Preparing for the biggest move of our life

Debt wise, I paid £119 off Debt 1 yesterday bringing it down to £300. I don't want to use savings to clear this as the bulk of it is interest free. I usually pay around £60 per month on this, but DP owed some money for something I got hence the larger payment, should be cleared by September - the end is in sight!!


Debt 2, I have had set at £65 pm for quite a bit, however as of this month Il be upping that to £100, then when debt 1 is finished I can then top up that payment and it should be finished by Feb/March.


I've upped the payments by deciding to decrease payments to savings, only a little decrease. Savings 3 is everyday savings - holiday spends, Christmas birthdays. We have paid for a cheap seaside holiday already, so Im only likely to withdraw spending money in July, and again end of August when we visit DP's family then I need to save for Christmas birthdays.


Savings 1 &2 are H2B isa and LISA. At the minute H2B Isa is only there because of the interest rate and the fact that I can If I need to withdraw it without loosing money for example rental deposit if we were forced to move. Il keep putting money into that until I reach a level I'm comfortable with, at the minute I'm thinking 2k. I did have considerably more in, until I had car works done. I blew my lid a little and ended up changing my car. I had been thinking of changing in the next year or 2 anyway, but we decided it was a tight squeeze with all of us plus the dog for our weekends away and my old car was pants on petrol when we travel to see DP's family and was starting to cost me money fairly regularly. New car is diesel which so far has made quite a difference to my top ups and its tax free so Im saving £17 per month! I put my old car down as the bulk payment, and we used some savings to cover the rest so we have had to restart over the past few months.


When I reach the 2k, or debt is clear which ever comes first I will then put more into LISA, I just didn't want to put it all in then loose some of what I put in with the withdrawal penalty if something changes unexpectedly.


We are planning to stay put, but waiting to find out rent increase first, should know in the next few weeks.

So I asked my boss for the possibility of filling my 1 morning off per week with some permanent hours, she was very optimistic and said she would approve in a heart beat but it had to go to a higher level. So I prepared my case and sent it off. I got a very polite response to say not right now as our dept is under review so they cant review 1 persons situation.
The thing is, I have been through 2 reviews in the 4 years I've been there, there is just about to be a 3rd. In the first I gained a job so started during the review really. The second, our department was being relocated to our northern office which started this post when I ummed about whether or not to make such a big change. I was fortunate to secure a local job, then a few months later another two higher paid roles which merged to give me an almost full working week.
I don't want to be fearing redundancy every 2 years. The review might be positive and perhaps one of my part time jobs will turn full time, but it also might be a negative leaving me with only one part time job which I just could not afford even with DP's help.


So an application I had been dithering about, I suddenly got the kick to go through with! Its closely linked to what I do now, but for a local authority instead. I didn't have high hopes for an interview but to my shock I got one!!


Im torn on whether or not I'll actually leave my current employer. I have good colleagues, good management team, flexible working starts from home etc, it really makes working full time easier being able to be there for DD when I need to. The salary offered starts from what I am on up to 4k higher. My initial thinking is I would like an increase on my current salary, and a similar level of flexibility.


I would loose the extra days AL I have built up, but the job is closer and I could in dry weather walk to work.


On days I drive in Id have to pay for parking, which I don't currently.


I start to think Im better off where I am, to suddenly panicking that I might not be better off after the review!


I'm conscious I could be up against some tough competition so I will give it my best and hope any potential offer makes my decision easy!


If its a no go, Il be on tender hooks until I know whats happening at work so I may have to keep my eyes open for other roles.


Fingers crossed whatever happens is for the best!

So I received a pleasant surprise, when after my request for extra hours and 'not right now's it's been suggested I could actually have some for 6-9 months during my managers maternity leave as there's a budget allocated but they've mostly divided up duties with existing managers. I had to put another case forward, well not as detailed as before I gave my interim manager a couple of ideas about what I could do and she will prepare a case. It's still got to be approved so not 100% but an unexpected surprise. My other manager thinks we should have a good idea of the restructure within 3-6 months so at that stage I will have a good idea on whether or not I'm likely to be safe.
After that bit of news it really hit me, I don't want the other job I had applied for, so I politely retracted my application.