SAHM paying off debts slowly

slm6002

Do you have to have a qualification before starting? Other than having my own kids and doing quite a bit of school work with them I don't have any teaching type of qualifications. My dream would be to work in a school office as that's where I am comfortable. Thank you for the idea though

Well this morning I have been to fat club and put on 1 1/2 pounds. Angry with myself as I know better although my scales at home said I had stayed the same. I am 3 pounds off my stone and have been for a month now. Need to focus.

After that I went to the local park and met my friend and her children - we both had a good moan and catch up and think it helped us. There was a car boot going on at the park but we avoided it as kids would be board, plus I don't need anything at the mo and would just end up spending money on rubbish.

This afternoon I will be catching up on some accounts whilst the kids amuse themselves (which they like to do) in the garden and bedrooms. Grey clouds are starting to appear though so it may end up being more indoor play.

Honeysucklelou2

You don't have to have a teaching qualification to be a teaching assistant, but a c grade in English and Maths at GCSE is usually preferred, if not essential. There are training opportunities and you can get qualifications in being a TA. I've known people start from just their own experiences of raising their own children.

Hope the weather stays dry for you.

slm6002

Thank you I will look into that then as I do have the right grades

debtaghh

Hi,

I've just finished reading your whole diary and just want to say that I really admire you. You seem to do so well with sch holidays etc and occupy the kids with very little money. I know what you mean about money draining as that is how I feel, good luck and I will be following your diary.

slm6002

Thank you for those kind words and welcome. I may go through periods where I am quiet as you can see but I normally come back I find if I plan lots of free things to do they don't tend to get bored and we don't spend too much. Getting more difficult as they get older as they notice their friends doing things a lot more and unless I want them spending time on console playing minecraft 24/7 I need to come up with some good things to do this year! DS enjoys the holidays much more if there is a routine and gets quite depressed about things so always like to plan.

Not spent anything today - Youngest went to a bday party at the cinema to see beauty and the beast (present from cupboard) so she was happy. Eldest has gone to her friends house and I am sure she will have been enjoying herself. DS however had to come with me to town. Paid in money for the groups I volunteer for. I reckon if I was paid for all of my volunteer work I would be better off but there is no money for that so hey ho.

Also why do my kids always head towards kids with money? All 3 of the best friends are all very well off, so if we are invited out we either feel like charity or cant afford to do it all.

Hubby is a lorry driver and is having a little bit of a mid life crisis at the moment. He is not enjoying his job and wants to retrain! He wants to paint cars. No idea really where this has come from. Told him to think hard as mortgage up for renewal at the end of this year. If he wants to get set hours I will know when I can go to work and get money. Hoping its just a phase as he will need to go back to college or train on the job, meaning lower wages. I did find it funny when he said if he was home at set time he could go to the gym - I felt like saying hey you will be putting kids to bed whilst I go to work - no time for the gym!

Been looking at prices of houses in my area and with garage 3 beds etc and I thought my house was probably valued at £160k but it looks more like £200k. Means we would have more of a deposit to put down for our remortgage. Still very worried about this due to DMP but the company we have mortgage with don't seem to want to talk to us yet about it. We are interest only (as that's all we could afford at the time) and working out how much over the 10 years we would have paid on just interest is crazy - From calculations we could have paid over half of house off at todays rates. Really want to sort it now before rates go higher.

Oh well off to collect eldest in a little while. Hope everyone has enjoyed the sun

slm6002

Another lovely sunny day here - more washing out on the line. I have my niece with us on a Friday so her parents can work. Luckily there was a free event on at the local golf club. There was a small easter trail with activities along the way. Each child got a small pack of sweets or egg. Was a nice free fun time. We then went to shoe shop with Grandad who kindly paid a lot of money for 3 pairs of school shoes. I would not have gone to the shoe shop he went to (£102 !) I would have gone to the cheaper one up the road - we all said a big thank you and I made him lunch.

