Our attempt at being MF!!

wantabetterlife

Dont feel bad at all cath, a couple of years ago a girl at work gave me a baby annabelle wardrobe and a wooden dolls cot that her kids were too big for....santa brought it to our house, and many hours fun are still had with them
I am struggling myself to think of things to get the youngest two as most of the toys we already have or at least something very similar. Last year DS was only a few weeks old and he got a mobile for his cot from ebay and a few toys for the bath, end of.

Brodiebobs

*bad mummy alert*

DS was born at end of sept do his first xmas he got nothing from us, slept through DD opening pressies but the grandparents bought him some stuff.

newgirly

I think you are being quite sensible, I was quite young and naive when I had DD , only 22 and for her first xmas she had a total of 72 presents from us and family We really could not afford it but I wanted to spoil her! Not a good idea really.

I can't remember any of the presents I bought her that year and she obviously can't either, but the one special thing I do have is a picture of her in her xmas red velvet dress, all the stuff has long since been forgotten.

CathT

Feel better about the lack of christmas presents now, that's not what the day should be about anyway but it's become so commercialised.

Have been shopping around for car insurance, my renewal price isn't bad but can get same quote with an £82 cashback deal so will sort that tomorrow as it ends shortly. Am still trying to find the best deal for DH, his 3 penalty points are finding good quotes harder to find! :mad:

DH got paid today so paid all the fiddly bills and set up a DD of £10 a month to cover the interest on my student loan as I won't be paying it while on maternity leave. I hate the idea of the balance going back up to what it was through added interest so am paying enough to cover that - i think!

OP sent which rounds OP's for the year to £2900, I need to OP another £140 to knock off another month. Done a few surveys today, Onepoll has been great all week but not so good today, think i'm at £36.95 on there so hopefully hit payout next week.

Hope everyone has lovely plans for the weekend? Nothing happening here!

wantabetterlife

Hi CathT...glad your case of the guilts is over...i just bought DD asecond hand buzz lightyear off ebay for £11...the way i look at it is she isnt going to know the difference and i cannot justify spending £40 on a brand new one
I used to hate that the student loan never really went down when on maternity leave but when i checked my last statement i only paid £35 last year in interest but i started uni in 1998 and you are probably on the new scheme if you started after that...not sure what the interest rate on that on is. I owe about £3800 now and cannot wait to be shot of it completely!
We not doing anything much tonight...watching children in need with a glass of vino

CathT

Just lost a big reply!!

Hi WABL, I have also bought some stuff second hand and also sold off some old toys to help pay for the new ones as well as make room. Also sold another 2 items which once collected this weekend will raise £28.50 so that will be another £30 OP. I will easily reach OP target of £3k for the year but really want to make a target for next year but still need to wait until I know what my wages are. Hopefully I will know on wednesday and am praying i'm not in for a shock! I will be on the phone to payroll demanding a salary breakdown if so!

Ideally in 2012 I'd like to get sub 100k for psychological reasons but I'm not sure how achievable this is. It's not a disaster if we don't get there until a few months later though. Planning on going on a fixed rate in April although I believe the euro crisis is affecting the rates? Is it much hassle changing provider? We are with Halifax and I'm happy with them but don't think they're the cheapest.

CathT

Right, cheapest car insurance for us both is with current providers? How do I get a better price from them? I've been with my provider for 4 or 5 years.

wantabetterlife

Im with the halifax too cath and have never changed as they have always been very competiteve, i dont think it would be much hassle if you wanted to change though...probably just payslips etc but with you on maternity dont know if that would affect you? Getting under 100k would be amazing...i cant wait untill we are at that stage, it will feel like such an achievement..BTW the sainsburys cashback has tracked :j

earthgirl

I didn't get lo anything for christmas last year either. This year his present from santa cost £14.99 (half price) he is getting so much off all the relatives and still won't understand Christmas this year - I am of the opinion that there is plenty of time for spoiling him in the future!

museumworker

On remortgaging, it is almost like applying for a new mortgage IMO. YOu need to provide 6 months of original payslips + 3 months of bank statements and other evidence as well. It takes a good few hours - you need to go through a 45 min conversation on teh phone, and then complete a form and send everything in. HOWEVER, I would not let that put you off - loyalty to banks counts for nothing! I am so glad I switched to FD, their customer service is second to none and I can see my mortgage statement monthly, and how quickly it is coming down. I would say shop around and get the best rate/deal/product for you, nobody rewards loyalty! And fingers crossed for sub £100k!