Teetering on the brink

daisy_1571

Planning is definitely good 😆 

Cross referencing the receipts is such a simple idea but saves hours of checking if you'd added to the spreadsheet or double counting things.  Big number at top right with a circle round it and you'll easily spot it and can go back straight to the line of the spreadsheet if you need to check something.  System learnt the hard way for me, delighted if it helps anyone else save time and hair tearing!

Dxx

EatingBeans

So far this new way of taking the meds seems to be working! Or at least going in the right direction. I’m now waking up to my 4:30am alarm (albeit with a well deserved grump for the rude awakening at such an ungodly hour), and I am falling back asleep pretty quickly too. I’m deliberately not setting a later alarm as I wanted to see how long I would naturally sleep and it seems to be between 8-9am so that is much more reasonable. I do get a bit of pain and lethargy through the day but I’m not finding that I have to give in and take anything else until about 5pm so it is much closer to being workable to do some actual work. I have an appointment with the GP tomorrow so I will run this crazy idea past them and see what they think. No doubt they will just tell me to do whatever I feel works best until I get to the specialist as really they don’t know what to suggest themselves. 

So, yesterday I managed two hours on my spreadsheet revamp. I am deliberately starting afresh with a blank slate and trying to build something that will also give me a dashboard and some new reporting. The eye opener came in that for a few things I realised I didn’t even know who I was paying for things! Who is my current supplier for car and house insurance? Am I still paying for Netflix? My brain has been so mushed I had no idea! (The answer is no for Netflix btw 😁) I literally took every transaction for the last 12 months and broke it down to who I was paying, what for and came up with some new ways to categorise everything. My plan is to create the new spreadsheet and then complete it as well as the old one for a couple of months so I can compare the results I get and make sure I don’t lose any of the good stuff I’ve built up over the decades. 

Sadly I am not up to moving around much and going out is still a no no at the moment but at least I have found something I can actually do and that is making me feel better. 

EatingBeans

Another good day pain wise, at least until I had to venture outside. 

dd1 had to have a procedure at the dental hospital today so I needed to drive her.  All done now and after 3yrs it was the final appointment with her consultant who has been an absolute legend sorting her teeth out. It will feel really odd to suddenly stop visiting. 🤣 

Back in the warm not though, and having picked up several boxes of meds on the way home I am hoping to avoid going out again any time soon! 🤞 

Time for a quick bite of lunch and then back to more spreadsheet tinkering. The more I ponder this idea of setting up my own business the more I feel like it’s actually something I should pursue. I’ve even broached the subjective with my family and they all seem to think it is a good idea so I think that has helped me feel like it’s actually possible. I don’t doubt that it would be hard work but it would at least be much more flexible hours-wise. I’m actually quite excited. 😁

ellenvan

Perhaps with the cushion of a lump sum from the leaving package, you could get a part time job and set up gradually with self employment.

ellenvan

Random thought that you have probably already considered:
It's very difficult to get a mortgage until you have 3 years of self employed accounts,in my experience.

EatingBeans

Yes, the impact if all of this on getting a mortgage has been on my mind. It’s probably the only reason why I’m even slightly doubting the decision to leave my current job. But then I remember that my current job isn't helping me actually pay down my debts, I am really treading water at best so something has to change or I think I will be in the same position this time next year and I’ll have no hope of remortgaging anyway. 😕

My initial plan is still to look for better paid full time work but potentially a fixed term contract rather than permanent. I know that wont help my mortgage chances either but it will make it easier to get a job quickly. Once I have any new job and I know how much I have left of the pot, I’ll know how much debt I have left to tackle. If necessary I can then think about getting a permanent job to sort the mortgage if needed, or possibly just sell the house depending on timings. In an ideal world I would like to start the self employed element alongside and get it up and running so that I have something to fall back on that is more TN friendly.  I think being employed at least a part time is likely to be the aim for quite a few years no matter how well the business venture goes as that opens the door to sick pay. It seems ironic to me I can see how self employment would make it a lot easier to actually stay in work with the TN, but if I reach the point of not being able to work at all then employment is better as I’d be entitled to sick pay. I think keeping one foot in each camp might be the new way I have to approach it. 

