Positively Planning and Enjoying Life

StripeyTightsSpottySocks

uncontrolled spending

oh yes - it's nothing exciting but i did mean to update this too. Monday after work and finishing late again i was stuck in traffic and thought i may as well do the food shop as go another time - a bad idea. I spent about £20 that wasn't on my list  because they were 'good buys' Clearly an emotional spend - other than feeling pretty glum after work - i just didn't connect the two things. And of course. in my mind as well was perhaps the thought that the food was a 'treat'. Yes we will have some nice meals but it was a totally unnecessary spend. It's done. we will use the food. I am just noting it here to remind myself of the pattern.

Fortune_Smiles

Hi Stripey 😊

balance is always difficult to find isn't it.  I've always tried to make decisions that would give us choices in the future.  So we can decide who we work for, how long for, where we live and what type of house, etc.  Of course that doesn't mean that I get to choose everything in life but it does mean I usually have a wider range of options.  If I were in your shoes I would definitely not want to feel trapped in a job I didn't like.  £1-£2000 is an awful lot of money but it doesn't seem so much when you look at all the 'Positives' it would buy you.  The question is whether you feel you can afford the money and time.

Fortune x

savingholmes

HI Stripey - perhaps discuss via PM what the course is and how you expect it to give you a return on your investment. 

I do think your current employer sounds like they are taking advantage. I do not believe in doing work for free. From what you said they don't even pay proper sick pay. I would put my effort into finding a better job that did and not necessarily spending more out on retraining at this point when it might not give an immediate return. I also wouldn't do the extra hours.

StripeyTightsSpottySocks

Thank you fortune smiles and savings

I should have said a negative is - what if i spend the money on these courses and then don't work in this field any more? You are right to identify i'm seeing the courses as a means of giving me options fortune.

Thank you for your understanding savings - i have looked at jobs a lot - especially when out of work and then in temporary contracts - this is sortof the role i 'fit' into. I will PM - thank you - a second opinion means a lot.

badmemory

Even in a new industry the courses however irrelevant will show that you can do them.  It isn't just about how relevant they are to your hopefully new role but about how prepared you are to do what is necessary for that new role.

StripeyTightsSpottySocks

thank you badmemory that is a good point too 

StripeyTightsSpottySocks

hello all

I kept trying to get back on here but was short on time and energy.

I have not signed up to any paid courses.

But I have been really quite productive though. Ok there is still a lot to do but i have tackled lots of areas and cleared out lots of things. It feels good to have done it and i can see how much better i'll feel when it is all done. I mean i know it will need regular upkeep etc. But i think i'm tackling stuff that has needed a good clear out for about 4 years  and the maintenance upkeep will be so much easier 

I have dropped lots of things off for the charity shop, gifted others to people i know who will love them or be useful for them and i have a small selection to try and sell  Once i get a break from work and some good light that will be a priority.

I realised before, and also put on tryharders thread, that now my mortgage is only dropping by the regular payment it really feels like i am in for a long haul at chipping away at this.

Also, i have my savings i want to grow, my student loan i want to clear (less than £3,000 i think when i checked) and i fall into a period of time where i will have to pay it. My wage isn't so big so i need to ensure i come up with a plan for this.

But that will be after i replenish the emergency fund - i borrowed some from it to meet a savings target and then my car needed some work  all done now though.

Right - a brief update but i didn't want to leave it too long and i need to try and get to sleep earlier tonight as it is an early work start tomorrow.

savingholmes

Well done on the decluttering that sounds like huge progress.

StripeyTightsSpottySocks

Thanks Savings - it really does feel like it is. The items 'to sell' are here still but with all the bad weather i have not been able to get good pictures - but i will do when it brightens up 

I have even started on some of the paperwork! It is mostly in a couple of bags - some still needs keeping and action taking or filing away but i did put some letters in the shredding from 2019! This was just from a handful i pulled out of one of the bags - like i say, it has been years of not dealing with things properly. But it is only by tackling the other areas that i felt able to start on the paperwork so things are overall moving in the right direction.

I had meant to say when i last posted, after losing most of January to illness i feel this year will be about making things easier or simplifying. By shedding so many things i don't need i am now seeing solutions present themselves for how to store other items and where a better home for them would be. By doing this i have already relocated my craft stash to an easy to access and tidy location  i had a bag i was going to get rid of but realised it would hold my threads nicely rather than them strewn about in the cupboard 

I do not sleep well most nights and one night i just decided this was it - things would have to go! And i acted on it the next day - don't think Mr Socks would have been happy for me to start then lol! It was partly thanks to posts on your diary actually Savings someone said that i do have more than i need and I think you said about someone only wearing what they feel fabulous in. I don't feel fabulous in anything at the moment - but that may be a step too far 

Whoops need to dash

savingholmes

Definitely find things that at least give you more confidence when you wear them - or failing that there are super soft and comfortable.

Well done for becoming more organised - I know how hard that can be. I'm making small amounts of progress on that front still but still have plenty of room to improve!