Preparing for the biggest move of our life

fieldend

@bellevie: please don't increase your commute, time with kids is so precious! Mine increased recently from half an hour to 1+ hours - I didn't have any say in it, the company I worked for moved locations. I'm dreading it, we leave home 7:30am and are back 6:30-6:45pm. My DD is 7 and I'm away 11 hours per day, it's killing us to the point where I'm now looking for new jobs (a bit risky as I have high debt).

bellevie

Oh so sorry for you Fieldend! I hope you find something soon!

I don't think I could do it anyway, my current commute is 45 minutes, luckily the last 15 minutes DD is at least with me in the car, I still resent that time I'm not with her after a long day.

fieldend

Thanks, I requested to work from home 2 days per week, if that's approved it will be easier on both of us.

Best of luck with buying your own place, it's so good not to have to move, at least one worry off my chest!

PS. Subscribed to your thread

bellevie

Glad to see your request has been approved fieldend, if you secure the same days off everyweek, will that reduce your childcare costs slightly?

bellevie

Good day today, work was busy.

Once I was in, it actually felt quite nice to be back, I think the week break done me good.

Thanks to a short term, only 5 more weeks till my next few days off!

I've got a super annoying eye twitch that's been going on for at least 4 days, driving me mad! I've only had it once when my director sprang some important visitors on me without warning some years ago - never forgotten it! That time it was solid, now it is on and off every few hours.

I read it could be caffeine or stress - I definitely haven't been stressed this past week, though I may have had a few more coffees than I should have so need to reign that in a little.

Nothing else to update really, I'm super tired so think I will treat myself to an early night!

fieldend

@bellevie: it does sound like too much caffeine (or sugar?).

I'm looking forward to the next break as well, although I'm not really taking much time off, my DD will be in a day camp for the most part.

My childcare costs won't decrease as I'm using the school's afterschool care, which is fixed costs per term. Plus, the privilege of WFH-ing 2 days per week can be withdrawn at any time.. and if I have any client meetings or important internal meetings on those 2 days I still need to go to the office, so I can't really drop any childcare days temporarily (if I do, I'll never get them back, there's a huge wait list).

MuffinTops

Hello bellevie. I get the intermittent eye twitch too which, for me, means I need more sleep. Catching up on sleep always cures it for me. I hope that's all yours is too. MTxx

bellevie

Could definitely be sugar we ate far to much chocolate this half term!

I know what you mean re the childcare, Monday - weds is crazy at DD's school, I wont give those days up as I wont get them back. Thursday & friday are quieter, but still no guarantee of getting them back.
I've since been trying to take 1 late start a week (9.30) and I save myself £3.50 on breakfast club as its pay as you go.

catriona79

bellevie wrote: »

That's a good thought Catriona - the one that keeps coming back to me.

I was just having a look today, trying to calculate how far I'd have to move out to be able to save without my savings going on fuel.

Theres also the issue that school breakfast clubs tend to open at 8, and after school club finishes at 6, so Id have to be able to make it to / from work within an hour during rush hour, as the town I work in is stupidly busy, it doesn't give me much time once I'm out of the main town centre.

Id be concerned about moving dd to a different school in a different town only to pull her out to a completely different area again for school.

So I was thinking, realistically what I could afford on my wages. The properties coming up tend to be in 2 towns in the same direction, about 45 minutes from work. So if I can find somewhere to rent that allows me to save and be in the area I can afford to stay in, it gives me longer to adjust to the area, settle in before dd starts school.

Only a miracle would keep me in this beautiful place, even on the housing officers salary which is quite an increase from min, by myself I couldn't afford to stay.

The thing is to move, I need 6 weeks deposit, initial months rent, admin fees & removal costs. Usually adds up to around £3000, Il get just over half that back from my deposit in this place, and the extra amount if I save £100 a month on rent (assuming fuel doesnt eat into this) then I'd make up spends in around 10 months. Or If I get my £3000 target in a year, this stays put and I'm a year closer to my target.

I have contemplated leaving completely and restarting everything, cheap area to rent and to buy but I couldn't leave without a job and its hard to go for interviews long distance and get back for end of school!

Oh I don't know. It just goes round and round in my head!

Hello,

That all sounds good and a fair bit of research done already. You're probably going to keep researching - I know a fellow INFJ when I see one! :beer:

Good luck with the saving - you're already over 10% there, and it's only February.

It's tough about the commute distance... I guess DD school can be changed more easily Thant your job... Of course there's the question of when is best to move her, age wise, if you were going to do that. So many difficult decisions... Does she make friends easily?

Agree that it's important to spend as little on renting as possible, and moving is expensive. I guess you'll always get the deposit back, but goodness me, the rest of it costs a lot... You know the market around you well, and you're also looking at more affordable areas.

I have to say that I went for all I could afford, and I'm ok now, but only because I'm renting out two rooms. For a while, it was tough after I'd overextended myself. That's my experience, so I'm sharing it... But everyone is different, and it got easier in the end.

I have no doubt that you will do nothing without a careful think! Good luck :T

MuffinTops

bellevie wrote: »

Could definitely be sugar we ate far to much chocolate this half term!

That's got me thinking as whenever I'm particularly tired I think I tend to eat a lot of sugar! Hmm, maybe an experiment is required here.

A later start and money saved sounds perfect. MTx