Where I work, we use SAP for Payroll and shift planning. It’s a dog of a system, truth be told, but it does have one advantage: ready access to historical data for ‘ordinary’ people (i.e. non-SAP administrators) like myself.

I decided to pull out how many hours I have worked each month since I have been there, to see if the stages of my life could be identified easily in the hours that I had worked each financial year. It only took  about an hour to do in total, and most of that was spent inputting the data onto my own spreadsheet for graphing purposes.

What I found, shocked me.

Seven Years in a Graph

Getting Married

If you have read why this blog even exists in my Financial Meltdown series, you will be aware I am now separated from my wife. If we delve into the year I got married (2005), you can see the events as they happen in picture form.

OV is OVertime hours (i.e. staying on longer than an existing shift). OTIRD is OverTime Including Rest Days Worked. RD is Rest Days, and AL is Annual Leave taken.

In the run up to my marriage in October 2005, I was working hard to save money for the wedding, the honeymoon and the venue payments. Come October, I took a decent chunk of annual leave along with my Rest Days. When I returned to work, it was at fewer hours than before with some more annual leave used.

At the beginning of our marriage, life was good. We enjoyed each others’ company, and thus I was spending less time at work. I did the minimum required for a while just so we could be together.

The Honeymoon Period

After I got married, I virtually stopped working over my alloted hours at all. I did very little overtime at all for 2 years. I was enjoying life, enjoying being with my wife, and not realising I was running up thousands of pounds of my own debt and her as well.

It looks good, but right where that graph drops off at the end, things began to go sour. I quietly realised our money situation was dire. I chose to bury my head in the sand. For two years I ignored my debts. I never missed a payment, but I was slowly heading toward implosion. My wife added her own issues to mine.

Our relationship did much as the graph did. Rolled down hill. Rapidly.

End of the Road

I began working harder again. As much to make more money as it was to spend more time out of the house away from the woman I had married. It was the nail in the coffin for our relationship – as if one were needed at all. I still stuck my head in the sand but at least I felt better for working more.

Towards the end of that graph, crunch time came. My wife left me, I handed back my home to the landlord, and I had my financial meltdown.

And I took my head out of the sand at last.

The Future (and Now)

I (and you) will have to wait until the end of this financial year to see my recovery in pictures. Assuming I get to the end of this financial year still in gainful employment.

Does your life play out in the hours you work?

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• Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back
• My Financial Meltdown: Part 2
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• Dig Yourself Out of Debt: Know What You Owe

Several weeks ago I was invited to spend the day with my father at the Amberley Vintage Car Show. Old cars don’t really do anything for me, but it was a fantastic opportunity to spend the day with someone I love dearly, and had important bridges to start building with again. If you have read my Meltdown Series, you’ll know where I’m coming from.

The weather was not great, but it refrained from raining for most of the day. I got picked up by my father in his lovingly restored Sunbeam that he was exhibiting at the show (that’s the beast in the picture below).

When we arrived, we parked up, and spent the whole day wandering around, looking at the exhibits, taking lots of photos and paying extortionate prices for food and drink. Note for the next time: take a picnic!

Some light entertainment was provided by this car, a 1927 Austin Heavy 12/4 Windsor Saloon. It looked absolutely terrible, and the sign attached to the front just made both of us fall about laughing for about 20 minutes. Simple things.

Most importantly though, we spent the whole day together. We both had a wonderful day, and despite my earlier post about the potential for redundancy, I felt better. I updated him on my divorce, my money situation, and how I was coming along with my goals. I also discussed some potential career options should the worst happen.

He was supportive, he listened, and he offered ideas.

I was also shocked at the response my post generated from my friends around the blogosphere. Thank you to all who commented.

Wherever you are, and in whatever state, never forget the importance of support from your family and friends. They will cheer you on when you are up, and cheer you up when you are down.

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I am feeling a little blue today.

It seems that life takes great pleasure in kicking you when you are down, and today has been no exception.

One Step Forward

It started off well: I should have been off work today enjoying my long weekend, but instead I had arranged to go into work for 8 hours overtime (6am to 2pm).

The day got even better when I was asked to stay until 6pm instead. 12 hours at time and a half.

Despite how facetious that may sound, my regular readers will know I am working to pay off my debt before New Years Day 2010, at the very latest. A renewed sense of urgency was provided by my employer when they sent round an email two months ago warning that we were facing a significant funding short-fall over the coming years, and salary cuts were not outside the realms of possibility. Any and all overtime is therefore extremely welcomed, and worked in earnest towards my goal.

Two Steps Forward

As I was edging closer to being one or two months away from being able to pay off my largest, final debt, I phoned my loan provider today to ask what the settlement figure would be if I paid today. I couldn’t of course, but I wanted to know precisely how far away I was, as simply calculating on the loan outstanding is only half the equation.

It’s quite a complicated affair. There is an early settlement fee of 1 months interest if settled early at all, or 2  months interest if paid before at least 50% of the loan term has passed. There is also the added complication of a scaled percentage of the loan insurance being refundable, depending on what stage the loan is at.

If I paid today, I have precisely £8,036.64 outstanding (or $12,726 USD for my readers across the pond).  That is still £2,200 more than I have, so paying today wasn’t an option. But next month could well be!

One Step Back

All sounding quite good so far isn’t it?

Except, as of next month my eligibility for a 56% loan insurance refund expires. From next month onwards until sometime late in 2010, I become eligible for only a 26% refund instead. Despite my £415 payment next month, I will actually owe more afterward than I do this month. The settlement figure for next month will be in the region of £8,400. Canceling the insurance altogether whilst tempting, is not viable due to…

Two Steps Back

I found an email from the Big Boss with an update on the 5 year forecast for our organisation. It re-iterated the problem in the last email we all received, but put it starkly that despite looking initially at non-pay budgets, there will have to be cuts.

Department heads have been asked to identify 2% savings for next year, saving as a whole £5 million for 2010/2011. If it stopped there, I would not be too concerned. A one-off saving of £5m in an organisation the size of ours would be achievable with relatively little pain and likely no compulsory redundancy whatsoever. That £5 million though is merely the tip of the iceberg.

After 2010/2011, we will need to save £7.5 million every year until at least 2015.

Compulsory redundancy across the entire organisation is a certainty. My department may be insulated from the initial round, but I do not see how we can reasonably escape the entire period unscathed. Bad, bad times are ahead and I really dislike this feeling. I have worked for the same organisation for coming close to 8 years. I enjoy my job, I am good at it. The pay enables me to plan for my future.

Without it, and in the current financial climate, I no longer have a sense of direction.

Even the best case scenario is emotionally unpleasant – 5 whole years of wondering if I will have a job month after month. The recession has thrown my 5 Year Plan (and countless others, of course) out the window. My dream of becoming a home-owner in 4 years time, faded with this evening’s sunset.

Three Steps Back

A letter from my solicitor had landed on the mat for me when I got home.

Half expecting some good news, it was instead, the third and final kick of today. My wife (who wanted the divorce in the first place) has decided to contest it and defend the matter in court.

As she is bankrupt and to my knowledge unemployed, the public purse will be paying for her defense courtesy of Legal Aid, while I continue to pay for my solicitor and subsequent court hearings out of my own pocket, if there is any money in them come the end, given Kick Two.

Closing Thoughts

I must get consumer-debt free, and soon. It is reasonably likely that employment will continue for at least another year before anything starts rumbling in my direction; yet I cannot help but worry about “What if I get made redundant tomorrow?”. All my hard work over this year would virtually have been for nothing.

All my hopes, all my dreams, all my plans, gone in a single stroke.

What will I do?

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