. I'll keep you posted.

I'm interested to see how I get on with the mystery shop, I'd be happy to do more if this one goes okay.

Love to the Captain and the Bear

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

This morning I have been losing the productivity battle against the kids. Their speed of destruction and chaos is far quicker than my speed of tidying. So I have decided to leave them to get on with it. I've limited them to their bedroom and i'm hiding in the office. I'll give them their lunch soon and then can dispatch them to nursery and bed and *might* actually get something done.

Not a lot to report on the money side that PBS hasn't already covered. I've had a bit of a problem trying to withdraw winnings from one of the betting sites so waiting to see what happens with that. The first lot is due in the bank tomorrow so hopefully that will come through no problem.

In other news, I have an interview confirmed for Thursday next week, which is great not only in of itself but also because it gives me something positive to say at the job centre this afternoon.

So far the two times I've been have been perfectly fine and the two women I've dealt with have been friendly and pleasant. The thing I have disliked the most is the glares I get from the (presumably) long time unemployed. I can only assume this is for the fact that I turn up dressed presentably. Or possibly the fact that I smile and am friendly to the staff. I don't want to moan about them as they are obviously having a tough time but I do wish they would just stop staring at me like some sort of freak.

Anyway. With any luck I might get to finish the raised bed later. The back yard is coming along but it's so difficult only being able to work when the kids are otherwise occuppied.

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

Just a quick update on the job centre today. I've managed to escape though i seemed to be in there an age. They have the usual public sector approach to timekeeping so I was kept waiting nearly 20 minutes after my scheduled appointment time.

The appointment itself consisted of me telling my "advisor" what I've been doing and what I was trying to do. I also had to tell her my career history which she was oblivious to, despite my having had to email in my CV. Presumably the fact they changed my advisor meant it got lost somehow.

She spent the whole time trying desperately to understand what I was saying and was thoroughly embarrassed that I knew what I was doing and that she didn't. She was very friendly though and acknowledged that she could be of no real help to me (or as she put it, that I would be able to find a job by myself) so I don't have to see her again for at least 6 weeks. At one point in the appointment routine she actually said "I'm sorry. I know I'm insulting your intelligence, but I have to say all of this".

Anyway, I found it fine because I know it's not her fault the system is crap and because I know I can do my own thing. What saddens me though is the number of people who must go in there who could do more and end up in the lowest work available just because it's easier for the advisers.

Anyway. Must actually do something constructive today. To the back yard...

PiggyBankShaker

Okay, had the interview and back on the train home. At first I thought it went well, but two hours later I'm thinking 'why did I say THAT?!' and'God, didn't I waffle!' so now I have no idea how it went. Hopefully okay, but we'll have to wait and see.

Did have a disaster though. Decided to clean my sandals with some bleach solution, and through the course of the day the residual bleach must have corroded the sandals as on the way to the interview they actually started to disintegrate on my feet. They have now fallen to pieces and I had make a detour to Oxford St to buy new (£30!) ones before. Getting the train home.

I can only hope the interviewers didn't notice and if they did that they won't hold it against me...

PiggyBankShaker

Okay, so they didn't offer me the job. No great surprise, and I do think they would have offered it to me if I was in London full time. I had good feedback all round. Still frustrating though.

I have no interviews scheduled now. ATS has two though, so hopefully he can wow them. He is brilliant and I hope they can see it too.

Saturday was a good day. We worked well in the back yard together. We collected free manure and three free pallets, which ATS is now using to finish the kids fort.

We had a lazy day yesterday, well as lazy as you can with a three year old and a one year old running around. I made some little pies for lunch and we have three left over for today. We had a nice evening chilling out and ATS made pizza.

Today I have my first mystery shop and I'm hoping to collect some free firewood that someone offered me on Freecycle. Hopefully it'll stay dry long enough for ATS to break the back of this last section of fort that he is doing. Other than a section of wall that needs building it is the last structural thing that needs doing in the back yard, before we move on to easier tasks.

Our pepper, carrot and pumpkin seeds are sprouting like mad. It is lovely to see green things growing and DD is enthralled with them too.

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

I'm on the train back from an interview that I *think* went well. Certainly I got a good rapport going with the interviewer. It's stage four of five and I'll find out on Monday if I've made it to the final interview. I really hope so as just being in the office and talking with the guy about the work they do was brilliant and it would be amazing to work there.

In other news I've had all my payouts from my casino betting and am up about £15 on my deposits with £56 cashback confirmed and hopefully another 50 to come. Not a bad haul overall. Would have been better if I hadn't messed up the one where I forgot I already had an account with them from years ago so no new member cb. Grr.

Weather forecast for Saturday is good so hopefully we can finish the soil in the raised bed and I can finish building the final part of the fort.

PiggyBankShaker

I've completed 2 mystery shop assignments now and have 2 more lined up next Tuesday. The questionnaires are quite tedious and repetitive, but it's much better overall and more interesting than online surveys.

Other than that, no news to report on making extra money front. Waiting for a free listing weekend to do more eBaying. Still waiting from the cheque for tax rebate from HMRC to arrive. Same for the expenses for the job interview I attended in London a month ago. (Which reminds me I have another one to put in for the interview last week!)

It seems like an age since I last got paid, and I have really taken my eye off the budgeting ball the last week and a half or so. I haven't splurged or anything, but I haven't been holding the reins tightly either. I don't want to check me online banking as I know it'll depress me and I'll get annoyed.

PiggyBankShaker

No sooner I had I finished my post moaning about the HMRC than the postman arrived with the cheque!

Not only that, but I have been paid 2 days early and have been able to do my online banking.

Rough breakdown of what I have paid:
Moved £541 to joint account to cover this months bills.
Moved £180 to emergency living / ATS credit card fund
Moved £289 to long term savings
Overpaid £26 to the mortgage

I am still owed:
£115 Travel x1
£74 Travel x1
£24 Expenses x1 (+£20 more if I can find the damn receipts)
£21 Expenses x1
£51 Tax

After all the ins and outs it means that I should have about £800 to last until next payday, which is four and a half weeks away...