A new chapter, An empty nest, Drama school & Last year of Uni 22 September 2021 at 7:44AM in Debt free diaries 353 replies 34.8K views

savingholmes

Ouch. It's hard when your family don't help the cause.

Spendless

Yep. Think DH realised how much he'd cheesed me off. As we have savings he has a tendency to dismiss a lot of my concerns. I'm  pointing out it won't last forever unless we take steps and currently we are supporting 3 households (ours, DS as he receives min student loan and this year is in accommodation that was slightly higher because it's a price per room rather than per person as his gf is with him plus DD's course that attract no  student funding) all on his income.

There is no update from Hermes for the parcel since the early hours of Friday morning. I have to wait a week before I can open an investigation into its whereabouts.

Having a tidy up today and I've spotted another 'safe' (fully zipped ) bag. It has been in use for years for 1 particular drama teacher of DD, but since the teacher is nearly 93 and in ill health, I suspect she won't return to teaching - sadly for her students as well as her as she loved doing it which is why she continued to the age she did. Lockdowns and tier system restriction put her in 'forced' retirement.  

My CV has been updated and I've applied for some jobs. Fingers crossed I'll hear back soon.

Spendless

Hmmm dilemma. An agency already rang me asked me to have a look at 2 possible jobs. Only thing is both are in the next town. I'm not a confident motorway driver anymore and the car might have passed it's MOT recently, it's still 16 years old. One I've been told is in the town centre. That might be doable via public transport instead as I live close to a railway station. Or accept I only registered last night with agencies, I've already been contacted and hold out for somewhere in my home town. Waiting for DH to ring me back to talk it through with.

savingholmes

I think you have to weigh up how much time you are willing to spend travelling (and how much money) and how the jobs fits with your life...

Coxy11

I agree with savingholmes. You should factor in the time spent travelling, cost (public transport, petrol/parking) vs holding out for something nearer. Would the hourly rate be the same as your local town? Good to have a couple of options already though

Can concur re: OH's not being on board. I spent last week visiting my poorly DDad and DH has already started on the wine bought for Christmas, which means having to replace it. So flaming annoying!

Spendless

Here's the issue. I live in a deprived Northern (ex mining) town. One of those mentioned by Boris for 'levelling up'.  Jobs aren't plentiful or well paid. The next town isn't particularly affluent either but it's next door to the nearest city so maybe has started to attract business that wish to be nearer there but without the big city expenditure. The hourly rate is more than I was being paid recently. 

 Public transport costs will be reasonable as it's within the same county and as long as I can remember (even going back 25+ years) there's travel cards for the whole region. Travelling time for what will be a f-time job may be different though. I dodged this afternoon's follow up call from the agency as I still haven't decided whether to even try and haven't heard from DH to discuss. If I have to drive it's a deal breaker due to motorway driving which would also be in the dark during winter.

Coxy11

I hear you with the driving anxiety. I used to be in and out of the car so much when my 3 were little. Nursery run, school run, part time job, after school clubs, shopping etc. I hardly drive now - just the food shop once a week really. I'm a competent driver, but DH usually drives if we go out together anywhere. 

In my current job I started as a temp in the September. Gave myself until the Christmas to see whether I could hack it, both in terms of the people (CS) and the commute (daily from Kent to London). In early December DH was made redundant, so I had no choice to stay! I'm still here, 3 years on. It's a job, it pays okay, I'm now WFH due to the pandemic and we went through a consultation which means we merged with another govt dept, and there's not enough office space for us all...... The consultation has been chaotic, but I'm sticking with it for now because it suits me. Plus I hate interviews!

Maybe you could try one of the roles for a short while to see how you get on? Good luck.

Spendless

Thanks @Coxy11 - Think I needed to read that pep talk.

I have an interview today. My town, not quite as good an hourly rate as the next town one. However the hours are long 7.30am-5pm Monday to Friday. I'm going to see what they say, but I can totally see what you're saying try it and see if you like it. Will update later. 

Spendless

I got offered the job to start tomorrow. It is the hours I put above but for 8 weeks initially that's not going to kill me and it'll give a much needed cash injection. I know from experience that December and January can be a pig to find a job in, so can review the situation when it's the New Year.  

Coxy11

Whoohoo! well done Spendless that's great news. You can do this!!! Whilst you're there, you can maybe keep looking for something else. 
Good luck for tomorrow