34 months countdown - MF before 40!

MFdreamer

caeler said:

Happy new year @MFdreamer
Isn’t unexpected spend frustrating, I’ve had a couple of those recently but so far I’ve managed to recover and keep it in budget. 

I know! Fortunately I did budget a little bit for unexpected spends so it wasn’t too bad.

Happy New Year to you too! I’m hoping for some return to normality in 2021 🤞🏻

MFdreamer

Well overpayments for the next few months may end up being less than hoped as I found out yesterday that the whole of my team are being placed on Flexible Furlough from next week. This basically means we all drop down to part time hours and get full pay for the time we work and 80% pay for the time we don’t work. I think it’ll result in about a £500 hit to my monthly income which to be honest is more than manageable based on my budgets and overpayments I’ve been making. 

It’s the first time my team or I have been furloughed and I’m not going to lie.....I’m actually quite happy about it in the short term as will mean I can actually give some proper time and attention to homeschooling! It’s been tough working full time and homeschooling. I just hope my hours go straight back up to FT and my job is safe in the longer term. I work in fashion so it’s most definitely non essential and the industry is struggling. My skills are quite transferable though so I have to focus on that and hope for the best.

In response I’ve finally got round to entering my meter readings and reducing my energy DD as I knew it was too high but didn’t mind too much as my supplier pays 3% interest on credit balances and I hate nasty surprises coming if the DD is too low. 

I’m also listing a load of old clothes on Depop. It’s all over 20 years old in excellent condition and size 6 and 8 so is only ever going to fit me again in my dreams 😂. I kept it hoping one day my future daughter would want it but I don’t think she will now I know her! Will be nice if I manage to sell some of it as will go straight to the overpayment fund!

Take care all in these difficult and strange times! 🤗

mark55man

good luck with the home schooling - as you say doesn't sound like the worst deal going at the moment.  you should probably decide if you want, OR don't want, to accept extra hours if offered.  usually management like to know what their options are and being clear can increase the probability of getting what you want.  eg if they know you will always say yes they might ask you first.  if they know it will always be a battle they might  ask you last 

caeler

Good luck with the furlough, great you can get some benefit from it. It’s a big sacrifice for those being out on furlough. I think outsiders think it’s great but nobody thinks about the financial worry side of things. @MFdreamer
I do a monthly meter reading on 21st of each month, have done for years. I keep a spreadsheet just so I can keep a check on what’s normal. Boring but it works for me! My fixed tariff ends next month so my DD will increase by a few quid soon. 

MFdreamer

caeler said:

Good luck with the furlough, great you can get some benefit from it. It’s a big sacrifice for those being out on furlough. I think outsiders think it’s great but nobody thinks about the financial worry side of things. @MFdreamer
I do a monthly meter reading on 21st of each month, have done for years. I keep a spreadsheet just so I can keep a check on what’s normal. Boring but it works for me! My fixed tariff ends next month so my DD will increase by a few quid soon. 

Agreed re furlough! We topped up salaries to 100% last lockdown which was lovely of our business but this time they can’t. They are flexible furloughing the vast majority of the business as they think we should all share a little bit of the pain which I do agree with. The other benefit is it means they’ve have to reduce my workload so that I can be furloughed and have taken some work off me that I didn’t want to do anyway 😂 👍🏻

I actually offered to take a bit more furlough time as knew I could afford it when others in my team possibly can’t. It means their pay reduces by a lot less than mine but they don’t have kids so wouldn’t benefit from the furlough time in the way I am so it felt the right thing to offer. Everyone ends up happy that way too!

Im definitely a glass half full person to be honest. Life is too short not to be I think!

savingholmes

Glad it is working out well for you. 

MFdreamer

savingholmes said:

Glad it is working out well for you. 

Thanks. 

Don’t get me wrong - I am definitely concerned about the security of my job longer term (as are the rest of my team) but I can’t allow myself to focus on that right now and need to definitely keep the positives in the forefront! I suffer with anxiety and have felt permanently “on edge” during the last year so I know I can’t allow myself to think about the “what ifs”. I have an emergency fund and my CV is up to date so I’ve told myself there’s no more I can do than that 😀

savingholmes

Glad you have a decent EF and up-to-date CV. Perhaps also make sure your profile is up-to-date on L1nked.... 1n

MFdreamer

savingholmes said:

Glad you have a decent EF and up-to-date CV. Perhaps also make sure your profile is up-to-date on L1nked.... 1n

Good idea thanks! I used to be really active on there so should refresh that 👍