Honeysucklelou2

What a kind Grandad! The Easter trail sounds good fun.
Is your DH quite serious about the change of job? Are there courses available locally that could help him to retrain?

enthusiasticsaver

I have just read your diary and it seems like you are having constant struggles with money due to the fact yours and your husbands finances are separate. Personally I would get a weekend job if he does not work weekends as not only does it get you back into the workplace (essential for experience) but it gives you extra money, opportunities to earn more once your kids are at school and also gives your OH the sense of how hard it is to look after children all day.

When my 2 DDs were tiny (1 and 2 years old) I did a Saturday job in an accounts department in a department store (I worked in Banking prior to having children). My OH looked after the kids and really appreciated how tough it is to be a SAHM even for only one day and the kids really forged a good relationship with him as he worked long hours during the week. We had Sundays together as a family. It gave us some extra money, I had a good reference for when I went back to part time work and it really helped my OH get to know his kids better.

When I went back to part time work 2/3rds of my salary went on childcare but it got a lot better and once they were in school all my wages went on holidays, the house,car or savings. We also had joint account for all household spending and separate personal accounts so we both had the same amount of disposable income just for us.

I only say this as being out of the workplace for so long as you have been will really impact on your financial future, not just now but as the kids get older, you approach retirement and so on. A supermarket job is a good place to start and I think your OH should just step up and do his bit. I certainly would not be happy scrimping and scraping just to put food on the table while he is indulging in boozy nights out and an expensive hobby like car racing. Hope you don't take offence.

slm6002

Thank you to you both. I certainly don't take offence by what you are saying. OH unfortunately sometimes runs in late on a Saturday and some Sundays he is expected to run out if he has an early delivery on the other side of the country. He leaves anytime between 2am and 6am during the week and returns home anytime between 4pm and 9pm. This is why it is so hard to get a part time job as I can never guarantee when he will be here.

I am interested in the idea of working in an accounts department at the weekend - just assumed they would be closed at the weekend. All 3 children are at school now but its the before and after school plus the holidays that I would need childcare.

The reason we have never had a joint account is because I would be terrified that he would spend the money before the bill have gone out as he has never been good with money. He is getting better but still a long way to go.

OH has mentioned change of job again although he realises he cant do it if it means less money (see he is learning - before he would have already have quit!). I asked the job centre and the training centre in town about courses he may need but they were clueless. Really no help at all. We will be looking online for more information. Other jobs are also on the cards - some with his lorry qualifications he already has but not actually driving. Lots to think about.

Anyway we have had a quiet weekend - lots of washing and drying out in the sun. Lots of getting things sorted around the house. Food shop but stuck to budget. No spending on fun bits for kids as all activities we have done have been free

This week coming we have holiday club at the church mon, tue and wed plus trip to visit nana, day out with friends (this will be costly - was a xmas pressie but its in the budget already), eye tests (free as for the kids) and trip to local museum for easter activities.

Hope you are all enjoying the sun

slm6002

Good morning - tax credits have gone in this morning and are a little less than I normally get. I have updated online how much OH earns which should give us around an extra £20 per week. It takes 4 weeks apparently to update the system and they will probably wait for his work to do their year end before it gets amended.

Have been and bought a few bits from Mr T's that I cant get from lidl and then put £15 of petrol in the car. This seems to do us for the week although I have 2 trips out this week so may need a little more later in the week. Kids were at club this morning so I went to clean friends kitchen for her as she is away. She struggles to keep it clean as she is not very mobile at the mo. I cleaned the bathroom too. It was nice to see it looking clean for her return tomorrow. I didn't tell her but I know she will appreciate the cleaning fairies coming in to help.

The club is doing a superhero theme this time so me and the girls might make some super hero hair clips that I have seen on pintrest out of felt (I was given loads of felt from friend and have been looking for something to make).

Anyway off to check bank and get template for clips Happy holidays to all