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  • alt80
    alt80 Posts: 4,637 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    Wrote a long reply last night and lost it will try again...

    Sounds like things are going well workwise. Re you're report I have had similar situations and it's difficult to strike the right balance between required levels of productivity and supporting the person. Absolutely needs approaching and doesn't sound bad at all mate. Your responsibility is three fold: - organisational needs, team needs and the needs of this individual who also needs to recognise they need to take personal responsibility (easier said than done sometimes 100%) but you can still be there to support whilst putting some expectations and boundaries in place. Do talk to the senior people who should have some perspective from experience and should be open to supporting you too. Fwiw I've got a bit of a similar situation with one of my senior staff who's split from his Mrs and on the sauce a bit too much; no issues re being in the right role but def down on productivity. See that for what it is when sober yourself too 100% haha. 

    Re consultant role - 100 think this would be a good step for you think I mentioned it before. Realistically I'm sure you could make more and put in similar hours as it does sound like you're putting in a lot of hours now. Def start building the network 100% mate def will find applying yourself you'll gain the experience at a much quicker rate than repeating the same year 10 over iyswim.

    Saving £1k second month in new place, smashing it mate well done. 
  • Humdinger1
    Humdinger1 Posts: 2,292 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    @ryanm8655 just checking in to see how you are?
  • alt80
    alt80 Posts: 4,637 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    Second this, hope you're OK mate.
  • PestoPasta
    PestoPasta Posts: 145 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 2 March 2021 at 3:28PM
    Follow your diary too Ryan. Hope everything going well? Remember to keep your spends in check now so that you can enjoy a little splurge when London starts waking up....not long now 😉😉
    :money:
  • ryanm8655
    ryanm8655 Posts: 1,202 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Hi all,

    Apologies! Have been absolutely manic with work of late...plus busy catching up with people outside now the weather has been better (sticking to rules of course). But today I have decided to sign off from work at a normal time as think I'm making myself ill and run down ha. Yesterday I fiished at midnight and Friday was frantic, which led to a heavy Friday on the booze to destress ha. Generally been boozing a bit less though, one heavy night a weekend rather than 3. Will probably take a few weeks off the booze this month.

    Haven't really had much time to think re: finances but just did some quick back of the fag packet calculations to work out what I should have spare at the end of the month.

    A few bigger spends this month, lump sum of jan - march council tax (£325 ish), plus I need to pay my closing bill for switching energy supplier, which by a rough calculation will be in the region of £150 for 2 months (hopefully less but put this in for now). Plus first month of DD to new supplier. Also had a few other household necessities and things that ate into funds last month so didn't save as much as I liked but did save a grand (plus the token £5/week I put into LISA).

    Not formally tracked the spends properly but takeaways are much lower. Only spent about £12 on takeaway this weekend (coffees and a snack while out and about) and last week I spent about £40 but that was as it was a mate's birthday.

    Bank balance looks very healthy but a fair chunk will be coming out for bills etc. Amex balance currently at £232.24 and my statement closes on the 13th, so if I can keep spends low over the next 11 days then should have a healthy savings pot. If the total bill ends up being below £595 then that will be another grand saved, which should be straightforward (£362.76 in 11 days will be tough to spend in Lockdown ha). Savings pot would be £2k plus what I put in the LISA.

    I will need to do a fairly hefty shop at some point but beyond that don't have any big spends. Not bothered with any art or the Sonos Beam yet, been looking out for ebay bargains on the art front - flat needs a bit of colour but I'd rather have the money saved. I've started using up what food I have rather than buying more for the time being as the freezer was really full. Thinking I'll do a Lidl trip this week at some point rather than an online shop.

    Still need to sell the car but just waiting on lockdown easing a bit. It's filthy so need the hand car wash to be open ha.

    Hope everyone else is well!

