Jun 10 2007 |
I Got A Part-Time JobCategory: Property Diary- Project 2- Reduce Mortgage |
I was having one of my moments of reflection at work the other day, contemplating on ways I could raise more cash for my property investment project. I started thinking about how all the little costs in my life add up, and how it would be great to either lower or remove those costs. I’m talking about expenses like petrol, phone bills, clothes and socialising. All those expenses add up; I could potentially save so much money if they didn’t exist. However, there was no way I could completely eradicate those costs because I need petrol for my car and my phone is my life. I suppose I could cut back on socialising and buying clothes, but I honestly believe I need to socialise actively and regularly to uphold a balanced lifestyle, and I need to look good for that by wearing nice clothes. Good excuse, huh?
As a solution, I thought I would get a part-time job. The thing with saving/making money is that it’s an active task, so you can’t just sit there and wait for it to come to you; you need to get out there and make some changes. I’m definitely not opposed to making life-altering changes to help my cause, that’s the whole point of this project, to roll my sleeves up and make things happen.
All through 6th form and University I worked part-time in a local hotel for extra cash. I initially started working there when I was 15; I started off in the silver-service restaurant, serving pretentious portions of A La Carte food to pretentious people. I Absolutely hated working there for 2 reasons:
1) The head chef was a complete wanker. He would constantly shout at every little thing. And when I say, “shoutâ€, I mean scream his fucking ass off. I’m surprised he didn’t die of a heart attack. I, still to this day have no idea why head chefs can’t treat people like human beings during work; shouting is so unnecessary.
2) It was extremely tiring work. The restaurant was always busy, and I would be constantly running up and down transporting food from the kitchen to the restaurant in extremely hot conditions. Granted, I only worked in 4 hour shifts, but it was a hard fucking 4 hours, especially straight after school, trust me.
The only reason I worked there was because I wanted the money, and all my other friends had part-time jobs, so I just went with it. At first I thought, “ah well, I’ll get used to the job, we all have teething problems when thrown into a new environmentâ€. Things never actually got better, but I got used to working there and couldn’t be bothered to find a new job, so I stuck with it.
As soon as I turned 18, that was it, I immediately asked to be transferred into a different department- I was now a bartender! At this point of my life, summer had just approached, and I was due to start University in September, so I needed to work to save much needed money.
I loved working the bar; the people I worked with were young, fun, and had no problems with getting tanked up during working hours- my kind of people. The hotel got a lot of banqueting bookings, usually weddings and sorority Lodges. I now loved working at the hotel, and a lot of the times favoured working than going out in town on a Friday/Saturday night. But then again, working there felt like a Friday night out in town, only better- I was with friends, I was drinking (for free), I got paid, there was music, and I generally dealt with “classy drunks†as opposed to the drunken rude idiots you find in clubs.
When time had come to depart from uni I would now and then come home for the weekend when I got strapped for cash, and work a couple of shifts. My boss was really good like that, he would give me shifts whenever I wanted. I lived in University halls, but it was only an hour away from home via train, so it wasn’t too much hassle.
After graduation I got a full-time job, consequently stopped working there. I didn’t want to stop, but I just didn’t need to work there anymore, and the thought of working so many hours during a week didn’t sound so appealing.
So yeah, you guessed it- I called my old boss up and asked if I could get a few weekend shifts for extra cash. I had a pretty sound relationship with everyone at the hotel, even the head chef surprisingly enough, so they happily took me back. For the past few weeks I’ve been working behind the bar during the weekends, apart from Sundays. And you know what? Nothing has changed, and I love it. My friends still work there, and it’s still an easygoing party atmosphere. Granted, I have to deal with some absolute idiots that usually complain about the price of the bevy’s, like I priced them myself. However, listening to them rant always provides good humour, because no matter how much they complain, the prices ain’t gonna change.
The Accounts
Monthly outgoings on average:
Mobile: £30
Petrol: £120
Socialising: £200
Clothes: £200
Total estimate outgoing: £550
Yeah, I spend approximately £550 on essential crap each month. To me, that’s a lot of money to spend on nothing every month. I earn about £85 (before tax) per week from the hotel, so that’s £320 per month. I now recoup the majority of my monthly outgoings by working my part-time job. I know it’s not much, but it’s all these little differences I make which add up and make the big long-term differences. In the mean time, my monthly outgoings should reduce. Effectively, by working part-time along side my full-time job, I will cut back on my socialising hours/expenses; also meaning I won’t have as much time to buy clothes.
All the money I make from my part-time job will go directly into my property project account. I’ll tally it all at the end of the project, as there’s no point me creating a blog entry every week to say, “yeah, I earned another £80 this weekend, the new total is £xxxx.xxâ€
To finish off, here’s a picture of me in my new swanky bar uniform, holding a swipecard for the till:
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"I initially started this website as a complete property idiot;
the plan was to document my every step from property idiot to
property landlord (mission accomplished), in hope that people would
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hey Mr. Smooth, you be lookin’ go-juss, babeh.
WELL DONE you, I’m telling you, you’re making all the right choices and you won’t regret any of them.
Hey, hey, hey, babeh!
Thanks for the compliment, i’m flattered! Speaking of which, you should start making more of those videos on your site FOR ME
I know I said I would make some videos, and I will eventually. I’ve conquered step one, though: unpacking the cam and installing the software!
Anywho, glad to see you’re alive and kicking. And don’t worry, I still stalk your progress on a regular basis.
Oh, and one other thing, when I leave a comment on your blog, you respond to it on my blog, which is very unusual blogging tactics, heh. When you leave me a comment on my blog, I always respond on my blog. Would you rather I respond on your blog? What do you prefer, punk?
hey, i’m confused. what do you mean that i respond on your blog to you instead of my blog? am i being awkward? is that what you’re saying then? that i’m weird? you calling me a freak?
Calm down, you hairy back Mary! And yes, i’m calling you a freak
I like this fiesty side of you!
Hey sexy, do you really spend 200 dollars a month on clothes? Seriously? Have you ever considered buying your clothes second hand?
I have beautiful name brand outfits in my closet that would have cost 100 dollars new and I might have paid 2 dollars for the entire outfit, including the shoes! My cotton panties are more expensive than most of the clothes I wear.
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