Wow, things are a bit different

LondonLiz

Already falling into bad old habits again, working late, buying something naughty (tonight it was corn chips) to snack on the way home as hungry then getting home too late to cook properly so eating badly. Veggies have not been a daily part of the diet, less alone 5 a day. Over the past week I've scoffed bacon sandwiches on white bread, crumpets and chocolate. Tonight I ate over half a pot of M&S custard. Don't ask me why (well it was yellow stickered......) now I have a stomach ache from all that dairy and sugar & trying not to think about the calories.

Had an alcohol free weekend and got to the gym once so that's something. But must try harder.

I must book a dentist appointment. I've put it off for months as I now have a bit of a phobia from previous bad experiences but the tooth with the missing filling is getting a bit sensitive. I'll also need a new nightguard as I grind my teeth badly, probably main reason I lost the filling, and the old one is about to snap in half so all up it will cost nearly £500. From savings I hasten to add.

The Storm Brendan wind is horrendous!, I almost got blown over walking home and its gusting so loudly against our flats. Hope it calms down overnight.

beanielou

I ate a whole pot of said custard tonight~~also yellow stickered funnily enough!!

LondonLiz

Beanie - my partner in yellow-stickered custardy crimes! And when i said 'over half' that was code for "all the pot barring a nominal inch or 2 at the bottom". Hence not checking the calorie load!

enthusiasticsaver

Welcome back and good you have a job to stop you dipping into your savings further. I think everyone gets those moments in life where they feel burnt out and stressed and want to go in a different direction and it is very brave of you to leave a well paid job and you had the luxury of savings and no debt so put yourself in the best position to do that. It is always easier to job hunt when you are in work so hopefully you will have more luck this year in getting the right thing. I did it in the 90s although I was married so we did have a wage coming in and I retrained for a different industry for a year with a free training course. Sadly I don't think those are available any more.

Taking your own lunch is much cheaper and saving that £55 a month gives you more than £600 towards a holiday.

LondonLiz

Hi Enthusiastic saver (great name BTW)
I was very glad to get another job. I've done forensic anaysis o my spending and it costs me £1795 per month just to live in my flat - mortgage, service charge, utilities and a small amount of maintenance. Add on some food, transport and even very modest entertainment and I was spending over £2K per month from savings. Now back into job hunting so I don't have a another big gap once this contract ends.
I would retrain if like you I knew what I wanted to do as an alternative career! I have friends who retrained as teachers, or got higher qualifications to specialise but I can't find anything I want to do that much. Like lots of people I fell into my current career a bit by accident and although I do mostly enjoy it and think I am fairly good at it, there are times I feel a bit trapped. But I just don't have any passions to follow or that would justify starting again, possibly at a lower salary, in something different. The best I can do when I go back to a perm role is find a job that is focused on the bits I like the most and has nice work colleagues/good benefits.
Definitely targeting the work lunches as an areas I can reduce. Obviously it might push up the grocery spending but I could probably halve it with some effort & planning ahead. Also looking to reduce alcohol at home spending. I spend about £30-40 per month including when having friends over but I want to drink less anyway so win/win. I've got a nearly full bottle of gin and 3 bottles left over from Christmas so that should last a while!

LondonLiz

Finally went to the dentist today, after work, and still recovering. It wasn't totally traumatic but as usual I needed 2 top ups of anaesthetic before I was fully pain free and the drilling could start . One large filling, 2 xrays and one very numb face later and I am £265 worse off. And next week another £350+ for a full clean with more anaesthetic as the teeth are so sensitive, plus a fitting for a new night guard. So I've eaten something soft and now waiting for the dribbling to stop.

Went to Aldi afterwards and did a small shop for lunches and a few dinners. At a training course tomorrow with full 3 course lunch provided (was very nice last time I went on something) but out for drinks in the evening so that'll balance out if not be a bit of a deficit. I'm meeting an ex-colleague from my old company, who left last year a few months after me, also with no job to go to to. Though I suspect she got some sort of pay off based on all the signs and knowing who she reported to. Will be interesting to hear the whole story as so many people have gone over the last year it definitely shows the problem was bigger than just me and my job.

