Maria's 2012 i will bring baby up on a budget! Keeping my head above water diary

mariagti

Hello anyone out there...

Very long time since ive been in here! So much has changed since!

I dont want to bore you all though so quick update Im 28 and my OH is 27, my son is now 13 months old and we now privately rent a 3 bed house. We moved from a one bed house when our son Owen turned 6 months. Good job too as they maybe small by my god they have a lot of things!

So basically since moving into a bigger house we have spent alot of money on buying furniture, white goods, curtains etc etc for the house. My OH put everything on his CC and its now at £4k! As his also been putting his fuel and other stuff on it and only paying min payments as it was 0%. Now the 0% has ended his has transferred it to another 0% for 13 months i think.

I took a year off work so ate into my savings while off on maternity. I pay food, all of owens items he needs, water, sewage, my mobile, my car insurance etc, petrol, tv license and anything i need all on my wage now which is.......wait for it.......£90 a week!!! Since returning from maternity i went down to 3 day a week 15 hours. So im really struggling now as all i have left from my £3500 savings is £900 in ISA and £900 in my account. Which worries me very much!! Hence why ive returned!

Ive been rubbish with money as it seems im a sucker for buying for my son! I must clamp down and sort things out.

Anyway on a lighter note, happy new year! Maybe 2012 be a great year for anyone reading this!

Maria xx

mariagti

A very close friend of mine since school is pregnant and i thought i would make her a hamper for baby, herself and her OH and maybe also a nappy cake as i have sooo many newborn nappies in the loft i got for free still in there packs.

So far ive picked up:

A fleecy white teddy bear blanket and wrist rattle set £1.98 in sale from Tesco
A Lamaze peacock toy £5 reduced on Amazon
x2 newborn trousers and x3 newborn vests 19p after a £5 no max spend discount code!
A teething rattle £1 Orfords

I was thinking of finding a cheap box of chocs in the christmas sales for mummy to be and something for daddy to be not sure what yet though.

So im keeping my eye out for anything cheap for babies atm to add to the hamper. I will also need something to put it all in not sure what yet as baskets are pricey!

Hiddenidenity

Hello Happy New Year :beer:

Will you be posting your SOA? Or have you cut everything back as far as you can? Can you not get Tax credits if you only get £90 p/w wages? x

Sorry for all the questions

*Subscribs* xx

mariagti

Hi Hiddenidenity thanks for popping in Happy new year

I will post our SOA eventually, although i dont think theres much we could cut back on at the moment.

I forgot to say we get child benefit £80 a month. But i think thats all we can claim as my OH earns £21k i think it is, im going to have to check with him as he got a pay rise at christmas

Old diary...https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2542663

Hiddenidenity

mariagti wrote: »

Hi Hiddenidenity thanks for popping in Happy new year

I will post our SOA eventually, although i dont think theres much we could cut back on at the moment.

I forgot to say we get child benefit £80 a month. But i think thats all we can claim as my OH earns £21k i think it is, im going to have to check with him as he got a pay rise at christmas

Old diary...https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2542663

Sorry hope I didn't sound to nosey

Will go have a read through your old diary x

mariagti

Hiddenidenity wrote: »

Sorry hope I didn't sound to nosey

Will go have a read through your old diary x

Oh no!! dont worry i dont mind peple asking anything. Old diary isnt very long or good lol the ones before that were better where i had too much time on my hands to hardcore save and scrimp:D

wendz86

Hi ! Nice to see you have started a diary again.

The tax credit thing is definitely worth looking into as I think you would prob be entitled to something.

That newbor hamper sounds fab.

yukkibear

Hey Maria. Def claim tax credits, you should be entitled to something. Good to see you back

mariagti

Morning,

Hi wendz and YB thank for joining me!

I will deffo have a look again on entilted to website. But i think the problem is i work 15 hours instead of 16 and over. Two ladies at my work doing the same job asked for an hour extra to make it upto 16 hours when they first started so they could claim working tax credit. But they are both single parents so only have there income.
Problem is my OH does ALOT of overtime which makes filling out those online forms difficult as he never knows when he will have overtime and how much etc.

We took our decorations down friday as they were taking up so much room and i just wanted to sort out the house as it was a mess covered in toys and our rubbish everywhere. OH is out in the garage already trying to sort that out and do all the recycling. here's a question for you...does wrapping paper go in the cardboard or paper sack? I was told it goes in the cardboard even though its paper??? the xmas cards go in the paper even though there card how strange

I was thinking of adding a bottle of Comfort Pure to my friends baby hamper, there £1 in asda atm and theres an online coupon for 50p off meaning it will only cost me 50p. I already stocked up on them for us a few months back they only cost 25p after coupons...i have about 6 in the cupboard lol

I actually had a great night sleep last night! Owen isnt a very good sleeper...never has been. Since being born he must of slept through the night about 7 times and his 13 months old!! He norm goes down between 6.30-7 as his knackered by then, he will sleep like a log until 10-11pm when i go to bed! or he will wake around 2am and sometimes he wont settle back to sleep for a couple of hours then he will always wake at 5am Always! So everyday starts at 5am for me. Wouldnt be so bad if he slept from 6.30-5am. Nevermind his perfect in every other way now his walking im hoping it will wear him out even more!

Hiddenidenity

Good morning hope you had a nice night last night x

I've never claimed working tax credit becuase I was to young lol, But I'm sure you should be entilited to Child Tax Credits even if its the really basic amount I think its £40 a monthish x

wendz86

Happy New Year.

I think it is the child tax credits you would be entitled to. It is annoying trying to work it out with overtime etc.

Our recycling at our flats is annoying as we can't recycle cardboard! Usually have to put it in normal bin which makes me feel really guilty. Big boxes and things we take up the tip.

Glad you had a good nights sleep. Poppy isn't a good sleeper either, she has never slept through the night but used to be able to do 5 or 6 hours but last few weeks she has been waking every 1-2 hours. She will often sleep in till 8 am though so thats not too bad. She got her first tooth last week so thought she would get better again but no. I agree though she is great in other ways so doesn't bother me too much! Someone told me that their LO started sleeping better when they were walking so hope he does for you.