Posted: Wed 19 November, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Commuting, Domestic, Driving, Finances, Getting Organised, Work-related |
This week, the Saab must think it’s been stolen – allbeit by someone who actually gives a damn about cars.
With the various odds-and-sods and issues of the last few months, basic car stuff had kind of gone by the wayside. I’ve been promising the car some attention, and so now normality has been somewhat resumed, it’s been time to do it. Plus, of course, the onset of winter conditions, which means it makes sense to ensure things are sorted.
Over the weekend, it got a proper clean inside and out (I don’t quite know how car windows get so disgusting on the inside, but they do) which made a world of difference. There were also new windscreen wipers – the last MOT said they were OKish and wouldn’t fail the car, but did need replacing. So with the colder/wetter weather (and with the next MOT due in a couple of months) it was worth sorting out.
Finally, it’s now sitting on new tyres – it’s a year since I did the last new set, and they’ve done nearly 30,000 miles in that time.
Of course, now it’s had another couple of hundred quid spent on it, it’ll now break down spectacularly in the next couple of weeks, knowing my luck.
Posted: Mon 17 November, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: 2014/15, Bankruptcy, Business, Domestic, Finances |
Over the weekend, I was talking to a couple of people, one of whom had had a couple of serious illnesses/medical issues in a short period of time.
It made me think about my own situation, and I realised (OK, I kind-of knew, but hadn’t thought about it properly) how screwed I would be if I were to be hit by long-term illness, or anything serious that required me to not be working for a while.
So I’m adding a goal to the list for the coming 12 months – have a backup plan and finances.
Ideally, I’m going to aim at having the financial backup that would cover me for at least three months of not working. I was pretty much there earlier this year, but then events conspired, and it’s back to zero. But that’s the plan. I know how much I would need, and what I need to do.
Interestingly, once I’m past 2015 it should be easier. At the moment, and for the next year, a significant portion of salary goes to payments from the bankruptcy. They come to a close at the end of 2015, and my current plan is that I’ll continue to take that money from salary, but instead of going to the Receiver, it’ll go to an ISA or secondary bank-account. I know I can do without that money, so it shouldn’t be an issue to keep on not having it.
Anyway, that’s the goal. Three months of funds, just in case the shit hits the fan.
Posted: Mon 10 November, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Bankruptcy, Cynicism, Domestic, Driving, Finances, Getting Organised, Sociable, Stupidity, Thoughts |
Now that work-based sanity appears to have made a return, things are coming back to a more even keel – both life-wise and fiscally.
For me, the first major sign of this came this weekend, which went thusly…
On the Saturday, I went to meet up with friends in Nottingham. When I left home, it was a decent day, so I didn’t bother checking if I had a jacket/coat with me. (You can see where this is going already, can’t you?)
By the time I was halfway up the M1, it was absolutely slashing down, waterlogged roads the lot. “Bugger”, thought I, “but at least I’ve a jacket or coat in the boot”.
Once I got to Nottingham, it was still pissing down, but I parked up, and opened the boot. Jacket, there was none. Coat, there was none. Fuck it, thought I.
Due to being (as always) pathologically early, I still had the chance to go and buy a new jacket, so I did.
And that was the sign of being OK again. It wasn’t a worry, I knew I had the available money. I could afford this extra unexpected expense, and it didn’t mean I was concerned about what’d happen at the end of the month, what would be needed to counteract this item.
It’s still annoying, because if there’s something I really didn’t need, it’s another bloody jacket. I don’t even wear them most of the time. But needs must when the devil drives, or when the clouds open. It’s one of those things, a bit annoying, but better to have a day of not being soaking wet and enjoying things far less as a result.
But it was positive for showing the process of recovery after the shitty job…
Posted: Fri 7 November, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Bankruptcy, D4D™, Domestic, Finances, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Thoughts, Work-related, Writing |
While I was looking back through D4D™ and what happened when, I found the category for the “Five Year Plan”, which started in – um – 2006, to go from 35 to 40. And now I’m 43 and still using it.
Oops.
So anyway, it’s going to stay as a tag/category, but the goalposts are changing a bit. (Well, they’ve already changed, as I’ve been using it for three years past the original target) It’s going to take me through another two years now, to 45.
I’ve a nagging feeling I’ve written about extending the timeline before, but I can’t find it right now.Hey ho.
Along the way of that plan though, lots has changed. When it started, life was heading in a particular direction, and since then everything has altered pretty radically. Indeed, I don’t think there’s a single part of the original plans or intentions that has stood the test of time, or remains in place.
