Small steps lead to big changes...

beanielou

One of my friends took VR and works in a supermarket overnight stacking shelves. They like it & get paid extra for unsocial hours. They do 3 nights. 

Four_Seasons

I think that's a lovely idea Cranky I would be very interested x

jwil

WinterWarrior said:

That’s a good plan. I do wonder what the future job market will be like when everywhere is downsizing. The bigger companies are trying to make it as uncomfortable as possible so people will just leave, but unfortunately it seems to be the experienced well trained people that go…and where does that leave them! Everything feels a bit precarious right now. 

That's what worries me, there's nowhere that's 'safe' these days.

CRANKY40 said:

Well done for standing your ground with regards to VR.

I changed from being a civil servant (fairly safe job, pension etc) to washing dishes in a cafe because it fitted in better with the HT's school holidays. When I did it I felt like I was jumping off a high diving board but it was so good going home at the end of the day without having to worry about workload and childcare. I know it's not feasible for everyone by the way, I'm just adding a point of view.  

I've been wondering for a while if we could have a weight loss/healthy eating thread in the diaries rather than using someone's personal page? There's a giving up alcohol one.....we can't give up food obviously but we can give up some bad habits. Most of my overspending involves food at some point 🫤 and I'd love some healthy food inspiration. What do you think? 

It's really good to hear other's points of view, so thank you.  DH just tends to leave it to me to make the decision and it's nice to have others to bounce things off.

If I was maybe 5 years down the line, I don't think I'd be so bothered.  I think we'd be in a better position.  I do get good flexibility with this, with my compressed hours, and also being able to take time out in the day for school runs, and work from home during the holidays.  That is something that I really need to consider before I move.  

I think a healthy eating thread would be great, I think there's some on old style that I look at periodically.  I definitely need to give up some bad habits and it could be very MSE if we aren't wasting money on treats.

jwil

beanielou said:

One of my friends took VR and works in a supermarket overnight stacking shelves. They like it & get paid extra for unsocial hours. They do 3 nights. 

I'd thought about that, but I have a relative that works in a SM, and the unsocial hours deal there isn't worth it at all.  I wouldn't rule out sm work though.  I have a background in retail from many years ago.

Four_Seasons said:

I think that's a lovely idea Cranky I would be very interested x

Yay! @CRANKY40 are you interested in starting it?  Could you pop a link in here so we can all join if so?

jwil

Payday today hurrah!  It's also my last day until Wednesday.  I've got so much to do.  I called a colleague yesterday for some help as I was struggling with some data, thought it would take a couple of minutes to resolve, but we were on the call on and off for over 4 hours trying to sort it.  We did eventually, but that wasted half a day.  At least it wasn't me being a numpty which was my first thought  

I need to do the money shuffle and sort out my totals from the month.

There's been snow in the area overnight, but it hasn't settled here.  It's actually bright and cold at the moment.

Have a good day everyone.

CRANKY40

Enjoy your days off. My jumping off the civil service thing and taking a massive pay cut was buoyed up by my widows pension and widowed parents allowance so I did have financial backup there. The WPA has stopped now but the HT has a dependants pension which he gets while he is in education so he pays me that as keep instead. We're not rich but we're not breadline if you know what I mean. 

I'll do the healthy eating thing later. I have to go out for a bit now 😊

savingholmes

I'm glad you resolved the VR quote.

I totally get the attraction of certainty.

What I'd suggest is dusting off your CV, updating it - perhaps with some help and updating those career profile sites... like LI and making more connections. That way if the worst / best happens you are in the best possible position for a soft landing.

jwil

CRANKY40 said:

Enjoy your days off. My jumping off the civil service thing and taking a massive pay cut was buoyed up by my widows pension and widowed parents allowance so I did have financial backup there. The WPA has stopped now but the HT has a dependants pension which he gets while he is in education so he pays me that as keep instead. We're not rich but we're not breadline if you know what I mean. 

I'll do the healthy eating thing later. I have to go out for a bit now 😊

I think my biggest concern is what happens when the kids are that little bit older and deciding if they want to go to uni or anything else plus knowing all the work that needs doing on the house.  I'd like to have a little more savings behind us first. 

jwil

savingholmes said:

I'm glad you resolved the VR quote.

I totally get the attraction of certainty.

What I'd suggest is dusting off your CV, updating it - perhaps with some help and updating those career profile sites... like LI and making more connections. That way if the worst / best happens you are in the best possible position for a soft landing.

I've been meaning to do that, not got round to it yet, but you are right, I should prioritise it.  I'm not on LI and not sure I'll bother with that, but it's something to bear in mind thank you.  I do have quite a few connections in my industry, but think I'd be unlikely to stay within it because I don't want to commute (though of course I might change my mind for the right job).

It would be good to prepare now though whilst I'm not panicking about the future and have time to spend on it.

jwil

Today's PAD - £8 

Jan - £319
Feb - £135
Mar - £124