SAHM to 2 boys Money Diary

mummy2mygirls

So glad its all looking good! Im sure the horrible bill is well worth it and these things are sent to try us on our DF journey!!
x

Pinky15

Ah glad to hear doggy is back home - poor thing. My brothers dog was recently poorly and the bills was eye watering but at least their pup was on the mend.
:)

SAHMto2boys

Thanks Mummy and Pinky xxx

Well boy is still quite poorly:(. He's currently laid on a cushion in front of the fire on really low so he was shaking and felt cold, think he's just low in himself now. Hopefully the anti-b's will start taking affect. He was a sad sight this morning, his pain killer must have warn off in the night and he was just laid there whinging softly, gave him his med's and he seems to have perked up - he managed to eat a sausage roll:)



Right only got the baby today as want to give doggie some peace from a 3 year old running around like mad so big jobs to do - the house is a tip! Hope no one minds me posting a to do list, some of it is DFW honest!

• [STRIKE] Usual morning things and school run
• WM on/peg out
• [/STRIKE][STRIKE] Wash breakfast things
• Tidy upstairs
• Put away clothes - me/DS/baby
• [/STRIKE][STRIKE] Iron
• Send Ebay invoice
• Request Paypal money?
• Post office to post Ebay sales
• Hoover and mop
• Clean loo
• Wash and return cake things[/STRIKE]
• Head stratch over budget
• Shopping list
• Meal plan
• [STRIKE] Watch some bits off of digibox
• [/STRIKE]Make something with mince in SC - will keep tomorrow as DH had a big lunch out so pasta for me and DS - cheap!
• [STRIKE]Library books to stop fine[/STRIKE]

Right, better check Ebay - 7mins to go and currently on £7.50 woohoo £9.66 in the end

WorkingHardDFW

Just wanted to pop on and say hello and wish you good luck.


My advice for what its worth is two fold:

1. Keep a spending diary. You will be amazed and what you can learn from writing down what you spend. I use an excel spreadsheet and literally everything we spend gets put on there. We ran up our debt not through being extravagant but the slow and continuous overspending.
2. Work out a budget. Leading on from above its helps you budget. Budget for everything, I mean everyting. If it gets spend then budget for it. When I started this journey I thought I'd got a budget but in fact there were huge swathes of stuff I was missing. This was overspending as the gap between our income and outgoings was non existent.

Keep posting and staying positive. Good luck:)

Jo_R_2

Oooh good list, doesn't matter if it doesn't seem strictly moneysaving, because I always think of things like cleaning and household maintenance as ultimately moneysaving in some ways as they mostly are. Like you keep your possessions clean/tidy/looked after and they don't need replacing/mending like they might do if you didn't invest the time in them IYSWIM?

cha97michelle

Just noticed your diary had gone on to page 2 - D'oh. Glad to hear doggy was better than expected. A relief i am sure, and hopefully a day of TLC at home and he will feel even better.

I'm another one who thinks looking after what you have is ultimately money saving. Also, 2nd the idea about having a good budget. It helped us no end. Although i am still a bit rubbish about putting money to one side to cover future bills. I keep trying though and we are getting there. It is hard when you are at home. I think i am still used to having more money in than needed so it is strange when things suddenly get tighter.

In terms of the vet bills, i bet it isn't pretty. Never is. Can you challenge yourself to raise part of it from ebay? At least your DH might be getting that bonus. In that case it would not benefit you as such but at least you wouldn't be going backwards.

SAHMto2boys

Morning!

WorkingHard - thanks for popping in and your advice. I think a spending diary is an excellant idea - I've tired before and always failed after a few days but really do think this would help me. Budget advice - I think thats were I going wrong and running out of money half way through month because I'm not budgetting for EVERYTHING. For example I know DS will need some shoes this month but haven't thought to budget for it when I know it will cost about £60 for two pairs - thats a huge amount of money I'd not even thought about putting into my budget so thanks for the advice.

