It's worse than I thought!

RobertoMoir

beccam wrote: »

If that could be cut down then I could 'allow' him the £10 on beer each week.
I haven't even mentioned to him about the mortgage holiday option, partly because I don't want to see it as an easy way out or something to really be considered but also because I don't want him to get lax about things either.

If you look upon the mortgage holiday as your "emergency fund" for sorting your current situation out then clearly you need to keep it in reserve. If that means not telling him (at least not right now) then so be it. But if you do a budget now that counts on the mortgage holiday then you'd be in real trouble if something went wrong, god forbid, and you had nothing else in reserve. It would be a real shame to use that little cushion that gives you to prop up either of you having luxuries that you can't afford right now.

Is there a little sin you have, even if it's cheap, that you can cut back on alongside your hubby reeling in his? It might only be something small and symbolic but sometimes symbols are important.

Once things do get better and you've tamed the first few debts and got the newly trimmed budget stable don't forget to allow yourselves a treat once in a while either. I'm not suggesting going mad but you have to live a little too or it just gets too much right?

beccam

MrsTine wrote: »

Yes it's cheaper - and if he has to roll one every time he wants one he might just cut down too
As you're pregnant though he should really be quitting, not cutting down. Your MW will throw enough stop smoking leaflets at you to sink a small battleship - try to get her on board to help support you in getting hubby to quit all together
Financial things aside it's seriously bad for not only your daughter but this little new bubba too... I know you know that but maybe getting the MW on your side will help get the message home to him?

I must have the most laidback midwife ever! At the very start I was struggling to stop and said to her I was still smoking on odd occassions and she didn't even bat an eyelid, just said "oh well not to worry"!
Husband smokes outside and I know there is still transfer from clothes etc but he has yet to understand this! *insert rolls eyes here*

I might suggest the roll ups as a start at least and continue to (gently) work on giving up totally.

beccam

RobertoMoir wrote: »

If you look upon the mortgage holiday as your "emergency fund" for sorting your current situation out then clearly you need to keep it in reserve. If that means not telling him (at least not right now) then so be it. But if you do a budget now that counts on the mortgage holiday then you'd be in real trouble if something went wrong, god forbid, and you had nothing else in reserve. It would be a real shame to use that little cushion that gives you to prop up either of you having luxuries that you can't afford right now.

Is there a little sin you have, even if it's cheap, that you can cut back on alongside your hubby reeling in his? It might only be something small and symbolic but sometimes symbols are important.

Once things do get better and you've tamed the first few debts and got the newly trimmed budget stable don't forget to allow yourselves a treat once in a while either. I'm not suggesting going mad but you have to live a little too or it just gets too much right?

Nope mortgage holiday is not figuring in my mind right now, I didn't even know it was an option until I was going through all the papers today. Our mortgage is due for renewal at end of Aug and since we tied into a fixed deal for 2yrs just as interest rates plummeted (typical!) our monthly replayments should go down even a little bit if/when we remortgage.
The holiday option would be a last resort as it may (?) affect when we can change provider.

I guess I just need to show hubby that my spending has stopped (not easy when a pair of maternity jeans arrived today in my defence they are needed and they were ordered from Next sale and I've already included them in my debt list)
I also need to 'lead' him (if thats right way of saying it) to show that shopping etc can be done cheaper with planning and that I'm not the one saying "oh just ring a pizza" rather than cook.

I'm planning a 'treat' for Valentines day......I'll have a wash! :rotfl: No seriously though maybe just a meal from M&S or something but this for me will be something to look forward to.

Ames

I read somewhere that it takes 2 hours to finish exhaling one cig, so he's still doing damage by being with the kids afterwards.

beccam

Danni-R wrote: »

Hey,

If Hubby is so attached to sky sports cant the money come out of his 'entertainment' money?

I second savingmummy- PAYG is so much cheaper, I cant find as good a deal on contract as I'm currently on. £10 a month unlimited text etc.

If your ever unsure of where your money goes a spending diary might be a good idea?

If you know what kind of bump your having it might be worth buying things of e-bay or free cycle? I know most people want new things for babies but when they are so young and grow so quickly....

With the grocery bit. If you head over to money saving old style you might be able to pick up some hints and tips to save a bit more?

(I dont have a husband so it might be a scary thought asking him to choose between beer, fags or football! sorry!)

Hi Dani, just wondering about your mobile, rang O2 today and my contract finishes on 8th Feb so going to change to payg. Who are you with/what deal etc??

beccam

Got an email this morning offering £10 off Tesco online shop if over £50 spend, never normally do the online shopping as I always forget something but tried it after doing a quick meal plan and cupboard check.

