*sigh* this may take a while

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Thanks all.
We had a lovely Christmas, very chilled.  Did a full roast with all the trimmings, played board games, helped assemble new toys etc for youngest two, watched Christmas films.  Ate a lot, drank a lot etc etc
Still got a few weeks off before starting in new hospital... both old trust and new trust are very keen for staff at the moment (for obvious reasons).. I do wonder if I should offer to do some hours, but the last few months have left me feeling drained and part of me feels I should make use of this time off to recoup some energy.  Plus if they keep schools shut (annoying!) then I'll need to home school.  Ho hum, will ponder.
Am working on a budget for 2021 and spending some time thinking of things I want to aim for in the new year

mark55man

I think I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to volunteer.  It's not all quite on the point of collapse now, and you may be needed later when it is.  I think reinforcements then might be much more welcome

For different reasons, this year has been the hard work for me in terms of challenge and volume, and I have three weeks off (1 gone 2 to go). You need to recharge and rebalance, I will be doing lots of chores etc in the new year but for now it is bliss chilling with the family and I think you need some of that too

savingholmes

I agree with the resting while you can philosophy - whatever that looks like for you. I think when you go back to work things will be intense for quite some time. 

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Thanks Mark and SH.... the NHS are very good at guilting you, even when you're on annual leave I think it's going to be another looooong year.  
Agreed, time off is still full of chores and childcare, but I enjoy pottering around at home.  It's sad to admit, but I'm not missing going out all that much, my preference is to hibernate when it's cold anyway!

savingholmes

I typically hibernate in winter too. Oh well better safe than sorry this year. 

lucielle

I like being at home but get fed up of being the only one who notices the mess
L

ohdearhowdidthathappen

savingholmes said:

I typically hibernate in winter too. Oh well better safe than sorry this year. 

Definitely

lucielle said:

I like being at home but get fed up of being the only one who notices the mess
L

Same! Very frustrating... things like empty loo rolls being left in bathroom! Or another pet hate is stuff i leave on stairs to be taken up... it may as well be invisible 

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Happy New Year everyone, wishing you all health and happiness in 2021

ohdearhowdidthathappen

ohdearhowdidthathappen said:

So I've been looking back to the start of my diary from this time last year and overall I'd say progress has been a bit stagnant.

Finances
We've paid off £36.5k of unsecured debt, but £30k was added to mortgage, so doesn't really count :rotfl:
On the plus side; we haven't increased our debt at all and are living comfortably within our means, we didn't increase the mortgage term and we're making overpayments to mitigate some of the increase.

House
Loads of work done on the house, I'd estimate about £6k spent over the year. It's looking good, with defined projects for the future rather than the whole place looking a bit dodgy like it did last year in the wake of the major extension!

Work
Some decisions made, streamlining done. I'm earning the same money, but for less hours and I only have one side hustle now. I average 28 hours pw work and only work two weekend days a month. I still don't want to work in healthcare long term, but until I can find a job that pays the same, I'm stuck in it. At least until I don't have childcare costs to factor in

Health
Annoyingly, I'm the same weight I was last year. I didn't give my health the focus it needed this year, my BMI is in the healthy range (23.5), but I'm a stone heavier than I want to be. I also still drink too much wine and am prone to sitting on my bum rather than exercising!

Life/Kids

My littlest started school this year, major landmark for us.
Entitled teen is as entitled as ever, but I'm learning how to deal with her better.
I'm feeling stronger with dealing with losing my Dad, it's over 18 months ago now and have struggled through all the 'firsts'.
All in all life is good

Thought I'd look at last year's summary to see how I've done and make some plans for 2021.  Funny how some things have changed completely and others not at all
Finances 
We cleared the remaining £8.5k debt in 2020 and haven't built any back up, which is great.  We paid for Christmas completely upfront too, which we were chuffed with. 
2021 - We are still rubbish at saving however and this will be our main financial goal this year.
House
Similar spent again this year, we decorated our room and one of our DC, plus hall/stairs/landing.  Also did a lot of work in the garden, with a new patio and shed.
2021 - we hope to do our bathroom, which we expect to cost £8k as it's a big room and needs reconfiguring.  Whether we get it done early or late 2021 will be dependent on whether OH gets a bonus in February
Work
Further streamlining done, now working 22.5 hours pw and 1 weekend day a month for slightly more money overall. 
2021 - pleased with this and not expecting any major changes this year
Health 
Completely unchanged although I guess not putting on weight could be seen as a plus.... I did actually lose some weight, but put it back on Oct/Nov/Dec.  I have been hitting 8-10K steps a day though.
Also having had covid and not being too ill with it, I was grateful that I was healthy (lucky?) enough to be unaffected.
2021 - same goal as last year, lose a stone and drink less booze, try to exercise more
Life/kids
Entitled teen is still entitled, but more pleasant about it
We got a dog!  That's had its pros and cons
2021 - we've enjoyed the extra time we're getting with the children and looking forward to doing the same this year.

mark55man

That's a good list - you mentioned pensions on my thread - generally working for NHS you are fine - not quite sure if you still are or private.  But even if the latter you can always move back if this topic is of interest:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6226916/nhs-additional-payments-is-it-worth-it/p1 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your break - I'm still off for a week myself catching up from 2020 although my long list of chores is not an attractive proposition I have to say