I've been furloughed until March! Kids aren't at home. What now?!

[MrsMiaWallis]

I've just found out I've been furloughed until March.

Two kids at uni and one at boarding school (this has all happened in the last month, dc bursary kid at local independent, wasn't supposed to board but due to covid he has been offered a full boarding place as the day option would mean he couldn't do the thing he went there for - music).

So I have the weird feeling of having nothing to do with my life until March!

Any ideas on what a 54 year old woman can do with her life until then?!

You lucky thing. I don't think I would have to wonder what to do with myself, I would love to get 80% of my salary and not have to work.

You could become a telephone befriending volunteer for your local branch of Age UK.

You could look closely at your CV and make sure it's very strong (March furlough would make me worry about longetivity of job going forwards). So if you're not great at IT or need to update a skill, now's the time.

You could also volunteer with Bookmark and help a child with their literacy.

You could declutter the house. Spend time with relatives (parents if you still have them}. Do yoga. Get a dog. Get a cat. Sign up to Borrow my doggy.

I’m so jealous! Enjoy!

I had 6 months off and I didn't realise how stressed I was until all of the company I work for couldn't work, it was bliss.

Take some time out for you, just a little time to reflect on whatever matters to you then I'm sure you'll get some inspiration on what to do next!

Enjoy your time off, it'll fly by!

Double your income. Unless your employment contract prohibits it you can work elsewhere when on furlough.

It is all extremely unfair as many of us who will be paying for all this furlough don't get a penny but that is life - very unfair.

Wonderful opportunity! Don’t waste it, OP. What have you always wanted to do, if you had time? Clear your mind while you’re walking the dog and see what blows in.

Our team at work (NHS) today we’re laughing at how nice it would be to be furloughed even for a few weeks. We all agreed that 80% of our pay would be fine but it would just be nice to be able to properly unwind and get away from the relentlessness of work at the moment.

To have that for the next nearly 6 months at full pay would be an absolute dream come true - especially knowing what’s coming the NHS’s way.

OP, there are some great ideas here already. If it was me I’d be looking for some volunteering work and crack on with decorating the house - it’s long overdue but we just can’t afford to pay anybody else to do it. I think I’d feel immensely satisfied if I could get that done.

Fingers crossed you still have a job in April. Keep us posted with what you’re up to.

@Xenia

Double your income. Unless your employment contract prohibits it you can work elsewhere when on furlough.

It is all extremely unfair as many of us who will be paying for all this furlough don't get a penny but that is life - very unfair.

That's also a mean thing to say. We're all supposed to be in this together - that's what defines civilised societies. The wealthy/those that have support those who are less so.

It's not the OP's fault that she's in a job that's being furloughed. What would you rather - that she lost her job and her income?

I'd count my blessings personally

Do something to advance your career like a course. There are many fabulous ones out there

And something to give back while too can ie volunteering

And some fun stuff

Some health stuff

Honestly you could move mountains in that time!!

Being furloughed til March would my idea of hell. I need to be busy, to feel purposeful and have structure in my life. I am dreading retirement.

I think you should look into volunteering in any form you can.
Helping the elderly, calling the isolated, volunteering in local schools (obviously if the allow it and once DBS checked).

Update your CV and look into new job opportunities.

Learn a new skill or language

Hobbies

Time consuming jobs that you don't usually have the time for.

It does sound truly amazing to be getting paid 100% of your salary whilst doing absolutely nothing but I think you might become miserable if you don't plan what to do and stick to some sort of routine.

If I was in your position I'd try to decorate the entire house, room by room. ( well, until it lost its charm! )

I haven't included catching up with friends for the obvious reasons of lockdown and presumably most of your friends will still be at work.

There’s no way your child will be in boarding school with the way infections in schools are going - especially residential ones - so I’d get ready to homeschool.

I'd love it, I was furloughed on full pay for 6 months last time. I did the garden fence, power hosed anything that got in my way, decorated, did jigsaws, walked and read. And ate a lot of Pringles.

If you like dogs (but wouldn't necessarily want to own one for whatever reason) I can recommend volunteering with the Cinnamon Trust as you get to walk dogs for people who are unable to take their pets out or if they can take them out, it's often not very far. I've been doing this for nearly three years now.

I’m NHS

And honestly, I would do fuck all. I’d do whatever I felt like, but nothing too much

God I'd love some furlough leave. I am fucking exhausted. Its hard not to feel a bit bitter and jealous now to be honest.

I'd cry, wouldn't know what to do with myself. Much more motivated rushing around

I'd probably wander around until inspiration struck me

I hope you find something you love anyway

@Coffeepot72

Being furloughed til March would my idea of hell. I need to be busy, to feel purposeful and have structure in my life. I am dreading retirement.

Turns out I am exactly the same. Who knew.

I am really jealous...however:

You could sort your house out (any DIY, redecoration, organising). Although if your kids have mainly left home, it's probably fine. Maybe a declutter.

Ditto garden. Even though it's cold there's still stuff you could do.

Lockdown exercise: youtube exercise videos

Watch boxsets

Read books

Cook

Volunteer in your local area to get/pick up stuff to people who are struggling/housebound.

I love blue, is the cinnamon trust only for dog walking? Could I maybe look into doing this now? I do have a visual impairment, so I hope people wouldn’t be afraid to let me walk their dogs. I would also have to get a smaller sized dog, since I’m very petite and if the dog had a lot of energy… But I would love to do this. I’m struggling at the moment.

In a similar position, though I’m on reduced hours (2 short shifts a week), at least last time I had kids home so it was non stop with home schooling and feeding them 500 snacks a day.

I guess it’s a good time to get and decorating/gardening done? Christmas shopping (online), eating mince pies whilst wrapping things? I walk a lot but that’s weather dependant. A good time to start crafting or painting if you are artistic?

Agency work to top up your income, maybe save for a holiday when allowed?
Take up running?
Decorate?
Write a novel?
Sleep?
Plan Christmas?
Learn to paint?
Take up horse riding?
Lots of long baths?
Do a TEFL course and get work through an app?
(That’s what I’d do!)