Earthgirl gets back on track!

earthgirl

cha97michelle wrote: »

Do you need special breast feeding tops? I only ever had one outfit that was a nursing dress and that was because we had to go to some weddings while i was feeding.

You are probably right, I've never done it before so i have no idea! I want to be able to go out and about fairly soon, so I didn't want it to hold us back. I just got a couple of vest tops for £1 from p-mark, cut the straps at the front and added some clip things that I had saved from old bras. I can wear them on their own in summer or with a shirt or cardi in winter. I also have some tummy band things so that if I wear a shirt, most of my body will be covered.


It is getting so close now. Don't get too stressed by your DH and a few lights and enjoy your last bit of true quality time together. It could be a long time until you have this kind of time to devote to each other again, so make the most of it.

mmmm, ok I will stop getting stressed:o. But it was 2pm and we had ALL lights and ALL lamps and 2 tvs and 1 radio on, and more stuff on upstairs:eek:. I know I am obsessive, but somewhere in the middle would be perfect!

Hadn't thought about the time together thing, will see if OH wants to take me out (again!!) at the weekend (business pays).

earthgirl

Well I managed a lovely couple of hours int he garden before getting completely soaked!!

I have tidied up the tomatos, we have quite a lot of cherry toms there, all green, but should be ready sometime next month.

I have also planted some lettuce, spinach, carrots and some marigolds in the border. Sure it will look stunning :eek:.

Anyway, I have covered the patio table, didn't get there in time before the big downpour the other day, but I really need to keep on looking after the outdoor furniture, as I don't want to have to buy new next year when on ML. I could do with painting the shed if we get a run of sunny days...

Been looking back at the list of products that the birth class suggested and have decided that a special £20 bath in the shape of a bucket is just wrong. I am sure he will be happy in a normal bath, if not I can buy him a bucket for under £2! I have decided that buying more and more stuff that I MAY need is just silly and we probably have far too much stuff anyway!!

I have been bouncing on my freecycle exercise ball. I've got a midwife appt. tomorrow, so hopefully it will have helped him move to the correct position - last time he was posterior (sp?) and needed to move all the way round.

This evening I need to:
do 1 hours small business work
do the birthing cd
organise a new notebook (instead of a diary), with ms passwords etc.
Look at my waterproof trousers and see if I can enlarge them a bit!!

Tommorrow is my spending and petrol day. I plan to go to the midwifes appt, go into town and return two items, use voucher to get Ohs mosturiser, and use the computers in the library whilst I'm out.

I will also do a top up shop of milk and fruit, not very exciting but its all I'm up to at the minute!!

MatyMoo

Hi Earthgirl

I am a long time lurker but don't think I have posted here before - was going to try and be a MFW until I found out that I will be made redundant next April so it is on hold for now while I stash anything away I can. Need to make sure I can find another job first

I laughed when I saw your comment about bathing baby - I was bathed in our Butler Sink in the Kitchen until I was over three years old!
Also when we went away, rather than a travel cot (don't think they had them 40+ years ago!) I was put to sleep in the large bottom draw of those old fashioned wardrobes - According to my big sister they shut it if I cried :rotfl:

So I am sure that you will be able to make do without a £20 bath

MatyMoo

earthgirl

MatyMoo wrote: »

Hi Earthgirl

I am a long time lurker but don't think I have posted here before - was going to try and be a MFW until I found out that I will be made redundant next April so it is on hold for now while I stash anything away I can. Need to make sure I can find another job first

I laughed when I saw your comment about bathing baby - I was bathed in our Butler Sink in the Kitchen until I was over three years old!
Also when we went away, rather than a travel cot (don't think they had them 40+ years ago!) I was put to sleep in the large bottom draw of those old fashioned wardrobes - According to my big sister they shut it if I cried :rotfl:

So I am sure that you will be able to make do without a £20 bath

MatyMoo

Sorry to hear about your redundancy, glad you have got the right idea about saving your money now.. best of luck.

I am bracing myself for the loss of earnings on maternity leave (have only stashed away £1000 for this, the rest I saved and just OPed as I just can't stop myself!).

earthgirl

Well I don't know what happened to my frugalness yesterday, I was enticed by the sales :eek:!! No excuse. So today I have been a retail pest and return/exchanged loads of things !!!

I found a ms whilst I was online at the library in town, went and did it and then came back to the library to fill out the questionnaire, so was £6 up before I started which makes me feel better! This is a very confusing run down of what I bought sorry!!

