The screw you fund

The screw you fund

Where do you hide your screw you fund?

Me, well mine is in a secret location guarded by ninja’s. But in it are things that glisten and shine.

There is nothing more soul destroying than working in a job that you not only dislike, but that leaves you at the end of the day feeling like your life is not your own and there is no way out of the situation. You need to make sure that you have some hope. One of the best ways that you can do this, is to save up and hold onto a fund of “screw you” money.

Put something away every pay packet. If you get a windfall try to hold onto it, rather than just spend it all at once. At the very least save some of it and splurge the rest. But build up a fund that will cover your living costs for as many months as you can. As this fund increases, don’t look at it as a cash sum but rather as an amount of months that you can survive away from your current job.

Why is it that as soon as you hand in your notice to finish employment, it feels as if a huge weight has come off your shoulders? Why does everything seem lighter, even though the work you still have to do in your notice period has not changed?

It’s because as soon as you’ve told your boss that “thanks, but no thanks, I’m going to go” they have very little hold over you and even less emotional bargaining power.

Think about it, it’s not often the actual tasks that you have to perform at work that cause you stress. It’s the emotions around those tasks.

“Will I be any good?”
“Will I get found out as a fraud?”
“Will by boss be angry at me?”
“What if they sack me?”

Put in the context of having a substantial “Screw You” fund these questions lose their power.

“Will I be any good?"

Well who cares, if I’m not and it doesn’t work out I’ll be ok and I’ll find something else.

“Will I get found out as a fraud?"

Don’t know, but if so, I’ll just do something else and use this as a learning experience

“Will my boss be angry at me?"

Well they might, but they can’t hurt me. And if they’re out of order I can tell them to their face, call them out. Worse case scenario? HR is called, they threaten to fire me, but that doesn’t matter as I’ll take some time and then get another job.

“What if they sack me?"

We’ll they’ll have to follow a process, during which I’ll look for a new job, knowing that I have a good few months in order to do so”.

Take out that £10 or £20 note from your wallet, handbag or pocket. Failing that, look in your car for any loose change. Find somewhere to save this, jam jar, shed, sock drawer. And leave it there. Now you've begun, make a habit of regularly adding to this pile and when big enough, transfer this to a grown up bank. Congratulations, you're just started building up your "screw you" ammunition.

Trust me, there is magic in your screw you fund. And peace.