Jo - thanks for that, what I great way to put it that I'm just looking after my investments.

Michelle - good idea about doing myself an Ebay challenge, after doing a fair bit recently and a car boot I don't have much junk left but I have about 10 items of maternity wear that could go on there. And the vets bill was a whopping £410 up to yet:eek: I reckon that could be a quarter of DH's bonus. However yes he's not insured but when I had quotes I was quoted about £12 per month so that each month over 7 years, plus the excess we would have to pay out first, I think we are still up compared to if I'd paid insurance on him.

I'll start with the doggie update as I seem to everyday - he's okay!:D Was really low yesterday but this morning is running around as usual, giving the birds a good barking and even tried to nip DH (he hates DH) so think he's good. Got a check up later but can't see vet having any problems with him.

I REALLY need to work on doing a budget, think that might have to wait till tomorrow when I've only got the baby home. Ordered £20 from Paypal yesterday from my Ebay sales so need to decide where to put that when it comes in.

Better tottle off and make a shopping list to do Asda once I've collect DS from nursery.

cha97michelle

Morning SAHM.

Couple of pointers i was thinking as i read your last post. £60 for 2 pairs of shoes. :eek: That seems high. I thought you could get to the outlet? I buy my kids a pair of trainers each and that is it, and it is usually 40-50 for the 2 of them one pair each. Does he need 2? That is always clarks fitting too at the outlet near us. Every little helps. Also grandma sometimes gives us presents of Clarks vouchers and it helps.

The main thing i am selling on ebay at the minute is the kids old shoes. Only listing them at 0.99p, but adding a little bit to the postage so i am making about £1.50 a pair. Better than binning them if in good nick. Some pairs both kids have worn. When DS1 was small he only wore shoes to go to nursery one day a week so they were like new when he grew out of them after a few weeks. DS2 has been wearing some of these after having his feet measured, so saved us a few bob. I've even sold an old pair of wellies that were scuffed all over even up the sides. I put them on for a penny plus £2 postage thinking i would make about 25p but better than nothing. They sold for 28p because people were fighting over them. Crazy.

I've also just stuck on some swimming nappies that my kids have outgrown, and i am about to get the baby stuff back out the loft and give some to my sister in law and stick some of that on ebay.

Glad to hear the dog is doing a bit better. With our cats, what i do is transfer a set amount each month to a savings account to save for such emergencies. If you know insurance would cost you £12 per month, then this would be a good amount to start off with. Soon adds up unless you have an emergency every month. When we need regular stuff like annual vaccinations then i would take out of that months money, but in an emergency we would have it.

And get that maternity stuff listed. If you don't want it you might as well get something for it hadn't you. Good luck

SAHMto2boys

Just a quick one as sounds like baby is waking...

Thanks Michelle but the Clarkes outlet here is rubbish, really poor. I've taken him a few times there before and never got sorted. The problem is he has very thin and long feet so there is normally only 1 or 2 pairs which fit properly and we just end up with those even if I don't like them. He needs 2 pairs as one for everyday and one for school but I can't complain too much as I haven't brought any shoes since January as he feet son't seem to grow quickly - stange child! Plus he wears cheap trainers for outside play at home so they do last. Grrrrr @ Clarkes!!!

Jo_R_2

Shoes are sooo pricey. We bought a Clarks pair for baby when he started cruising (more OH's idea than mine tbh) but he's hardly worn them, he keeps curling up his feet when we try to put them on so they just fall off his heels:D So they're practically in new condition, might try ebaying as hadn't thought of that.

I do the budget per month thing, like for June I know I'll have to succumb to buying a new pair of decent shoes for me (have to have Clarks or similar as supportive for my back) so am looking at a good £40 which will go into the 'clothing' part of my SOA for June. It does require a bit of forward planning but it really, really helps.

Glad to hear the doggie is feeling good:)