I bulk bought 3 x ohs mosturiser as it was on offer - although I spent £13, I saved £18.
:)My flipflops had gone down in the sale so I bought them again and returned with receipt for the difference in price +£3
:)Exchanged a jumper I got for oh for xmas for a much nicer lambswool one that was £3 cheaper.
:)I successfully returned 2 other items, one was a present that completely didn't fit me. £28 (exchanged for something for me and something for oh for his birthday, but spent £17:()
£1 spent of 7 cards. I could have made these.

:(Couldn't find an offer on his facewash so spent £2.70 on that - not too bad, but I could have used a voucher I had and forgot.

So apart from the 3 unhappy faces - £17 on the birthday present - that I did need to buy at some point, and is lovely, and forgetting to use my voucher for the facewash, I didn't do too badly really. Because shopping is such an alien thing to me I always feel really bad coming home ladened with bags!!

Anyway I have managed my nsd challenge so far, and have no plans to go anywhere and spend anything so hopefully I will do it. I didn't manage the npds as oh needed me to run him to the garage, and I took back those things, but the thought is there!!

Tonight I am going to chill out a bit :rotfl:stop worrying and have a bbq with OH - all store cupboard and freezer stuff.

cha97michelle

You are so clever being able to adjust your own clothes like that as they are so expensive to buy. They get so little use too.

Doesn't sound like you went too mad on your spends. I bet your £1k lasts you a good while as you do your research and shop around. Your exam marking money will be in as well, and that should be a good amount.

Hope you enjoy the BBQ.

earthgirl

Thanks cha, I just felt a bit sheepish coming in with lots of bags!

Anyway you are completely right, I'm just waiting for the exam marking money to come in, and that can be overpaid. I managed to clearmy kitty for unbudgeted spends by doing 2 ms last week (was £1.30 in profit!). The money I spent on Thursday on my paltry shopping spree is within budget for the most part, BUT I am about £4 over on toiletries again this month, and the grocery bill this month is a killer.

It just shows if you are not careful how things can mount up. I started off ok in July, but with stockpiling for after the birth, and having a birthday party (total cost was £118) things just kept adding up! I will probably need to do 1 more top up shop in July, so imagine I will have spent approx £260 this month (budget £80 ha ha!).

I am going to talk to oh later about how much extra I need him to pay in when I am on mat leave, so I think we will just start this next month when the credit card bill for this is due!

As long as OH can pay more into the pot (he assures me he can) then my £1000 saving for being on mat leave should be fine.

I am dreading not having a regular wage with lots of disposable income that I can overpay. This week was the first time my mortgage pig was empty as I didn't do any tutoring, and I felt really sad!!

Anyway, some good news for overpaying, I have got 2 ms next week, tue and wed. I have sold 3 items on ebay (bidding finishing tomorrow) I also heard its a free listings weekend on ebay ? , so I am tempted to add a few high value items on to finish next weekend. I can always package them up so oh on;y has to post if I am in hospital - everyone says first babies are always late though!!!

So today I need to , list the high value ebay items, clean the house using brush and carpet sweeper etc.
Tomorrow I will: may up the moses basket and cot. Tidy the spare room and attic room for when visitors come to stay.

earthgirl

Today I made a £1000 OP (Exam marking money) and moved £400 to savings, so mortgage - endowment - savings now stands at only £15,607.26!!:j

I am very pleased with this, even though I know that I won't be able to reduce it much more in the coming year, and after that big ops might be rare due to having to pay for childcare.

So, OH agreed to up his pay into the home account to £1,600. My input will reduce to £400, with an extra £600 in the first 2 months of mat leave.

This should very easily cover our costs and I may be able to make small ops out of our home account as well as 'my' current account. But at least we will have the extra income coming in if interest rates rise.

I listed some high value items on ebay to end next weekend, and got most of the cleaning and tidying done, with quite a few naps in between! OH took me out for a meal on Saturday, we are obviously not going to be able to do this in the next few weeks, so it was a nice treat.

I sold 6 items on ebay this week, most for a small but healthy profit, I will detail when I have posted them, and I have 3 ms lined up this week already. I plan to return my wind up radio as its useless and exchange a flask for a smaller (cheaper) one as the one I got is to bulky to fit in my change/handbag!! So I expect about £10 back from this.

Today I need to do some small business work, and finish tidying up the spare rooms, and get organised for my visits tomorrow!

Courgette

That's absolutely brilliant - well done

setmefree2

Great OP :j