Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

Alchemilla

So frustrating DH's job moving.
I share your NY resolution to do more reading...my brain is similarly mush.
Shoulder pain from ops seems quite commn...did they give you an idea of why (assuming op not on shoulder, sorry I'm behind on my reading!).

daisy_1571

He has tried to keep the business going for his sake but also for the employees.   They know that.  He took a wage cut to help save their wages, again they will be aware of that.  I hope he can feel nothing but positive about the role he has personally played over all these years.

Now, although its difficult, those employees are not your (joint or singly) responsibility.   If the owner offers them a job at the new location, while you both will obviously be talking it through with them because you are all close, at the end of the day thats their decision to make.  Likely the workers will have had this in the back of their minds since the owners took over.  It never appeared they were going to respect the business from that standpoint,  it was always going to be from a purely business standpoint. 

Like you I doubt someone will want to travel 3 hours, do a job (even one they they love) for 8 hours and travel home another 3 hours.  Thats madness,. By the time they get in it would only leave time for sleeping.  But maybe if they do love the job and their other circumstances are such, maybe its worth moving house, againthoughthats for them to think about.  Anyway, while you can both be as involved as the workforce want in all the planning and decision making,  I hope your dh doesn't get dragged in or feels he should get involved in 'helping' these folks, topping up redundancy payments or trying to employ them all again?  Do you think he will worry about them to that extent?  I'm maybe catastrophicsing here, but I hope you don't mind my sharing my concerns.

Dxxx   

newgirly

Thank you for commenting 😊 

South coast, you are probably right that it’s a blessing in disguise just annoying timing 😒 the contracts will be looked at re redundancy, I think it may be on a case by case basis in this situation. Dh does have a bit of experience as does my brother so hopefully it will be straight forward to find out. 

He can’t work from the shed sadly as some of the machines required are way too big. There’s always a possibility of moving some stuff to other friends with units nearby, not sure if that’s something he will look into or even want to do. 

Hi Daisy, working out of his own unit wouldn’t be financially viable as it would rent for good money (hopefully!) as a complete unit, it’s was newly built when the premises moved about gosh, 12/13 ish years ago so, it would be harder to rent out with his noisy grubby machines, it’s kind of possible to have it as office space as a well as industrial. Regarding helping the staff, there are now just three others, my brother and two very good friends who has worked alongside since he was 15. He would I’m sure help them in anyway he can, if he hears of jobs from people he knows etc. but that’s now as far as it goes as he knows he’s done enough, which he has.

Hi Al, great to see you back on mse 😊 I had some unexpected open heart surgery in May this year, without being too grim the operation can cause some pain that takes a while to go with the opening up part, all good now though 😬

daisy_1571

Oh I hadn't realised there was so few staff now, I know without shadow of a doubt he'll be helping any way he can.  Thats interesting re the space and the various uses and effect on rent.  I thought it might be hug enough to divide it up.  Lots for you both to be thinking about   

Dxxx

Alchemilla

Oh my golly goodness @newgirly. And still you have so much energy!

newgirly

Hi daisy, no not huge at all about 2400sq ft 😬

Hi Al, not at the moment I don’t 😆

It’s been a very lazy day today, dh and I have sat on the sofa and watched tv all day, well he’s been multitasking by sleeping and watching at the same time - aka waking up if I try and turn it over 😂 I’ve been looking at the regular outgoings when mf and the holiday commitments.

Looks like we can get by on a wage and no rent without paying for any holidays we have booked, also seems as if things stay the same for the 6 month notice period then we can cover everything booked for this year on those extra months after we are mf say to the end of July. 

We may end up having to cancel the big family trip and trip to the arctic with my parents next year of it doesn’t rent out quickly enough but I think we have room for a 6 ish month leeway period in between. Whether that’s enough or not who knows! All of this is based on everything else being as tight as a drum and nothing budgeted for tarting up the factory if they leave, it will need a lot of painting including the ground and mezzanine floor and possibly new carpet tiles on the top floor, however dh probably has a bit of money for that. 

It may seem pointless trying to plan when you don’t know the situation but it makes me feel a bit more in control and if we have to change things or cancel everything or sell the car whatever then we will. Hopefully it will be of some use even if just a distraction. 

Other changes I’ve made included starting up the pound a day savings again, I did it last year for Xmas as we were hosting (we spent way more 😱) and I wasn’t going to bother this year as I’m not sure we are hosting and to be honest I thought we could afford it anyway really if mf. Better safe than sorry though so I will transfer £20 from my personal spends to catch up. 

The grocery budget is now £420 pm this year , January already is down to £177.86 😩 not great, I did have a cook up yesterday and made a couple of lasagnes, a huge lentil dhal and a Xmas leftovers (last of the frozen goose and turkey) vindaloo, there’s only a bit of lasagne and two portions of dhal left already, so much for getting ahead 😆 

The frugal news today aside from it being a NSD, is the heatings been off as the others were out so we sat in layers ☃️ I think in this weather that counts as making an effort 😬

newgirly

Well it’s the start of a new week and I’m feeling quite motivated for a change 😁 today I will be taking mum for a coffee at the shopping centre as usual, I shall also be returning a couple of items i bought after xmas that I don’t really need, it’s a few more pounds back in my personal spending pot. The budget says I now need to pay for my spending money for our girls 50th trip in august, dh says whatever happens I’m still going on that bless him, so I’ll make up the spending money. 

I’ll also be stopping at s@insbugs to collect from arg0s 3 x boxes of tartan xmas crackers that were reduced to £2, not the best of contents but at that price I had to, full price was £9 a box and I can always add some little bits when the time comes, I’m quite annoyed that all crackers are rubbish nowadays and there’s never a red fish that reads your mood, I may even order some to add next time 😆

No ice of my roof windows this morning so hopefully it’s warmed up a bit, the thermostat in the hall is set at 16.5 at the moment so sometimes kicks in, it’s a lot colder in the living room though as it’s long with an open conservatory. That’s probably on the hit list to get removed once we are mf 🥶 

Dinner plans today are pasta with meatballs (reduced from freezer) for dh and leftover lasagne for me, I should see if ds2 and dil need some food buying as I’ve not asked for ages and just bought bits and bobs as we are currently helping out trying to reduce their spending temporarily. Time to get up now and investigate the loud smashing noise that woke me up today, no doubt cat related 😂

Alchemilla

My grocery budget is £750 a month...how many is that for??

daisy_1571

Did you ever put your curtains up across the conservatory, i can't remember 

Dxx

themadvix

I was about to suggest curtains too @daisy_1571 .

Not sure who you're with for energy NG - is it Octopus? If it is and you'd go to Caffe N3ro or Gr3ggs anyway for your coffee (or even if you don't), make sure you nab a free hot drink when taking your mum out through Octoplus.