En Francais!

Firstly apologies for the delay, French life is so laid back it practically stands still so my week away caused me to lose track of time, not because I was relaxing in the sun of Southern France, more because my mind was consumed with the frustrations of being faced with a world thats does not seem to be open for business and the stresses of being on best behaviour for the in-laws. 
I know I should have appreciated the slower pace and taken the opportunity to chill, but its not in my nature or the stepsons (he bores easily if things aren't happening) and despite the in-laws best efforts to welcome me I feel that I've been holding on tight all week, with my stomach in a knot and my shoulders up by my ears. 
I have worried about everything from whether I locked the door at home, to how much the motorways in France cost (£11 each way from Bordeaux to Aulnay) and whether we would manage to return the hire car in exactly the same condition we picked it up (800 euros to pay if not)  and of course whether the inlaws like me.
This was intended to be a budget holiday, accomodation was free, the inlaws being very hospitable to hubby, stepson and I, but France generally is expensive.  The supermarches are full of amazing foods that in England are only stocked on the tiny speciality shelves and the out door markets are full of colour and bustle, but the prices are high and even with a slight improvement in the £ to Euro rate (we managed 1.14 Euros to every pound) it still meant I was watching every penny.
These concerns were not helped by news from home that my little car had a massive crack all the way across the windscreen (possibly caused by a faulty fitting of a new screen after a pigeon fell off a lorry and cracked the original screen last summer)
It wasn't all bad I had a personal tour guide (the hubby grew up in France and is fluent in the language) we toured Chateau's (those that were open) shops, markets, beautiful countryside and the hubby's childhood memories including the baby photos.  My own French was also tested and not found lacking (I understand more than I can actually speak)

 One of three prison towers in La Rochelle (once owned by the English)

 The Roman Ampitheatre at Saintes

 Chateau at Crazzanes (can be hired for weddings and is truly beautiful)

The hire car we were given (a little Chevrolet Spark) was incredibly economical with only a 30litre tank it lasted all week and we covered a lot of miles (the South of France is very sparce) unlike the car I borrowed from a friend to get down to Luton which cost £73 to fill up!
I have to say despite the worries I slept incredibly well, the bed was soooo comfy, my dreams however were bizarre, ranging from adopting one of my students to heated debates with my so called boss.  I'm guessing these were provoked by the news a couple of weeks ago that my department will close in September.  Having already felt that I lost my job before Christmas when my hours were so vastly reduced this didn't have as much of an impact on me as it did on some of my full time colleagues.  It was gutting though when many of my students said they would not be returning after Easter as they didn't see the point since they would not be able to finish their course the following year.  Each name added to the list wrenched my insides, it means a lot to me to see them succeed and on a more selfish note my track record of results has been excellent for the last 3 years I don't really like the idea of it being tarnished.
The announcement also means that voluntary redundancy is an option again, but while my grievance continues with no update as yet, I cannot make any decisions, so again we wait.

 

Employment: Parttime 0.33 of a fulltime contract
Lodgers: 1 (new lodger moving in at the end of the month)
Eating out: all week in France! (we have eaten well)
Hubby: 1 (9 months of married bliss minus one argument and survived meeting the inlaws)
Dog: 1 (bathed and clean in honor of his holiday at my friends while we were in France and still smells good a week later)
Stepson: 1 (After a week on a family holiday it has been confirmed that I am not a natural stepmum, I like my hubby to myself although stepmum was chosen over dad to sit next to on the plane home!)
No Spend Days: I admit I have no idea (nobody's perfect)

Bathrooms & Budgets

The bathroom is complete! And yes it has taken nearly two weeks thanks to paint that takes 24hrs to dry between coats, and the need for three different types of paint depending on whether my brush is aimed at the ceiling, the top half of the wall or the bottom half of the wall, I have turned into some kind of mad obsessive when it comes to my bathroom and driven the hubby mad with colour charts although I think he enjoyed the many trips to B&Q.
The best news is I managed to come in under budget! £85.24 total cost which included new bath mat, shower curtain and mirror.  It has to be said however that buying the cheaper B&Q paint rather than splashing out the extra £7 for Dulux was a false economy.  B&Q took three coats before the walls stopped looking patchy, whereas having used Dulux on previous, less stingy occassions covers perfectly well with just one.

