SoF - any advice

[Deleted User]

vickthestick wrote: »

That's a great car tax!

Actually it's not that unusual.

Mine's only £30 per year.

seldom_use

Thanks so much guys, I really appreciate this.

So a bit more on our situation. My partner is a college lecturer, he has just recently been given permenancy, which he’s been holding out for 3/4 years to get. It’s a great job, but all about sticking it out until the decent hours become available and you’re made permanent. His hours fluctuate depending on the block, and at the moment he is part time which is less than ideal.

I have been studying since August whilst on maternity leave to make a change in career. If I go back to work full time then childcare costs will eat up a lot of my just over minimum wage job. At the moment, childcare is funded on the days my partner works by my college.

My car and car maintenance is all paid for and taken care of by my father who owns a car garage. The only expense for me is tax and insurance.

So I have checked out the mobile phones and the next one isn’t up until June this year, but we will definitely switch to sim only when they all run out. We have started doing packed lunches and meal planning too. I’m not convinced that it will be enough, especially now that my maternity pay has stopped and the debts are so large.

I am waiting on a pack coming out from StepChange.

seldom_use

Again in regards to our tv package, I agree it is ridiculous and is hugely underused actually. However we’re in contract with it also, I will contact sky tomorrow to try and reduce the package and explain the situation. As someone said previously, all we can do is ask.

I should reiterate that we have buried our heads in the sand for a long, long time, we’ve lived way beyond our means because sometimes depending on the hours my partner had, we had more money, sometimes we had less. It has been a very immature way to act, and now I really am starting to see that there is a way out of it and that we can start doing things properly. We’ve got used to living a certain way, ie, popping to the shops when we needed to rather than doing a big shop, having a takeaway when we felt like it. We both understand that it does need to stop.

Again, I really do appreciate your help and advice. Thankyou.

theoretica

Can your partner find tutoring work to fill in to the equivalent of a full time job? Worth looking if he could do exam marking too.

seldom_use

theoretica wrote: »

Can your partner find tutoring work to fill in to the equivalent of a full time job? Worth looking if he could do exam marking too.

Great idea. Unfortunately he is a photography lecturer so tutoring probably wouldn’t work, however he has been thinking about photographing privately to make up the deficit this year. (Weddings etc.) His mental health and physical health are not great at the moment, so I’m trying not to push him too hard, but this would be ideal if he was able to bring in a bit extra.

vickthestick

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Actually it's not that unusual.

Mine's only £30 per year.

Wow. I guess because we have two really old vehicles, one of which is a diesel van, we are paying a lot for this!

nkkingston

seldom_use wrote: »

Great idea. Unfortunately he is a photography lecturer so tutoring probably wouldn’t work, however he has been thinking about photographing privately to make up the deficit this year. (Weddings etc.) His mental health and physical health are not great at the moment, so I’m trying not to push him too hard, but this would be ideal if he was able to bring in a bit extra.

Just a word of warning - weddings are hard to break into, and require 15+ hours on your feet, plus many, many hours editing afterwards. If he wants to do weddings he should look for an established photographer and sask if they'll take him on as a second shooter (so if you've got one photographer with the bride getting ready, the other does the groom, and when one's doing portraits the other's getting pictures of the other guests mingling, etc).

He might find family photos easier to manage, but you need a space to do that in, either employed by a studio or kitting out somewhere in your home for it.

Has he considered taking stock photos? That's lower impact and more flexible, and though there's not a lot of money in any single shot, a good portfolio on one of the stock websites means there's a steady trickle coming in. Someone's got to provide fresh new images of women laughing at salad, after all!

Having said all that, I bet there is a demand out there for a photography tutor. We're off to scandinavia on honeymoon next month, and honestly, I'd consider paying for one! Has he looked into local evening schools and U3A? Especially if he can teach techniques that are hard to teach yourself, like low lighting and night photography.

seldom_use

He has done wedding photography in the past, and would pay one of his students to be second shooter. He stopped doing weddings a couple of years ago to focus on lecturing, because as you say it’s very hard work.

I will mention to him about tutoring, we’ve never considered that there may be a demand for this.

Thanks

seldom_use

vickthestick wrote: »

Wow. I guess because we have two really old vehicles, one of which is a diesel van, we are paying a lot for this!

Hi there, not sure if this is a dig at our car. It is a 2016 plate so yes, relatively new. The car was gifted to me from my father to ensure I wasn’t paying out for a car every month, so it took some pressure off.