My 25 Months Challenge

savingholmes

Hi Stripey - I am currently signed off for a couple of weeks. MH and injured my leg last year and it flared up again in January. Hope you are starting to feel better. Posting about life is fine - it's a diary.... money impacts MH and MH impacts money if we aren't careful. Try and find some positive things to do.

Tahlullah.H

Hi Stripey, great to hear you had a great day out with Mr Socks. I personally thought £40 was a very good price to pay. After all, it was £20 per person and it included travel, food, drinks and gifts. Excellent price in my opinion, but I accept that if you are on a budget, you may be thinking about how much food £40 would have bought for the household that week. But life is for living.

Your dilemma over the handbag made me smile. I recall having debates about buying a new one in my diary and someone had to spell it out that the amount of use I would get made it a worthwhile spend. I think we sometimes need others to remind us that it is ok to spend if it will ease a burden in another area. Enjoy the bag. Its not as if you buy a new bag on a weekly basis.

Hope you have a great time for Mr Socks birthday. Sometimes, we have to remember that you only have that particular birthday once in your life!

savingholmes

Hope you are okay Stripey

savingholmes

Waving

StripeyTightsSpottySocks

hello all
i am sorry for my long absence - caused by MH issues which i knew wouldn't be good for me around the whole family situation. I could not post about life but found the grocery challenge a lifeline for which i was grateful.
I am still in the same job and am sortof grateful for that in the sense it is familiar and a bit of certainty at the moment. I did look for a new job but my head was not in the right place for this. My payrise request was declined without a meeting. My commute to work is much quieter and we are busy, i have worked some unpaid extra due to busyness and asked for paid overtime which has been declined. I could easily work 40 hours extra this week which is far too much unpaid, as it is i've done a couple of hours more at least.
Mr Socks is in the unhappy position of being self-employed and told he cannot now do his work. We are now waiting to see what support he'll be given. It is quite a new business so the last 3 years average, whilst better than nothing, shows a year on year improvement - and 3 years ago income was very different to what it is now. I'm sure it's the same for lots of new businesses. 
So, things are difficult at home with Mr Socks fretting over money and his business - eg what will become of his business in the future? 
I'm taking the opportunity of the lock-down to try and make home life more organised and easier. I cannot ever see Mr Socks deciding to sort out our cupboards  and, to be honest, i'd be concerned if he did - for a man so very intelligent and quick thinking and logical in so many areas of life he leaves me astounded at times with his slap dash and illogical approach to things 
Obviously, i'm still working full time so i don't have vast amounts of free time to do this and the usual washing, cooking and shopping all need to be done. I'm also shopping for 'high risk' family.
Financially, personally, as I was starting to feel better with things I was just about to start an extra income stream to get on top of money things. Of course, this hasn't happened now and I've lost all my little extra income amounts - so thinking cap needs to go back on. I need to seriously consider a second job although i suspect these are more difficult to get now.
I have car insurance and car tax to pay this month - i've already done the comparison. No cashback to be had.
Ok, i have kitchen cupboards to sort and i have a small shopping list for me.
I hope all are well and i hope to catch up with you all soon.

savingholmes

Hi Stripey - nice to see you back posting. Stay safe and well. Virtual hugs about the self employment situation with OH. Are there any online jobs he could apply for? Could he get a role at a supermarket? It would at least be money coming in.

StripeyTightsSpottySocks

Hi Savings - lovely to see you  Mr Socks can apply for the 80% for self-employed which leaves us without any income for him for a good part of March and nothing in April and May. His income in the first year of those 3 years was very low so the average won't be great when he does get something - but this is obviously better than nothing. I have been looking yesterday / this morning for a job. Their are no current positions in supermarkets near us - others have filled the posts already. We will continue to look. 

StripeyTightsSpottySocks

Morning all
So i have a list of jobs to hopefully achieve this weekend. I'd like to make a good start today because i feel behind on my 'getting organised' plans.
Also, because i'm still going to work i would still like a bit of a break at the weekend despite only leaving the house for exercise.
First off, a cuppa, a bit pf breakfast and a bit of a read. Looking for a second job and also work on my mind means i'm ready for a little chill time first.

Tahlullah.H

Hi Stripey.  Good to see you back and sorry to her about the home issues.  Somehow, life never seems to give anyone a break.  I hope Mr Socks is able to keep the business afloat so that when this pandemic allows a life returned to normal - whatever the new normal will be - he will be able to pick up and start building again.

Sorry to hear work have been taking advantage of your good nature and willingness to help.  Such a shame to do so much and not receive financial recognition.  But as you said, sometimes the familiarity of what you know is easier than starting again somewhere else.  I wish you luck with seeking a pt job to supplement your income.  It was hard before.  I only see it getting harder with so many people now out of work.

Hope your heath improves and you are able to put actions into place to make life home more accommodating.  Good luck with the sorting and frugal living.  We all need to do a bit of this now.

savingholmes

Glad Mr Socks will qualify for some help. Sorry you feel the need to get a second job - that's rough given how much pressure you've been feeling. Nice to see you posting again. Hopefully you can get some more of your books read during this time. I'm still working from home - albeit slightly reduced hours - so hoping we can ride the storm. DH also working from home - doing more hours if anything but still fuel saving. Things will sort - they can't keep this up indefinitely although the risks expand once they lift the restrictions. Have you got any hobbies that can keep you going through this period?