Hours

So, as a 'full-time', seasonal 'colleague' at my local music store, I am entitled to a 30 hour workweek. My contract expires on January 3rd, and when I leave I am entitled to 4 days paid vacation.

This afternoon, my manager man has a little meeting with me and states that due to the economic 'situation', the big-wigs have decided that full-time, seasonal 'colleagues' are getting their hours cut down to 25. Ouch.

Fortunately, because our store is such a sucessful store, my manger man has been able to dip into our bank of 'overtime' hours to ensure that all of us seasonal staff get our regularly scheduled 30 hours a week. Yikes.

I'm glad that I will still be getting my 30 hours a week, because otherwise, I would've had to seriously reconsider my job. The thing is, with the Visa, I'm only entitled to 52 weeks working, and because of that, I must take advantage and work as much as possible. So far I've been able to pick up extra hours here and there, as well as one shift when someone else called in sick. Its been good.

Amazing, though, how fast a contract can change due to an economic situation. Yeeeesh.

I've been tagged!

Hklover86 over at My Money Diary has tagged me for a meme! I have to post 6 random facts about myself, so here we go!

1. I don't drink coffee or any other coffee-flavored beverages. This isn't a religious issue or caffeine issue or anything, I just don't like coffee. Plus I'm proud of the fact that I don't need coffee to wake up in the morning.

2. I can't live without Vaseline. It's my lip gloss and seriously, I panic if I leave the house without it and will either return to get it or buy a new one while I'm out. Seriously. It's like an addiction. I really need to cut down.

3. I could stare at the night sky forever. For ever. I do my best thinking, best conversations and best relaxing under the night sky. I miss seeing the stars now that I'm in London, and back home it was often way to cold to be outside for long periods of time. I need to go somewhere closer to the equator.

4. Change that is beyond my control makes me very uncomfortable. I like to feel in control of my life and I get horrible feelings of anxiety when things happen beyond my control (for example, like my roommates moving in and out, job searches, etc).

5. I flirt more with guys I don't like and have no feelings for than guys I actually like. There is less risk involved with guys I don't like, less to lose, so I feel more comfortable. Odd.

6. I sometimes worry that I'll never be financially independant, even though I am debt free. Will I ever buy a house? Have a car? Take (more) vacations? Who knows.

Hope those were random enough for you - if you'd like to do one, leave a comment and consider yourself tagged!

Blogging Daily...

... doesn't seem to be something that I am capable of. Hmm.

That's probably because for the last week or so, up until the day before yesterday, I was feeling pretty down and miserable. I go through these spells once in a while, where I get depressed and sad - usually its a mix of feeling alone, and the grey weather, and feeling like I'm not in control (mainly when it comes to roommates moving in and out, etc - I don't usually welcome change).

This is my 2nd week now at my job, and I'm still liking it, which is good. I feel more and more like I can do (almost) everything without asking everyone what I am doing. Plus it changes enough to keep me interessted, and the fact that I only work 6 hours (and one hour break for lunch), keeps the days short.

I've been able to pick up extra hours, too. Most of the time when I work a 12-7 p.m. (we close at 7 p.m.), I've been able to stay an extra hour to help with stocking. And I took an extra shift on my last Monday, which is nice. I didn't tally it up, but I got almost 40 hours last week.

On the budget side I'm doing alright. I've gone over in my food category considerably, however I'm still under budget in my other categories, so overall I'm still way under. I will go into my budget analysis a bit more at the end of the month. And I'm looking forward to getting my paycheque, too!

And off to work I go...

Blogroll

Hello again everyone! I have added my blog roll lists up again to the side. I changed it up and did some editing. Most of these blogs I recalled from memory and from my 'came from' link list for my visitor tracking. However, if you link to me or would like me to link to you, please send me an e-mail or comment and I will do just that!

As a side note, I think I'd like to start trying to do daily updates. I just need to get back into the habit. So here goes!

I worked again today. Work is starting to get better - I feel like I know more and I got to mix it up and do some cash register and some floor walking. I went home feeling accomplished and satisfied. I helped my saffa roommate fix up his resume and sat here watching Family Guy until just now. However, I was too tempted when my roommates said they were ordering pizza (I actually felt kind of bad since they waited for me to get home before they ordered), so I got a medium pizza from Domino's at the cost of £13.99. I only had £9.34 left in my food budget for this month. So I have gone over. (And don't worry about the food budget expired mid-month - I've got plenty of groceries to last!). What I will end up doing is taking a bit from another area - rent or transportation - to balance it out. But either way, it was a decision I could've avoided. It was yummy, though.

Tomorrow I work again, 11-6. Monday and Tuesday are my days off. The weather is supposed to be a bit miserable on Monday, so I'll probably end up just staying in and doing laundry/cleaning/sleeping and I'll head into London on Tuesday for a full day of sightseeing!

That is the best part - the fact that the things I enjoy the most in London - wandering around and taking pictures - are free. It's just the getting there. Although I did determine that it would be a 2.5 hour walk from my apartment to Trafalgar Square - so that might be something to try one of these days - assuming I don't get lost!

