Teetering on the brink

ellenvan

Just catching up with your posts after a few days away.

Seems like you have taken action just in time as the credit card interest starts to hit.

Any more Good2go bags or Olio goodies recently?

Good news you got free money for bank transfers - that has helped a lot with your targets.

Keep going!

Debt_Overload

I empathise with that teetering sensation. I found an old journal entry of mine where I talked about circling the drain. So it's familiar territory and I am reading your entries knowing that old background stress, the "I'm OK for now but who knows how long this will last" sentiment. I have fingers and toes crossed for you on more 0% deals. I gave up (I'll admit that now!) and went for a DMP,  but I still like cheering people on who are flexing all their strength to make the top of that hill. You can do it xx

EatingBeans

Finally made it to the end of another mental day at work, only for dd1 to ask if I could take her out in the car again. Sure why not?

We started by driving the same lap as last time, a few hill starts, all pretty good. So we made the lap a bit bigger, still all good. Finally I thought, ok at some point we have to actually leave the backroads, so off to the main road we went. 🫣 
A few stalls later, we made it onto the main road, through a couple of sets of traffic lights and into the industrial estate. Phew. 👍

She then tackled her first small, VERY quiet roundabout, all ok, before I thought, ok, let’s try a 3 point turn. It’s a wide road, virtually no traffic, what could possibly go wrong? 😬 Ok, so it was totally my fault as I clearly rushed the learning-to-drive process a bit - I am still new to this too and somehow a three point turn seemed safer than driving around at 30mph with other cars. What I did not account for is how much multitasking and coordination a three point turn takes! My instruction was clearly not clear enough - when I said quicker, I meant turn the steering wheel quicker, and she took it as move the car faster! 😱 Oops. Needless to say we mounted the pavement at quite a speed, I pulled the handbrake HARD, and we stopped just before ploughing into a bush. 😬 “Don’t worry” I calmly said, “but perhaps you can push the clutch in now as we appear to still be trying to drive into the bush?” 🤣

Cherryfudge

ROFL, you clearly missed your calling as a driving instructor! But you must be doing something right as she's tackled all those new things.

I think you've convinced me the post that's being advertised at your place doesn't have your name on it (unless, I suppose, you could look at a secondment, but is it really worth being miserable every day?)

Have a look at how much you've learned and all the progress you've made just since you started to post  here. Absolutely huge. Perhaps have a glance back through some of the early posts for things you may have missed at the time, but also look how far you have come. And if it would help, perhaps an SOA of how things will looks once Barclaycard starts to charge interest. You never know, someone may come up with some useful thoughts.

Also, with summer coming up, you will be able to spend more time out of doors which is free entertainment and healthcare. Perhaps start to make some plans for low cost activities to give you nice things to aim for.

EatingBeans

Thanks @cherryfudge . You couldn’t pay me enough to be a driving instructor! Even as she was driving and doing well I could feel myself getting tense. So, as much as I was trying to watch the road, watch her and give instructions, I was also consciously trying to relax and monitor the tone of my voice. I figure clear, calm instructions is as much for my safety as it is for not upsetting dd1! And I guess I was proved right with the whole ‘let’s drive into a bush’ scenario! It is unfortunate that the basic skill she seems slowest to develop is braking! 😬 We will get there. Hopefully in one piece. 

I am still in two minds as to whether I should apply for the new job. I feel like I have coasted along in my current job for 3yrs and it is about time I start doing a proper job again. Yes, I get busy, but the actual work I do isn’t exactly fun. The bit I love about my job currently is I get to be a fly on the wall with lots of meetings of the higher ups and it’s nice to get the inside scoop. Sure, I end up being their lacky and often doing things well outside what my job should be but I can’t see them ever promoting me to make the externals they brought in. They are effectively considered consultants because they have been doing the same thing for years elsewhere, where as I am, on paper at least, just doing lots of the job for the first time, even if I do feel like I understand it just as well as them. I know in my heart I should go for it even if I don’t particularly want it. 😕 Means to an end and all that. Oh, and obviously the money!

I think you are correct about another SOA being potentially helpful although I may hold off a little while. There is a lot of change going on in all my accounts, what with all the bank switching etc., and I think an SOA would mostly help once that is more settled, I have a clearer idea on how the ending interest rates impact me, and I have juggled my way past buying the new window. 😬 Basically, most of my would-be ‘pots’ money is being diverted to pay for it, but that will leave most of my pots empty. Not great but an SOA once I am clear on the impact will make more sense then.

EatingBeans

Good morning for surveys this morning - three from Prolific and one from YouGov. Also made another sale on Vinted! I don’t always mention the surveys in my diary but I generally check for them every morning as I drink my coffee. Just using my phone to complete them definitely limits my earning ability on Prolific but I figure making it a habit is more important at least to start with and that is much easier done using my phone. 😁

EatingBeans

Just been on to Nationwide to confirm if I can switch to them and still get the £175. Until today I had not seen a deadline for the switch but when I checked today it says 31st March. Since my direct debits are still in the process of being transferred, I wanted to know if 31st March was a deadline for application or a deadline to have switched/met the criteria. Apparently it is a deadline for application so I am going to hold off until next week and then apply. 

Cherryfudge

From what you're saying, it's 'no' to becoming a driving instructor, then! How about the possibility of secondment to the more senior post?

I might have a look at a bank switch: I think two of our local ones are closing (though I don't often go into the branch) and the original benefits of one of our accounts are history so it would be a good time to go after a better deal.

weenancyinAmerica

Eating Beans, have you sat down and written out what exactly you want in a job that you would enjoy doing. And then seeing if such a job exists near you. I would hate to be going to a job every day that I dislike no matter what it paid me, unless I had a really satisfactory and lively life outside of the job and could leave the disliked job behind when I went home. And the job was just a way to pay for the extra time. You say you disliked the job you are considering before - why would you plan on ten, fifteen, twenty years of doing something you dislike?  

EatingBeans

Hi @weenancyinAmerica  I totally understand what you mean about not wanting to do a job you hate - welcome to pretty much my entire adult working life! I know what I would like to be - a Product Owner. I have also done this role before, albeit without the title and pay (are you seeing a theme yet?). What I cannot seem to do is get paid for the job I want/do! This has been going on many years, with many different employers, and it has been driving me nuts. 

If I didn’t have TN I would look for the job I want at another employer in a heartbeat, but, from experience TN is not generally well received and I have been bullied out of jobs in the past so I am not keen to switch employers. Becoming a Business Analyst is a step towards being Product Owner and despite already having the experience, having the title matters when I am trying to get promoted. So, I am not really taking the job with a view to doing it for years, I am taking it with a view to it being a stepping stone. Or even being paid to be a Business Analyst but actually being a Product Owner (more likely given my history but I would be totally ok with that).

The more I think about it, the more I think I have to go for it, but that might mean trying to also convince management that I really do want the job when I have spent the last 3 years telling them I don’t want to be a Business Analyst! Including point blank refusing to step in as one when they were short staffed in that area, even when practically begged by senior leadership. 😬 I guess all I can do is apply and see what happens.