Getting a Grip on 2013

Kepp

Yay for your OH getting the contract! :j

Cinny91

Thanks Beccie

Feeling barely refreshed after this weekend. I was jokingly complaining to OH about how I "mareswell be dead if these are the best years of my life" and the next thing I'm crying about how I'm tired all the time :rotfl: whoops So he put me in the bath, then put me to bed for an hour - because I am actually a toddler. Then when I came downstairs he'd tidied up, had Ryder out, lit a bunch of candles and let me watch Country File. And this morning he was up before me, cleaning the kitchen and seeing to Ryder. I don't have it too bad really

Had a really busy weekend though. Was working both days, and had two trips to the city. One for our sofa (more about that in a second!) and another for some new work clothes for me. I did, however, almost DIE. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, one moment I'm browsing the chilled spring roll selection and the next?! The next there's a stampede of people going for the reduced meat :eek: I did nab a £1.25 reggae pizza for OH's tea tonight, a massive pack of mince for £2, some posh sausages for 70p.. I even pushed pass the bully shoppers (you know, the ones who take everything) grabbed some extras and handed them out at the back. I was like Jesus.

As for the sofa, we picked one! We won't be getting it until about September time, so we opted for a 15 month finance option - and they start taking payments a month after we get the sofa. So around October time, at a guess. Was a little bit eugh at the idea of finance, but it's 0% and they take the payments like a mortgage does so we can overpay as and when. Our aim is to just pay it off in the second month - as if we were to wait until we had the money to order it there's a chance we wouldn't get it by Crimmus time. This is the one we picked in the end It's leather look, made from the same fabric as our current sofa - you get the plushy leather look but don't stick in summer! - and it's so comfy. Very excited!

Other than that, not much to report from the weekend. I finally got a shedding brush for Ryder, so while our garden is covered in balls on husky fur (leaving for nesting, it's going slowly!) our house isn't and he looks less neglected for half the brushing time. I never thought I'd say it but - I love a brush!

Barely been up 5 hours though, and I'm yawning away I shouldn't be daydreaming about my bed already! :rotfl: Planning a power nap when I get home, and have some pro-plus ready for the taking! While it's knackering, I just need to push through. Once it's light when I wake up, and still light when I'm going home, I know I'll find these shifts so much easier. I can deal with being a zombie a little bit longer.

Kepp

Ooo, lovely new sofa Cinny :j

With regards the hours - when I was first tackling debt I ended up working 100 hour weeks over a combination of 4 jobs so I know how hard it can be, I was a crying mess more than a few times

Make sure you get plenty of sleep, eat well etc to make it easier on yourself. And let your OH look after you!

Cinny91

I really have no reason to complain at half those hours, Beccie! How long did you do that for, and more importantly how on earth did you manage it?! That's like 14+ hour days, everyday - right?

Came home and crashed last night, but I stopped at Le Asda for lots of bananas. I'll admit my go-to thing when I'm in a rush and hungry is bread and lashings of butter So I'm going to snack on bananas instead Also going to get some crispbread thins and make up a big pot of soup to keep my tum happy at dinnertime - I can also bring a thermos of it with my to work on my late shifts so I'm not going to bed late on a full stomach and waking up early needing to wash the pots (I'm the slob that leaves them ) Also culling my tea intake, going for water or herbal tea. I think I just need to make some better choices food wise and I'll feel better for it.

My house currently looks like a science experiment. I have Ryder's bed sheets chillin' in the kitchen sink, the racks from the oven soaking in bleach in the bath

Spoke to my Mum last night, as Mums have the ability to make every situation right and I've decided to keep on working my bum off while I can, if I drop possible hours now I'll regret it when my hours get cut back. Also, like OH mentioned, our goals of getting our own home are only really attainable if we can be saving £1000 a month as soon as we're debt free. I can sleep when I'm living mortgage free by 30! Our plan is to save hard for 3, maybe 4, years and have a deposit big enough that we can take a house on in one of the "posher" villages - and just to be difficult we want 5+ rooms as we want to be able to take our Parents in one day (many, many years from now!) and maybe our Grandparents. Plus the obvious sprogs! (fingers crossed)

No major plans for today. Working until 1pm then I'm planning a long de-stressing walk with Ryder, cleaning the oven and I might even take a hack at STP for some extra pennies if I get time

Cinny91

Well, they're advertising! Funny how I was getting worn out, running on empty, at the weekend and now I'm in a panic. How dare they make me work less I've worked my wages out until my overtime gets taken away and I should earn £500(ish) over the next 2 weeks from them. So I've told OH we're on an economy drive to save as much as that as possible.

