Turning down a job as I would be working weekends?

[bridgeovercrap]

It means I would be working 6 out of 10 Saturdays and 2 sundays in 10 weeks.
I've never ever worked weekends and tbh the thought of no social life makes me miserable.
The only good thing about it is I would be around £650 better off a month.
Is it worth it for lack of social life?
I honestly don't know what to do.
What would you do ?

"When I was in early 20s I HATED working Saturdays. It made me so miserable not having 2 days off in a row.

Nowadays, if I had a child I would jump at the chance of working a Saturday, having the extra day off in the week which could save so much money on childcare."

But imagine if you'd sucked it up and saved the £650 for, say, 5 years. You'd have 40k at your disposal to take that extra day off now!

Just read all your posts OP and I'm glad you're taking it. An extra £550 per month will make a huge difference to your lifestyle- it's totally worth it, despite the weekend work.

Spend some of your hard earned cash on your week days off

It means I would be working 6 out of 10 Saturdays and 2 sundays in 10 weeks.
I've never ever worked weekends and tbh the thought of no social life makes me miserable.

Why would you have no social life? You can socialise on the 4 Saturdays and 8 Sundays you are not working plus you can go out in the evenings on the Saturdays that finish at 4, 5 and 6 plus other days in the week.

Anyway as PP said above, nobody has a social life at the moment, so you may as well take the job for now and be £650 better off. You don't have to stay in this job forever. It could tide you over and make finances easier for you until you find something else with better hours.

I think you're doing the right thing taking it. There are lots of positives about when you're expected to work. If you do a 12 hour shift and get 3 days off in the week for that then that's really excellent in terms of having a midweek short break away somewhere. And there is a lot to be said for mooching round the shops on a quiet week day when you need a pair of new shoes or something. (in normal times, obvs)

Any medical appointments, hair appointments etc, you can arrange for during the week no issues. Take advantage of midweek offers for lunch out etc.

I work in a school 8.3.-4.30. I have to work some of the holiday time but I'm off most of them (unpaid, something else which people get wrong -they think we get paid for the holidays!)). Everyone thinks it sounds great but the downsides are that you can't take any time off when you actually NEED to eg for a funeral of someone who isn't a close relative, or for a short break or weekend break somewhere, or to attend a school assembly, take your relative to a medical appointment. If you need to do anything official eg legal stuff, you can't do that when it often needs to be done. Medical appointments are rigmarole, filling in absence requests, having to sort your own cover out, feeling guilty etc. All travel has to be done in a few weeks in school holiday time, so the prices double.

What I'm trying to say is that everyone's working pattern has pluses and minuses. What looks good to someone else has disadvantages they haven't thought of, and it goes the same for the other way. If you just think "weekend working = BAD" without thinking of the positives of getting time off in the week then you;ll lessen your choice of jobs.

I work some weekends, it's brilliant when you have to make appointments for dentist/doctor etc as you have weekdays you can easily go.

I used to work until 10pm on a Saturday, change my top and swap shoes before leaving work, drink until about 3am and then arrive back at work at 6am the next morning. I couldn't do it now, and was able to walk everywhere but it was fun in my 20s.

When I was in early 20s I HATED working Saturdays. It made me so miserable not having 2 days off in a row.

I’m early 20s and didn’t mind working Saturdays in retail! I was still at uni so couldn’t work much during the week. All the best people were in and the shop was busy & interesting. I worked at TOPSHOP so could go out straight after my shift in the same outfit and look as good as my friends. 💅🏼

I used to like having days off in the week instead. If you have no children it can be a very positive experience. Also you don't get that Sunday evening down feeling. Some Sundays are so dull you might as well be working anyway. Especially at the moment.

Days off in the week are great so that’s a bonus and you’ll still have loads of going out opportunities. God, when we were student nurses we’d often go out after a late shift (finish 9.30) and be on duty at 7.30 the following morning. Didn’t get much sleep though!

what level of socialising can you do on £100 a month anyway?

what level of socialising can you do on £100 a month anyway?

