Getting back on the MFW Wagon

Needhelpsaving · 15 January 2018 at 6:52PM

Good Evening,

Just a quick update today. Yesterday was an NSD, today I spent £1 on lunch at work.

OH has rounded down his account and this along with the child benefit has been sent to savings so that it isn't squandered as we head towards month end. Savings now sit at £2329.07/£5000.

Completed Quorn trial and have done feedback as required, but too be honest i'm ready for bed already!

Needhelpsaving · 16 January 2018 at 9:06PM

Just dropping in with another quick update, as I find this keeps me on track.

£1 spent on lunch at work today.
£3 Amazon voucher requested from Swagbucks to keep the pot ticking along.

No movement on credit card refunds - it has been 10 days, I will leave it another few days before chasing, as I expect that it is busy given the number of sales returns companies are probably getting.

I must put in my work expense claim tomorrow - looking at around £20. This will go towards the grocery shop for next week, as I had taken the money from this pot to begin with.

Other than those couple of bits, we have been sticking to the meal plan, checking for surveys (all quiet on that front) and generally trying to keep spends to a minimum until payday next Friday.

Needhelpsaving · 21 January 2018 at 12:35PM

Good Morning.

This week has been hit and miss. I have dropped the ball a couple of times that has left us £20.52 in the red with 5 days before payday, This was partly a lack of planning (£8.52) and picking up offers (£12) that were not in the budget.

The offers I picked up were a family size pack of toilet roll (£5), 85 nappies (£5) and 2 bottles of comfort pure for £1 each when combined with an in-store offer and a manufacturers coupon.

OH has volunteered to cook lunch today, as I have started to get insomnia and with working 6/7 days this week am cream crackered.

I have received one £3 Amazon voucher from SB and have claimed a second £3 voucher which is pending. This means I will have around £30 on my Amazon account.

I will send emails to both mothercare and Seraphine today, as it has been over 2 weeks since I sent returns back and I have heard nothing. Possibly being over cautious, but it is nearly £170 of refunds that are outstanding. ETA - Emails Sent

Also need to photograph some receipts for receipt hog and pampers club apps. -ETA - Done.

No spends will leave the account this week.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone!

Needhelpsaving · 24 January 2018 at 10:02PM

Good Evening.

We are winging our way to payday and will be able to take further strides towards our goals.

I have lost around an hours pay this week, as I had to take a day off with a sickness bug, but with the 5 hours I worked at the weekend, it almost evens out

I have continued with the Swagbucks efforts, but am finding that of late, it appears to be quite time consuming for the returns now available. I will keep my hand in, but it may well be dropped off in favour of something more rewarding.

I have been invited to attend a focus group tomorrow evening (1.5 hours for £40). This will be used towards our savings for a baby monitor and with the amazon vouchers already earned will bring me to £67/£100 needed.

Next update will be made payday after the money shuffles have been made.

Needhelpsaving · 26 January 2018 at 6:19AM

Its Payday!!!

I can't sleep, so have got up early and shuffled money to various pots.

This month we have;
- Sent £475 to Emergency Savings, this pot now stands at £2804.07/£5000

-Sent a £300 OP to the mortgage

-Moved £400 to a separate savings pot for sisters wedding in June (this is to cover travel, hotel rooms etc as she lives down south).

- CC balance has been cleared and Joint account balanced.

I completed the focus group last night and netted £45. This will be put towards the baby monitor as planned.

I went off track with spending at the end of the month, the discipline dropped off, so the main focus for this month is to get the small unnecessary spends under control/eradicated.

Jan, Feb and March are the main months in which we will be able to make big strides towards our goals; after this my salary will drop by almost 2/3 as I move onto SMP. Hoping to make hay whilst the sun shines.

Needhelpsaving · 28 January 2018 at 4:47PM

Happy Sunday!

