Some Major Life Changes in 2009...

Hello again all!

I know it's been a while since my last post, but I've been struggling to find the time recently. However, I'm back in business now! In the past few months my life has changed dramatically, and there are still (hopefully) more positive changes to come...

Firstly, 3 months ago I was made redundant from the job I had been doing for the past nine years. This has been both a curse and a blessing. On the plus side, I had been longing to do something different for a long time. Suddenly I had the opprtunity to find something new, along with (again, hopefully) enough redundancy money to last until then. Also, the money would enable me to pay off a few debts & finally get married after years of living with my fiance.

I soon discovered the downside though. Due to the "credit crunch", there were more people than ever in my situation, and less and less employers hiring staff. So far, there seems to be hardly any decent jobs out there, and far more applicants than ever before! In the past 3 months, I've only had 4 interviews, although with 2 more on the way.

Then there's the blogging. I thought I'd find more time for this being out of work, however I spend so much time job hunting that I rarely find the time these days. In fact, I feel guilty when I'm not searching for work, particularly as the redundancy money is getting low, and Christmas coming too!

The other big change is that I am now married. Our wedding day was Saturday 7th November, and we had a wonderful day. This was the last Saturday so far this year with perfect weather, and despite our worries about all that could go wrong - absolutely nothing did! Even our two families (who had never met before) got along like they were old friends!

As we'd aimed to get married as cheaply as possible (it was still more expensive than we'd planned in the end!), and only allowed ourselves a couple of months to arrange, my outfit was a bit of a mix and match affair. The bridal shop told me that the only way I could get a dress in time was to have a bridesmaid's dress and have it delivered as an express order. Apparently, people tend to order their dresses as far as a year in advance! As far as the accessories, they came much more cheaply from ebay, and I had to hope that they were going to match! I found the most amazing boots...

and bolero jacket...

In fact, I was told that the outfit looked like it had been hired or bought as a set, as everything went together so well!

The only thing I'm finding difficult is the change of name. This seems to take weeks for the bank, Job Centre etc, leaving me in a state of limbo while I wait for the change to take place. Imagine phoning a company, being asked your name, and finding the answer really difficult! It tends to be a case of "you know me as..., but I'm not anymore. My name on your system should now be... Did you know that?" It gets to a point (particularly as I'm now dealing with several agencies and employers) where I can't remember who I've told, and who I haven't! This can start to get confusing after a while! Mind you, everyone seems to get over excited when you tell them you've just got married! Hopefully this should start to get easier soon.

Now for the next hurdle to overcome. Christmas shopping on a budget!

The Job Hunting Nightmare!

I've now been unemployed for almost 2 months since my redundancy, and I'm now realising how much I'd underestimated how hard the search for a new job would be. The last time I was in this position was a whole decade ago, and times have certainly changed since I was last in the job market, so to speak.

Last time, it was relatively easy. Sign on with the Job Centre, then sign up with an agency or two. Then take on a bit of temp work and wait until the next permanent job comes along. This took me about a month, then I was sorted out for the next ten years or so, and was pretty painless. OK, so I did end up being really bored in my last job, and longing to do something different, but at least I was being paid!

Therefore, I started out this time assuming things would be the same. How wrong could I be! I started with the Job Centre (see my previous post on the subject). The advisor at the time told me I had really good skills and experience, and she couldn't see me being out of work for very long. That was reassuring. She even made a note on my file that for the next 3 months, I would be able to turn down any job that didn't pay as well as my last. I thought then that the job hunt was going to be easy, and I may well end up with a much better job than before.

Next, I decided to try the agencies. The first one I went to were happy to sign me up. Again they told me how easy it would be to get me a job, and how impressed they were with my CV. Also the results of my typing test proved well above average. Now confident in my abilities, I decided to try some more agencies. This was where I hit my first snag, although I didn't realise at the time how much of a problem this would prove to be.

The second agency were again impressed with my credentials, however in order to register with them they needed what I didn't have - ID. I had no passport or driving licence, and the only other thing they would accept was a birth certificate. I hadn't seen mine in years!

I assumed this was an iscolated incident, the exception rather than the rule, so I continued applying for any suitable job I could find. However, this was where the second snag occured. There seem to be so few suitable jobs out there at the moment, and most of them seem to pay very little, while expecting so much from potential employees. I've spoken to so many agencies now, and whilst they all want to offer me work, they simply have nothing available! The woman at one agency I spoke to told me that the only thing on offer was 1 week's work and even she was on a temporary contract!

