Getting to know you........

RachelS

Hello! I am a 30-year-old mum of two under 3, I currently stay at home but am looking to return to work part-time in the very near future. I am looking for something I can fit round the children...early mornings or evenings, but I am worried how that will affect my level of busy-ness, because it's already feeling a bit too much.

I grew up with a wealthy family, and for the first few years of my marriage my husband had a very well-paid job. I'm a bit spoilt, really, in that I've never had to budget before. I used to budget but it was so I could save lots, not survive. I am finding it ok but quite stressful.

I want to work out a system that works for me, and also find ways to up my income and start a pension since at 30 neither DH nor I has anything saved for that.

goobergirl

:pHi

I am a 38 yr old mum of three kids, aged 11, 10 & 5. DH and I work full time, but with some shift working one of us is always home.

We are not in debt, other than our large mortgage, feels very extravagant now in the current climate, but I love where we live and never want to move. We have the space we need and the kids have freedom to be kids.

I have been enjoying the simplifying your life threads as I have felt that way for quite a while now. I am also following the mortgage free wannabe's and have decided to pay ours off earlier.

I am hoping to pick up on tips and things everyone else does to save a bit of money every month and just get some more enjoyment out of the simpler things in life again

sprozza

I am a mum of 2, aged 6 and 4. I work more or less full time trying to hold down 3 different jobs. I have a wonderful husband. We are currentely paying off our debts which we built up through previous redundancy. We are aiming to be debt free within the next 4 years:j so I am always searching for new ways to make and save money.

TryingHardToSave_2

:hello: Hi, i am a soon to be 26 year old full time mummy/housewife to 3 boys 7, 5 and 18 months. I live with with hubby to be of 8 years of works p/t and our pet alsation, rabbit and goldfish.
Last year hubby to be was forced to declare his business bankrupt, so have gone from being able to just buy what we want when we want to having to watch all the pennies. Im now responsible for paying the bills, food budgets and keeping control of everything. I also personally have about £5000 in debt from store cards/cats and a couple of small credit cards. Im trying hard to clear all of these, shop savvy and really watch every penny.
At first i found it a real shock to the system but i actually enjoy all the planning and cooking from scratch and the buzz i get when i find a good deal or whoopsied item is amazing lol
Have only just come across this forum but i think it amazing, love finding and trying all new recipes.
I hope to have cleared all our debts off within the next 5 years :dance:

goobergirl

Welcome 'Tryinghardtosave' and good luck. I have only been seriously budgeting, meal planning etc for a week and cannot believe I haven't done it before. It becomes addictive trying to get the good deals and eat well for less. It can be done. Loads of great stuff on here, enjoy :beer:

Seanymph

because I think this will become my second home now.

I am moving house (tomorrow :eek:) have sold my business (:eek:) and am having a year without a job (:eek:).

There will be some BIG changes coming up in my household. Not least that we are going from two to one incomes, and I shall be a housekeeper.

I have popped into here from time to time, but have been haunting the buying/selling thread lately - however, this will be my new location and I thought it only polite to say hi to all the regular board users.

And thanks in advance

juliejim

Welcome to OS!

ceridwen

Hiya and welcome

Yep - you'll pick up loads of tips. I knew quite a bit - but have certainly picked up loads more on here - have lost count of how many "bits and pieces" I've learnt.

MaggieBaking

Hi

I think the tips are useful, but often I just find the forum helps me think more carefully about what I'm doing. Sometimes I worry I've gone too far, but I remember some of the horror stories and think "no, this isn't so bad!"

The best tip I keep being reminded of is to meal plan - that is to say, I buy and make dinners thinking of the next day in mind. Last night I made grilled sausages for tea - a pack of 6. I didn't need to eat 3 myself, so 3 for my husband, 2 for me and I bagged up the last one to go into some pasta for my lunch today or tomorrow. (A month ago I would have eaten the 3rd one just because.)

If you like the look of a recipe and know that you need to buy more on an ingredient than you use you can Google it - for example, using marscapone in baking and then making a macaroni and cheese with it the next day. A year ago I would have just thrown away what I didn't use in the recipe.

Sometimes it doesn't have to feel like you're eeking out a living on little money - more that you can live well with what you have

I read something the other day explaining how we have clean water merely to go to the toilet in! Makes you realise how lucky we are to have even that, and so being frugal isn't all that bad!

Hovel_lady

Hello and welcome!
It's nice to have you. Loads of useful stuff on here. It's become essential reading for me