Slightly annoying they don't factor the mulitbuy savings etc in the basket total but by my calculations should be under £50 spent and reckon we have enough for 2 weeks of food just adding milk and possibly some fresh fruit/veg next week.

If I kept this up I could half that shopping budget!!

Also got letter from another credit card provider that I have had for ages and never used...totally forgot about (think I applied years ago thinking I'd do a balance transfer and never got round to it!:o) anyway they are doing a discounted (sadly not 0% but low rate at 2.9%) on balance transfers so going to contact then tomorrow and see about transferring the Halifax card balance over (still can't believe it is as high as it says!:eek:) my limit isn't enough to transfer whole balance so will beg a little but if not even moving some over will save money.

richardvc

One way to make your husband save a bit of money is give him an entertainment budget and let him see how far he can stretch it !!

What I mean by that is when I was at the height of my debt I really struggled to live without Sky Sports so I called them and asked what they can do for me - I got 25% of my Sky bill off for a year from one phone call. Then phoned AOL and got £8 per month knocked off the internet bill.

If he really wants it, he will work for it and that means he will still feel in control as well !! That's what this site was set up for, it's not about cutting back, it's about making your money go further.

By the way, mobile - try a sim only deal. I bought a smart little phone on ebay with mp3 player radio etc for about a tenner, turned my payg sim into a contract sim and spend less now but get loads more !!

My contract is for 12 months and for that I kept my number (which I have had for nearly 10 years !!), get 600 minutes and unlimited texts !! It is more than I need but I can budget it properly !!

Hope this is some use.

MrsTinks

beccam wrote: »

Got an email this morning offering £10 off Tesco online shop if over £50 spend, never normally do the online shopping as I always forget something but tried it after doing a quick meal plan and cupboard check.

Slightly annoying they don't factor the mulitbuy savings etc in the basket total but by my calculations should be under £50 spent and reckon we have enough for 2 weeks of food just adding milk and possibly some fresh fruit/veg next week.

They take the £10 off so long as the total in your basket says £50 - even if it works out less with th special offers savings You could in theory have a £30 basket and £10 off...

beccam

MrsTine wrote: »

They take the £10 off so long as the total in your basket says £50 - even if it works out less with th special offers savings You could in theory have a £30 basket and £10 off...

Good to know! Total before deductions was £79, then £10 off that and nearly everything I bought was on special offer/mulitbuy saving....how sad that I'm excited to get it delivered and see what the total comes to!:rotfl:

Also just checked online banking to see if my pay went in....not only is it in but I also got extra because I worked public holidays over Christmas so nearly £200 more in my wage :T
More number crunching tomorrow to see what exactly has to be paid out of it and then hoping to clear one of the smaller debts off totally (maybe Littlewoods as it has a high monthly repayment)


Oh I might actually get a little bit of sleep tonight now I feel slightly more positive.:)


Richard~great idea about getting hubby to work at saving himself.....the 'bug' does bite a bit and I think the excitement of trying to see where I can save and what I can get from companies is what will keep me going each month, he needs to feel that too!
re your mobile.....sorry I know I'm being dumb but can you explain more? I'd love to keep my number as like you I've had it for years and the thought of trying to change it everywhere is a pain.
I'm perfectly happy with my phone as I've only had it for around 18mths so what exactly is a sim only contract??:o

richardvc

beccam wrote: »

re your mobile.....sorry I know I'm being dumb but can you explain more? I'd love to keep my number as like you I've had it for years and the thought of trying to change it everywhere is a pain.
I'm perfectly happy with my phone as I've only had it for around 18mths so what exactly is a sim only contract??:o

I'm with Vodafone and it was payg for about 8 years. I wanted better value so I looked at their website and found the sim only ie they don't supply a phone just the sim.

They converted my payg to a monthly contract which was 75 minutes and 500 texts (before I was charged 10p a text so 100 texts=£10 and I was sending at least 120 texts per month and a few calls too) !! This was a 30 day notice contract.

Recently my mobile usage has vastly increased so I called them and ran through the options. If I signed a 12 month contract they offerred me 600 minutes and unlimited texts for £15 per month - I keep the same sim, number etc they have just changed what I receive and the length of the contract.

Really pleased, easy to budget, far more than I need and my mobile only cost me a tenner from ebay and it has what I want on it ie mp3 player & a radio. My new memory card was only about £6 from ebay too !! Cheap mobile use - £180 per annum for 120 hours phone calls and unlimited texts - great value if you ask me !!

Ps Becca, one thing that helped me big time was using Microsoft Money. You can keep tabs on everything and always know how much cash you have got etc etc Best tool I have come across and very simple to use. Can't recommend it enough.