During my search, I have been asked several more times for my birth certificate, and even though I had managed to locate the short version of mine (for the purpose of my upcoming wedding), I was told that this wasn't good enough! This has now led me to pay to order a copy, in order to stand a chance of being employed. Employers these days seem to require so much proof that I am eligible to work in the UK, even though I can prove that I've done so for the past 20 years with no problems! The world's gone mad!

More Doggy Problems!

Further to my previous post regarding "Puppy Pandemonium"

http://cattyjenblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/puppy-pandemonium.html

I've been having more issues with next door's dogs today.

This started this morning when I heard a commotion coming from the kitchen. First, came a hissing from my moggies. Then when I went to investigate, there was a huge dog (an American bulldog) with its head through the cat flap! Luckily this was the only part of the dog that would fit through! I couldn't believe my eyes!

Once I'd got over the initial shock, two questions came into my mind. How did this dog manage to get in to an enclosed garden, and (perhaps more importantly) how can I get it out again? Although I do like dogs, and this one did seem friendly, I was particularly concerned about my cats at this point. however, the situation would get much worse before it got better!

I ventured out into the garden, which admittedly is a bit of a jungle, but couldn't immediately see how to get this dog home. So I went next door, and knocked, hoping there would be someone home. There wasn't. The other problem is that we don't really know our neighbours, as they haven't been around very long.

I went back out into the garden for another look. This time I found the answer. There was a fence panel which had become detached a the bottom, which allowed the dog to push through one way. I tried to open the gap again to let the dog back through, but it didn't want to go, and was very, very strong! As I tried to get the dog back, a second one (one of the puppies from before) shoved its way in! Now I had two to contend with!

I was even more worried now, so took a look outside again, in case the owners were home. No luck, however our neighbour from across the road had just returned home. I asked if he knew who these people were, and how I could get in touch with them. He also had no idea. At that moment, the dog owner's neighbour from the other side walked past. We asked her, and she had a number to contact them - finally some luck! She told us that these were now the only two dogs left next door, and that they were the mother (Stella) and one of the puppies (Buster). They had invaded her house the other day, and frightened her dogs! She agreed to contact the owners for me, so all I had to do was wait and hope they didn't cause any trouble. So I waited.

After about half an hour, I heard another noise in the kitchen. I went to investigate, and found that Buster had managed to squeeze through the cat flap and was now in the kitchen! Stella meanwhile, had her head back through the cat flap, and was whining. She obviously wanted to come in too! I tried to get Buster to go out, but the only way to do this was to open the door, giving Stella the opportunity to force her way in. They were both really strong dogs, and flatly refused to leave the house. Every time I got them out, they would force their way back in!

Eventually, they became too strong for me and forced themselves into the house. They ran upstairs, chasing Ziggy outside, and then pushed into the living room. They ran around, knocking over my expensive guitar, then chasing Bob out in the process. Still chasing Bob, they ran out into the garden, where they continued to chase him. Fortunately, by this time, help had arrived. Our neighbour from over the road had come to help. He said he could have them in his garden, where they could stay until the owners came to take them home. As we went out into the garden, we saw that the owners had returned. They had lifted up the fence panel, and were calling the dogs back home. However, the dogs were more intent on chasing and tormenting poor Bob behind the tree at the back of the garden!

Eventually, the dogs were returned. I'm now faced with a new problem. A couple of hours have gone by, and there was suddenly no sign of Bob! I called him for hours, with no response. Now I was really worried! I was about to set out to search for him, when...

luckily, Bob returned home by himself a few hours later. What a relief! I think they'll be getting an extra portion of fish tonight to help them recover from their scary morning!

New Beginnings...

Now that I'm out of work, I thought I'd have a fair bit of time on my hands. Not so! The job hunting takes up most of my day now (everyday), and there seem to be endless jobs to do around the house. However, I now have an extra thing to focus on...

I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!

Where to start I wonder? I started off thinking this should be simple, particularly as this is going to be a small do. Just a registry office and then on to the pub! First, pick a date and invite everyone. Then book everything, and turn up on the day. No.

First, we needed to decide who we really want at the ceremony. Then, as we're looking at only a couple of months ahead, contact everyone, and make sure they can all make at least one date. Then I can start booking things. This sounds like a potential nightmare in itself. There is also the memory of my sister's wedding to contend with. She started off thinking about a small, intimate wedding, and ended up inviting at least three times the number of people she first thought of (including many family mambers we hadn't seen in years). She also somehow ended up with five bridesmaids (myself included). I think because she (and her husband) were unable to say NO to people! We need to avoid this at all costs!

