A new royal start

QueenJess

Well it is a miracle. So the kids today had hm banana drop scones with banana, strawberries and a glass of milk for breakfast. For lunch cheese omelettes and salad with Greek yogurt and apple for after. Afternoon snack was a hm shortbread biscuit. Dinner was spaghetti bolognaise followed by the lemon and poppy seed cake. They ate absolutely everything. Unbelievable…. I now have some hope they will grow up to eat properly! This is exactly how I like to eat - lots of hm proper food and veg/fruit wedged in at every opportunity.

Jessy103

Yay to the kids eating more and the cake looks yummy! X

themadvix

The cake looks awesome - of course they’ll want to eat it! Must be so nice to feel you’re winning with food at last!

QueenJess

So I did it.  Handed in my notice and then had an annoying day, which reminded me why I handed in my notice.  No response yet from them.  Anyway, must get back to my MSE ways as my vague plan is to take the summer off before I look for a job of some description and I don't want to burn through all my savings.

Of course, DS came home with school photos and wants a photo of his whole year as this is his last year at the school.  £19!!!!!  On the other side of the coin, he says he doesn't want to go to gymnastics anymore.  I will double check with him again, but that will save £50 a month.  Then I have too many contact lenses as I don't use them quickly enough and so will cancel that direct debt, which is another £16 a month saved.  It all helps at this point!  I also need to get back to the budget..  At least I will be able to cook from scratch more which should save a bit.  Plus our electricity bills should be very low over the summer without heating requirements.  I can also cancel holiday club for DS over the summer which will save £300 ish as well.  Not sure if they give it back or just make it as credit that I can use against after school club next term, but either way it'll save me money.

Lunch today was salad with leftover salmon from last nights dinner.  Dinner will be tomato pasta (making a big load to feed DD after nursery for a few days) and garlic bread.  Dessert is the lovely cake.

Jessy103

Well done Jess! x

LadyWithAPlan

that cake looks incredible!

Well done on realising your worth and resigning and the upside is you can watch the kids  over the summer whilst thinking of the next move 

TallGirl

That cake is lovely you are very good and you enjoy making them win win.

Well done on resigning sounds like you need some time out over the Summer massive child care saving and you get to enjoy time with the kids. I do hope you don't have a long notice period that is just a killer. Have you thought about going self employed or consultancy? Your current firm might be interested and it would be less painful that working for them as any delays from their part they would have to pay for.

QueenJess

TallGirl said:

That cake is lovely you are very good and you enjoy making them win win.

Well done on resigning sounds like you need some time out over the Summer massive child care saving and you get to enjoy time with the kids. I do hope you don't have a long notice period that is just a killer. Have you thought about going self employed or consultancy? Your current firm might be interested and it would be less painful that working for them as any delays from their part they would have to pay for.

Yeah, I've been thinking about self employed contracting for about 10 years, but like the no hassle of just working for somewhere.  However, it might be the route I go down now.  Alternatives are contracting through an agency or just looking for a head of role in industry.  A few options, but absolutely no decisions.  I do feel very disappointed with the firm I joined and they just aren't on the same page as me.

QueenJess

Oh gosh, so now it looks like they all hate me at work and don’t want to talk to me. Working my notice is going to be fun…

On the plus side I’ve accrued a week of holiday I think (just getting them to check), so I’ve only got just over 2 weeks left now. Means I’ll finish a few days before DS breaks up for the holidays. I seem to have accidentally timed that really well!

Next plan is to get onto the budget and backdate it all to see where the overspend is (probably food). I’m struggling with fruit and veg deliveries at the moment as it’s just the best time of year - I’m like a child in a sweet shop 😂. I’ve been stashing all my pay for a few months now, so will see how long I can make that last before I have to dip into my savings.

We keep our money separate and then both put money into the joint account based on our relative earnings. Not sure how to do that whilst I’m not earning - going to negotiate something with DH and get some sort of discount. If i go self employed without a steady income, then again I’ve no idea what we’ll do, but I’m sure we’ll work it out! Just started to look into the tax side so I’m prepared if something comes up.

TallGirl

Glad you don't have a long notice period that would have been dreadful. Self employment can be really good but also very sporadic with income. My top tip would be to keep on top of your invoices and expenses plus get an account to at least help you the first year. You do not want to miss out on things that are tax deductible etc and you can claim the cost back in tax. 

Sounds like you have a lovely long summer with the kids ahead of you.