children, cross-stitch and chocolate. Chickywiggles debt-free diary

chickywiggle

ohhh I LOVE this for the wording in the card:

"What is home?
“A roof to keep out the rain? Four walls to keep out the wind?
Floors to keep out the cold? Yes, but home is more than that.
It is the laugh of a baby, the song of a mother, the strength
of a father, warmth of loving hearts, lights from happy eyes,
kindness, loyalty, comradeship. Home is first school and first
church for young ones, where they learn what is right, what
is good, and what is kind, where they go for comfort when
they are hurt or sick; where joy is shared and sorrow eased;
where fathers and mothers are respected and loved, where
children are wanted; where the simplest food is good enough
for kings because it is earned; where money is not as important
as loving-kindness; where even the tea kettle sings
from happiness. That is home. God bless it!”"

blue_eyed_girl

That's beautiful chicky. Love it. :T

chickywiggle

How the fu** am I supposed to work out what to do with work/ school in 2013 when we have no idea what the tax system is going to do???

sorry tis very boring but I need to spell it out to get my head around it.

Current situation:

I work 30h a week - Tues - Fri (work is only open Mon-Fri)
Hubby works 35h a week Fri - Mon (work is open 7 days).

Friday both children go to a childminder:
- we pay 4h a day for DS1 (full pay in hols) as she uses 6h of his free nursery places.
- we pay 10h a day for DS2
we claim some back some of this - i think top wack so about 75% thro tax credits


summer holiday's 2013

Pay full pay for both children to go to childminders.


from september 2013

From September 2013 DS1 will be in full time school. DS2 not yet old enough for his free nursery places. current childminder is a good 20min walk from DS1's school so she won't do pick up/ collection from there.
Both myself and hubby work about 30-45min away from DS1's school.


Our options (based on what our jobs will allow flexi-working wise)

Hubby works Fri - Sun (looses 10h)
I work Mon - Thurs (same hours as currently)

Benefits

no childcare fees
no unpaid leave if either child is sick on a Friday as one of us would be at home.
no having to take leave to accomodate childminders/ school holidays.
No full wack for DS1 during childminders over holidays (assuming a new childminder could accomodate him just in the holidays)
wouldn't have to place them with a new childminder closer to DS1s school.


cons

money............... would the money we loose a week (approx £65) outweigh the cost of the benefits??


Normally I would just use the benefit checker to see what it works out at, but with things changing in 2013 to universal credits I have no idea how we will be affected.

We currently take home approx £24000 a year between us so not even close to the £50,000 threshold changes.

Anyone in the know have any ideas???


everything points to dropping/ changing hours being the answer.......but I HAVE to be confident we will be able to afford to live.



thanks for any help

chickywiggle

GRRRR I just lost a HUGEEEE post.

w/c 10 December 2012 ........ end of week update
Well last week - grocery wise I only spend an extra £5. This was milk/ bread on friday. Although we did have enough to last until the groceries came on Saturday the icy weather was terrible here and we wanted some incase it didn't arrive.
We compensated for this tho by ordering no milk and half as much bread on the main shop for this week.

I did pick up some more pressies thro the week .
We needed a new whiteboard for the kichen as hubby and DS decided to use Sharpie pens and despite many tricks offered on another part of this forum the pen was there to stay.
I also wanted to stitch my friend a moving house pressie (see above/ csc thread) but had to buy the aida/ threads.
Other then that no real 'blips'.

had to have lunch out on wednesday as the outlaws came to visit. they paid a lot of it but we had to contribute. :mad: This ate up the £20 emergency fund.

i forgot my budget figures should extend for the week and not just the saturday shop so will factor that in this week.

chickywiggle

Spends - W/C 15/12


Grocery
staple (meal/ store cupboard) foods - weekly budget £40.......
.....................................................................................spent: £10.82 (15/12 big shop)
.....................................................................................spent: £3.45 - cereal, milk (17/12)

ONE OFF: Christmas !- weekly budget: £20...
...............................................................spent:£11.93 (15/12 big shop)
...............................................................spent:£5.50 cake (15/12)
...............................................................spent:£1 - sweets (17/12 big shop)