Before                                                                          After


The time involved has kept me occupied and out of reach of boredom, along with the continued good weather and subsequent runs to the seaside or round the woods, now the bathrooms finished though what am I going to do? My £100 budget won't stretch to refurb of the kitchen which requires new doors, plastering, flooring, cabinets and paint.
The next project is making a bathroom cabinet, although my belief that it must be cheaper to make my own than buy one is being thwarted by the cost of wood which seems ridiculously high, is there a shortage of trees that I haven't heard about?

Having stuck to my own budget this week, I watched George Osborne's Budget for the 2012 with trepidation, but was very relieved to hear that there is a commitment to keeping interest rates low, with two mortgages both on variable rates even a small rise would be hugely detrimental on my new vastly reduced income.  My hope for a lower fuel bill was not answered however and as such we will still be limited to local acivities for entertainment.
It seems that if my income stays the same next year I will no longer be a tax payer thanks to the new persoanl allowance increase, which is nice, but gave me a peculiar feeling as though I am no longer a contributing member of society, having worked fulltime since the age of sixteen I never thought or planned to be a part timer let alone someone who didn't pay tax!
In other news my grievance at work continues, having had the first meeting earlier this week the case is now being investigated with an outcome expected in 15days although I suspect they will take their time and drag it out.  The meeting took two hours and although not as unpleasant as expected it was emotionally draining and clear that my employer will use any loophole they can find to ensure that they come out on top.  So now we wait.

Good vs Bad

Thursday demonstrated the advantages of working part time gloriously well.  With the assistance of some gorgeous sunshine I got out of bed at a decent hour (a downfall of not having to get up for work every day is that it is all too easily to stay in bed for most of the morning) took the puppy for a long walk and then went for a run to the seaside and back (its quite nice having the beach only a couple of miles from home) The run and the sunshine really boosted my mood and kept me motivated through work in the afternoon and beyond.  These are things I would not have had the opportunity to do while working fulltime, by the time I'd have been on the way home from work the sun would have been fading and I certainly wouldn't have had the motivation to go out for a run (the puppy has ways of dragging me out for a walk however) The other benefit is that it didn't cost a penny!
The weekend brought rain, persistent rain, and a reluctance to do anything outdoorsy.  The problem being that anything indoorsy costs a considerable amount of money or is at least an hours drive away (as is everything from here) which means costly petrol and with hubby still only working a few hours a week and my wage so reduced I managed to talk him out of every suggestion based on the costs involved.  I worry that the goodlife can only really exist as long as the sun shines and in Britain that isn't all that often.  As a result the weekend time was used up with DIY, cleaning and snuggling on the sofa, not bad, but not ideal.

This weekend we're going to redo the bathroom (on a budget of £100, I'll let you know if we manage to stick to it)

Picture of bathroom as it is now and as its been since I moved in 18months ago, could be worse as I'm sure my best friend will tell you, green suite and orange walls are a little more difficult to live with!

I have just put a coat of primer on the window having spent many, many hours stripping the old paint off.  Admittedly we started stripping the paint at the end of last year, but soon got bored. 
So far though it has not cost a penny just a lot of elbow grease, some leftover paint stripper and the primer I used on my bedroom drawers.



I don't mind DIY its quite therapeutic and when the local decorators quote anything from £90 upwards just to paint the hall and landing (which with the right equipment would probably only take half a day) I find spending the day doing it myself very satisfying, although it does make me question whether I should have been a painter and decorator rather than a teacher as I know I have never been paid £90 for a days work despite being required to have a degree and a teaching qualfication!