Humdinger1

I've read on here many times @EatingBeans that if you stay with your current mortgage provider, choosing from the range they have at the point your current fix ends, there are no credit checks- you just move. I think the flexibility of self-employment could really help, especially with a lump sum behind you. You're doing brilliantly love Humdinger xx 

EatingBeans

I was clearly feeling a bit better yesterday as I found myself randomly making a suggestion that will turn our house upside down before later thinking about how much energy I will need for the process! 🤦‍♀️ 

So dd1 really needed something to pick her up a bit for a few reasons. First, she had a GP appointment as a follow up to get her test results from an ultrasound she had a few weeks ago, and the GP was absolutely fuming when she told her about the A&E trip. The GP believes she should have been admitted and booked in for surgery there and then and was livid that they didn’t even give her a scan. She is now ordering a range of box ticking tests but is not waiting for the results and has make an urgent referral for her to be seen at the hospital. The doctor was so annoyed she told dd1 that if it gets worse we need to skip the local A&E and drive to the bigger/better hospital further away and attend at that A&E to be sure she gets the care she needs. Bless her, dd1 is doing remarkably well dealing with it all. To make matters worse she has also been and had a dental hospital procedure this week where the consultant cut a bunch of the connective tissues that attach some of her teeth to the gum and bone. She hates needles so it’s a lot to take in a week and she has missed a lot of college and work in the process so she’s also now stressing about falling behind too. Oh, and then there is the not so tiny issue of her bf of two years leaving for his mission in a few weeks. One of the rules is they have to leave everyone behind with only minimal contact with family and he is not allowed any romantic relationships during the two years he is gone. They are not official splitting up but at 18yrs old two years apart with little contact is eternity, so the whole process of counting down until he leaves is torture. She spends hours on call to him every day whilst she’s busy in her room so to suddenly not have him there always chatting is going to be oh so hard and she is concerned about how she will be able to focus for her studies. 

So, me being me, and wanting to do anything I can to help my dd’s, I suggested we swop bedrooms to give her a change of scenery. It would mean she would be downstairs and in the more social area of the house, rather than tucked away alone in her room and it would break the usual routines where she would expect to see him all the time. I also said she can have my desk so she has a larger dedicated study space. 

The very same day dd1 received her offer from Nottingham Uni for her top choice course. She was delighted but panicked slightly at the realisation that the grades she needs are one grade higher than she expected. She now needs AAB. That’s exactly her expected grades so no room for crashing out right now and she agreed the bedroom swop was a good idea. 

Then dd2 joined the conversation and pointed out the obvious. If a room swop was on the cards then surely it makes more sense to swop me into dd2’s room, and dd2 into dd1’s room as the eventual plan is I have dd2’s current bedroom as it’s the biggest (I have more stuff and the dogs sleep in my room so I need more space). Yup, of course she’s right, it does make more sense, so that is now the aim. Given the need to shuffle everything in an already congested house and account for… dogs who get overly excited at seeing cats, cats who are used to sleeping in separate rooms from each other every night to avoid food stealing, cats who hate dogs, the old Big Cat who gets very stressed at the sight of boxes being packed (thanks to him being abandoned for months by my ex before I found out), and Big Dog who loves his crate so much he has been known to panic and wet himself if he sees it being collapsed to move it… the logistics of this room swop is not for the faint hearted. We’ve now worked out a 3 day plan for how we can shuffle everything whilst still keeping much of the process hidden from the anxious pets and fit it all in around college dates, dd1 going to work, Christmas, and the final bf visits before he leaves. Oh, and of course dd1 wont be doing any of the heavy lifting as we don’t want her to end up back in A&E. 

Did I mention that I am still working on feeling human?🤦‍♀️

Ah well, I think it will be worth it in the end. No pennies will be spent in the process ✅ and everyone will have a fresh start. The pets will have time to adjust to the new routines before dd1 leaves for uni (this will be especially difficult for 15yr old Big Cat who has the abandonment issues and is very bonded with her). However it does mean less time for selling in this run up to Christmas, though there may still be a few things that sell based on items already listed - like the £10 book I sold today. However the end result will permanently give me more space to set up for future sales/self employment options so it works for me too. 

Now I just need to pick through everything in my room and box into items to move, items to sell or items to take to the tip (in the van, before I finish taking the seats out and I am no longer allowed to use the van for tip runs)! 

This will be a brutal test in just how much I can do. At the same time it gives me hope because three Christmas’ ago was the last time I truly felt well. I know this because the girl’s and I spent the week between Christmas and New Year painting almost the entire house. It was hard work but I was 100% fit enough to do it and the result, and memories made, were fantastic. A couple of months later the TN hit back hard and has been train wrecking my life ever since. So I almost feel like if we can achieve this room swop (even if it involves a hundred breaks) then I am at least on the road to recovery and I can put the last three years behind me. 🤞

ellenvan

Hope all goes well.
I'm tired just reading about it. My afternoon is knitting by the wood burner.
Some how everything takes a bit more effort in the winter.
Sounds as though it's worth the effort for you.
Take regular breaks.
Maybe do a few surveys if you can't list anything. Seem to be loads around at the moment. Everyone probably to busy soon .
Good luck.

satchmo1

I'm concerned that, when the bedroom swap is done, if you are confined to bed you will be isolated and perhaps won't have the energy to get downstairs / to the kitchen, etc