Snaggles's Debt Diary - Car Loan Challenge

Sea78

Right Snaggles - out with it all

rog2

keren29 wrote: »

Good grief, she could take someone's eyes out with those!!
Saying that, I can't really talk

Well - she certainly won't break her nose if she falls over. :rotfl: :rotfl:

Snaggles

ZTD wrote: »

:rolleyes: It's funny - but everyone says that...

But have you got enough rubbish to fill it? That's the important part. You can't have a shed without a half-built bicycle, half-a-dozen bricks and an unknown metal tool that was built in 1953 in order to help fill it up - it's against the laws of nature.
We've got 6 random, mismatched bricks, an element for a cooker we no longer own, an indicator stem for a Nissan Micra, a rusty old barbecue, 3 sets of step ladders and a broken strimmer that hubby will fix 'soon'.....will that do?


"I cook with wine. Some days I even put it in the food..."

Why?

Are there no other jobs where you are that you would fancy the look of? What about other branches - either closer or further?
We haven't got branches - there are other jobs I would like where I work but a) I would really need to do another 12 months in this job before applying, and b) a lot of them would be awkward hours childcare-wise. But yes, the long term plan would be either to get a job I like more and stay with the same company, or maybe have a complete change of career.



Be careful of this - there will be a tendency to "load" onto the evenings you're not working - especially when your kids get older. You and Stu don't want to become like "ships passing in the night". You're not only a mother - you're a wife too.
Yes, you're right, although I'm only thinking of this as an 'interim plan', while I flounder around working out what I want to do for the rest of my life. Ryan and Natasha are my first priority, but a happy marriage is a close second.


Doesn't this mitigate against the advantages of cutting your hours down in the first place? i.e. not needing childcare?
Yes...lol! But I think it would be worth it if I found a career I loved, as the type of work I am thinking of would tend to be daytime (school) hours, so in the longer term would enable me to not need any childcare.

Have you always had a "great urge" to work with children? Why haven't you before?
No, it's sneaked up on me over the last few years. My experiences with looking after a 'difficult' child have made me think that perhaps if I can help Ryan, I could maybe help other children too. As an example, his teacher comments regularly that he can't focus on his work, rarely completes it on time, is easily distracted, untidy, his writing is illegible etc - but I have been doing lots of work with him during the school holidays, and the improvements he has made have been really quite significant.

Do you really get more tax credits for volunteer work?
Oh no, sorry, I just meant that because I would be earning the same as I am now, but paying for more childcare, I may get more help towards the cost.

Phew....there you go, does that cover everything?

Snaggles

Sea78 wrote: »

Right Snaggles - out with it all

:eek: Have I been noticeably grumpy? LOL!!

Well, things have been a bit crappy, but all being well things are improving again. That's why I haven't been updating much, but I'm getting back on track now....I hope.

ZTD

Snaggles wrote: »

ZTD wrote:

But have you got enough rubbish to fill it? That's the important part. You can't have a shed without a half-built bicycle, half-a-dozen bricks and an unknown metal tool that was built in 1953 in order to help fill it up - it's against the laws of nature.

We've got 6 random, mismatched bricks, an element for a cooker we no longer own, an indicator stem for a Nissan Micra, a rusty old barbecue, 3 sets of step ladders and a broken strimmer that hubby will fix 'soon'.....will that do?

You're getting there. But you need something you don't recognise but are keeping "just in case".

Otherwise the shed police will take you away...

Snaggles wrote: »

We haven't got branches - there are other jobs I would like where I work but a) I would really need to do another 12 months in this job before applying,

Why?

Snaggles wrote: »

and b) a lot of them would be awkward hours childcare-wise.

So go for the ones that aren't.

Snaggles wrote: »

ZTD wrote:

Have you always had a "great urge" to work with children? Why haven't you before?

No, it's sneaked up on me over the last few years.

Do you think it may be the hormones from the birth and the subsequent breast feeding may be slanting your view of it?

Snaggles wrote: »

My experiences with looking after a 'difficult' child have made me think that perhaps if I can help Ryan, I could maybe help other children too.

How deeply have you looked into this? What qualifications would you need?

Snaggles wrote: »

Phew....there you go, does that cover everything?

Just about...

postingalwaysposting

Snaggles wrote: »

:eek: Have I been noticeably grumpy? LOL!!

Well, things have been a bit crappy, but all being well things are improving again. That's why I haven't been updating much, but I'm getting back on track now....I hope.

spud30

ZTD wrote: »

How deeply have you looked into this? What qualifications would you need?

I work in a school, helping children with special educational needs - no qualifications needed.

Just a lot of patience, which I'm sure Snaggles has by the bucket load.

Snaggles

Right Zed, I've tried to do the 'quote within a quote' thingy, and I'm too 'tired' (read 'thick') to work it out, so I'll just answer your points one by one and hope it makes sense.

The reason I would have to do another 12 months in the job before applying for another job internally is partly because any sick time I had during my pregnancy (quite a bit :rolleyes:) will have dropped off my record by then (I know this shouldn't count against me, but I'm pretty sure it would be taken into account, even if they didn't admit it), and partly because I haven't really 'proved myself' in my current job yet. I haven't been in the job all that long, and since getting pregnant in August and having a major bereavement in January, I suppose I have just sort of coasted along, doing averagely well. To get another job at the same grade, I would really need to be doing better than average.

The majority of jobs at the place I work have weird shift patterns, which makes childcare difficult. The jobs that have 'good' shift patterns are very highly sought-after, and I don't feel as though I would have a chance in hell at the moment, for the reasons I mentioned above.

As far as working with children goes, I definitely think the hormones could be making the need to 'do something worthwhile' more intense, but I would say the idea has been niggling away at the back of my mind for 4 or 5 years, so it's not purely hormonal.

I have looked into it quite a bit in the past, but never really saw a way to make it work before - but I think I have a chance now to give it a try, without taking the risk of giving up a good job for something that, at the end of the day, there's a possibility I might end up not liking anyway.

I wouldn't need any qualifications initially (particularly to volunteer as a parent helper), although if I found I really loved it, there are courses I could do in order to become more specialised.

Please keep the questions and comments coming though if you have any, as it's important for me to make sure that I HAVE considered it carefully, and don't rush blindly into anything.

Snaggles

Spud, I think we have chatted before about the job you do, and it just sounds so rewarding. I know Ryan would really benefit from some extra support in the classroom, but because he doesn't have a definite diagnosis yet, and even if he gets one, he will be classed as 'high functioning' (I think that's what they call it), it's unlikely he will get any help.

I will keep working with him though, and hopefully he will be able to continue to cope with mainstream education. I have looked at home-schooling, but one of his issues is that his social skills are not very good, and I think the social aspect of school will be quite important in tackling this as he gets older.

Snaggles

Don't you just hate being the only one that can't sleep??

Suppose I'd better confess to buying a lovely pair of sparkly silver sandals then, while no-one is around to hear me... :whistle: :silenced: