Five Year Fix, Five Year Plan

savingholmes

Hello from me too. 

LadyWithAPlan

and me Hope all is well

KajiKita

Ooh, yes, and me! 👋 😊

KK

Merlin's_Beard

Looong overdue update from me, thanks to all that checked in!

Work has essentially been wildly overwhelming to the point where I am, frankly, struggling. So from September I will be cutting a few hours at least, in the hope that it helps me to keep my head sort of above water instead of constantly drowning.

(A quarter of the workforce left in a six month period, and we've replaced very qualified capable staff with trainees, and we're expected to compensate AND train AND maintain the same output and it's a lot. I am also keeping an eye out for a new job but obviously that's not a guarantee and the cut hours are. I'm also paid well enough here that cut hours here might be the same pay as full hours elsewhere, but I still think I'd cope with reasonable full hours over crazy slightly shortened ones.)

But! I have paid off my student loan this week! This gives me an extra £300 a month that I can spend on not working. It's a little bittersweet - I had all these plans for how I could use that money for this (mortgage), or for that (saving for a new car), or the other (house stuff), but at the end of the day mental health is probably a better call than those to 'spend' the money on.

(I'm also attending counselling at £50 every two weeks with a counsellor who has a special interest in autism - which I think is a huge part of me not coping with the chaos of work - but again, I'm hoping it helps and is worthwhile. And it's persuaded me to cut my hours, at least.)

House stuff trundles along -

- the kitchen is more or less how I want it, with extra cupboards.
- The garden is only short of a shed now, and the money is set aside - I just need the energy to go find one. It's starting to be the oasis of calm that I want it to be, if you ignore the caterpillar-ravaged brassicas (I should have netted them I didn't)
- the loft has been boarded!
- next step is sorting out the main bedroom, fitted wardrobes etc. Still haven't made a decision about whether to move the bed from the spare room into the main room (and maybe have a sofabed in there and make it a little craft/hobby space), or just to keep it as a full spare room and get a new bed.

Social stuff continues to be a challenge, but again, pinning some hopes in reducing hours in giving me a bit more oomph on that.

KajiKita

Yaaay! 😊👏🤩🎊🎉😎 You’re back 😊

Sorry work is so tough … I was wondering …
Sounds like you are developing good strategies to deal with it though. Shame I can’t get you a job in our local vets - it’s an independent one and they seem lovely … 

HUGE congratulations on paying off the student loan 😊👏  I know you wanted to do something else with this freed up money but for now it’s good to have that buffer. It might not be for ever 🤷‍♀️😊

Sounds like the house is coming on well too. Are you pleased with how the garden is coming on?

KK

Merlin's_Beard

Haha I think part of our issue is that we ARE the lovely local independent vets, so we're bursting at the seams with too many clients and too many pets to ever let up and registering more people each week.

The garden is beautiful! Got lots of roses and hollyhocks blooming at the minute, and plenty of insects buzzing around the various plants as well as some birds at the birdfeeder. In the end I'm SO glad I only have a small garden because at no point over the last year has it felt like it was so overwhelming a task I couldn't look after it, and it could have happened quite easily several times over.

KajiKita

Ah, that would explain it … 😉😊

The garden sounds lovely ☺️ Any chance of some pictures? 😊 I think small gardens can be like treasure cabinets - you don’t get long vistas but every detail and piece of beauty can be seen and cherished ❤️

Kk

South_coast

Lovely to hear from you, Merlin! Sorry to hear things have been overwhelming, but sounds like you have some good strategies in place. And excellent work on clearing the student loan, that must be a weight off your shoulders 👏

savingholmes

Congrats on prioritising self and reducing hours. Well done on clearing the student loan - that is immense too.

Your garden sounds lovely.

Merlin's_Beard

A few pictures from the last month or two!