    August 2019: £28.8k

    November 2020: £0 (0% interest)

    My debt free diary: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77330320#Comment_77330320


  • Legs21
    Legs21 Posts: 251 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Get an annual savings figure in your signature. What you should/could save and what you do save. Might be more motivating to have a savings target you want to hit monthly/annually. It worked with your debt busting as you paid it off quicker. 
    MFW 2022 #71  £4400/£4400
  • Sarahwithlove
    Sarahwithlove Posts: 3,321 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Sorry to hear work is so busy at the moment. You need to look after yourself. Are you going to put your savings in the LISA? What are your long term saving goals? 
    *Dad loan - £5300 - £7300
    *Virgin Credit Card - £3552.50 - £0
    *Natwest - £1828.35 -£400

    Barclaycard - £2315.25 - £0.00

    Creation Finance - £960.32 £860
    *Total debt - £8560/£11641.17*


    Savings
    *Savings Buffer - £1000/£1500
    *Emergency Fund - £1000/£1500


    New diary- https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6474943/the-three-cs-coffee-clothes-credit-cards/
  • ryanm8655
    ryanm8655 Posts: 1,202 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 2 March 2021 at 9:21PM
    Yeah, thinking I'll chuck the savings in the LISA, particularly now the 5% deposits are back. Might be able to afford a place sooner.

    Saving goals were to max the LISA by April but was dependent on selling car before then and raising around £1500.

    Reckon I can stretch to £3k in by payday at the end of this month, plus what I've already paid in (c.£240 but will be around £280 by then). So a bit short of maxing the £4k but not too bad I guess...

    From then on my aim is to save about £500/month.

    Will sell my car for an emergency fund on top of that.

    Work is stressful though and I will be letting loose for a while once life is normal again, so trying not to stress too much about money. I guess my minimum expectation would £1k EF plus £4k in the LISA for FY21/22 (to max the 25% bonus).

    August 2019: £28.8k

    November 2020: £0 (0% interest)

    My debt free diary: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77330320#Comment_77330320


  • alt80
    alt80 Posts: 4,637 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    Did you look into the 0% option for spends to max the LISA? Could still be worth it. You probably should not do this but can always PayPal yourself the money from the 0% and throw that in the LISA. Gets you the benefit of the LISA at 0% interest on the borrowed money.

    Sounds like things are mad on the work front and resourcing still not sorted? Tbh mate no chance I'd be working those sorts of hours to make someone else the money never mind to tick boxes for the government 100% not worth it. Been there putting that kind of graft in many times over the years and come to the conclusion I can't do it.
  • warby68
    warby68 Posts: 3,135 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Glad you're ok and just busy

    Its easy for work to run away with you - I remember the pre-children years, I would do whatever was needed and I do think that's fine when volumes and pressure fluctuates as long as you remember to balance the books when its quieter. Took me a while to learn the 2nd bit. Its all very well to say (and know) you shouldn't slog your guts out but not so easy on the ground when you have responsibility. Sounds like you're well aware though and just about know when to stop. 

    Budget sounds self-regulating with the work this month.

    Would be good to work out your balance between living and saving before everything opens up and find a few minutes a week at least to keep track so you know how mad (or otherwise) you're going. I think getting to near month end and finding out you've blown it all might not be good for motivation. Also helps you do the mental 'was that worth it' test - if you're going to go through £500 in a week you want to know you got £500 of worth from it.  It all sounds a bit dull but once you get into the habit of weighing up the 'value' of the spends it does become 2nd nature. You learn what to say yes to and what to perhaps pass on a bit more rather than just stopping when you run out of money or worse, give up because you blew it. If it were me I'd be allocating something from the the lockdown months as a bit of a blowout fund to go on top of my regular plans once everything opens up. I wouldn't feel guilty then as it was already there and I'd still have my rough savings/spends for the current month running alongside. All about what works best in your head. You know what might send you off track again.

    Anyway that's the end of the lecture, really good to hear you've picked up with friends and so on, like you haven't lived away.
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