Good news!

I have some good news for a change :)

Unfortunately it doesn’t involve jobs :(

But anyway….remember I mentioned hubby had paid for unemployment insurance before he was made redundant? Well we just found out today that the insurance company will pay out. This will pay for our mortgage and give us some much needed breathing space.

I am so grateful for this – we have prayed hard that God will give us what we need whether it is finances or experience of hardship….we left it all in His hands. Isn’t our God an amazing God?

Andy is still waiting to hear if his claim for unemployment insurance was successful. This is something which he paid £100 a month for but the company are trying everything they can to get out of paying it....stalling....losing paperwork....that kind of thing. So 2 months and no income later we really are going to need that £1500 income from the insurance in the next couple of months as Andy's redundancy and our savings only give us 5-6 months of mortgage payments. Please pray that something will come up before we get to the end of our (shrinking) pot of money. I must admit I do worry about how long Andy will be unemployed and how long we can make the money last.

Feedback from the interviews

Andy didn't get either job :(

The first one....he drove 60 miles and then when he got there the company said they were looking for a technical drawing person and not a project manager. Well why didn't they read his CV then....because he put them under no illusion that he ever was a technical drawing person.

The second one they stopped the interview after 45 minutes and said they needed somebody with hiring and firing experience. Andy has some management experience but on a smaller scale then they wanted.....which is fair enough. The positive thing was that they said he interviewed well and had good technical skills etc. I'm hoping Andy doesn't take it personally as I think the feedback was generally very good.

So...the hunt continues. Anyone looking for a Project Manager with an engineering degree? Well....I had to try :)

Hope on the horizon?

Andy has just (today) been invited to 2 interviews for next Thursday and Friday. One of them isn't quite the same kind of area he'd been working in (Project Management/Engineering) and is more Plant/Manufacturing management based and the other is the same kind of role he's just been doing before he was made redundant. I hope one of these is just the job!

No sign of a job yet

Not much to report really. Andy is still job hunting (even in areas outside of engineering now) but nothing is coming up. I feel so helpless and I can sense that he’s really starting to panic now.

I also notice that he seems to somehow be ashamed that he’s lost his job. Yesterday at this new church that we’ve joined the pastor was introducing himself to us and I noticed Andy really beating around the bush regarding work. Afterwards I asked him why he didn’t just say that he’s been made redundant and he told me that he felt like the lowest of the low for claiming benefits. Now I despise claiming any sort of benefit myself (not that I’ve had any benefits except 25% off council tax and disabled student allowance) but anyway – I digress. So anyway I despise claiming benefits but he’s paid tens of thousands in tax over the years so £60 a week isn’t exactly anything to be ashamed about. But I can see his point – he’s got a very strong work ethic like I have and its killing him to have no job. But I trust that this is all part of Gods plan and that Andy will have a job that gives him what he needs – when he needs it. Weather that is money or self development or professional growth I don’t know – but God will him everything he needs.

The early bird catches the worm

Hunny and I went out for an Earlybord dinner yesterday and saved about half the price of the usual meal. Sure the menu was more limited but the food was the same and it was actually nicer with the restaurant being a bit quieter. For those who don't know Earlybird meals are served in restaurants in the early evening before it gets busy - they tend to be much cheaper (good for those of us on a budget) but have a limited menu.

For those in the Huddersfield UK area then I highly recommend you check out 1535. It does great food, a pretty good early bird menu, quick service, friendly staff and its got lovely surroundings.

Watch out for some car related bargains

We have 2 cars (ok I feel kind of guilty about that but we do use both of them....and mine is a crappy little thing anyway) and May to July is a really expensive time for us as both cars need insurance, tax, MOT, servicing and repairs. Last year the bill came to £3,000 and so I have been worrying about this years repairs and tests etc. But we've managed to find some bargains this year and I wanted to tell you a bit about where you can save some money with all of your car stuff!

Insurance
SHOP ABOUT - In my experience it is best to change your provider every year as your current provider rarely (if ever in my experience) charges less than a new company will charge you....even if you do try and barter. Sites like confused.com and comparethemarket.com are pretty good but beware that the price they give does include some "generalising" and the actual price can change at the point of purchasing it.
LOOK FOR MULTI-CAR DEALS - If you have 2 or more cars you can save LOADS of money by going for a multi-car deal such as the one that Admiral does. I've just saved nearly £250 on their multi car policy.

MOT
BOOK ONLINE - Some places now give you a discount for booking online. The one that I just booked into for mine gives a £20 ($35-ish) discount for booking online.
DEALS - The place that I've booked mine into sells an insurance that is possibly great news if you have a car that's a few years old (or if you know there is likely to be a problem with your car). Basically you pay £50 (about $80 ish?) and any repairs that are needed on non-durable parts is done free, up to a value of £600.

Servicing
DO IT YOURSELF - Its a bit difficult servicing your own car, but on some models its pretty easy. Interim services for people who do alot of mileage have a good potential for saving money as the actual work needed is (depending on the car!) easy. Generally speaking its an oil or air filter change and it takes about half an hour (ok, maybe an hour the first time you do it!
LOOK FOR DEALS - Look out for bargains on places that sell oil filters etc as they sometimes do a special offer where you can pay as little as £10 to get an oil filter changed.
AVOID CAR DEALERSHIPS - Unless you absolutely have to get your car serviced by a car dealership, try and find somebody who can recommend an independent garage. Not only are you more likely to be able to strike a deal with them, but you're also more likely to get a friendly and more personalised service. Beware that warranties may be an issue if you use an independent garage....although I have a feeling this was supposed to be getting sorted out in some legislation....whether it ever happened or not I don't know!

Tax
BREAK DOWN THE COST - If you have 2 cars, try and break the payments down by buying a 6 month disc for one car and a 12 month one for the other.
THINKING OF BUYING A NEW CAR? If you're thinking of buying a new car, then remember that smaller cars and hybrids are cheaper to tax

Repairs
You can sometimes save money by buying parts online but also try bartering a little on the price - and ALWAYS go through the bill with the garage before you leave and query anything you're either not happy with or work that was carried out unauthorised.

So I hope you found those tips useful :)