Money: in one hand, out t'other

Col_Decker

How does it always happen? Whenever you get a bit of spare cash and you think oooh I'll treat my self to a *whatever* then fate comes along with a big fat fuck you.

In my job I'm fortunate to get a bonus in the June pay packet. Not enough to retire on natch but a very nice extra 1.5 weeks pay. So with money in hand I bought a Bigsby for my tele and a few new clothes. Bosh there goes £250 in a few mins with a few £££ left for treating the mrs or family or maybe just me. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Pay day = Friday

Friday PM = Mrs drops the iron, it is fekked. There goes some £

Saturday PM = Oven decided its had enough of life after 12 years and goes poooof. Mrs says buy a new one with bonus money. Thats a big chunk of £££

Sunday AM = Our 7yo drops the laptop. Its totally bricked, off to PC world for repair but as the Mrs needs one for work thats a new one needed. Oh hell not more £££

So 3 days after the biggest payday I've ever had and I'm worse off than ever. First world problems and all that.

fields5069

My bonus this year paid off my overdraft and delayed a return to the red by a few months.

Lots of people have it worse than me, but it's a disgrace that a small family with a decent income can't live in a fairly cheap town and never be able to afford a holiday, hardly ever be able to afford a night out, etc.

Drew_TNBD

Don't get married. Don't have children.

Simples.

mellowsun

Never worked anywhere where a bonus was paid. Are you guys in banking/finance?

Veganic

Col_Decker said:

How does it always happen? Whenever you get a bit of spare cash and you think oooh I'll treat my self to a *whatever* then fate comes along with a big fat fuck you.

...

Have considered our extended warrenty?

Col_Decker

mellowsun said:

Never worked anywhere where a bonus was paid. Are you guys in banking/finance?

Enginnering in a factory. Its the only job ive had that pays a bonus too, all of my other ones just gave out kickings.

guitarfishbay

I have a memory of one of the first discussions I had with my dad about money and savings and stuff.

He said "son, money just fucking disappears"...

thermionic

I've had a bonus in most places I've worked, public and private sector. They're very modest though, not in the banker league at all. In my last job it was around £1k depending on company growth and my annual assessment - but I was just over the higher tax bracket in that job so 40% of it was gone before I saw it. My current one is about half that, depending on if we reach targets (as a whole organisation). Not a game-changer, but a nice few hundred quid that is "unexpected".

stickyfiddle

Are you budgeting, or just spending money and hoping for the best? 

Having a proper emergency fund is really really useful for these sorts of things. Takes a lot of stress off.

Col_Decker

stickyfiddle said:

Are you budgeting, or just spending money and hoping for the best? 

Having a proper emergency fund is really really useful for these sorts of things. Takes a lot of stress off.

Tring to build one up after years of debt and bad spending habbits but hankfully these I'm debt free these days. This bonus basically went straight into and back out of the emergency fund without even wiping its feet.

fields5069

mellowsun said:

Never worked anywhere where a bonus was paid. Are you guys in banking/finance?

I don't know how many job types get bonuses. I've only got one since I've been working for mobile network operators. It's not an integer multiple of my salary though! 100% performance score (for me, department, global) would mean a 20% annual bonus. It was around 15% this year though.

octatonic

I'd gladly pay some money to not be doing what I am doing right now.

Mrs Oct broke her ankle yesterday and we are at a local hospital trying to get referred to a fracture clinic.
If anyone wants to make a cool £1000 cash then all you have to do is unbreak my wife's ankle.

WezV

what broke on the oven?  if its electric, elements cost a lot less than new ovens.  They can blow randomly at any time

Col_Decker

 WezV said:

what broke on the oven?  if its electric, elements cost a lot less than new ovens.  They can blow randomly at any time

Quoted for wizdom. In the last 18 months I've replaced the element twice and the main fan. Now its started cutting out at random times when its on and the beeper has stopped beeping. The Mrs / Boss has decided that its time for the chop.

mellowsun

octatonic said:

I'd gladly pay some money to not be doing what I am doing right now.

Mrs Oct broke her ankle yesterday and we are at a local hospital trying to get referred to a fracture clinic.
If anyone wants to make a cool £1000 cash then all you have to do is unbreak my wife's ankle.

For a grand I'd suggest getting a referral to a private clinic, or maybe call Bupa or Bmi directly, they'll probably see you same day.

Alnico

octatonic said:

I'd gladly pay some money to not be doing what I am doing right now.

Mrs Oct broke her ankle yesterday and we are at a local hospital trying to get referred to a fracture clinic.
If anyone wants to make a cool £1000 cash then all you have to do is unbreak my wife's ankle.

That's an awful feeling I know only too well.
Of course, your request is impossible but I do wish you both the best of luck and I hope you get decent treatment and a speedy recovery.
So sorry to hear this.

octatonic

mellowsun said:

octatonic said:

I'd gladly pay some money to not be doing what I am doing right now.

Mrs Oct broke her ankle yesterday and we are at a local hospital trying to get referred to a fracture clinic.
If anyone wants to make a cool £1000 cash then all you have to do is unbreak my wife's ankle.

For a grand I'd suggest getting a referral to a private clinic, or maybe call Bupa or Bmi directly, they'll probably see you same day.

That is what we are doing- we have Bupa.
But you still need to go through the public health system to get to a private clinic.

mellowsun

octatonic said:

mellowsun said:

octatonic said:

I'd gladly pay some money to not be doing what I am doing right now.

Mrs Oct broke her ankle yesterday and we are at a local hospital trying to get referred to a fracture clinic.
If anyone wants to make a cool £1000 cash then all you have to do is unbreak my wife's ankle.

For a grand I'd suggest getting a referral to a private clinic, or maybe call Bupa or Bmi directly, they'll probably see you same day.

That is what we are doing- we have Bupa.
But you still need to go through the public health system to get to a private clinic.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Probably not helpful for you right now, but in future, this seems to be changing. If you sign up to a service such as PushDoctor or Babylon they can refer to a specialist directly, effectively bypassing the NHS. I think Babylon are setting up their own walk in clinics too.

Danny1969

guitarfishbay said:

I have a memory of one of the first discussions I had with my dad about money and savings and stuff.

He said "son, money just fucking disappears"...

Ha ha, he's not wrong either !

@Col_Decker .... the trouble is your missus knows you have that money, what you need is a personal stash. A little bit stashed here and there soon adds up and it's all yours

Sesh

Better luck next year.

EricTheWeary

A couple of years ago I won a £50 amazon voucher from Future Publishing. I started a little wish list working out how to maximise my spend. The next day my son got some kind of virus on his computer and we had to replace the software, £49 off amazon IIRC. I was a quid up I guess