THANKS

I seriously need to give some big THANKS to Canadian Finance Guy. Seriously. He's given me SO much good information - so thanks!!

I still have a lot to learn about taxes and stuff... I need to get in touch with people and figure everything out. Sometimes I wish I was earning tons and tons of money... other times I wish I wasn't working. Haha. But this will definitely be a steep learning curve.

Thanks to everyone who has given me advice. :)

Budget!!

Okay, as promised, here is my budget. Here is the overall look (it looks just the same as a bunch of other budgets I have). Most of the numbers at the top aren't that exciting - they just keep track of my current bank account balances... hopefully they will be easier eventually when everything is in my Barclay's Account (rate go down...rate go down... rate go down).

This is the more important part. This is my budget. Rent is actually £412 a month, but I'm a bit obsessive and added £12 a month to make the total £1,000. Yes I'm weird like that.

Bills I have budgeted at £75 a month. Council tax is the bill I pay and it averages between £70 and £80 a month. I have a pay-as-you go phone with Virgin Wireless and I don't use it much, as incomming calls are free and I don't call many people.

I give myself £80 a month for transportation, although that is very exaggerated since the most I would spend getting to and from work is £36 a month on Pay as you go Oyster card. Of course, when I want to go into Central London it costs me £2.50 each way.

My budget for food is £120 a month. This is just a tester budget, as November is my first month to be on my own completely (I didn't do a budget for October, and spent 2 weeks with friends). So far £120 seems very reasonable, and as I learn more about food and prices and such I think that I should be able to cut it down even more.

My budget for 'Fun Money' is £300 currently. This is the money I leave myself for everything else. Clothes, Toilettries, Shoes, Trips, Tours, Mailing things, decorations, whatever. Yes, £300 is a lot of money, but I'm here to be a tourist and enjoy myself. I don't think that I'll spend nearly that much, even this month. I plan on being able to 'compound' this unused money for future vacations, like visiting friends in Amsterdam or hosting my mom! Again, this may or may not change depending on how things go.

With these statistics and the current state of my bank accounts, my savings should last me between 8 and 10 months. Not too bad.

My seasonal work should net me between £1100 and £1300, which gives me about 2 months of 'bare essentials' living - ie. no fun money. That was basically the plan, that every month I work equals a month of living expenses. Ideally it would be great if I could work for 40 hours a week, which will net me £1600 during my working time, but we'll see how it goes.

As well, it would probably be nice to work through January, but it's not an essential. I will again start looking for work come July and hopefully work through the fall. And then again, I can count on my Canadian tax return come April and a UK one come the fall again, so that should net a little extra cash. It's all up in the air but for now I'm pleased.

Well, that's enough incoherent mumbling for me. I work tomorrow at 9 a.m. and I should get to bed.

Changes

I decided it was time for some changes in this blog. I was getting tired of the old layout and old progress bars. I removed pretty much everything and will be adding things back over the next week or so. So if I linked to you previously, don't worry, it'll be back! I fear that I've stopped reading many blogs, so the list might change a little bit, but by all means, if you link to me or read my blog or anything, simply post and I will definitely put your link back up!

I'm trying to think of new things to put in progress bars... but I'm not sure of any goals I have... any ideas?

Job

I have a job! It's at an big-chain music store here in London. The first one I interviewed for.... actually, the only one I interviewed for... and the only one that called me back. Granted, I only sent out two resumes - and was going to send out more on Monday if the new job hadn't called me in for an interview.

Funnily enough, I seriously bombed the interview. Like, hard. At least, I think I did. As part of the interview, I had to fill out a product knowledge questionairre (which I basically left the song area blank.... the movies and computer games were a bit better), then put into a room with two managers that didn't seem that thrilled to be interviewing me. I stumbled over my answers and didn't really have good ones. I was super nervous and it probably showed.

Obviously I didn't do too bad at it since they called me back, but it makes me feel like I'm at a disadvantage since I did so poorly on the interview - kind of like they think I'm incompetent - which I'm not... so its weird. At the same time, I have to admit I haven't been 'the new girl' in... well... forever, really. My first Subway job we were all new since the store was new, the second Subway job I was knew but I still knew the work, and at Crime Stoppers office job, I had already been volunteering 2 years so I knew everyong. This is new job and new people.

Admittedly I love the people so far - everyone is very friendly and lots of fun. The job itself seems reasonably easy, but at the same time, I don't really care about music... or movies... really. It'll be a big of a struggle to get on top of what's hot and new now. Yikes.

So, here's the stats, since I'm sure that's what you came for!

The wage is £6.82 an hour. After 22% taxes (what they said I should expect) it comes down to £5.32 - a less impressive, but more realistic number. I am guaranteed 30 hours a week, which nets me £160 a week. There is opportunity to pick up extra shifts, which I probably will do if I find I want the extra money. (As well, since I'll be earning, well, not a whole lot, I should be able to recoup some/most of what I pay in taxes... I hope.)

It's 90p each way on the bus, or a 20 minute walk. I will probably try walking home tomorrow just to see how long it takes, as I haven't actually done the walk, yet. Bonus is that the store is in a mall with a Sainsbury's and a Waitrose and an Iceland and a Poundland (my new fav store - everything is just £1!) which means that I can pick up groceries and other goods on the way, rather than making special trips.

So yes... I work 9-4 again tomorrow (6 hour working, 1 hour unpaid lunch), and will hopefully get the rest of my schedule for the rest of my time there. I am contractually employed from today until January 3rd. There is opportunity to stay on... but we'll cross that bridge when/if the time comes.

For now... I am knackered. And I've GOT to remember to pay my rent... due on the 16th.

LONDON!

Okay, so LONDON! Yes. I am here. I am settled into my (new) life and things are so far going smoothly. However, I have been a terrible blogger! I have been keeping a budget for the month of November (good pf blogger!) and so far have been learning all sorts of new ways to be frugal... and new ways to spend money in a new town!

I am now settled into a 4 bedroom house in Wimbledon. I am staying in a small room on the main floor, while all of the other people (2 single guys, 1 couple) all sleep upstairs. Currently I pay £412 pounds a month in rent (approx. £95 a week), which was slightly over my budget of £100 a week (not including bills). How our bills work is each person pays one bill (in my case council tax), and we tally them up and settle it all every couple of months. One of my roommates is an accountant and he keeps a spreadsheet to tally all our bills and any additionals we buy (such as loo paper and washing up soap) and we balance it out everytime someone moves out or moves in. So far it seems to work.

I really like the people that I am living with. One guy, we'll call him A - the accountant. Is from South Africa. He is, I think, 30, and is here on a similar VISA to what I have, although he plans to apply for a highly-skilled VISA next spring. He is generally friendly and was really the first of the roommates to offer to help me - he showed me where the local Sainsbury's was and offers advice whenever he can. The advice isn't always warranted but I know he means well.

Another guy, called T, is also South African. He is very quiet, and we haven't spoken much. Although he does open up around some of the other saffa roommates, and I think that it is just a level of comfort with the others. He seems very sweet, though. He is moving out on December 8th, first to the USA then home.

The couple, R and AJ (I'll call them RAJ), are also very friendly. R is from Australia and she's my age. She's super sweet and talkative and we get along quite well. It is nice to have another girl around. AJ is from Namibia and is very friendly. Him, along with the other saffa roomies have some very strong opinions, most of which I don't necessarily agree with, but they are a lot of fun and also very friendly. He is the youngest roomie at 21. RAJ are going to their respective homes in December, which I know will be rough on them.

AJ's brother, B, is also living with us at the moment on the couch. He is very sweet and friendly. He will be taking T's room when he moves out in December. He was very quiet in the beginning and I didn't really know what to do with him, but now that's he's a little more comfortable I find him very funny. I am glad that he's staying around when his brother leaves, although I'm sure that will be hard on him.

We seem to be a good match. We're good about cleaning up, and generally we just take informal turns at cleaning and doing the dishes. No one seems to be slacking, and no one seems to have hard feelings, which is nice.

So far adjusting to life outside my family home has been relatively easy. ish. I find it difficult cooking for myself, mainly. I can cook the basics, like chicken... and steak. And grilled onions and garlic bread. But really, that's about it. Oh, and Pasta! So it's taken some getting used to to make some unique or slightly different meals. At the same time, I found out very quickly that eating in is MUCH MUCH cheaper than eating out. Although, at the same time, vegetables are quite expensive.

Originally I had planned on living with a family - I thought that it would be nice to have a family around, and I had more security if I was the only 'renter'. However, I'm glad it ended up this way. I like having people around my own age, I can talk and swear freely without worrying what people will think - or what influence I would have over their children!!

I am really liking London so far. Sometimes I look out over the grey skies and smoggy street and wish for the fresh air and cool winds of the praries, but when I take a walk through the old streets, or wander through another castle with celtic music playing in my headphones, I remember why I came here. It's like I said to some of my roommates: "I found shit on the Thames that was older than my country!". I love the history here, and I can't wait to explore more.

However, for the time being, I am looking for seasonal work. That was always the plan, to have fun for a couple months then work seasonally before having fun again. So, it's off for seasonal work I go. I had originally hoped to work right in the middle of London, where all the Christmas excitement was, but when I realized that it would cost me £5 a day (on pay-as-you-go Oyster) to get from here (zone 3) to there (zone 1) and back, that wasn't worth it - especially when wages here are around the £6 to £7 mark. That basically shaves an hour of work a day, just to commute. Southfields mall is a quick bus ride away (90p each day) and there is plenty of work there to be had. I will be e-mailing out resumes tomorrow morning and hopefully by the end of next week I will have a job! It will be sad to lose my tourist freedom, but at the same time, it will be nice to see some deposits into my account rather than withdrawls.

Anyways, that's enough rambling for now. I will talk more of my budget and such in the morning. Plus I've got to figure out how to apply for an NI number - something that seems to baffle everyone.. Hmmm...

And the Adventure begins

Tomorrow is the big flight. I'm totally ready and getting super excited about it. I've got until October 1st to find a flat - wish me luck! I promise WAY more posting when I finally get settled into a flat. I've been itching to do my budget (among other things!!)

Catch you on the flip-side (of the ocean!)

Leanna