The sun returned yesterday though and having walked the puppy I put my trainers on and returned to the sea front, much quieter than Thursday and I am definitely getting faster.  Hubby's work has also picked up a little and hopefully will continue to do so, for this reason we are treating ourselves tonight with a date to the cinema (Orange Wednesdays of course!)

Employment: Parttime 0.33 of a fulltime contract
Lodgers: 1 (potential lodger viewing this week)
Eating out: 2
Hubby: 1 (8 months of married bliss minus one argument)
Dog: 1 (all healed and fur growing back nicely)
Stepson: 1
No Spend Days: 6/14 (must do better!)

Progress

Okay so progress does not mean I have been perfect, my challenge not to buy anymore clothes until an existing item is relegated to the bin or the charity shop has not quite been met this month.  I confess I spent money on not quite essential items.  I did only spend £10 though! Yes I know I'm trying to justify it to myself, but I have some nice new running shorts and a vest, two things for £10 is a bargain right?
Other than that minor slip I think I've been quite good and as a result I have money left with only a week to go until payday.  Hubby and I are still amazed that we are more than surviving on a severely reduced income compared to the when we were skint on two fulltime incomes.
The puppy has also curbed his spending, he's healing well and has resisted the urge to scratch at the wound, for that reason he has been rewarded by not having to wear his silly plastic collar for the past few days and he can now play frisbee again.
The exam marking is finally over, having spent every evening, every weekend and the days inbetween when I wasn't teaching, attached to the computer I am glad its over.  It was however incredibly satisfying to see the extra money appear in my bank account and beable to transfer it straight away to the credit card account therefore paying off the vets bill, the two new car tyres and the flights to France in one fell swoop.  Don't worry I haven't forgotten about the laptop and the puppy didn't manage to spend every penny I earnt, I am still owed another payment, hopefully at the end of this week.  Now I have to decide whether to buy a laptop or something else, I have already treated myself to tickets to see Dirty Dancing at the theatre (something I've been longing to see) but that still leaves a nice amount to play with.  Hubby has recently upgraded his laptop however and mine has not died yet so I'm thinking the new laptop can wait and hopefully prices will continue to fall over the next few months as they tend to do with technology, in which case I may buy one for the exam marking in June.
I am still in search of another lodger, but supply appears to have dried up, that and I think I'm being quite fussy, one because I have to live with the person and two because we are not desperate for the money, to be honest the extra money would either be saved for a rainy day or spent on treats so I'd rather wait for the right person.
There are other downsides to lodgers besides living with a practical stranger.  Having just read the electricity meter, prompted by one of those little cards through the door, it would appear that our electricity usage is considerably increased.  Not suprising I suppose when at the point of having two lodgers that meant 3 televisions, 4 laptops, a minimum of 4 showers a day, 2 extra lightbulbs left on, not to mention the lights accidentally left on in the kitchen, hallway etc. over night because they are not paying the bills so are not a conscientious about energy saving as a billpayer is.  Happily I get to keep control of the thermostat (I have lots of warm socks and jumpers) and the weather has assisted in reducing the gas bill a little compared to last winter.
My employer has thrown a complication into my endeavours however by deciding that maybe I should have been made redundant back in September! Funny that considering I had a fulltime permenant contract and they couldn't provide fulltime hours! Trust me I did argue for several months before taking the cut to part time and many people would question why I didn't continue to fight, the answer to that is that for a few hundred quid (I had only worked there 3 years and it was statutory redudancy pay, about £400 for each year) it wasn't worth the stress and misery caused by the uncertainty, and the threat of making working life difficult.  Now however after so many grievance procedures against them (I was not one of them) they have been forced to investigate their actions, I'll let you know how that one progresses, but I do feel like its opened up a can of worms that I thought I had neatly packed away.