Misc
Cleaning/ Laundry/ household toiletries/ nappies - weekly budget £20..........
.......................................................................................................spent: £3 - razor blades (15/12 big shop)
.......................................................................................................spent: £3 - deodrant, scouring pads, own brand 'wd40' (17/12 big shop)


Christmas (Presents/ paper)-weekly budget: £15 .........
..................................................................spent: £5.70 (15/12 big shop)
..................................................................spent: £1 (BOGOF) choc coins, and 80p on popping candy for stocking (15/12)
..................................................................spent: £5 wrapping paper, pressie (17/12)
..................................................................spent: £5 card holder etc (18/12)


Emergency spends - weekly budget: £20...........
...................................................................spent: £6 on drinks in cafe 15/12
...................................................................spent: £3 nice Christmas candle 17/12
...................................................................spent: £25 pub tea (19/12)


Must buy this week:
couple of pints of whole (due to baby being under 2) and semi-skimmed milk towards the end of the week - budget £4 ..... bought 17/12 under budget @ £2
Sponge Christmas cake - budget £10...........bought 15/12 under budget @ £5.50 :j

chickywiggle

Microwave Sponge Pudding

A very simple microwave sponge pudding in less than 15 minutes with a texture between a sponge and a steamed pudding. Flavour it by adding raspberry jam, treacle or golden syrup to the bottom of the final bowl. Serve hot with custard.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
50g (2 oz) butter
50g (2 oz) caster sugar
50g (2 oz) self raising flour
1 medium egg, beaten
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons of jam or syrup
Preparation method
Prep: 10 mins |Cook: 3 mins
1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.

2. Mix in the egg and milk gradually, so as not to curdle the butter.

3. Sift in the flour, and fold in gently.

4. Put 2 tablespoons of golden syrup, treacle or jam in bottom of microwave-safe bowl. Pour in batter.

5. Cover, and cook for 3 1/2 minutes on full powder, or until the pudding appears set when gently jiggled, and the top is sticky. Serve hot.

chickywiggle

spends updated............must not go to any more shops this week.

Have promised hubby vuze+ which is £16.99 so will prob buy that at some point but everything else is got.

Almost got DS1 some extra games for his computer but the lady selling them didn't get back to me so thats saved me £15. :T

chickywiggle

well remembered we didn't need vuze+ as I found a freebie that did the same job :j :money:

Tuesday
ran out of hanging space so had to get a card holder and some blu tack (£5)

Wednesday
treated DS1 to a pub tea as a reward for being well behaved and joining in in his first school 'show' (£25)

Thursday
NSD

Friday
work joint brekkie (£2), christmas cookies for kids, bottle of drink for mummy (£2)
Also Tesco food shop for next week.

So as far as groceries/ toiletries etc go NO FURTHER SPENDS after my weekly shop :j:j:j Just impromptu buys.

chickywiggle

Summary of Spends - W/C 15/12

Grocery
staple (meal/ store cupboard) foods - weekly budget £40.......TOTAL spent: £14.27
ONE OFF: Christmas !- weekly budget: £20... TOTAL spent: £18.43

Misc
Cleaning/ Laundry/ household toiletries/ nappies - weekly budget £20.......... TOTAL spent: £6
Christmas (Presents/ paper)-weekly budget: £15 ......... TOTAL spent: £16.70

Emergency spends - weekly budget: £20........... TOTAL spent: £34

chickywiggle

Spends - W/C 22/12


Grocery
staple (meal/ store cupboard) foods - weekly budget £40.......
...................................spent: £35.39 (22/12 big shop)
ONE OFF: Christmas !- weekly budget: £20...
....................................spent:£16.17 (22/12 big shop)

Misc
Cleaning/ Laundry/ household toiletries/ nappies - weekly budget £10..........
.............................. ...spent: £2.50 (22/12 big shop)


Emergency spends - weekly budget: £20...........
............... ..................spent: £


Must buy this week:
couple of pints of whole (due to baby being under 2) and semi-skimmed milk towards the end of the week - budget £4
Potatoes/ cream and ham (forgot to order on weekly shop :wall: