or would you pay £15 a week to get to work by taxi? I think I am but ain't sure ARGH!

[mamadiva]

Okay so the basics about this.

At the moment we are struggling with debt a bit well not so much debt itself but more trying to steer clear of it IYKWIM.

We pay £90 a week childcare for 8am until 6PM 3 days a week for my 2YO DS, but DP's wage isn't very good and I wokr bank shifts ata care home so because I can't do many hours I have yet to earn more than £400 a month which I know is crap.

So I have decided that if DP puts DS in nursery at 7.30am at an extra £3.50 a day I can start work at 7.15am and do Wed.Thurs,Friday 12 hour days so would have 4 whole days a week off and it means my wage would be roughly £750 a month(say £650 after) so would be great help.

UI ahve 2 major problems with this though so need a bit of advice:

1. I feel awful putting DS in nursery from 7.30-5pm 3 days a week feel as though am abandoning him but I need to do it as we really are skint so is it better in the long run?

1. My work is 2.5 miles away and I don't drive so would either have to leave at 6am everyday and be knackered because it's all uphill and not so good when it's freezing or should I get a taxi every morning at £4 and walk home evry night? I feel rather guilty spending £12 a week or nearly £50 a month on this but if I were to walk to work I'd have to be up at about 5.30ish at the latest, walk the 2.5mile walk, work for 12 hours in a dementia care home(very tiring on feet all day) then walk back again. ARGH am very confused.

Am I being totally unreasonable doing this I feel as though I am but DP says I am not.

Feel as though I'm treating my DS like crap too but he does love nursery so I know he won't mind and I would have Sat-Tuesday off everyweek.

What are your thoughts hope I'm making sense and sorry for the HHUUGGE rant LOL.

is there a bus? or does anyone you work with drive past your house?

it does make more financial sense for you to do this and the time with ds will be great

are you guaranteed the shifts at work? and is there any chance of night shifts..aren't these usually better paid?

How about getting a bike ? Then on really manky days you could still get a taxi, but the rest of the time you could cycle which wouldn't take nearly as long, and would save your feet.

You could prob get a bike for free on Freecycle too

to be honest it sounds like it doesn't really make sense for you to do it either fiancially or practically

£4 is good where I live it is £10 minimum to go 3 miles

Let me get this straight, you feel guilty because you want to spend £50 a month getting a taxi so you don't have to get up at 5.30am and walk 2 and a half miles then work a 12hr day?

I used to spend £120 a month on petrol plus car tax, mot, tyres, repairs and dd was in kids club and school from 8am to 6pm, 5 days a week at least the way you're doing is only £50 a month on transport and your ds will only be in childcare for 3 days a week.

Please stop beating yourself up you are only human and you need to work so you can put a roof over your heads and eat etc, it's not as if you are only working so you can go out every weekend and get your nails and hair done.

He's only going to go to nursery marginally earlier, it will change your routine on those days as I understand dp will take him, but you'll have more time other days. You're not abandoning him at all.

I think the taxi in seems like a very reasonable plan, you don't have to leave your lovely ds so early and as you say your job will be tiring. I don't know about taxis in your area, could a firm or a regular driver be asked about a rate for a regular booking that they can plan/rely on?

Thanks all

Penelope I do night shift at the moment but get hardly any shifts and we get paid the same rate bloody shocking place to work but is money at the moment. People who stack shelves in ASDA get more an hour than we do. and the earliest bus is at 7am so wouldn't get me to work until about 7.40 because the bus insists on taking evetry detour it can on that route LOL. As far as I know no one drives past here but once I get to know the day staff more hopefully might find somebody does.

Cmotdibbler DP suggested that I am thinking about it but have been terrified of bikes since I was a kid after a nasty accident now may be the time to try though. I am not that fit but I suppose that could be my starting point LOL.

I was thinking the same as PPS, are the shifts garenteed? If not then you would be spending out on childcare without the income to cover it.
If they are garenteed and working the 3 long days will work out better for your family as a whole then I would say do it! Your ds will have the best of both worlds, playing with friends at nursery for 3 days and 4 days of mummy time! Don't feel guilty.
A bike is great idea though as cmotdibbler says.

crossed posts, must type faster

Oh lovemygirls I thought I was in for a bashing thre when you started LOL phew.

I know it's not like I am doing for me as you all say, oh you are all lovely today I feel a bit better now. I have a friend who does go to work for her and leaves her 2 DD's and then spends it all on takeaways and nights out so yes I suppose I am doing it for the right reasons.

Elkiedee I never thought of that the company does like a flat rate thing so it's £4 within ur area all day IYKWIM so I don't know if they will do anymore off it but I might ask.

LOL at Tigger am just as bad.

They need an auto refresh on here.

Ooh maybe santa will bring mummy a cheap bike this year LOL. I shall have panic attacks for a week but will be a start lol.

I think £50 a month is very reasonable to get to work, but then I'm used to London travelcard prices!

Alternatively could any colleagues pick you up in the morning in return for a couple of quid's petrol money?

I'd get the taxi without a second thought - both ways or see if I could get a lift from a colleague or possibly neighbour who passes by/near your workplace. Are you sure you want to walk home after a 12-hr shift, in the dark, at night?

YANBU

Obviously as you don't drive a car isn't an option, but it is still a lot cheaper than running a car. A lot cheaper than catching a bus round here too.

Are you sure a taxi would be £15 per week. That seems awfully cheap to me. I reckon bus fare would be £3-£5 per day for a relatively short jounrney in the midlands.

It's £4 to my work as the company doa flat rate fare within 3 miles so am guaranteed it won't be anymor so will be 3 days so £12 a week. Maybe the odd night but I don't mind walking home and am more likely to get a lift home than to work IYKWIM.

It was a kind bashing, in a "are you kidding me?" way, I was reading with my mouth open thinking is she real? Why would she even consider getting up at 5.30am and walking all that way and working a 12 hour day and walking home etc total madness imo. We all have to work, we all have to pay money to enable us to work thats just the way it is. y' daft mare

LOL Haven't heard or seen anyone say daft mare for years LOL

No I got that when I strted reading but I was like OH NO Ive posted in AIBU here we go

Just looked at your profile, pmsl at the couch comment

you re definately doing it for the right reason, don;t stress about this!

would the taxi company maybe do you a deal if it will be a regualar thing?

and are the shifts definately guaranteed? thats my main worry for you

Mamadiva, 12 hour shifts in a dementia care home are demanding enough without walking/biking there.

Please get a taxi. You are not cossetting yourself, you are behaving safely (dark, early mornings etc).

If you are sure you will get the shifts, go for it. Try and take your NVQ'S in caring, then go for a better paid job in the NHS, or as a senior carer in a better nursing home.

I currently drive 80 miles a day to my job. I could get a job nearer home, but I love the place and hours of the job I have now. After 27 years of weekends, shifts and nights I now have a 8.30 - 5pm job, love the work, patients and staff I work with. So do not be worried about spending £50 a month.

YANBU - good god women, do it. its not a lot of money, lots of people spend a lot more than this on transport. you are doing it for you ds - nothing to feel guilty about.

If you had a second car, you'd be spending a hell of a lot more then £12 a week....

You should ring around a few taxi firms and ask about booking a "slot" in the morning and asking how much it is for a month at a time.
Sometimes it can work out cheaper to buy taxi trips in bulk, also you are usually guaranteed a taxi.