Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

DancingInTheRain

It's definitely what I wanted, I've been having an internal argument over whether or not to just apply for it over the last few weeks but overall I'm glad I've persevered as we've managed to finally get on top of our backlog so now feeling more in control of my work although it will be interesting to see the impact Covid-19 has on the future delivery of my role. My team have been  reassured many times that our recent work has been recognised and there are contracts in the pipeline earmarked for us but time will tell. 
It's being done 3 weeks at a time as it's not impossible that a new contract may be implemented remotely in the near future. I have annual leave scheduled at the end of May too as that's when we were due to go on our Haven holiday so one way or another I won't be doing much work in May. The plan is to try to do a bit more work with DS1 to get him ready for starting reception in September, all being well. His nursery is attached to his infant school so they have been setting a few informal online learning tasks, we've done a few but I'd like to step this up a little as he loves learning but we've been having to do this in a bit of a hit and miss fashion recently so I think he'll benefit from a tiny bit of structure.

savingholmes

Are they cutting your wage to the 80% or funding the difference?

sashybo

Hi Dancing, I'm glad you're happy with the furlough, it sounds like you've been juggling a lot with work and the boys at home.

I'm struggling with all of this and I've not been having to work! I must admit that I'll be a bit happier when DH goes back to work (he's currently off with a back injury) as there is such a thing as spending too much time together. 

DancingInTheRain

I believe I'll get the 80% @savingholmes based on what I know previously furloughed colleagues have had. I'm speaking to HR today to go through the details.
@sashybo I know exactly what you mean about having too much time with your DH, it's too much at times and the fact that there's nowhere for any of us to escape at the moment makes it so hard, there's no let up.
If I feel like I'm about to explode, I go outside our kitchen door where we have a little yard and stamp my feet and have a little swear (not big or clever but gets it out of my system). My next door neighbour does the same and as we often hear each other, we've had a chuckle and both agree that 'What's said in the yard stays in the yard' 🤣🤣

beanielou

Good idea to go out to the yard & get it out. Better out than in! 

DancingInTheRain

Furlough update - a few loose ends to tie up tomorrow, including taking some work back to the office as I'm not comfortable having items in my house indefinitely, and then I'll be furloughed until the end of May at the 80% rate. Not ideal but by the time I factor in reduced tax and NI contributions, along with no fuel or parking costs for a month then I'll just about break even to a normal month. As I've previously said, I'm just grateful this scheme exists and it will take a lot of pressure off my shoulders and help create a bit of routine and structure for me & the boys while freeing DH up to focus on work uninterrupted.
I'm going to utilise the trip to the office to pay some cash into the bank (both are in the same town about 7 miles away) as I'm not comfortable having this hanging around the house. It's a combination of money we set aside for some work we were due to get done in the house that obviously now isn't happening and cash our Mums have given us for shopping over the last few weeks. It's starting to build up so want to get it out in the bank, this will also form part of our debt paydown tomorrow.

savingholmes

glad you can manage. Chuckle at the yard comments. Good that you are paying down debt

DancingInTheRain

1st of the month update & Day 1 of Furlough...
After a few days pondering and discussing our options we have been bold (or stupid) and just sent £1,500 across to Mum bringing the total we owe her down to £1,000. This has been made up from the usual £250, Grand National trip refund, spending money for the Grand National, and the money we had in the house for the work in the house that won't be getting done anytime soon (plastering) & the shopping money from Mums as we have been putting all shopping on our day to day spends CC and this bill was paid in full last week. 
The debt is now into the £5's!!! We still have our EF and savings pots for bills so are confident about this decision. We literally only spent money on groceries and a few new t-shirts for DS1 last month so although our grocery bill was higher than normal there were very few other outgoings apart from monthly bills, a case of making do with what we've had in the house. This month DH will need diesel but other than that there shouldn't be many spends.
We have also got our new mortgage deal in place for next month, did some comparisons with other providers but our current lender came out at the best price taking into account the total cost of fees and monthly payments over the 2 year period we wanted to take. We've gone for a discounted rate so if interest rates rise, so will our monthly payments, but that will be manageable given our debt repayments have the potential to be really low if we choose (CC minimum payment is around £110 at the moment).
The added bonus with the mortgage is there is a £1,000 cashback offer on it, we were initially going to put that straight back in the mortgage account as an overpayment but having gone through our finances we are going to give it to Mum so that we no longer owe her anything, that will be such a relief. She's genuinely not bothered if we pay her back or not but we are and it will be such a good feeling to no longer owe her anything, although we were extremely grateful that she was able to help us out.
The CC is on 0% until April 2021, the only overpayments this month will be from surveys (Prolific has been very kind to me recently so going to concentrate on that while I have more spare time) but after that, we're going to do a combination of overpayments and sending money to savings. By April we should have enough in savings to clear the CC balance if we haven't already done so. 
This does all depend on us both still remaining in work during these uncertain times however we know DH's job is very secure. Mine could go either way truth be told but I'm hearing a lot of positive noises from senior management. Either way, we are now in a strong position to manage on DH's wage until I secure a new job if it came to that.
Sorry, big post! But we've had many lengthy discussions this week so wanted to have a record of it here to refer back to.
Happy Friday everyone x

[Deleted User]

All sounds very well thought-out and sensible DITR  

DancingInTheRain

Thanks for the vote of confidence @SSDD23 🙂
Monthly mortgage interest has been applied so I've just made an overpayment to tidy the account down as part of my 1% 2020 mortgage overpayment challenge.
I love the first of the month 🤣 I've enjoyed updating my signature today 😊 x