This weekend has seen planned spends leave the account, £81.17 spent at Asda (including a nursing pillow, breast pump and nappies). This was within the £100 budgeted.

I also spent £86.70 at Wilko's on paint, decorating supplies and (loads of) lightbulbs, as they all seem to be going at once. Decorating of the Nursery, hall, stairs landing and porch will commence next weekend. Again, all of the supplies were budgeted for and came in just under budget.

I have spent the weekend sorting, cleaning and what can only be described as the start of nesting.

I ploughed through my first list of jobs and have now started on the list I had written for next weekend. I also wrote a list of bits that I need to get done at work, as my attention span seems to wain rather quickly at the minute and I am becoming forgetful, which is not a positive thing.

I have one more purchase to make this week - two under the counter light bulbs that I couldn't find in Wilko or Wickes - there is a local hardware shop that has been recommended, so I will swing by there tomorrow or Tuesday.

My mum and dad surprised us yesterday with a bundle of cot bedding that I saw with my mum

I have also requested another £3 voucher from Swagbucks, which will be put towards the baby monitor. Everything is moving in the right direction, so I am pleased with progress.

Needhelpsaving · 31 January 2018 at 8:43AM

Good Morning,

Not much to report really, I have spent around £10 of my personal spends on bits and bobs, such as postage etc. I did manage to get the replacement lightbulbs for the kitchen under-counter lights for under the £10 budgeted.

The latest £3 voucher from swagbucks has been received and added to the account. I am only £25 away from being able to purchase the monitor and am determined to earn it from sources other than my salary.

I also booked theatre tickets using a voucher OH won at his work raffle, so that will be a cheap night out for mum and I (Tickets were about £25 each full price).

The remainder of the week, except Fridays grocery shop will be NSD's, as I cannot foresee any other spends being required.

Needhelpsaving · 3 February 2018 at 11:27AM

Good Morning,

Just popping in with a quick update. Grocery and petrol spends yesterday - £47.42 on groceries (including a pack of nappies) and £39.38 on petrol (my monthly budget is £40, so this full tank will last me the remainder of the month).

I have rounded down the account by £6.76 and sent this to savings - so we are now at £2871.32/£5000.

We have also dipped under £70k on the mortgage :j

I am going to head into work today to clock up some overtime in an attempt to boost our income for Feb

Needhelpsaving · 5 February 2018 at 6:33PM

Good Evening,

The weekend flew by! I worked around 10 hours OT on Saturday, which is all extra money for the pot.

I am likely to pick up an extra couple of hours on Wednesday, depending on how long a meeting goes over my usual contracted shift and I am mulling over working part of the day on Saturday too. I think 10 hours was a bit too much though as I was wiped out on Sunday (i'm getting to that stage of pregnancy where I am getting tired more easily).

I need to get a balance between ploughing ahead towards our money goals and ensuring I am looking after baby.

In money news, I have an insurance policy (£92.40) that is due to be renewed this month - it has been budgeted for, I just need to make the actual payment. So will get onto that tonight.

I have lost my Swagbucks mojo the last few days, as I'm finding it hard to get a decent return for the time required. Not sure whether this is a temporary dip or whether they are changing the site long term - will wait and see.

Needhelpsaving · 13 February 2018 at 9:53PM

Good Evening,

I have been MIA the last few days, but that's because there was nothing to really report.

I have balanced the account mid-month and have £20 cash allocated to fun money for half term week with LO. I have also left £120 in the current account for the next two weeks grocery shops.

I have moved the Child Benefit into a separate savings account to the emergency fund - this will be saved now for LO clothing/days out etc, as opposed to getting eaten up by monthly spends as was previously the case.

I have moved £16.56 to the emergency savings, bringing us to £2887.88/£5000

We are almost there with things for baby, however, there will be some spends to finish the nursery next month. I will be allocating a big chunk of my next income going to savings before Maternity Leave kicks in at the end of April.

Getting back on the MFW Wagon

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