There’s still a lot of things I want to do, and things I’m working towards. There’ve been some savage roadhumps along the way, at least one of which doesn’t actually complete until the end of 2015. However, I do feel it’s generally going in a positive direction, and we’ll see where things end up.
Posted: Sun 26 October, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Depression, Domestic, Driving, Finances, Getting Old(er), Introspective, Stupidity, Thoughts, Weigh Less, Work-related |
Carrying on from the last couple of posts – Reasons and Repercussions – I’m hoping that I’m now on the road back. (If nothing else, the fact I’ve done these three posts should say that I’m on the way!)
This last few months has been tough, there’s no denying it. There’ve been a number of facets to that toughness, but I’m generally optimistic that they’re all on the way back to something approaching sanity.
Financially it’s definitely been tough, and I’m back to pretty much square one again. This month will (hopefully) be the last of that level of toughness, now I’m back to working on contract instead of permanent roles. The last few months have cost me dearly, going into what savings I had amassed, based on promises that salary deficits would be fixed and so on – which never happened.
Socially it’s been absolute piss. I’ve hardly seen anyone – some of that is related to the financial stuff, some of it down more to depressions, to not wanting to go out, as well as to feeling a bit trapped by a number of things.
Workwise – well, we covered that in other posts. Safe to say, it’s not been fun, and it’s affected me pretty negatively.
Creatively, it’s been a bit of a dead zone. The only positive is that the amount of time spent on the road while commuting gave me the opportunity to think a bit about some writing ideas, although I didn’t have the time or inclination to actually get them done. Still, with any luck that’ll be part of the next phase.
Really, the only real positive of the last few months has been health-wise – I’ve managed to lose two stone in weight, and been walking far more than I was. And again, that’s something I’ll continue making the effort on, I think, as well as (now I’ve got some more time to myself and my life) getting back to the gym a bit more.
This last few months have left me feeling pretty flat and wiped-out. I’m hoping that now it’s a bit more settled and sorted, things will head in a more positive direction for a while.
Posted: Thu 16 October, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Domestic, Finances, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Interviews, Project 42, Thoughts, Work-related |
At the end of September, I quit my job with nothing to go to. It’s been an interesting couple of weeks – and it’s hard to believe it’s only been a couple of weeks. Anyway.
I mentioned it earlier this month, but haven’t said a great deal in the meantime.
When I handed in my notice, it was with immediate effect. The company in question – well, it hadn’t been fun. Being underpaid by 20% didn’t enamour them to me – and that’s a situation that’s still outstanding – but despite that, they still assumed I would continue to work all hours in order to bring their badly-timed and shitly-specced projects in on time. Indeed, I say ‘assumed’, but it was actually expectations – with real shock when I would have a life outside of work, and wouldn’t be available to keep their arses out of the flames yet again. The additional fact of not having a contract provided the seal on things.
I did get a contract in the end – one day before I left, and certainly well after the 8-week limit. Happily, it was breached and invalid immediately, because they’d written the original offer salary on it, which hasn’t been paid at all in the three-and-a-bit months I was there. Oops.
I left with immediate effect, and with nothing to go to. Not necessarily my wisest move, and not necessarily one I’d choose to make again. I had a bit of confidence from my previous history with interviews and contracts, but all the same that confidence could’ve been a real kicker if I wasn’t careful.
As it is, that hundred-percent interview success rate is now gone – although not by much.
I had two unsuccessful face-to-face interviews – which didn’t disappoint me. For the first, the commute would’ve been at least 90 minutes each way. Great for the whole “unemployed for two days”, less great for energy, sanity, or having a life. For the second, it was based in London, and the evidence afterwards is that it wouldn’t have been right – I would’ve been offered it, but the company in question U-turned their plans post-interview, so the role I interviewed for didn’t even exist.
Other than that, I had three phone interviews, including the one I accepted. Of the other two, I’ve since been offered one, and got to face-to-face interview on the other.
I haven’t worked out the actual success ratio, and don’t really need to. All that matters is that it took me two weeks from leaving one place to starting another. And that’s no bad thing at all.
Posted: Sun 17 August, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Bankruptcy, Domestic, Driving, Finances, Getting Organised |
This month is renewal month for my car insurance. Always iniquitous, this time they’re really taking the piss.
After two years with the same company, with no claims, and no need to contact them at all, they’ve *raised* my premium – and not by a small amount. For no good reason that I can see, they’re trying to charge me no less than £30 *a month* more.
Amusingly (if you find sheer profiteering cuntishness to be amusing) they’ve also quoted me via an insurance comparison website at *half* what I’m currently paying.
Needless to say, I’ll be moving. And I’m really looking forward to the call where I tell the current set of shitbags why I won’t be renewing with them.