I'm hoping I can re-work a few things, and not lose out on too much money because of it. The family company would benefit from having an extra 6 hours a week thrown at it, and I'm also going to push to keep my Monday shift and drop the Friday one instead as, besides the Monday shift being more hours, I could do with spending a full day at my Grandparents on a Friday to help out in the garden now the weather's better. And I know things like cleaning out cupboards, giving the woodwork a proper clean down etc, need doing in the Spring.

Other than that I'm just going to get creative! I'm hoping to still bring £200+ a week in, but until the end of May we need to be saving £100 a week - I'll just need to get creative to make it happen

I've also decided to not get my birthday guitar! I just know I won't have the time and I don't need the clutter. So I thought hard about things that I need and want, so I asked my Parents for a nice gilet Whild Child. Seeing how they're the only ones who ask me what I'd like! And I know they're skimming costs with getting their house sale-ready, and a nice one only costs about £30, so I'm not expecting any where near what they normally spend on us for our Birthdays. Although I did say vouchers would be nice, just something that can't get soaked up into bills or savings

Working until 1pm again today. Nice to have reclaimed my afternoons! I need to go do some shopping for my Grandad, and get some bits in for us (trying to only spend £40, but I'm going to Morrisons and it all smells nice ... bar the fish counter _pale_) I was had last week though, got charged £18 for the frying pan I thought was £9. I don't think there's much I can do!

Kepp

Cinny91 wrote: »

I really have no reason to complain at half those hours, Beccie! How long did you do that for, and more importantly how on earth did you manage it?! That's like 14+ hour days, everyday - right?

I didn't so much manage as forget what sleep was like, drink too much coffee and lose a lot of weight I lasted 6 months before cutting down. 70 hours a week felt like a holiday after that!

The thing you need to remember is that working lots of hours is harder when you do it over more than one job - balancing the shifts, travelling between each one etc. So don't be too hard on yourself!

For the frying pan - was it marked on the shelf as £9? Could be worth speaking to customer services if it was.

Dinah93

Is that 5+ rooms or bedrooms? 5 bedrooms would be one heck of a first home! (says she realising she had 4 bedrooms when there were only 2 of us).

If working more hours gets you to where you want to be then do it, it's all about priorities, and if having the house is most important to you right now then sacrificing some free time will be worth it in the long run.

Cinny91

Dinah93 wrote: »

Is that 5+ rooms or bedrooms? 5 bedrooms would be one heck of a first home! (says she realising she had 4 bedrooms when there were only 2 of us).

5 bedrooms ideally 2 family sized bathrooms too. It'll be pretty much an open home to our family and friends, so the more space the better!

And I am sacrificing, don't you worry but once the new person starts (is it sexist to assume it'll be a woman?!) it's kind of out of my hands for a while, until the clinic opens its hours up at least. OH is already saying he's looking forward to actually seeing me in the evenings. Popped £100 in savings today, so there's the progress right there! Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else, right? thanks for the pep talk, I need them!!

Glad you understand Beccie! I was trying to explain to OH how working more than one job is just double or triple everything. Was hearing on the radio today how more and more people my age are working lots of part time jobs because full time work just isn't there, I think we're heading towards a mass mental breakdown by the sounds of some people they interviewed!

Dinah93

My brother works two part time jobs, 21 hours in total at job 1 2-8pm Weds and all day sat and sunday, and then he works Tue and Thursday 9pm to 3am as well, while it's only 33 hours working so late would really throw me personally.

tinkerbel

Wow Cinny I dont know how you do it!
Are you still going to do more training for your bookkeeping thing? I was just thinking that the way I see it is.. you work more hours or you earn more per hour (if you know what I mean?) and i thought there was talk of potentially getting your family company to send you to training? I just feel bad for you working so many hours! I've been there (but just long hours at one job) and i dont like it and I can't believe youre doing it over so many work places!