A Year of Living Frugabulously

Cheery_Daff

Blimey Lula, that woman is a fiend in human form! :eek: :eek: No suggestions other than giving her a good slap - which I suspect wasn't what you had in mind

RosaBernicia

That's PATHETIC on the bosses part :mad: and they don't deserve you. It's, it's just immoral to short-change the business for the sake of one employee's ego, especially at a time when everyone is at risk. (And when that employee is a fossilised underperformer and poor team player to boot.) They've let all of you down and shown they can't handle the responsibility of managing and leading.

Sorry about the rant :mad::o but it makes me furious when people pull carp like this.

I really hope that either they wake up and sort themselves (and her) out, or that a FABULOUS job turns up where you will be properly appreciated.


Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

I haven't thought of a suitably fiendish revenge yet but I'll be working on it.

Laxatives might be involved though.

Rosa xx

Karmacat

RosaBernicia wrote: »

That's PATHETIC on the bosses part :mad: and they don't deserve you. It's, it's just immoral to short-change the business for the sake of one employee's ego, especially at a time when everyone is at risk. (And when that employee is a fossilised underperformer and poor team player to boot.) They've let all of you down and shown they can't handle the responsibility of managing and leading.

B*gger. Rosa's summed it up very neatly - this goes way, way beyond petty office tyranny thats horrible to deal with, into threatening the work. For all of you - without a good website run by enthusiastic people, what struggling company can hope to pull it back in today's world?

Lula, I'm so sorry you're going through this, but I'm rubbish at thinking up manoeuvres of the kind you need to get you through temporarily. Positive vibes for laxatives, tho

And laughing at DD allowing you to use tatco to clean the car :rotfl:

Also loving borrowing a dog to take it for a walk :smileyhea some of the doggies I see in our park and on our recreation ground make your heart sing - well, make *my* heart sing

lotti379

Oh lula, that is horrible. I wouldn't even begin to know how to deal with that! Mind you, I am in theory taking over the job of someone and it doesn't look like the bosses will actually get rid of him, despite all the reasons they offered me the job in the first place. So can sympathise a little! Would it be worth your while looking around for alternative employment? Not a nice prospect neccessarily, but if you are being stifled like this...

Lula-Hula

Hello all,

thank you muchly for support & kind words.

First of all I assure you that I am actively seeking alternative jobs, although there's not much about; although it seems careworkers are always in demand. I will keep looking though.

Rosa - I like the laxative idea, but as the only 2 females, we have to share the loo so that would backfire on me somewhat :rotfl:.

lotti379 hello & welcome here sorry to hear you're having a few issues too, I hope you can overcome them.

As for me, I'm not overly down / angry / stressed about it, because it's an ongoing situation since I've been at the company. Very strange really, as this woman is the person who actually gave me the introduction to the company; we used to share an allotment & she knew I was looking for work & gave my name to the Gropey Boss as a possible employee.

I went along for the interview & he hired me. She was lovely at first, really helpful & supportive & showing me how everything works, then suddenly it all changed & it was as though I became the enemy. I've been there 2 and a half years now & do like the work/industry & it's an easy going place & we usually have a laugh alongside getting the work done.

If it was a larger company, she wouldn't get away with it, because I would have been able to make official complaints about her & proper disciplinary procedures would be in place.

Anyway I do have the satisfaction of knowing that by just turning up everyday it p!sses her off

*****

Moving on, today has been rather spendy. Dropped DD at school & was in waitr:)se by 8.30. I was very conscious of staying within budget until I found delicious ice cream ( the variety that I recently did a survey on & have been dreaming about ever since) on a BOGOF so had to have that, it would be a false economy to buy small packs of loo rolls so I went for the giant one & also bought some quorn as it was on offer too.

Total spend was £22.42 & you may wonder how I managed that on my budget of £15.70 ?

Well, I threw in £10 of my pocket money to cover it, so now still have £3.20 left in my weekly spends account.

I'm not too worried as I've only gone over my allowance by £6.70 & am just within a reasonable amount for the month.

Total for February is :

Groceries = £139.82
Household, Toiletires + Cat food = £47.43

A total spend of £187.25



I think that £200 a month is a reasonable amount to budget for all our essential grocery, household & cat food needs. It's going to have to be, there is no more available.

March will be tricky as it looks like there are a lot of weeks in it, but I think my strategy will be to take £200 out at the beginning of the month & it will just have to last _pale_.

Back to the spends; car feeling very light so off to Tatco to spend that voucher on filling it up with fuel ... £48.15 & that went on the CC ... to be repaid next week after payday.

Next errand was to book the hall for DDs birthday party. It's not til October, but I wanted to make sure we got the day & date.