It's going to be an expensive month on the entertainment front. Spent £17 at the pub on the weekend with a friend in need as he's having trouble at work. To be fair he bought lunch & some drinks, I then bought 2 more overpriced glasses of red wine - blasted gastro pubs. And I also have a lunch and a show thing this coming weekend. Ticket and food is free as someone can't go and has given me their ticket, but will have to buy drinks. Doubt I can be strong enough to stick to tap water!

savingholmes

Just popping along to say hello. I too have left jobs I hated in the past with less of a cushion to fall back on. It always worked out eventually but at times like you found it was a scary ride. Keep posting.

LondonLiz

Back again. Been reading lots of diaries just not posting myself.

 It's been a bit of a busy month work wise and I've had weeks of a low level head cold and for about 2 weeks could also not shake a quite bad sinus headache that took constant drugs to keep at bay.  Now I think I have post viral fatigue as I’m constantly tired and running out of energy easily. I've had it before about 12 years ago & I had to have 4 weeks off work and it took at least 2 months to bounce back. So far I have not needed any time off work and am still getting to the gym at least once a week.  I know I need a break but current contract ends in 5 weeks so I cannot really go on holiday until I know what’s happening job wise in April.  Nothing lined up yet unfortunately though starting to get some more applications out for temp roles out now.  Not much around on the perm front though. 

It was a bit of an expensive month as I ended up buying a new mattress for £580 as I've been getting bad backache for months and old one was 11+years old. It’s lovely, UK made, proper double sided, pocket sprung with a layer of latex on top and 2 weeks in so far it’s helped enormously already. I found the company from one of the other forums as I was dithering between some of the cheaper bed-in-a-box latex/memory foam ones and another pocket sprung but these were really expensive. This felt a real bargain and you still get 60 days to try it or return free.  I do need to buy some MDF sheets to go on the bed slats though as the company recommend doing this if you don’t have a divan base  – the old mattress had ridges where it had sagged in between the slats which apparently is a common problem as they are usually too far apart.  Had never occurred to me really.    The MDF is a hassle though with no car and getting it cut to size & delivered in London is not straightforward or cheap.

Also spend nearly £500 at the dentist.   Filling was a bit traumatic - had to have loads of anaesthetic injections, and the jaw ached for nearly a week afterwards as it was such a difficult to get at tooth and took so long. Then had to have injections again for the teeth cleaning as they are so sensitive.  Anyway, the new nightguard means the teeth and jaw are not aching as much when I wake up and I think it’s helped with the headaches too.

Hoping March weather perks up, am over this wind and need some more daylight!

LondonLiz

Well I am glad windy, dark, rainy, dentally challenged, expensive end of months of hard-slog-winter February is over!  

I am in a dithery dilemma as I've been asked to extend my contract which is due to end in just over 4 weeks.  I said I'd stay on for a few extra weeks but don't want to commit to anything longer term - I'm not enjoying the organisational atmosphere, the job is sapping my energy and I would like to move on to something new & bit more positive.  Of course my boss knows some of this but asked me to stay on until they can get hire someone to take over from me but that could be months depending on finding someone suitable and possible notice periods -  late May or well into June at least. The last recruitment attempt failed which is why I am still there now!  On the other hand I don't yet have another job to go to and I am feeling a bit anxious about that after the long gap last year.  I can't really afford more serious attacks on the savings. Coronavirus doesn't help either, as if it really starts a lock down in London no one will be hiring new staff - or even doing interviews!  (I'm on our company emergency planning committee which is not helping my doomsday scenario planning!) And I do feel guilty leaving with no one to take over - our team is tiny & specialist and already really busy so its not like anyone's able to just step in to cover the role and its not a job that is easy to get  a short term temp in for. Plus its not all bad, I do like some of the people I work with and some of the projects I have on,

Ideally something will come up even if its only really short term - I got called by an agency recently to see if I was interested in a (very good) day rate contract for 2 months but the client wanted an immediate start and I can't do that with a commitment to a fixed term contract.

So a dilemma, do I stick to my guns and say no to the extension or go for the safe option. Have to decide in next few days so will see how I feel soon. 

beanielou

I would go for the safe option but that’s just me. Grab it while you can!