Edinburgher gets cracking!

edinburgher

Work was particularly difficult today. I have been instructed to work my way through multiple years of data to find out why ours doesn't reconcile with one of our partners.

Without going into specifics, I'm finding mistakes (both mine and others), issues with the tools (wonky old spreadsheets and incorrectly recorded data) and mistakes on the part of the partner.

My own mistakes are embarrassing (some of them were down to me either not knowing how to calculate some of the numbers, or not double checking items). On the positive side, as I work my way through the data, they become less and less common, so I can demonstrate that I've 'learned my lesson'

My own knowledge has improved greatly and I really understand the nuts and bolts of the mistakes I'm helping to resolve now.

At the same time, I feel that I'm letting down my colleagues, but I refuse to sit down and shut up about the fact that I reported several of these issues nearly two years ago (broken tools, lack of support and knowledge in the team etc.)

Sometimes it feels like you just can't win!

I also got a rejection letter from a job I applied for this afternoon. Not great, but at least they took the time to get in touch. In a funny way, that felt a lot better than not knowing

After that fun, I got to come home and try to call SP to figure out why they haven't refunded the £400+ that they owe me, I'm hopefully getting a callback at some point...... In addition to that, I'm dealing with a div who bought my Mr T vouchers, asked me to order items with them, breached the T&Cs and then tried to lie saying that the vouchers 'didn't work'. Thankfully they admitted to being less than honest in eB@y's official messaging system, so they won't get away with it. Still, I have a 10 week wait to see if the vouchers get refunded before I can provide dodgy buyer with an alternative. Why are people so dishonest? :eek:

All this fun and our current account is £6 into the red (well, kinda, we have loads of money in savings pots). I think our plans will be changing quite a lot soon, baby will change everything :A

I'm not moaning about the baby (who is eagerly awaited by all and will be a blessing), but it would be nice if Mrs E could realise that we won't be able to spirit away a £10k drop in income during mat leave over the course of an evening, no matter how hard I plan

Aaaaaaand breathe!

Alchemilla

Maybe time to get Mrs E to consider the MSE approach to babies?

Calfuray

edinburgher wrote: »

Work was particularly difficult today. I have been instructed to work my way through multiple years of data to find out why ours doesn't reconcile with one of our partners.

Without going into specifics, I'm finding mistakes (both mine and others), issues with the tools (wonky old spreadsheets and incorrectly recorded data) and mistakes on the part of the partner.

My own mistakes are embarrassing (some of them were down to me either not knowing how to calculate some of the numbers, or not double checking items). On the positive side, as I work my way through the data, they become less and less common, so I can demonstrate that I've 'learned my lesson'

My own knowledge has improved greatly and I really understand the nuts and bolts of the mistakes I'm helping to resolve now.

At the same time, I feel that I'm letting down my colleagues, but I refuse to sit down and shut up about the fact that I reported several of these issues nearly two years ago (broken tools, lack of support and knowledge in the team etc.)

Sometimes it feels like you just can't win!

I also got a rejection letter from a job I applied for this afternoon. Not great, but at least they took the time to get in touch. In a funny way, that felt a lot better than not knowing

After that fun, I got to come home and try to call SP to figure out why they haven't refunded the £400+ that they owe me, I'm hopefully getting a callback at some point...... In addition to that, I'm dealing with a div who bought my Mr T vouchers, asked me to order items with them, breached the T&Cs and then tried to lie saying that the vouchers 'didn't work'. Thankfully they admitted to being less than honest in eB@y's official messaging system, so they won't get away with it. Still, I have a 10 week wait to see if the vouchers get refunded before I can provide dodgy buyer with an alternative. Why are people so dishonest? :eek:

All this fun and our current account is £6 into the red (well, kinda, we have loads of money in savings pots). I think our plans will be changing quite a lot soon, baby will change everything :A

I'm not moaning about the baby (who is eagerly awaited by all and will be a blessing), but it would be nice if Mrs E could realise that we won't be able to spirit away a £10k drop in income during mat leave over the course of an evening, no matter how hard I plan

Aaaaaaand breathe!

That sucks Ed But that's why we love you, you're not scared to admit you made mistakes etc, I imagine a lot of people would have tried to hide it somehow.

Tomorrow can only be better. Glass of homebrew tonight me thinks

Cal x

Lois_E

Calfuray wrote: »

That sucks Ed But that's why we love you, you're not scared to admit you made mistakes etc, I imagine a lot of people would have tried to hide it somehow.

Tomorrow can only be better. Glass of homebrew tonight me thinks

Cal x

What Cal said!

edinburgher

Alchemilla wrote: »

Maybe time to get Mrs E to consider the MSE approach to babies?

It's a blessing that Mrs E leaves me to organise the finances because it means they're optimised, but it's a curse as she doesn't realise that it sometimes involves tough choices and selective scrimping that I don't bore her with!

We'll get there, but it's very easy to get used to a certain level of income and very hard to drop back down.

you're not scared to admit you made mistakes etc

Thanks Cal, it's a relatively new tactic and I like it, the hard part is showing that you've changed something after the mistake to try and avoid it happening in future. Not convinced it's a good idea to admit fault in my workplace, a lot of people are so deep in denial about their problems that they're finding crocodiles! :rotfl:

Lois_E

edinburgher wrote: »

It's a blessing that Mrs E leaves me to organise the finances because it means they're optimised, but it's a curse as she doesn't realise that it sometimes involves tough choices and selective scrimping that I don't bore her with!

We'll get there, but it's very easy to get used to a certain level of income and very hard to drop back down.

Try to start dropping back down now, by siphoning off Mrs Ed's income (minus what she would get in mat pay) into a separate fund that she can then use for baby stuff - you don't have to get everything new, but you will need to spend some money on clothes and nappies and a car seat etc. Try to get her to realise that mat pay is not a temporary drop in income but a permanent one, because once she goes back to work you'll be paying shedloads in childcare, and then once they're old enough not to need paid childcare, they're teenagers who eat you out of house and home need all sorts of other stuff, so you won't be back up to your current level of affluence until your child(ren) are grown up and have jobs of their own! That makes it sound very dreadful, I know, but you will find that Baby Ed is worth all of it.

gallygirl

Lois_E wrote: »

you won't be back up to your current level of affluence until your child(ren) are grown up and have jobs of their own!

Then it's uni, house deposits etc. Basically Ed, life as you know it and money as you know it is over :rotfl:.

Bless the little pet

Lois_E

gallygirl wrote: »

Then it's uni, house deposits etc. Basically Ed, life as you know it and money as you know it is over :rotfl:.

Bless the little pet

I wasn't even going to mention the "life as you know it" bit yet. Give the poor man a chance to get used to the idea of having no money first... or maybe it's better to tell him now that he won't be able to go anywhere to spend anything, so it won't matter about not having any money. :rotfl:

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Evening Mr E, Lois has given you some sensible advice. I know it's difficult to get to know people 'virtually' but you come across as a shrewd and savvy guy.

Living on one salary now is an excellent idea. Build the reserves for maternity - none of us women know how we will feel after having a baby. Everyone has advice, but truly until you hold your baby in your arms, it's just guess work. Mrs E may decide she wants to be a SAHM, you may decide you want to be a house husband, she may decide she can't wait to get back to work etc. Who knows.

Your strength, determination and courage in owning the financials is a joy to see. I wish Mr T had been like you when he was younger

Life is bumpy with kids, but I'm sure for those without them, it's also bumpy, just different. However, having a child and helping them to grow into capable, independent people is a gift. From the Mr E we see here, you'll be fab and I'm sure Mrs E will be too.

Now may not be the right time to ask you about teaching - are you still considering this option?

No clue why I've written all this and I hope it doesn't come across the wrong way.

My very best wishes, Tilly

LydiaJ

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

Now may not be the right time to ask you about teaching - are you still considering this option?

Hello Edinburgher. Hope it's OK to drop in and join the conversation. :hello:

Just want to add to Tilly's comment by pointing out that teaching saves you an absolute fortune in childcare once any kids reach school age, because all the other parents have to pay for childcare in school holidays, and teachers don't, apart from occasional inset days etc.