Puppy vs The Good Life

The puppy it would seem is fighting against me in my quest for the good life! He is spending money faster than I can make it.  The exam marking is still in progress in a stop start fashion, which means most of my time is spent with the laptop attached to my knees, much to the puppy's disappointment as this means he cannot sit on my lap as he prefers.  He does spread himself over so that his paws are on the laptop and his nose on the keyboard in an unsubtle way of getting my attention.  It is for this reason that I believe the morning his stitiches were due to be removed he ripped them out himself leaving the wound freshly parted and the quick trip to the vets turning into an hours session of cleaning up, injections, another bill and more to come for antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.  The new laptop I had planned is slipping away, but surely this was his cunning plan.  He may not have realised that his plan involved wearing a cone arouund his head and not being allowed off the lead for the next two weeks.  Hubby also plans to gaffa tape a sock to his back paw (the puppy's paw not the hubby's) every night to avoid any vigorous scratching.
My car (Tiglet) also seems to be joining in this war against the Good Life, having only just been returned from the garage after the Pre-Christmas accident she needed new tyres and the tyre garage helpfully informed the hubby that the car is not roadworthy due to some problems with steering components.  Surely the repair garage should have picked up on this and not let me drive the 100 mile round trip to Doncaster and back?  Don't worry I have made my self very clear to the garage and the insurance company that sent poor Tiglet there, strong words and tone were involved and I await at the very least an apology for the lack of care and attention.
It is for these reasons that, despite managing a few no-spend days, this has been a very expensive month and I have concerns that this months wage (newly reduced) will not spread over the next 29 days.
I have arrived at the point (after a couple of Tia Maria's) where I am considering what is is I wanted from 'The Good Life' I feel this needs assessment as I have after all given up a fulltime teaching career in the pursuit of said life.  My wishes at the start were as follows:
1. To travel
2. To visit nice restaurants
3. To beable to cover unexpected bills without stressing
4. To be able to treat myself now and again (posh food, nice flowers, clothes and shoes)
5. Not to work my contracted 37 hours a week and bring home the same amount of work to do or worry about in my own time.
6. To take long walks with the puppy
7. To take time to look around and take a breath (corny I know)
8. Not to be stressed and miserable

So far I think numbers 1,2,3,5,6,7 and 8 are pretty much covered, some days more easily than others, but despite the heavy load of outgoings over the past couple of weeks I am not panicking about money and wondering how I will cover the bills even though I only work two days a week.  Yes we are still budgeting and I am certainly not throwing money at luxuries, but I don't feel like I can't treat myself if I happen across the perfect pair of shoes.  Hubby is still not in fulltime employment and I have one less lodger so there is certainly room for improvement, but the quest isn't about being greedy, its not about having as much money as possible.  The intention was to find a better way of living.
I'm still holding on to the hope that I can buy the new laptop (it will be essential for the exam marking in June, mine won't last) and the puppy seems suitably upset about his situation not to continue sabotaging his treatment.
On a good note my little iwallet app is working well, over the past eight weeks it has shown me that me biggest non essential spends (vet bills count as essential) are:
1. Pertrol
2. Clothes
3. Snacks (mainly chocolate)

The petrol I know I can't do much about, we barely use the car as it is and the biggest journey is the bi-weekly trip to Doncaster.  Clothes however I have a wardrobe full of, to the point that if I buy any more I will have to start borrowing some of hubbies wardrobe space.  I know I don't need anymore clothes, but I love buying them! So my decision is not to buy anymore until I have to throw an item out because it doesn't fit, can't be altered or is worn out (unless of course there is a special event the calls for something particular)
Next item on the list, Chocolate. I'm a chocoholic, but the pennies spent at the local shop and the work refectory are not helping my waistline or wallet so second decision is to cut back (there is no way I can deny myself completely)
So I would advise the use of the iwallet, its nice to see the non spend days and the guilt works its magic when I see how much I have spent on things I didn't really need.
The newly reduced wage is holding up okay so far, I have money left after the essential bills have gone out, not enough for anything spectacular, but I am happy I can pay for Salsa classes once a week for the rest of the month, buy a special lunch after our spa day next week (£10 for 2 from lastminute.com) hopefully find a table at the auction we're going to on Saturday morning and still have enough for a few bars of chocolate :-)
So situation to date:
Employment: Parttime 0.33 of a fulltime contract (have been much better about only going in on the paid days)
Lodgers: 1 (finding the new lodger is proving difficult)
Eating out: 0 (lack of a car for part of the month and exam marking have scuppered my availablility)
Hubby: 1 (7months of married bliss minus one argument)
Dog: 1 (vets bill approximately £500)
Stepson: 1
No Spend Days: 8/14 (helped by the exam markign which has kept me tied to the house)

