Chasing the debt free daydream...

Winnie_in_Pooh

Thanks both I tend to just rabbit away, please feel free to hush me if/when I get boring :rotfl:

Feels so much better to get it all out of my head and written down somewhere where I can review it and think about things some more and probably come up with yet another cunning plan

Natty - you're right, the curry doesn't need long because the chicken is already done, but I do still make sure its warmed through really well just to kill off any bugs! Its dead easy too, just the chicken, an onion, a handful of frozen peas, pot of creme fraiche and a bit of curry powder to your taste! We don't like it particularly "curryish" so a tub of Mr T's own curry powder lasts forever! Even DS will eat it and he's not a fan of anything spicy or highly flavoured so its a firm favorite in our house

Had a thought at the weekend about how to keep track of what needs doing in each room in the house in the next few weeks - so I've just been around the house and stuck a piece of paper to the door of each room with a list of things to do on it! Makes it look a lot more manageable than having one big central list so I don't feel quite so overwhelmed! Don't know what DH will make of it when he gets home tonight though :rotfl:

Winnie_in_Pooh

MissShoes wrote: »

Just caught up on this thread- good luck with the new arrival!

Shoes

Thanks Shoes!!

On a complete tangent - I really miss shoes. I have a pair of the most gorgeous black high heels just waiting for a debut! As soon as I'm not pregnant anymore I will be living in them, am very fed up with wearing the same pair of shoes every day!

Definite worse part of pregnancy

mum2one

DebtFree2012 wrote: »

Morning Winnie!!

WOW you have been flying along in your diary!

Loving the motivation. A great read for you to go back over if it ever lacks.

Ooh I remember being 30 weeks preg - it's so exciting - my youngest is 14 months now and where's that time gone!!!

Hope OH tooth is better v soon.

Lists, lists and more lists!!! Keep it up

xxx

Def agree with the lists, given them another bash and set myself 6 tasks last week and I did them.

I remember when i was 30 weeks gone with DD, seems like an eternity ago, she'll be 9 in Sept, I'd been back from Tunisia 2 weeks, as I flew back on the 28 week deadline, sticks in my mind as my feet had swollen and I ended up keeping thos pair of flip flops that I had brought back as a present.

xx

Winnie_in_Pooh

Ok, well I've made some progress this morning!

Nipped to Morrison's to get fuel and gluten free food for DS who should be home late morning today - spent £10 on fuel and £8.99 on food.

I've joined Memory Girl's matrix and I completed today's challenge of wallet decluttering and found two M&S gift cards in there! Hoping they're loaded with pennies so I can get some of the incredibly cute baby clothes that are on offer in there at the moment!

Also had a call from DS's dad (have only been trying to get hold of him since Friday *roll eyes*) and he's agreed to go halves on the birthday party so I can start organising that. Think we're going to go bowling, which should be fun at 36 weeks gone :rotfl:

Didn't manage to roast the chicken yesterday because I got stuck in the bath so its roast chicken for tea tonight and then curry tomorrow. Definitely. I'm going to try to get in the shower instead of the bath because I'm much less likely to get stuck in the shower

Winnie_in_Pooh

Just had two of the three holiday brochures I requested last week drop through the door oooo they look so fab!!! Popped onto the websites to compare prices and I think I've found the cheapest provider (Keycamp, Eurocamp and Canvas all go to the campsite that we fancy) and found out how many pennies we need to get there. We're looking at just above the £2k mark for two weeks in the middle of August next year including the Plymouth to Roscoff ferry crossing. Now I don't know much about holidays, having never actually organised one, but that doesn't sound like too bad a deal to me? What do you guys think?

mum2one

the hol sounds fab, no idea re prices, but school hols suddenly add up, if they all go to the site you want, I'd ring them and then the next and say you have a better deal, easier by phone, as you can bluff better, I'd give it away in a shop, or rather my DD would.
When we went to Dom Rep at easter, we'd booked it 16 months ago, and the dearest price was £3,200, after a rather stressful afternoon, all finger nails bitten, (didn't want to start on the toes!!), but in the end we got it down to £2500. Hard work, but every pound you can save adds to the spending money pot xx

Winnie_in_Pooh

Thanks mum2one - I'll have to polish off my haggling skills and have a go! Had a chat with DH last night and we're not 100% confident we will be able to save £2k in the six month window that we have (and then spending money and three passports), so what we've decided to do is save as hard as we can and he's going to book the fortnight that we want to go away off work and we'll go somewhere. Abroad somewhere. I know its boring to be pragmatic about something as exciting as a holiday, but we're too worried about loosing the deposit if we can't afford the balance which would leave us in the worst sort of position.

Haven't got much else to say today, am very tired and not really with it but feeling good because I've got DS home today and I've missed him loads. He came home from Longleat yesterday with his £5 spending money intact - and put the note straight in the holiday pot. He's such a little star, I'm so proud of him and I really hope bump turns out just like his big brother :):)

mum2one

Def recommend having a go at ahggling, even if you don't take them up on it. If you need passports it can add up.
It might be worth breaking it down into a monthly target etc, and then set yourself challenges, and put the money up.
I know what you mean about the depoists and then the rest, our friend has asked us to go to Tunisia with them next May, they've got a brilliant deal, which normally I would jump at, but .... i've promised DD that we'd go to Lapland next December, and based on this yrs prices 4 nights are are going to cost us £1600, but not the 1st hotel I wanted, but the this would be more pratical as its all inclusive so at least lunch, snacks, drinks etc are paid for, if we did a day that would be £900. I guess what makes our worse as theres the 2 of us, she has to pay adult rate.
I would sit down and see if it is pratical, when we did Dom Rep this yr, between Sept + March we raised £500 by carbooting, ebay, cutting back, and surveys, clicks etc, and it paid for 3 trips, and made a massive difference. When I was getting at venue at 6am and theres people trying to route throu boxes etc, I just had to keep smiling as I knew there was a means to the end xx

Winnie_in_Pooh

Looking at the maths, its not impractical but a lot of my sums are based on assumptions due to expenditure going up (nappies, formula etc) and whether the income will keep up with that (increased tax credits and child benefit) so it may become impractical IYSWIM?

It's so difficult trying to make plans with so many variables to throw in the pot! I'm starting to think that two weeks in the middle of August is probably a little ambitious for a first attempt at saving for a holiday - feels a bit "run before you can walk" in a way. Maybe we should start small with a week at the Haven camp down the road :rotfl:

never_too_old

I have lost count of the holidays that have been booked in advance and then my dh has said he cant go and it would be cheaper for me to go with the children on my own.He misses out on loads like this.
Im going to play it by ear save what i can whilst still aiming for debt and mortgage freedom, and if by chance we can afford a week abroad next year, get a late deal.

Life is a bi*ch isnt it