Depends on the socialising... a nice meal in a pub or High street restaurant costs can cost under £20, coffee and cake would be under a tenner. £100 would easily be enough for me.

If you're out clubbing every weekend and spending £££ on drinks it may not go far, but not everyone is into that.

Unless you are 22 years old and all your friends socialise at weekends only, I can't see the problem. You can't exactly socialise every day of every weekend with £100. It's only bad if you go into it with the wrong mindset. Getting a day off in the week is very useful. Quiet shopping and coffee shops, catching people in office hours when you need to do personal admin.

@bridgeovercrap

Yeah I'm going to take it. There is always the option of swapping shifts too. Like you say it's not like we can do much at the min anyway. Plus even if I was working till 5 or even 6 I could still go out after couldn't I. I really can't enjoy my life with £100 a month (I don't want to sound shallow but I enjoy trips away ,concerts etc and you can't do that on £100) So your right it's a no brainier

good luck OP 🌺

I think you should take it. We’ve probably got a good few months at least before socialising at weekends is a ‘thing’ anyway so you might as well earn the extra cash and then if it’s really not working out you can quit.

Best of luck! ✨

That's nearly £8k a year more. Do it for a year or two and save up a bit

I'd take it, it sounds great.

My normal working week is Tuesday-Saturday, with the occasional Sunday morning and/or Monday evening attached to it.

It doesn't prevent me from socialising (and I'm in my 20s and free like a bird), I just need to be a bit more organised about it. Most of my friends are in the same industry so that also helps.

I love it, I find the balance between free and busy weekend days to be great. I get bored easily so I'd hate having every full weekend off. I'm off today and climbing the walls even though I have lots to do at home!

Having a day off during the week is great for appointments and shopping. It was half-term this week where I live, I couldn't believe how busy the supermarket was at 9am on a Monday. Normally it's empty, I'd hate shopping on Saturday mornings.

I wouldnt. I worked shifts until I was 23 and hated it, I often felt like I was missing out. After getting a 9-5 job I swore I'd never go back. Especially now I have kids, my weekends are for them. That being said it is a lot of extra money

Before I had DC I had jobs working all sorts of shift. It had its positives and negatives but I didn’t have a partner either so if didn’t really matter.

Now I’m married and have DC and DH works Monday- Friday 9-5 then I wouldn’t want to work weekends. I used to work one Sat a month and I hated it.

So for me having evenings weekends off is a big thing.

IF you've got £100 spare after bills, your social life must be suffering, anyway. I'd take the job - it's great having days off in the week when nowhere is crowded.

Op why don’t you try it and see how you get on? There isn’t going to be much socialising for the next few months anyway and even when there is, it’s not going to be pubs and restaurants so you may be a bit limited. I think as others have said you’ll have other time to socialise plus the days off in the week would be brilliant

It's an additional £7800 per year.

Take the job and save like mad so when you need to take a job with a more family friendly schedule should you decide to have one down the line, you'll have savings and options.

I actually quite enjoyed working Saturdays and having a day off in the week to go out and abougwhen it was quiet. Not doing every weekend sounds the best of other worlds.

I used to work weekends and at the time I could see some benefits, being able to do things in the week when it was quiet. However for the last ten years I haven't and I realised all the things I missed with my family and friends because I had to work and couldn't get every thing off. Having for example a Tuesday off is great but who are you going to see they are all in work? The extra money is a consideration plus you will save lots because you will be working at the time you would spend money. I noticed I was spending more when I was off at sociable times. The main reason I don't work shifts anymore is because my husband also does and we would have no one to look after children at weekends and nights. I changed jobs so that we could use nursery

I would take the job.

A social life can happen any day.

A day off in the week is great for getting things done.

Extra money.

I used to work as a librarian. We worked every alternate saturday and two weekdays 1-9pm. Working a saturday you got a weekday off and later we got an extra 1/2 day each month. If you were clever you could work it out as a nice long weekend (friday 12 pm - tuesday) once a month. There were friends who considered these terrible hours but I got paid more than they did and it was worthwhile to me. Having the occasional weekday off can be very useful for shopping, deliveries, and so on. It depends on your particular priorities.