I’ve done it! I’ve finally started a new job, working as a mail sorter, near East Midlands Airport.
It’s only through an agency for now, but there’s a chance it could turn into a permanent position after a few months.
It’s full-time work, and to be honest, I feel cautiously optimistic. I know the hours will be long and physically tiring, but this time I feel like I’ve got a lot more reason to stick with it.
If I can mentally cope and stick with it, this could be the turning point I’ve been waiting for.
What This Means for My Finances
Now I have a steady income coming in, I’ll be able to make real progress towards my goals, and a lot quicker too. Now I’ll be able to build my emergency fund and pay off my debts a lot sooner than I’d originally thought.
Before now, I’ve had to be extremely careful with every pound I spent. Even though I’ll still try and keep that mindset, this job will now give me more breathing space.
If it lasts a while, I’ll be able to speed up my progress a lot. And even if the job only lasts a few weeks, I’ll still earn a bit of extra money to put towards my emergency fund. Either way, I’m now taking bigger steps towards my goals, it’s just a question of how long I’ll be making these bigger steps for.
How It Might Affect the Blog
I’m not entirely sure yet how my blogging routine will change. It’s not like I’ve been posting everyday anyway, I’m averaging about 5-6 posts per month at this point.
However, working full-time means my evenings might be more about resting after a long shift, and less about writing. Also, I spend weekends with my girlfriend, because at the moment we don’t see each other in the week at all, so I never usually work on the blog over the weekend anyway.
Posts might be fairly sporadic for a while, but I’ll still be documenting my journey. In fact, having a job might open up some new topics to talk about. For example, when I earn more, I need to be careful not to fall into the trap of lifestyle inflation, so that’s an idea for a future post.
With all that said, I’ll still try and be as consistent as I can. I need to find the balance where I’m working, recovering, and also working on the blog. It’s not just physical tiredness I need to be mindful of though, I don’t want to mentally burnout either, so I need to be careful.
Moving Forward
Right now, I’m just taking things one day at a time. My focus is on settling into the new job, building a new routine (which, as an autistic person, can be tricky), and making sure I can mentally cope with the demands of full-time work.
If I can do that, then the rest — building my savings, repaying my debts, getting a place with my girlfriend — will follow.
For the first time in a while, I feel like I actually have some momentum building. And it feels good!