The Vets

Th puppy went to the vets on Wednesday, I nearly phoned up and cancelled several times.  He's been to the vets before and has no problem with it, actually he seems to enjoy the peculiar smell and the vet manhandling him.  A couple of the visits have even been emergency dashes like when he collapsed one summer after playing football or when he jammed a stick into the back of his throat leaving a little hole, and yes I admit I cried both times, but he was in and out, medicine perscribed and I took him home and molly coddled him even more than usual.  But on Wednesday I had to leave him at the vets. I wasn't allowed to stay and hold on to him while the vet did his work, this time the puppy needed anesthetic and had to stay all day with the threat of an overnight stay as well! So I walked him through the park to the vets, he was clearly puzzled by the change in direction, but happy enough when we got there, he didn't even notice I was leaving him so I only managed a rushed kiss on his little head before he was led away.  The walk home made it clear there was something missing and set the mood for the rest of the day, everywhere I went in the house there were little puppy reminders, his frisbee in the kitchen, his water bowl next to the cooker, his flying duck toy abandoned next to the dining table.  I had exam marking to do so would be in the house all day, usually the puppy does a very good job of keeping me company, not this time. I made toast and saved the corner for him only to have to eat it myself rather than throw it away.  The postman rang the doorbell and I wondered why he hadn't barked and why he wasn't under my feet as I jumped up from the sofa.  I know many of you will not understand my difficulty with relinquishing my puppy's welfare to an extremely well qualified individual, but the puppy is my baby and has been for the past 8 and a bit years, he goes everywhere with me, he's seen the boyfriends come and go and got me through the lonely bits, he's helped identify the bad ones and given the good ones a thorough going over before deciding that we can trust them.  He is my family as my blood relatives are not and without him I am more than a little lost.
The good news is the puppy was home by 4pm, just as I was going to work so again only a brief kiss on his head and the hubby had the luxury of driving him home and spoiling him while I went to work and wished the time away so I could run home and check his wound.
The results took a little longer, although much quicker than expected which in itself was a concern.  All clear for the puppy, just a cyst because he is 'an older dog' the vet stated.  No he's not! He's in the prime of his life!  Relief has not stopped me molly coddling him all week though and I have renewed appreciation for the wonder that is my furry baby although according to the hubby that appreciation is always abundantly clear (think he's a little jealous)
The tickets are booked! I am going to meet the in-laws.  Yes I have been married for a little over 6 months, no I have not met hubby's parents, to be honest he hasn't really met mine except for an accidental meeting with my father with not many words exchanged.
The in-laws however live in France and not the easy to reach part at the top, the posh Southern part which costs and arm and a leg to travel too.  Easyjet have made the trip possible by having slightly more reasonable prices and I'm working with the strategy that hubby, the boy and myself can fit everything in one 20kg bag and a couple of hand luggage bags so the additional fees weren't too bad either.  Although £9 admin charge and another £6 for paying on my credit card did make me think British Airways might not have been that far behind on price by the time I was finished.  Having had bad experiences with booking online before, I checked and rechecked the details and got hubby to check too before committing my credit card details.  All done, booked, we are going. Then it dawns on me, the names came up on the booking making us look like a proper little family, all with the same last name, shame my passport doesn't agree! The £70 quid it costs for a new one meant that it was the one thing I didn't change after the wedding, the visit to France just got a bit more expensive and I hope it comes on time, I've got 10 weeks it'll be fine right?