Then we started thinking about everything else involved. The cake, photos, flowers and even the dress! Somehow, I think this may end up being a bit more complicated (and expensive) than I'd first thought!

I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Amazing Insights from the Angels

Whilst nosing around on the net, I decided to look for a site that could give me a free card reading. I had been pondering on the issues facing me at the moment, due to my sudden redundancy, and felt the need for some additional guidance.

My dilemma is this. I have been in constant work for the past decade, although for a long time now I have felt in a rut, and wanted to do something entirely different. However, I was unable to justify leaving a stable job to do this. Added to this, I had huge debts to sort out.

Suddenly I was out of work, plus I had some redundancy money to fall back on (for a time anyway). I could probably walk into a new job, similar to my previous one, which would provide a stable income. The problem is, do I want to go back to a job like this that I would most likely be bored in, but commit myself to it anyway, and keep the money?

I could also use this situation as an opportunity to try something new. The trouble is, what would I be good at and really enjoy doing? I have always wanted to work for myself, but can I be certain I would make enough money? I needed help to focus my mind on these questions, so I looked for a site that could help...

The very first site I found was amazing! It offered FREE Angel card readings instantly online (no sign up required), using four different card spreads. I tried them all, and found them relevant to my situation. The readings from the cards were consistant over all of the different spreads. They highlighted my situation, for example that I had been worried about my finances, and felt at a loss at the moment. I didn't know where to go next. This is all true. They also told me not to worry, as financial help was coming, along with guidance from a wise person that understands my situation. This made sense to me. I have a meeting coming up in a couple of weeks to speak to a specialist advisor about available courses I can take to re-train for a new career. The final message was that my redundancy was actually a good thing, and will open up new opportunties that I would otherwise never have had. This made me feel much more optimistic. I was so impressed that I added a link to the site (top right) for anyone who fancies giving this a try. Have a go!

While searching on the site, I discovered that they offered more than just this service. There's some great stuff on offer, which I may well buy into (when I can recover from my option anxiety!), all of which would be of really helpful in my quest for psychic development. Why not take a look for yourself? I'd love to hear your opinions on this site.

I've selected a few interesting items which I am tempted to try for myself. Have a look below...

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The Best & Worst UK Payday Loans

Payday loans on the whole are a bad idea. I know this. The reason being is that they charge a huge rate of interest. However, I have been incredibly short of cash for a long time, and sometimes there is no other way to make it through the month, particularly as they can deposit funds into your bank account on the same day the loan is requested. I have come to the opinion that as long as you can afford the loan repayment, and don't get to the point of relying on them every month, they can be helpful in the short term. As I have had some experience now of using these, I thought I should share my experiences.

There appear to be hundreds of these companies nowadays, and one quick search on the internet will prove this. They promise to provide loans with no credit checks, which is handy for those of us with a bad credit rating. The trouble is that not many can be trusted. Many of these companies will make false claims in my experience. most commonly is that no documents will need to be faxed to them before a loan can be approved. I have personally approached several of these companies, who display "no faxing" in big letters on the website, but as soon as they approve the loan in principle, they request multiple documents to be faxed before they release the money! Others promise to guarantee acceptance, and then turn down applications with no reason. Believe me this is true! I don't know how they can get away with this.

In the end I found two companies I thought I could rely on. However, whilst one of these has continued to impress me, the other has now made my blood boil! Here is the story...

The Worst

Quick Quid is a company I have used a couple of times now. The first loan was obtained with no problems at all. Next time I needed a loan, the amount they were prepared to offer had increased (this is common). The problem came to light when it was time to repay this.

Friday:

As I am having to keep a tight reign on the finances, I decided to check that everything to be paid had come out of my account. I checked online, and no sign of the Quick Quid payment. Our online banking system tends to be a few days behind, so I then looked on the Quick Quid website. This showed my loan as still being outstanding. Confused, I entered into "online chat" with an advisor, who told me that the payment had been returned due to insufficient funds. I knew this must be wrong, as there was plenty of money there, more than enough for them. They refused to believe me, or even consider the possibility that their system had made a mistake! I was then told that they had taken a part payment, and that unless the remainder was paid by the end of the day (I was told this at 8.30 at night), my account with them would go to their collections department for which I would be charged an extra £12. This sounded so unreasonable, seeing as they had no proof that it was even my fault! It was just lucky that I had bothered to check. No one from Quick Quid had bothered to let me know there was a potential problem, let alone allow me much of a chance to sort this out!

So I spoke to an advisor at the bank, who could tell me everything, in and out of the account. The bank told me that there was several hundred pounds in the account (much more than they would need to take out). This was despite a payment of £428.75 (the repayment amount for Quick Quid) coming out, plus a further payment of £171.50 (again from Quick Quid)! I contacted Quick Quid again, only to be told that they could not do anything unless I could prove this with a copy of my bank statement, which had not yet been issued! They agreed that someone would call me regarding this issue within 48 hours... That call never came.

Tuesday:

I gave Quick Quid some grace over the bank holiday weekend, and when I still had heard nothing by Tuesday morning, I called to speak to someone about this. Again I was told that they needed to verify this with a copy of my bank statement. Luckily, these transactions now showed on the online banking system, so I was able to email this over. I was again promised a call once they had received and checked the information I sent them against their own records. No call came from Quick Quid. So I waited...

While I was waiting, I received a call from my partner. He had checked the account in a cash machine, hoping to get some out. This told him that our account was soon to be overdrawn, as all of the available balance was about to be withdrawn, and then some! Again I phoned the bank to find out what was happening. I was told that there were two pending payments, one for £107.71 and the other for £161.54, which neither of us had authorised. I calculated that these pending payments, plus the original overcharge for£171.50 added up to the whole loan amount (£428.75) plus the £12.00 they had threatened to take from me for late payment! However, I could not prove this.

Back to Quick Quid! Unwittingly, they made my case easier, as they could confirm the two latest charges were from them. The issue they seemed to be having concerned the original two charges. These were clearly marked on the bank statement! They finally admitted (after what seemed like hours on the phone) to the £171.50 charge as well, but couldn't work out the £428.75. I had to tell them over and over again that this payment had not been returned, and was not pending, because IT WAS ON THE BANK STATEMENT AND CONFIRMED BY THE BANK! Finally they seemed to accept this, and I was told that a manager would call me some time today (although they were very vague about how long this would take).

I waited over an hour, and no call came. Judging by their record for calling back, I called again. This time I spoke to a very bored advisor (I use the term loosely) who told me an email had been sent to the manager. She could not put me through to ANY manager, or give me any idea when they would call. This, I thought was a lost cause, she just didn't care, even though I repeatedly remeinded her that her company had unjustly taken £440.75 from my account! At the end of the conversation, she even had the gall to ask if there was anything else she could help me with! I told her that as she couldn't be bothered to help me with this, I couldn't see what else it was worth asking her for!

However, surprisingly enough, I did receive a call from them at 4.30 that afternoon (that was virtually my whole day wasted on them). I assume this was the elusive manager, as she finally agreed to deposit £440.75 back into my account, with no arguments this time! Yippee!!!

Take this as a warning. If you're looking for a hassle free pay day loan, DON'T GO TO QUICK QUID!

The Best

There are exceptions to this rule. Wonga is it. Their site is easy to use, and hassle free. They don't ask for endless documents to be faxed, and you can see at a glance how much the loan will cost. They also tell you in advance how much they will be willing to lend (unlike some others). You are also able to see how much less this will cost if you repay them early. This is easier to do than will other sites, as you can do it online.

With most of these companies, if you choose a lesser amount than your limit with them, you have to stick to this. They will not authorise another loan of any amount until the first is repaid. With Wonga this is not the case. You are given a limit (which rises every time you repay a loan in full) and if you want to increase your loan (up to the limit of course) you are welcome to do so. Again, you are able to check in advance online how much this will cost.

Even better, it states clearly on the website not only how much you can borrow, but exactly when the funds will be in your account (usually about an hour or two after applying). I have not seen this approach anywhere else.

The site itself consists of two sliders primarily. The first gives you the ability to slide to the amount you wish to borrow, and on the other how many days the loan is for. By juggling with these, the total cost of the loan (including interest) is shown, so you know exactly where you are. The same applies when borrowing an additional amount. In this case though, you can see the original loan details, and the loan with the extra amount added, so this is easy to calculate.

I have dealt with Wonga three times now, two for new loans and one including an additional amount which has been added later. They have always been reliable so far. Whilst I must repeat my warning, that it can be dangerous to your finances to rely on pay day loans, Wonga are my first choice of this type of lender.

Don't trust the others, if you really need quick cash, you're much safer going to Wonga!

Redundancy: My First Week...

Its now been a whole week since I was made redundant, and I've actually been quite busy!

Monday:

As this was my first "proper" day out of work, I needed to register with the Jobcentre as unemployed. However, it has been almost a decade since I was last in this position, so I first had to remember where I had to go!

I started out nice and early, to the area where I (vaguely) remembered it to be. This was not on the bus route from my house, so I walked for about half an hour. When I arrived, there was just this big empty building, with a sign in the window telling me that it had moved last year! It was now on the other side of town, in an area that would have been far easier to get to! So I turned around, and headed back in the opposite direction.

When I finally arrived, I saw a woman at the reception desk. I was hoping that I could get the registration process over with nice and quickly, then get advice on job hunting, available courses fro a new career, and available benefits until I got everything sorted out. How wrong could I be? All I was given was a leaflet with a phone number that I had to call, as apparently this is now the only way to register with them!

I returned home and made the call. By now the morning was just about over. I spent 20 minutes on the phone, being asked what appeared to be the same questions over and over again! At the end of the call I was given an appointment for Wednesday to actually talk to a real advisor. Finally!

Tuesday:

The day began with a call from my former employer. They had a redundancy agreement that I had to sign before I could receive any redundancy pay. I was also told that I would need to get legal advice. I went straight down to the office to collect this, then had to find a solicitor that would be able to produce a letter to state that they had advised me on the matter.

The afternoon was then spent tracking one down, and they gave me an appointment, also for Wednesday. This was going to be a busy day!

Wednesday:

I now had two appointments in the centre of town, 3 hours apart. Firstly, down to the Jobcentre. When I arrived, they asked for my name, and ticked me off a list. I was told to go upstairs, and wait in "area C". I was also given a tiny piece of paper, with a "C" on it. Did they think I would forget this by the time I reached the top of the stairs? I arrived at the top, and was greeted by another receptionist, who again took my name and ticked me off another list. She also took away my "C"! This was beginning to seem ridiculous!

While I was waiting in "area C", another member of staff approached me. Not surprisingly, she also ticked my name off yet another list, and told me someone would see me soon. I was beginning to wonder why the jobcentre had employed so many people with so many lists!

I finally was called over to see someone. This, I was told was the "Financial Assessor".She went through all the questions I was asked on the phone, and asked me to sign that my answers were correct. I then had to wait again to see the "New Claims Advisor".

When I was called over, the first thing I was asked for was my most recent payslip. I handed it over, and the advisor noticed a problem. The payslip stated that I was paid up to the end of August (this was the 26th). It turned out that they could do nothing for me. They were unable to register my claim until I was officially out of work on 1st September. No one had actually asked me that question! I had only been asked for the last day I actually worked. Therefore, my claim was cancelled, and I have to go through the whole process from scratch next week! What a waste of time!

This took a whole hour, and I was left with two more hours to wait before the next appointment. I walked into the solicitors on time, and was told that the person I was seeing was at another branch! I started to think that my whole day would be a waste of time, until it turned out that he was just running late! Luckily this meeting went according to plan, and I now have to wait for the solicitor and my former employers to sort out their paperwork.

Thursday:

I decided that with so much time on my hands, I could do the weekly shopping early. I may save myself the "trolley rage" of shopping on a Saturday (see previous post). Again, how wrong could I be? If anything, it was even more hectic than normal! Nevertheless, I got it out of the way, and came home with the local paper (Thusday is job day). However, there was hardly anything of interest this week, just one which was mildly interesting! I decided to think about it.

The other prioject I needed to complete was to produce a currect CV (Curriculum Vitae). The problem was, as I had been in my last job for so many years, I had trouble remembering where I had been before, and when! This process took ages, but I think I finally got there (a bit vague on the dates though)!

Friday:

Now that I had done just about all I could do (I felt a bit in limbo, as I couldn't quite get started with courses etc until I was officially unemployed), I decided to do a bit of job hunting on the internet. I also called about the one job in the paper, and agreed to email my CV.

Then I hit the next problem. Our computer, seems to have a mind of its own recently, and right in the middle of an application, it turned itself off! This is not the first time, and it's always annoying, but never more so than Friday! Once the computer goes off, it invariably takes ages before it will allow you to restart it. So, several hours later (try a few times, then leave for a while and try again) I managed to apply for a whole two jobs. Just have to wait and see about those, I suppose.

Saturday:

Priority job...

Catch up with my blogs (hence this post)!