A new royal start

rugbymadfamily

That would be the life!!! Good luck with the admin today and the car insurance, with you on that one being a pain in the asse. Wish insurers would just give you a good deal for loyalty instead of having to go through the pain of shopping around. I do shop around every year and change most years but wish the current insurer would save you the hassle!

QueenJess

QueenJess said:

Does anyone ever feel like doing the simplest things in life is just too hard?  Simple things shouldn't be this hard!
I tried to put a transaction through online using a voucher I had been sent as a loyalty card holder.  It refused the code for no reason, but I was loath to leave it as there was only one of the item left in stock.  So I ordered it without my discount.  I then rang the next day to complain and to be fair they said they will give me the discount as it was their error, however, I have to wait for the item to arrive here and then ring them.

Today all I tried to do was top up a gift card.  Usually a 2 min job.  Nope, card declined.  It is a new card, but I followed all the instructions in activating it.  Now on the slowest chat of all time online with the bank to sort it out (2 words every 4 minutes and I'm not exaggerating!).  Need it fixed if they have randomly blocked the card as it's where all the joint spending goes!

I want to go back to the old days when (ok only rich people) hired secretaries to deal with their life admin for them!  Sadly I still have a list of tedious admin things to get done this week.... I hope they get better!

That's it, I give up.  No life admin being done today.  My list of fails is epic:

• Eventually managed to figure out the problem with the gift card and it was the stupid site (not the bank).  In the end I deleted the old card and added the new one and it was happy.  Wasted 30 mins on this (should have been 2).
• I spent at least 45 mins attempting to get into the car insurance system online to check my renewal information.  Wouldn't let me in.  Changed my password; computer says no.  Two live chats later and basically they have no idea.  They said to leave it for 24 hours and if I still can't get in they will send it to their IT department.
• Actually managed to close a savings account online that has £0 in it and I haven't used for 3 years    Was a bit of a faff to do though and not quite as quick as I would have hoped.
• Rang the car garage as I can't find my service book for tomorrow's service.  They aren't sure whether I have one (I thought I did) or if it is online only.  They can't get into their system as it is so slow to check.  They said they would ring back (they haven't).  Will have to get DH to sort that out with them tomorrow when he drops the car off.
• Went to do my online order as I vaguely recalled I had a voucher... yes, but the deal was only until Mon 19 🤦‍♀️
• Looked at swapping my cash ISA for a better interest rate and then realised they are fully subscribed and so have pulled the offer.

If I didn't have to pick up DS later, I would be tempted to climb back into bed and get up tomorrow for a fresh start!  I'm frankly too scared to try to do anything else today as who knows what else will go wrong!

QueenJess

So to try and achieve something out of my day, I cleaned the rest of the en suite bathroom and cleaned DS's room.  Also did a bit of stealth tidying (it's where I put away a few things of DS's whilst he's around, but things I don't think he'll notice I've tidied away whilst he's distracted playing).

Lunch was the leftover macaroni cheese from last night with salad.  Dinner tonight was pizza and salad for me and DH, jacket potato and beans for DS.  Pudding is chocolate eclairs (although I ate mine at lunch already, so fruit for me!) or anything from the freezer (muffins/ice cream/fruit & yogurt).  Shh 🤫.. don't tell anyone we had two veggie nights this week... I think I got away with it 👀😂

Absolutely shattered today as I slept badly and was awake from 4am (as was baby apparently!).  Definitely an early night for me.

QueenJess

Not done much today as just couldn't be bothered!  Put away the dry washing, put another load on and changed the beds.  That's it.  I did manage to get through the next OP block, so am now on £86,199.99.  Next challenge will be to get below £86,150.

I did play with some spreadsheets and did some sorting earlier.  Given my current budget and the pay slips I have left, I should be able to reach my target of £75k by October 2021.  I will also have a small amount from my redundancy which I have decided is best placed in my pension as I won't be paying into one for a year or two.

Lunch today was pasta with cherry tomatoes and the leftover tomato sauce from yesterday's pizza.  Dinner was chinese chicken wings with chips and veg.  Pudding is anything from the freezer (muffins, cake, ice cream, fruit & yogurt).

Thank goodness it is Friday.  This week feels like it has gone on forever!  At least there is nothing much else happening this month now, so I can slowly gravitate back to my to do list.

QueenJess

Sick of thinking about money at the moment, so gave myself the weekend off.  Assuming my job definitely ends in Jan as expected, I think I've now totally sorted out where all the cash is going.  As a result, I've moved some things around and some targets.  I'm going to fill up the rest of my emergency fund first, so overpayments will take a bit of a back seat with mainly being filled from extra income/rounding/unused budget in November.

November targets:

• Emergency fund: £1,300
• Mortgage £85,200
• Deficit to myself -£400

Lots of washing done over the weekend and no cleaning (I refuse to clean at the weekend).  I think I have cleaned roughly half the house, so the other half is up for grabs next week.

