Live on £4000 for a Year, 2009 Challenge, part 1

slowlyfading

Thanks for the responses re: babies! I think for me, I don't have a SO so its a slightly different situation, plus I still feel quite young, so maybe its not time for me yet. I love babies, don't get me wrong, but the thought of being responsible for another little person actually scares me a little, so for the time being I'll just stick to babysitting other people's children I do however want to be a relatively young mum, its just sorting everything out :rotfl:

I think today will be a NSD but I won't say for definite until later on. I'm not at work today, so I'm not going into town. I've got the counselling course later on, but I don't spend at that, so fingers crossed I won't spend anything today, which is obviously a bonus!

Lilo, sending big (((HUGS))) your way, am thinking about you. xx

Hope everyone else is having a good day.

sf xx

sophiesmum_2

Skint_Lynne wrote: »

Oh, don't think you got off with that one, I know all about the chest freezer, you must have enough food for about a year!!!:p

I was thinking about the chest freezer myself as this would defo fit into my kitchen, but if I got the big fridge, I would not need the chest one.

Minimum 6 months and Iexpect to still have stuff left at the end of that time.:o Tip for whoopsy buying freezer fillers - don't go for the overpackaged processed meal type whoopsies they take up lots of storage space and generally only do one meal. Opt for the packs of meat/joints/fish if you can get them which will make several meals and take up less room in freezer.:rolleyes:

mumzyof2

Im back my phone died and im on contract after 2 times it fell into a cup of water and juice. I just spent £39.17 on a new fone. Im mad at that much but need it as its my only way of contacting my mum. No more spending for the week to mak up for my new fone. except bus fares to doctors tonight £1.90

grandma247

slowlyfading wrote: »

but the thought of being responsible for another little person actually scares me a little

I have news for you. Everbody feels scared before the event but once you have your child you just get on with it.

lyndasharp

At 29 I'm starting to think that at least trying for a child would be sensible sooner rather than later. I guess being 30 this year, if I do want 2 or 3 kids, and allowing for time in between I'm going to have to start fairly soon! it's difficult being on a 3 year contract, I'd rather wait for a permenant job but at least the maternity pay here is reasonable. I am a bit old fashioned though as I'd like to be married first - and we can't do that until we can afford it as bf has about £8k of debts to pay off first... so it's likely to be at least a year before we start trying for children. Bf might get enough for paying his debts off if he sells his flat, but that does depend on him finding a buyer.

candygirl

Hi everyone:)
On the subject of babies, I had DD when I was 19.5, and married to first hubby.I then lost a baby at 14 weeks when DD was 18 months, then got divorced:( When I remarried at 30, we tried for 18 months for a child and it didn't happen, then I had lots of severe pain and bleeding and had to have a hysterectomy at 37, and extensive endometriosis was found, so if I had left it late to have kids it would never have happened:o As it is me and DD are very close, and it's fab:D
LILO massive HUGGLES to you and I hope you get the best treatment possible:o
Anyway i'm having another NSD today, and just pottering sorting kitchen clutter out still.DD has requested cheesy potato n carrot mash for tea, she's been addicted to it since she's been preg:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
Mum's still waiting for the mice men to come:eek: :eek: :eek: I can't go round or i'll have my animal rights banners out:(

bails

Natalie, sorry but you're not allowed to post referral links in threads. There's a specific referrals thread where you can put it up though. Hope you get lots of choc

If you don't mind me saying Lynda, that's quick work! (no offence meant at all). It's interesting to see so many different perspectives on this one - I guess my own views are reinforced by the friends around me, so many of whom are yet to have kids so it seems 'normal'. My brother is (hopefully) having his first this summer, he'll be 35 by then although his wife is 32. I'm 33 (OH is 25) and we're planning to try from next Easter. I'm quite happy not to be married first (we can't afford it anyway) as I know OH is very committed. Hmm, feeling slight angst reading these posts, off to reassure myself it'll be okay (I have an irrational fear of not being able to conceive as my parents struggled so much...and then had my brother and I within a year and 4 days of each other!) Who knows how these things really work...

mumzyof2

Natalie I looked at the website and joined but not gong to carry on with it as it will just get my email account full of junkemails lol good luck with it though

cw18

nykmedia wrote: »

Never forget - Every company out there is wanting your money. It is their job to do whatever it takes to get as much of your money as they can.

Speaking of which, I've finally got around to phoning my mortgage company today. Asked if it was possible to keep a (vastly reduced) balance on the mortgage, to allow me to do necessary jobs around the house with a view to registering as a child-minder.

The lady went and double checked with another section before coming back to me (I think this was only 'cos I'd stated quite openly I'm currently out of work - and the mortgage is now in my name only), and the answer was I can leave the FULL balance (£82k+) running for the rest of the 18+ years still to run on our original 25 year term :eek:

And this without asking what my actual income is now :eek: If I left it all 'as is', the mortgage payments would be just under half my current monthly income -- even after the reduction to 4% that I've been notified about.

Said I intended to pay all bar about £10k initially (and then hopefully clear at least half of that when my endowent matures in 2011), at which point something she said rang alarm bells so I told her I wanted to clear the repayment side of the mortgage and leave some on the interest only side (just in case things go totally 'belly up' and I end up on means tested benefits).

She said this could be more difficult -- until I offered up the fact I have an endowment (maturity March 2011) which is still projected to pay out more than I want to leave (life cover is more than twice), and also have proof of what would be paid out from just one of my Occupational Pension shemes - either in the event of death, or 16 months before the end of the 25 year term of the mortgage as the lump sum part of my pension -- which is also more than I'm talking of leaving.

So she's sending me a form to take in with me when I pay off the bulk of the mortgage, which has a section where I can clearly state the remaining balance is to be interest only. I will also need to take in proof of my life cover/repayment vehicles for them to copy.

I can't believe they were happy to leave me with the FULL mortgage without this proof, but want it because I only want to keep a third of what is currently on interest only

(But as I said to her, I'll probably round up the payments to a memorable figure each month -- which effectively means I'll still be overpaying anyway)

xnatalie81x

I have a special email addy for these one hotmail, one yahoo - one for personal, one for junk

BAILS - where do they go??????????? please