My part time life has been filled again, this time with exam marking, something I do every year for extra pennies and usually have to fit around a full time job, filling every evening and weekend to the brim with time spent attached to the laptop.  So this year it should be easier to fit in? Not really! I still spent all weekend at it and each evening after work so far plus a full day today, admittedly I had yesterday off to go to the dentist, visit Nan and eat free food (courtesy of retaileyes.co.uk) but surely I'm allowed one days rest?
The marking has not been a simple process either.  For the past three years I have marked exams so I have the system pretty clear, this year however because of demands by the Government the examining bodies are being harsher with the marking (apparently too many students are getting high grades) this would be fine if there was some sort of systematic consistency to it, but it would appear there is not and so the marking has become an even more laborious task.  It will however pay for the huge vet bill and a the flights to France and a new laptop (mine is slow, missing keys and has a broken hinge)

One Month On - The Story So Far

Having returned to work very briefly last Friday for the matter of a day I appraoched the weekend with a huge grin on my face.  That one day, hectic as it was, did not disturb the relaxed feeling that has developed over the Christmas period.  I have lazed for long hours in bed, happily snuggling with hubby without the guilt of knowing I should be doing something and without the constant nagging of work worries that usually follow me home even during the holidays especially with exams looming in mid January. If it wasn't for the puppy I think I may have lost several days under my two duvets (energy saving measures), but his gentle squeaks from downstairs soon develop into urgent barks once it approaches lunchtime and he feels too much is being asked of him to cross his legs any longer.
Even though 7.15am has become a stranger to me over the last three weeks it didn't greet me with the same sick feeling that it did when I was the classic fulltime worker.  Even Monday morning cannot dampen my spirits and I can genuinely say I have enjoyed the back to back revisions lessons that are necessary to ensure good grades for the little darlings, even though it seems to be me doing the work and them sitting listening as if they have never heard of differentiation, the monetary policy committee or sampling before!
It has been a little bit of a wrench leaving hubby behind for a day at a time, we have become very attached to each other in our non-working bubble.  Hubby I should explain left fulltime employment shortly before myself and has been waiting for his next job to start later this month with only a couple of temporary assignments inbetween. 
My work colleagues seem more pleased to see me than is usual and enjoy questioning how I am coping and if everything is okay, while marvelling at how lovely it must be not to have to come in everyday and talking about all the things I must be able to do now.  To be honest I haven't managed to fit that much in so far other than continuing with the running, New Years Day race achieved, after an entirely sober New Year's Eve with hubby and friends.
January it would appear is training month for me, with a three day stay in Oxfordshire for a potential new position and several days put aside throughout the rest of the month for exam board training, the good life may have to wait.
In the meantime I am attempting to have 'no spend' weeks (so far I've managed a couple of 'no spend' days) my spangly new phone has an iwallet which lets me track anything I spend on a daily basis, not that the idea of the good life is not to spend anything, but rather to spend less on the unimportant things and have more left over for holidays and adventures.  I'm feeling quite good about it so far, but with Christmas still jingling in my ears it is no surprise that I haven't felt the need to restock the cupboards or treat myself to a new wardrobe item.
My plans to study for a masters degree as part of my 'good life' are being scuppered by the inability of universities to offer the courses they are advertising.  They do seem very happy to let me go through the laborious application process and to subsequently offer me an alternative course, one that would involve me driving to Edinburgh twice a week (I live in Grimsby!) and the other would have meant attending fulltime in Derby which was offered while I was still working fulltime in Grimsby.  I wouldn't mind so much if I hadn't filled in all of my personal details and written a statement explaining my current situation in details, does anyone read these things or is it just to weed out the illiterate applicants?

Employment: Parttime 0.33 of a fulltime contract to be precise,one and a half days a week although its been more like two and a half so far (note to self 'only do the hours you are paid for!')
Lodgers: 2 (Lodger No.1 moves out next week, replacement not yet found.)
Eating out: Once a week more or less for free :-)
Hubby: 1 (6months of married bliss minus one argument)
Dog: 1 (quote from the vets to clean his teeth £200!!!!)
Stepson: 1 (cleans his own teeth)
No Spend Days: 5/14