Had a nice walk today at a National Trust place.  DS absolutely loved the puddles and came back soaking as usual!
Dinner is in the oven already and is roast beef with veg, roast potatoes and yorkshire puddings.  Can't wait!  Pudding will be raspberry muffins from the freezer.

Just feeling a bit fed up at the moment.  Tons and tons of cash going out this month (which I did know would happen) and it feels like my work and my life is just pending in the "wait and see" category.  Just thought s*d it today and wrote out a lovely (but expensive) dinner and lunch plan for the next week.  It's going to be expensive I know, but it will taste lovely.  I have the whole of November to get some of that back by using up the freezer stuff..

Grogged

If it's any help, I think you've done the right thing this weekend.
It sounds like your financial plan is done, dusted and you know what's going to happen with it until the end of Jan.
It sounds that you haven't split yourself from this.
Don't feel guilty or down about it, give yourself some you time and enjoy what is obviously a lovely, soon to be expanded family.
ATB,
G.

QueenJess

Grogged said:

If it's any help, I think you've done the right thing this weekend.
It sounds like your financial plan is done, dusted and you know what's going to happen with it until the end of Jan.
It sounds that you haven't split yourself from this.
Don't feel guilty or down about it, give yourself some you time and enjoy what is obviously a lovely, soon to be expanded family.
ATB,
G.

I spent a long time working through the finance plans in the week and had definitely had enough.  Thing is, I liked the daily extra earning as it distracted me and gave me something to do aside from the silly work situation.  However, there's only a few months left now and the amount coming in is pretty much fixed.  It feels like anything extra is neither here nor there to be honest.

I need to try and sort out work next week and ask them what is happening.  There's so many uncertainties, that it is quite annoying and pretty inefficient.  It is most likely I will leave end of Jan (but not certain), but more importantly I don't even have a job description/list of things I need to work on before end of Jan or anything.  It means I sit there everyday and someone may or may not ask me to do something.  It may or may not be urgent (usually urgent) and could take anything from half a day to weeks.  I dislike working like that as I can't plan anything.  I just want to know roughly what I am meant to be doing and then I will get it done in the time left.

I did some surveys in the week and I couldn't even answer the question of what my job title is as I haven't got one!  It's just all a bit silly.

Grogged

It does sound like you're filling in the gaps or doing unpopular jobs?
I think you're right to find out what is going on as it doesn't sound like they know either?
Is their some special skillset that only you have that they feel they may need in the next few months?
I'm really thinking out loud as it does seem odd from the outside.

QueenJess

Grogged said:

It does sound like you're filling in the gaps or doing unpopular jobs?
I think you're right to find out what is going on as it doesn't sound like they know either?
Is their some special skillset that only you have that they feel they may need in the next few months?
I'm really thinking out loud as it does seem odd from the outside.

There is nothing about this company which is in the slightest bit normal in my opinion.  What kind of company is it that thinks it is normal to bully all their staff to make sure all the people in charge get their own way, belittle everyone else and just want robots doing things without ever thinking for themselves?  It is a broken culture.  If it was a house, it would be knocked down and they would start again (in my opinion of course).

I'm not even sure I can explain the situation really.  I left a department in a role requiring specialist skills (which I have in spades) because the bullying was unbearable.  I went to another department which was a bit better, but not much.  But it was the only realistic option at the time.  I was doing very dull things there which were not challenging to me at all.  Then they got rid of me, but the more normal people in the UK (it's not a UK run company and I was working directly for another country) realised they wanted my specialist skills.  I know and they know that they need the skills I have, but they are going through a major restructure/reshuffle and are still working out what the new department will look like, then whether they can fit me in and more to the point whether they can get a good enough case so that their bosses (in another country) will approve the budget for me.

There are also major restructures going on with processes, procedures and everything really.  They are doing their best in the UK to keep me, but were delayed from the department director having a major personal incident which meant they were off for a while (and I didn't want to bug them).  I was told that they are still working out what they want me to do by the end of Jan and will let me know.  In the meantime I am being thrown scraps as things come up.  Some good and some not so, but to be fair most of it relates to the specialist skills I have (and no one else does in the UK).

It is very silly as I used to be quite senior once upon a time 🙄.  It's all as clear as mud.  I shall politely ask them this week if they have got any further working out my workload for the next few months so I can organise my time better.  It's just very frustrating from my side.  I just feel like I sit around waiting either for someone to tell me something or for the end of Jan to come!

Grogged

I'll be your straw man then...
From what you've said above, can I ask if you want to carry on there?
If you do, what is it you want to do?
If you don't (and this may sound mercenary, it's not meant to be), if you stay till January, will you be entitled to maternity leave?
As they don't seem to have a plan, it may be better if you do.
It really sounds like you are a great asset (sorry, got corporate there), but the restructuring seems to be quite disruptive to the business, it's structure and people. Unfortunately people are usually the last to be considered and the most affected by it.