Hmm Well

Manager FB-messaged me (yay official comms!) and surprise surprise another shift this week. I'm already on the equivalent of 34½ hours and the overtime-overtime will make this just under 40 - third week in a row. At least this week it's over five days instead of six. I have resolved to say no if anyone tries to touch my two days off this week. I like the overtime but I.Am.Tired.

She also says I should hear about getting shift-manager-trained in the next few weeks! Good news. The new shift leader, who got the position I wanted, has still not started and nobody knows when he's coming... including my boss. Hmm.

Absolutely zero properties on the market at 50k, still.

My credit score has been massacred from hard searches. Sigh. I've given up on this personal loans crap and gotten myself a new subprime credit card again, I'll just keep saying yes to increases.

Also applied for and got a new current account with my shitty, shitty main provider, whose shitty IT system is still shitty. It's paying a £5/month bonus if you pay for 30 things in a month, so look out self-checkout because I'll be buying a crapton of individual items to get my bonus. They have an incorrect address in the system that they've promised me has been removed four times, can't match me to my existing internet banking login and made a new one AGAIN (fml that's another phone call for me to hopefully find someone to merge them AGAIN) so now let's see if they can even manage to post out my card... I won't hold my breath, my credit card from them never arrived either... my loan application with them crashed by the way and they still hard searched me. I wonder whether it was even rejected 😂

I have installed the track and trace app for Covid-19. I fully expect to be told I've been near someone who had it. Occupational hazard of seeing 500-odd customers in a shift.

Grrr: the annoying next door neighbour has hung all her wet clothes on my airer while my stuff is in the washing machine. There's no way I'm speaking to her (I've made complaints - she isn't meant to be living there, she stinks and is noisy). So now I have to pile her stuff somewhere, take my airer to my room and seem like a jerk. Great.

I Can't Help It

 Since The Great Disappointment™ I have done the following thrifty things:

• cleared out my fridge
• toasted some muffins from the freezer
• tried the soft butter spread J bought; that's a no; saved it for cooking!
• taken a frozen block of (free) butter out of the freezer
• used up some old frozen vegies
• taken some frozen chicken out to cook tonight
• done two surveys on Prolific Academic
• snapped some receipts
• used shrapnel aka loose change to buy milk
• eaten cereal that I don't really like
• used some nutella that is "expired"

I have a glut of stored items where I've been less than discerning and simply taken food home that I never get around to using. I was forced into being slightly more choosy once I ran out of room, but I really should learn to eat what I already have, because it avoids me discarding food which won't fit.

I am still a bit gloomy. I don't think it's even just about the missed flat, I'm having a bit of a "what is my life?" thing. But hey, this will pass.

Sad Faces :(

So the apartment (predictably) went for £46,500, which is £4k more than I have. Sigh. Lots.

I had kind of decided to pay out my loan if I can't find anything by the end of the year and now I waver... it is hard to let go of the dream! Having a bit of a moment right now, feeling pretty stupid, like I shouldn't have dared to hope. There are absolutely no other properties on the market even at around £46,500.

.

Ok, I took myself off for a nap and am feeling slightly more human now. It's disappointing, mainly because I was looking forward to starting the countdown to moving! But the fact there's a tenant in there, well the flat really wasn't perfect. Must keep the faith. Must sit tight until I can arrange to pay 50k.

I finally had a sit-down-chat with manager. She says that I could easily do the job that I didn't get, the roadblock was that the training academy is closed due to Covid. She wants to send me to the academy once it's open again - I asked why since it would hasten me moving to another store (I can't see any other opportunities in my own store given that the other shift leaders are part of the furniture). She admitted that she knew it, but felt like she should develop me anyway. I am comforted by the fact that the shifty I work most with in sister store is also earmarked to go. It will be nice to know someone there.

My boss has also done something exemplary with my new shifts. I was disappointed when she'd told me that head office was stopping her changing my contract hours up much, but she has gone out of her way to arrange this for me as best she could. She has given me three more unofficially permanent shifts, meaning I have a steady 28 hours per week for at least the next few months. I definitely misjudged her. 😍

Spendy McSpenderson: definitely this personal loan that's sitting about and yet to be used on a property.

Wendy I Love You

Wendy at my union, whatever they're paying you, they should double it 😍

She found me a new conveyancer and even checked that he would be able to work at short notice and in a short time frame. I duly sent him an email asking what kind of info he would need and whether he could quote me - and it is going to be some £900 cheaper because this one doesn't charge a premium to work on an auction.

Phew.

Nervous now. Hurry up, time.

Watch battery replaced, all good, yay.

Annoyed Is Not The Word

A nice conveyancer, arranged by my union, quoted me for the apartment I want about a month ago. Including a £550 charge for dealing with an auction. Last week I accepted her quote and instructed them. A completely different solicitor from the same firm then began sending emails asking for info they already had - only to this afternoon announce that he won't be able to to work with me due to the timescales of auctions and that he "wanted to be up front" about it.

I am beyond disgusted, they knew it was an auction the whole time and are only now declining to work with me, with six days to go? I have obviously sent a very dirty email to my union suggesting they stop endorsing such an unprofessional company and asking if they can recommend anyone else... but gah, I'm completely screwed now (putting it politely). The union lady has called another firm who'll be in touch this afternoon and they're aware that I've been let down, so fingers crossed this one works out.

My nose is blocked up and it's very irritating... I am just coming off a minor cold (not corona not corona not corona) and my overuse of nasal sprays for the last few weeks has left me dependant on them so I block up within a few hours. I am trying not to spray on my days off but I just hate being a mouth-breather!!! I have no choice when I go to work because who needs mouth-breathing in a bloody mask?

My sweet little kettle brought over from Finland has finally bitten the dust 😢 Fortunately I have the one that I got off freecycle for J, and it takes up more room, but at this point I'm grateful to have a kettle.

Since it's the week of things falling apart, my watch has stopped dead. I hope it's just the battery and I've ordered a new one, which I'll change myself using the screwdriver kit I bought last year.

The seller messed me around with the lightsuit, wanting me to pay to airmail it back to China before they would refund me, funnily enough the moment I ignored that and hit "return requested" through eBay with a note that the seller had already agreed to a refund, they refunded me in full...

New neighbour man in J's old flat is apparently a double team, since she is always, always there and they wake me up at stupid o'clock with their arguing and screaming. They also like the green stuff. Living in this house has suddenly stopped being a shoebox inside an oasis. I know it's influencing my decision on the auction flat and now I just want to buy yesterday.

Free: two dozen red roses 😍

It's been a pretty depressing post here all round so I feel obligated to say: things will be ok. I don't live close to the bone, I can always deal with an unexpected cost in some way, there's always a solution to be had, the world hasn't ended. Life is good. x

August

PA £10.93

QMee £0.94

Testable Minds £9.02

Receipt Hog £5.00

Book Royalties £2.07

Not quite enough to retire on just yet!

A few days left until the auction and I think I will actually bid. I have completed my registration and am ready to go... so now of course I'm paranoid that there is some hidden cost I've forgotten about and that I won't have enough money.

Depressing x2

The flat that I want is now being sold with tenant in situ. I could buy it then attempt to remove her, but ugh. It's an annoyance and a risk in that she might not leave and that would leave me stuck with sky-high bills. I have eight days to decide what to do.

The job I applied for... I apparently can't have. Work bestie had a word to manager who has indicated that next time the company runs a shift leader training course she'll consider putting me forward... in other words I'm not getting the job I want, evidently because you can only be considered for the shift leader role if you are already fully trained as a shift leader. That would have been nice to indicate in the job application hey?

I had better win £139million on EuroMillions tonight. 😞