Barrybran II - Six Weeks In

[Barrybran]

Thanks LFW. Funny thing is, I've read enough situations to know that I deserve a 2x4 for the past few days. I had a bit of an epiphany since my last post that I may have been sucked into the good times more than I thought I had been and it's thrown me off now that I know what things could be like and what my wife has said since then.

The jobs. Here goes:

1) My wife. She's been living in this town on and off since she was 4. She has a strong support network of family and friends. She runs her own store as opposed to working for someone (she still has a boss but he's a regional manager as opposed to a direct in-store line manager). All of our kids started their lives here and our eldest has started school here. Her legs are buried knee deep here. Even if my wife and I separated, my kids would still be here so making things work here (living, not necessarily working) is priority number one.

2) I'm currently between the pride-tucking and still being reasonable about what I find. Our situation isn't so dire that I have to just take on anything but a lot of my confidence and security is attached to money (thanks, childhood-based psychology :p) and we're barely keeping our heads above water. I do have a policy that I don't want to screw people around and I'll only take a job if it makes sense for me. Eg. I LOVE my kids but they drive me insane so I'm not going to apply for a job at the local daycare centre.

As for the number of jobs, I'd say there are an average of less than one advertised per week in the local paper and rarely is it suitable work. I've applied for six full time positions in two years. It's not pretty...

3) Honestly, I don't think so. I mean, I can do it because I've done it before and 3-4 nights per week is a sweet deal compared to 3-4 weeks straight. I want to be home every night though.

4) It would have to be. I wouldn't do anything crazy if we were breaking even. A couple of the jobs I saw were trainee positions with less pay but they were for a council and those jobs are pretty appealing for future work propsects.

5) I think she could but it's whether she would and I honestly don't think that's an option despite what she's said recently.

6) Two paychecks aren't more important than having one parent home all the time. However, I'm going to be the parent who is home all the time and as I said earlier, I love my kids but if this experience has taught me anything, it's that I need balance. I HAVE to get out of the house. On top of that, even one shift a week at the local grocery store would take a huge load off us even though it's not a lot of money.

7) I haven't done a thorough budget breakdown but I'm good with numbers so I know roughly where we're at. We have enough to survive but we're in trouble if something major happens (car break down, etc.).

8) Yes, even a casual job would. One five-hour shift a week would even help.

9) I am a construction materials tester. Basically, I test earth materials for load-bearing properties. The nearest laboratories are two hours away and the teams are quite small (I've looked into them). I've also worked in hospitality before. There are a number of motels and a couple of pubs in town but again, it's who you know, not what you know.