Apparently 13 is now 'adult' so I had to pay a £100 deposit :eek: rather than the £45 required for 'childrens' parties :mad:. I decided that I may as well pay for the actual hire at the same time so that was £150 in total that came out of the Holiday Fund, leaving the balance at £479.96.

I don't actually have any other means of paying ( they don't take CCs, yes I did ask ) & it seems like a good use of CB money to me . I will also be paying for DDs guide holiday out of that fund so we may yet find ourselves camping in the garden this summer :rotfl:.

Don't know why I put the laughing smiley, that's not funny at all.

My car is still filthy, really filthy, but I might just treat it to a full wash & polish next week.

Still no news on the HB claim, I have to send yet more forms/id bolloks in & they also want my February & March payslips ... by the 6th March :huh:.

Er, I get paid at the end of the month, so they wont be getting March for a while yet. I'm struggling with a paid utility bill ... I don't have any, I pay everything by direct debit or online hmmmm I wonder if the letter detailing my rent increase will suffice

I've done a load of washing, hoovered, got the accounts up to date & am studiously ignoring the pile of 'filing'.

I'm off to make some tea & then settle down with my latest read; The Hunger Games.

Book list to follow ...

Lula-Hula

- [STRIKE]Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen[/STRIKE] - DONE ( only about 15 years after receiving it )

[STRIKE] - The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins[/STRIKE] - DONE - everyone; read it, read it, read it - AMAZING, been a long time since I had to stay up & read til 3 in the morning

[STRIKE] - Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins[/STRIKE] DONE - again, I couldn't put it down

-[STRIKE] Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins[/STRIKE] - DONE - utterly brilliant ... although it did make me cry

- Runemarks - Joanne Harris

- Labyrinth - Kate Mosse

- Sepulchre - Kate Mosse

- The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson

- The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest - Stieg Larsson

[STRIKE] - David Copperfield - Charles Dickens[/STRIKE] Lizzie Dripping says I don't have to read this, so it will only happen if I've read every other book on the list

- The Big Bad Wolf - Jame Patterson -

-[STRIKE] Hide & Seek - """[/STRIKE] DONE - pretty dire


- The 5th Horseman - """ - DONE - no more JP pleeeeeease

-[STRIKE] Four Blind Mice - """[/STRIKE] CHARITIZED - couldn't face another JP

- [STRIKE]Cat & Mouse - """[/STRIKE] CHARITIZED - as above

- Black Market - """ CHARITIZED - as above

- The Lake House - """

- No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong

- Lake of Sorrows - Erin Hart

- [STRIKE]The Dukan Diet - Dr. Pierre Dukan :undecided (a very dubious 'gift' that) - [/STRIKE] - DONE & still dipping in & out. I have decided to re embark on a life that doesn't revolve around bread & cake :undecided

- The Thrifty Forager - Alys Fowler :j

- The Hobbit - J R R Tolkien

After struggling through 2 dire JPs I refreshed myself with library books :

- The Moneyless Man - (can't remember author ) DONE - Great book & very interesting ideas in there

- Minding my peas & cucumbers - Kay Sexton - DONE Brilliant

- The to-do list - Mike Gayle - DONE - funny, touching & inspiring






I also have 2 books on order & awaiting release ... will add them to the list when they arrive.

vasseur

Lula-Hula wrote: »

I like the laxative idea, but as the only 2 females, we have to share the loo so that would backfire on me somewhat :rotfl:.

Excellent choice of words as ever Lula

Oddly enough only yesterday I attended a course on 'Dealing with Difficult People'. here's what the notes say about The [STRIKE]Goblin[/STRIKE] Negativist at Work:-

-Be alert to the potential, in yourself and in others in your group, for being dragged down into despair.
-Make optimistic but realistic statements about past successes in solving similar problems.
-Don't try to argue Negativists out of their pessimism.
-See the doomsayings of the Negativist in perspective as potential problems to be overcome.
-Be ready to take action on your own. Announce your plans to do this without equivivocation.

Not sure if any of that will help but gives a little food for thought when dealing with someone who is forever trying to shoot you down....

Karmacat

I love the way you're so focussed on making the best of your life! DD's birthday party, for instance. And the books! Great! I keep looking at The Thrifty Forager in the bookshop, but I'm not paying full price - in the meantime, I've discovered my library is ordering it, so I may just reserve it.

As for your bogofs sending you so close to your budget - you can't *not* buy bogofs! I know you've written of how you work them into your budget, and I must say I never do, I just buy them - I'm glad you're not stopping that, they really have an effect

Cheery_Daff

Thrifty Forager was on offer in The Works for a while for a fiver KC! No idea whether they'll still have any - they certainly didn't in my local one (was well before Christmas, mind you...)