I begin today’s blog whilst sat in a place of relative discomfort. Of all places, you would expect a car showroom to be quite an alluring and inviting environment. The kind of atmosphere where the mix of new-car smells, shiny metal and glistening tyres can make a testosterone-fuelled male like myself actually foam at the mouth. After all, dreams of cruising along cliff-top roads in your drop-top, as the sun sets over the sea can become a reality here. This is where your hard-earned money can teleport itself from your bank-account in the blink of an eye, or rather, a flick of the wrist. It’s a dream factory. All you have to do is sign a document.
Unfortunately, it seems I’ve picked a terrible day to make a visit. Whilst I type away in the ‘lounge area’ and drink insipid gravy-flavoured coffee, the showroom undergoes a major facelift. The huge sliding doors are wide open and as such, my toes are already starting to feel the cold. The fascia of the building is currently sign-less as brand spanking new chrome branding lays in waiting. Cars are being resituated around the floor-space in front of me to the chorus of an angle-grinder, crunching away against a new metalwork entrance outside. Otis Redding plays over the PA system, but the slightly out-of-tune radio ruins one of the coolest ever chill-out tunes.
So, have I gone uber mentalist and decided to purchase a new motor to help alleviate the pain of my unemployment desperation?
No. I’m pleased to report that the aforementioned is not the case and that I’m here simply for an alteration to my motor. However, this does bring me to the crux of today’s blog.
The financial aspect of losing your job is – and without any doubt – the most worrying issue in the whole of this scenario. Of course, being without work isn’t much good for your self-confidence, your social life, the planning of your future or indeed, the updating of your wardrobe. Notwithstanding the damage that being unemployed does to your all-round feeling of self-worth. However, as we all know, money makes your world go round and without it, you can’t go very far at all.
Back in September 2010, I ended my five-and-a-half year relationship with Mini. Mini had been faithful, she never let me down and was still gorgeous to look at, despite being with me straight from the production line. I’d looked after her throughout, shared some great journeys and given her hours of TLC. I was asked for nothing in return, other than a new exhaust, the odd new tyre and the occasional re-sprayed panel. Treats of weekly valets were common ground, whilst all the latest gadgets and the finest perfumery were guaranteed. …Even when cash was short and I’d lost my job(s), we stayed together throughout the tough times. It was tough to see her go and there were some fond memories, but in the end, I felt it was ‘time to move on’.
You must bear in mind of course, that this was the longest relationship I’d ever had, so you’ll understand my affection for the old girl!
Despite the best advice of my family, I traded Mini in for a new model and as pretty as the young thing is, I now need to be on my toes.
With the last car, I’d got to the promised land of having paid off the loan and as she was still only five and a half years old, Mini was in great condition. My school of thought however was that I’d invested a lot of money in to her and I really wanted to ‘cash-in’ whilst she was still at an optimum trade-in level. This way, I’d get the best of both worlds with a really decent deposit for a new car, peace-of-mind motoring for the next three years and a much shorter repayment schedule than my last commitment.
The alternative to this was of course to ‘sit tight’. After all, I was perched on a bench which was situated directly under a dark cloud of possible redundancy at the time. If I lost my job …how would I keep up the repayments?
In the end, I knew I’d need a reliable set of wheels in whatever job scenario I found myself in over the coming years. I was reluctant to have to ‘start all over again’ with a big fat loan in a few years time and the fact that I’d be buying a car in a tax bracket of just £20 per year seemed to me a sensible move.
Symbolically, I also wanted to ‘move on’ with my life and think positively for the future.
But now I’m unemployed and my ‘sensible’ decision seems to have been a stupid one.
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| Time to go? ...the JayMobiel In reality, I learned from financial mistakes I made as a youngster and I’ve managed to save up a few grand 'for a rainy day'. I’ve got enough money to make the car loan repayments and service my other bills for the next three months at least. Four, if I’m VERY careful. But the reserves are finite and where will this leave me in the long term? One of the things I was saving up for is somewhat of a dream trip for me. Deposits have already been paid for six nights in I estimate about £100 a month would be a good start, but with no job, I will simply be unable to achieve this, or indeed justify it. People say it’s a good job I haven’t got a family to support or a mortgage to pay and I genuinely sympathise with all the families who find themselves in such a predicament. My response to this though is that we all make our choices in life. I appreciate that I don’t have the burden of a home to run or the huge responsibility of other mouths to feed, but trust me, this is not through choice. Like any one of us, my hope is to one day have my own home and a wife and children to share it with. I don’t aspire to be ‘better’ than anyone else by having the best car on the driveway of the best house in the best street. My inspuration is simply to be the ‘best’ person I can possibly be and right now, I feel so far away from that. If I hadn’t have lost my job so many times in recent years, I’d feel that I’d have committed to my own home some time ago. Thank heavens I didn’t because I’d have been in a right pickle now. The harsh reality of losing my job is that if I don’t find something soon, I may have to cancel my plans for the holiday of a lifetime and I may even have to sell my car. Of course, I could have prevented these issues even being a problem, but you can’t spend your life not making choices in case they turn out to be the wrong ones. They say it’s not about how fast you get there; It’s all about the journey. Quite apt for someone sat in a car showroom. Until next time, many blessings. Jason Footnote: Thanks to you all for the continued feedback via Facebook. It means a lot and I’ve really been humbled by your comments. I know how busy ‘normal’ life can be, so I do appreciate you taking the time to check in. I’ve really enjoyed reading through your thoughts and ideas which are also helping me with some inspired job searches! :-) |
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