Are there any rules on this?

sacha28

Bobarella wrote: »

Sacha - is there no other way of getting to and from work? I gave up our car in august & have pretty much walked everywhere since. I find I can now easily walk 4 miles in an hour and enjoy the exercise. But I am able to walk on safe pavements rather than country roads so this may also make a difference.

Morning bobarella there really is no other way of getting to work. We are quite rural (a wonderful setting but maybe more rural than we would have originally wanted but it was one of only a very few houses available in our price range when we were ready to move) and the nearest bus stop is just over 3 miles away. My place of work is approx 8 miles away, so too far to walk and if I attempted to cycle I would probably arrest before I got to work Besides that, the last bus to the nearest bus stop leaves at 7.30pm and I work 8am-8.30pm so this isn't a viable option and I start my night shifts at 8pm so again, not really an option.

Just to answer questions about my finances.......we moved here at the end of July for career progression (my career). This has, however, been marred by the fact that the training post I moved here for didn't actually exist (awaiting the outcome of grievance hearing as we speak) and they placed my on the wrong payscale as people hadn't done filled in correct paperwork. This was coupled with the fact my OH couldn't get a job down here and ended up having to continue to work at his old place but reduce his hours so he could work 2 12 hour shifts together, limiting the amount of travelling he should do. Between us we have lost nearly £1000 per month in wages, travel costs have increased, we still have to pay shed loads for childcare and we are still getting ourselves straight after the over £2k moving costs we incurred.

A bit of a blow considering we got to the point in our old jobs where we would get to the end of the month with money still left over from the previous month's wages this was for the 1st in our 6 year relationship that we hadn't struggled so massively.

So EVERY penny is accounted for and, if there is something that means we have a little bit of money left, it will be spent on what we would call essentials.

I hope this clears a little of the wondering about our circumstances and helps some people understand how an increase of a mere £20 per month will have a huge impact on us.

patman99

Sacha28, you pay less than £1 per day to park. Think yourself lucky. There are a lot of folks who have to pay to park in rail station carparks and town centre car parks as part of their daily travel.
If your place of work is handily located within walking distance of your local town, bonus. Free parking when you go shopping.

As for firewood. Do you have an industrial estate near your house/place of work ?. Ask around as there are many places who would be glad to off-load their scrap pallets as they have to pay to get rid of them if they go in the skip.
Also, you can make your own logs out of scrap paper using a log-maker. These work best if you use a cross-cut shredder to chop the paper up prior to soaking in water (used bath water can be used). They don't burn as well as wood, but can help reduce the costs a lot.

sacha28

patman99 wrote: »

Sacha28, you pay less than £1 per day to park. Think yourself lucky. There are a lot of folks who have to pay to park in rail station carparks and town centre car parks as part of their daily travel.
If your place of work is handily located within walking distance of your local town, bonus. Free parking when you go shopping.

Well no actually patman, it would cost me less than £1 per day to park if I worked every day of the month. I work 3x 13 hour days/nights per week so on an average 4 week month it would cost me £12 per month if I paid £1 a day would it not?

And I don't count ANYONE who has to pay on a hospital site 'lucky', I personally think it's bloody disgraceful that they exhort from the ill and their vulnerable families and the staff employed to care for them/save their lives.

And do you know what really takes the mick with all of this? The 2 fields that have been turned into a staff car park were donated by a very grateful farmer after he was saved following an accident. He handed them over on the basis that staff would never have to pay for parking......he died a number of years ago and before he was even cold they started charging staff to park there. His family have been in a legal battle to regain possession of those fields as they are disgusted they have gone against his wishes.

Anything for a quick buck huh?

glentoran99

sacha28 wrote: »

Well no actually patman, it would cost me less than £1 per day to park if I worked every day of the month. I work 3x 13 hour days/nights per week so on an average 4 week month it would cost me £12 per month if I paid £1 a day would it not?

And I don't count ANYONE who has to pay on a hospital site 'lucky', I personally think it's bloody disgraceful that they exhort from the ill and their vulnerable families and the staff employed to care for them/save their lives.

And do you know what really takes the mick with all of this? The 2 fields that have been turned into a staff car park were donated by a very grateful farmer after he was saved following an accident. He handed them over on the basis that staff would never have to pay for parking......he died a number of years ago and before he was even cold they started charging staff to park there. His family have been in a legal battle to regain possession of those fields as they are disgusted they have gone against his wishes.

Anything for a quick buck huh?[/QUOTE]

depends on what they are using money for, i know the parking charges in my local hospital are actually used towards patient care

Tixy

Cashflow wise their new proposal to pay over the last 9months of the year means your cash position will be better off each month cumulatively (assuming they correct the 9month total is still £360).

I think it would be reasonable of you or any employee to ask them to take 3months payments in a lump sum this month and then take the remainder over the remaining months as per the original agreement.

From the sound of it you would struggle to do that, but some of your colleagues may prefer that option.

Bobarella

Sacha you do sound like you have had a very difficult transition period into your new life. I can only say I really hope things improve for you and your family soon. Good luck.

dancingfairy

I think you will end up paying for the 3 months somehow - either paying £90 for the months you have missed then paying as you had planned, or by spreading the total out across more months to catch up. The problem is you can't really spread it anymore as it would eat into next year and you would never catch up.
It is regrettable that you had the money earmarked for such a purpose and then decided to use it for something else but that was your choice at that time (I can understand how tempting it must be to use money that seemed 'spare' to pay for heating, thankfully I have never been in that position, it must be very difficult).
Can you car share at all? Could you bike (either pushbike or motorbike or moped?).
Can you save money anywhere else? I believe the oldstyleboard is good for cheap recipes and general frugal living such as how to get cheap heating/free firewood etc.
df

littleangels3

From what I can see theyre not disputing the £30 a month arrears just the fact the price is going up to £40/50 a month, I know myself having worked at a hospital in the past how annoying it is to pay for staff permit when youre going to care for patients, many hospitals I have heard provide free parking for their staff whether that's true or not I don't know anyway hope you manage to get it sorted and sorry your having such a hard time at the moment x

Witless

Are you a union member? If so, what's their take on this?

For comparassion purposes, if I park beside work it costs £18.00 per day. I'd happily pay £50.00 per month.

peaceandfreedom

littleangels3 wrote: »

From what I can see theyre not disputing the £30 a month arrears just the fact the price is going up to £40/50 a month, I know myself having worked at a hospital in the past how annoying it is to pay for staff permit when youre going to care for patients, many hospitals I have heard provide free parking for their staff whether that's true or not I don't know anyway hope you manage to get it sorted and sorry your having such a hard time at the moment x

Lots of people do very worthy jobs and they still have to pay for parking, not sure why hospital staff should be an exception to this. Though from what Sacha says, with no alternative parking anywhere nearby, it does seem they are exploiting a captive market, so to speak. It also seems very underhand to start charging staff for parking on land that was generously donated to the hospital to provide free staff parking - that really is not acceptable and I hope the family win their case.

I do agree though that it's tough for patients and visitors to pay for parking at hospitals, especially those who are in hospital for a long time or who are being treated over many months. I suppose hospitals have to try to make money where they can but it can be a source of extra stress at an already stressful time.

I personally have a great aversion to ever paying for parking - for most towns I visit, I have sussed out places to park that are free all day. It usually means a longer walk to the shops but I don't mind that.

If I were in Sacha's position of having no choice but to pay for parking, I'd be a bit hacked off, to be honest. I would prefer to put £30 a month to other uses or at least have the choice.