#Ad – This is a collaborative post
Recently it has felt like we have been battling the tides when it comes to home and work.
I have never been afraid of hard work, I started at the age of 14 workings in a local corner shop, stacking shelves, sending the papers back at the end of the day and general tidying. I would head there pretty much straight from school and do 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. Earning £3 an hour almost 20 years ago was a big deal at my age.
Then from there I pretty much rolled from one job into another my career progressed. Other than 6 months at college when I left school and the two periods of maternity leave, I have not worked. Even when I took voluntary redundancy, I had the half term off then went straight into another job.
Partially due to money but also the desire to build the best life for us that I could. I trained in accountancy and am very fortunate that I have worked through various roles over the years that my CV is full of experience that I can use to my benefit. I would never say it is the best career in terms of work enjoyment, however, the security I have from the career has helped us out in some tough times.
I have always been very grateful for the blog too as there have been times that we may not have survived some months if it wasn’t for the blog income I make on the side. This isn’t always easy as there are some days where I am working on the blog and in my full-time role, doing 12 – 14-hour days. All whilst trying to balance a life too. I know this is a drop in the ocean to the hours some put into their roles and my hats off to you for it. However, sometimes you feel a bit like you have hit a wall.
Recently I have become a little frustrated at various things, one of those is a feeling of failing. We have been working so hard lately and saving where we can, whilst working on the building work. Yet I feel like I’ve failed the kids by not being able to get away this summer or head for lots of days out. It just feels like no matter how much we throw at it we are just not moving.
I know the reality is that the housework has sucked the life out of our time and our budget. It will be worth it once it comes together but it does feel a while away. The money we saved has all been spent and now I am working harder on the blog to get a little extra where I can, this is all then being ploughed back into the house.
There is a chance we may need to borrow a little bit of money when we get to the carpeting stage however we will maybe consider something like Polar Credit to finish the last steps off.
Really this battle against the tide will always happen, it just feels a little like we are battling more and more with the things that need to be done and achieve, now more than ever.