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VintageHistorian

The thing about dropping down hours at work is that it will also affect your pension as you'll be paying in less and the extra cleaning money won't necessarily make up for it (depending on how much your employer puts in).

There's also the risk that the cleaning jobs will dry up (things like cleaning and gardening tend to be the first things people cut when other bills go up) and if you've dropped down to part-time hours you could find yourself in a difficult situation, your workplace would be within their rights to decline to bump you back to full time hours.

And lastly - would the reduction in a day's pay also lead to a reduction in a day's tasks? Too many places will let you drop a day but you end up doing the same amount of work anyway, you're just trying to cram it into less time. No point dropping a day's pay if it saves the company money but doesn't save you any stress.

beanielou

Good idea to go down to four days.

Cheery_Daff

I work 4 days and I love it. BUT I do sometimes end up working into the evening to get things finished 😬 and I spend my Fridays OFF not working another job. Normally I highly recommend working less if you can! 😁 but think about what you started the cleaning for - wasn't it to have extra dosh for the mortgage? Definitely work out the difference in pay, and how much if would affect your pension, before you make a decision.

Where I work you can request a reduction in hours for a year as a temporary arrangement but your contract stays at your full hours, so they have to put you back up at the end.i didn't do that, I permanently reduced mine straight away, so no option to go back up (which is fine for me) - might be worth checking if yours would do that (and whether you believe they'd honour their own agreement).

Lots to think about! Personally I love Fridays off - but I wouldn't love them if they were filled with another job. But I can definitely see the advantage of diversifying your income.

If you're tired though, could you drop the number of cleaning jobs you do for the time being, or their frequency? 

Good luck!

Jessy103

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the comments and it certainly helps me think things through before rushing into anything! I have had a think and slept on it and financially it does make sense to stay the way things are at the moment. 

I started my little cleaning business as a backup plan because I was threatened with redundancy last year and was dealing with the horrid bully at work, so it made sense to have something to fall back on if I needed it. Fortunately, I was able to stay at work, even though it was a doing a job I didn't like and then eventually bully left. Fast forward to now, I am back in the role that I was in when I was at risk of redundancy and it is a role that I really like. I work in the factory office out of the way and I get on really well with all the guys I work with and best of all, I don't have to deal with complaining customers anymore! I think the problem is that after last year, I just don't really like the company anymore and still don't feel very safe, if that makes sense? That being said I'm on a good wage, I don't have any travel expenses and I can come home at dinnertime and walk the dogs, so it would be silly to leave for anything less. I will continue with my cleaning business, but do need to learn to say no if I don't think I can take on anymore customers and risk spreading myself too thin 🙂

Cheery_Daff

Well that sounds like sensible reasoning to me Jessy, I'd forgotten about your risk of redundancy.

You've done well to get yourself a back up in place though, and shown it can pay. And you're paying off your mortgage at an impressive rate which will also give you more flexibility. Good plan to save for stamp duty etc (you know you can pay that using the proceeds from the house sale? I realise you might not want to - I just mean you don't have to have the cash upfront before you think about moving).

Jessy103

Thanks cheery x

I will look at putting our little bungalow on the market when we do come to move to see if it does have any interest, but I fear I will have to pay the stamp duty and rent it out instead. 

A little frustrated at the moment as I logged on to Natwest this morning to make an overpayment to be told it will cost me £284!! I have gone over my 20% overpayment allowance and need to pay an ERC of 4.25% of the amount I'm overpaying, but that would mean it wouldn't even be £20, certainly not £284! I'm wondering if Natwest is just having a blip and will have to try again tomorrow. If not, I will have to give them a call, but looking through my mortgage paperwork, i can't see where this amount could have come from 😡 

Also, paid my tax bill this week, which wasn't fun, but hey ho has to be done, as I'd live in fear that the tax man would knock on the door if I didn't declare it 🤣

Anyway, in more positive news, its been a good week. Bank Holiday Monday we had a nice day with family, the working week was fine and I had 4 cleaning jobs. I finished work early Friday as DH had the day off and was setting off for his Karate course weekend. He got there safely after 3 hrs but was most upset at the £10.50 toll charge. I've had a nice weekend, got the bedding changed and got that and the clothes washed and then dried on my parents washing line, while me and dogs sat in the sun in their garden. The budgies have been cleaned out and been given a grass bath (a shallow bowl of water with a handful of freshly picked grass in) which they love to nibble on and bath themselves in the water. The robot hoover is currently going round and towels are in the wash. Going to have a nice rest of the day cross stitching and catching up on tv. 

Have a lovely Sunday x

beanielou

Bungalows are like gold here. I think you will be surprised. 

VintageHistorian

I'm terrible at numbers so can't work it out backwards, but are you sure it's 4% of the overpayment and not 4% of what's left of the mortgage?

South_coast

My mortgage was with NatWest and the ERC was a percentage of the amount OP'd, so it does sound like an error! Very sad they didn't have a 20% fee-free allowance when I had mine, would have saved me a good £££ in charges 🤦‍♀️! Money well spent though, IMHO 😀👍

Jessy103

beanielou said:

Bungalows are like gold here. I think you will be surprised. 

I hope so Beanie! xVintageHistorian said:

I'm terrible at numbers so can't work it out backwards, but are you sure it's 4% of the overpayment and not 4% of what's left of the mortgage?

I did think this but 4.25% of what's left would be around £700 and it has always been 4.25% of the overpayment previously x

South_coast said:

My mortgage was with NatWest and the ERC was a percentage of the amount OP'd, so it does sound like an error! Very sad they didn't have a 20% fee-free allowance when I had mine, would have saved me a good £££ in charges 🤦‍♀️! Money well spent though, IMHO 😀👍

I bet, SC! They changed it maybe 18 months/2 years ago, I think. Glad you had the same, it has always been the amount OP'd for me, so not sure where this amount has come from. Its very inconvenient though because I was looking forward to getting under £18k! I'm certainly not overpaying now and risking paying an extra £284! x