Ready for the next stage!

riotlady

Thanks everyone I’m really excited

savingwannabe

So deserved riot, things are on the up for us all i think. 

Skint_yet_Again

@riotlady saw you posted recently to SW hope things are well with you & mini riot 

riotlady

Thanks for checking in @Skint_yet_Again I’m exhausted but otherwise well, mini riot is her usual exuberant little self! We’re having a sofa day today as I’m not up to anything else. 

I realise I never updated after the wedding- I had the most genuinely wonderful day and even managed to dance a little bit which I didn’t think I would be able to! riotdude looked very handsome and mini riot was, as we expected, the star of the show. She still likes to randomly announce “I’m a special flower girl!” 

I’ve passed all the security checks for my
job so hopefully I will be getting a start date soon! Digging in to savings to see us through til then as my student finance has run out. 

MovingForwards

Congratulations Mrs RL, here's to many happy years 🍾

You'll be working before you know it and topping savings back up.

Skint_yet_Again

Congratulations on your wedding Riotlady 🥂 🍾 it sounds like you had a wonderful day and great that you even managed a dance ! 💃🕺

Hope you get a start date for the job soon 

savingwannabe

Hurrah Riotlady on your wedding, dancing and the job! I hope you are having a good rest and that the condition will stabilise soon. It is so hard. Ive had times like this when i cannot work for months but eventually I have improved. Please continue to stay positive your posts do cheer me up. I think baby riot is wonderful and can imagine her really enjoying the day. 

riotlady

Thanks everyone  

Well, everything has gone to !!!!!! a bit here, financially! My new job turns out to have another round of more intense security checks, which will take 7-9 weeks, so it's unlikely that I'll start til after Christmas. Our tumble dryer broke and needed replacing (our flat is damp and mouldy enough as it is, without drying everything indoors over winter). My uni made a mistake with their commnications with student finance, so SF are now claiming I owe them £7k. Plus we didn't get our childcare grant paid for a couple of months so got into debt with nursery. A convergence of bad circumstances! 

Anyway, I've had to put £2k of nursery fees on a 0% credit card. I could save us money by pulling her out but she loves it so much and I need to keep her space for when I do start work in a couple of months. Our emergency fund is gone, we still have £9k in our LISA but I'm trying really hard not to touch it because there's a 25% withdrawal penalty. So I'm trying really hard to just drag us through the next couple of months!

Anyway, the plan

- I am applying for jobs to work in the meantime, mainly call centres and offices as I don't think I'd manage retail or childcare, which are my former go-tos. If I can find something that's at least 16 hours, we should hopefully get some help towards nursery fees from tax credits. I'm waiting to hear back from a couple where I've passed interviews/assessments so fingers crossed something pans out

- We're eating super cheap- lots of pasta, daal, soup. 

- riotdude and I have agreed to go very light on each others birthday and Christmas presents so we can focus on mini. 

- I've been on prolific doing surveys most days and made about £50 so far, also planning to get back into matched betting to help us out a bit. 

- Desperately trying to sort things out with uni/student finance so at least I'm not being chased for £7k of debt that I shouldn't owe. In theory this should be simple but ofc like all beaurocracy it's not at all!

So that's where we're at. It's not dire, but it is tight and stressful and will set us back quite a long way in our quest to buy a house. Just got to get my head down and get through the next few months  

Skint_yet_Again

OMG 😱 just one of those things would stress me out! What a worry for you. Hope you get a job soon & sort out student finance. Look after yourself too I hope it doesn’t make your condition worse. 

MovingForwards

Goodness me, that's a downpour!
You've done well to stay sane.

Can you go lighter on mini riot too, still young enough not to notice. 

Fingers crossed you get the student finance resolved soon and can find a bit of work, not too much as you've got to balance health. Is there any way of getting the grant sorted out?