A stay at home mummy who wants to be a mfw - Yes I can and Yes I will!

I_want_a_baby

Had a great time at the carnival - used up my bag of 1p's to throw in the buckets. DS got a free lollypop, sweetie, waving flag & surestart bag with free book in it all from the procession going by.

We let DS go on two rides at the fair which cost £2 each, and we bought some candy floss for mum in law (but let DS have a bit of it).

Had a really lovely evening and only spent £6.

This leaves a fritter budget of £4 for the rest of the week.

All going well

Stacey

TwinnyD

You're doing so well :j Good luck for Monday

I_want_a_baby

Thanks TwinnyD, I am so nervous for tomorrow, I have wanted this my whole life, I am so worried it will be taken away from me! Trying to stay positive & keep everything crossed for now.

Had a nice day today -

Delivered christening invitations.
Posted the undeliverable ones - already had stamps (stocked up before price hike!).
Dropped a table into the inlaws - one more thing decluttered.
Excess runner beans & courgettes from garden given to both sets of parents.
2 Boxes of goodies for sisters boyfriend delivered to her to post - he is in afghan - stuck to a strict £10 for this when I bought it all.
Had inlaws over for a roast dinner - used up lots of odds and ends.
Went swimming with my friend - cost £4.80 but out of my personal spends.

Really busy week coming -to do list - (BOLD=Complete)
Hear back from Mortgage co about mortgage offer.
Complete forms & return to solicitor.
Make sure hard copy of steel survey comes through post.
If full mortgage offer is satisfactory - arrange another viewing of house.
If all goes well then sign up for the MFiT take 3 challenge!
Induction x 3 days for new job - really excited & hoping I will get a job offer at the end of it. (must remember to take completed forms).
DS back to nursery for two mornings.
Compile a shopping list/budget on mysupermarket for christening food.
Phone pub & confirm booking of bar for after christening.
Make sure outfit for DD arrives for her to wear when we take off heirloom christening gown.
Check outfits for Me, DH & DS for christening.
Need to try and write a 'use it up' meal plan so that I save £'s and make more space!

Think thats all for now, thanks for all the good wishes & I will of course let you all know how it pans out tomorrow.

Stacey x

I_want_a_baby

Really quick update:

First day of induction went really well - looking forward to the second day today.

Did a pinecone survey this morning - should receive £3 luncheon vouchers.
Did an Opinium research survey - 25p
Did daily clicks on SP - New balance - 763SP

Completed all paperwork for solicitor - should hear back from the mortgage co today with regard to the mortgage offer.

Spent last night planning mums 50th party with my sisters - whilst it wont exactly be cheap we will try and get everything as cheap as possible.

Better get off here and get ready - don't want to be late.

Stacey x

I_want_a_baby

Full mortgage offer received!

Now to wait for the solicitor to do searches etc.

Also day 2 of induction went well, received a copy of employment contract to read over ready for signing tomorrow - double :D!

Good day!

I_want_a_baby

Well induction has been completed and I am now employed! I think it may be a while before I get my first set of hours but could be as soon as a couple of weeks away.
I really do not know if I will be earning £10pw or £60pw and I think it could vary a lot too - Does anybody know what I need to do with regard to tax credits??

We dropped the solicitors paperwork in yesterday and also arranged another viewing of the house so we can take some measurements & write some plans down.

Luckily it hasn't been too much of a spendy week so far and hoping to put a few £'s from the cash budget for the week into the house sealed tin. Need to do our banks online soon too so I can see if we can save anything from there.

Hope everyone else is doing ok. Can't wait to have our mortgage in place and to start OP'ing!

Stacey x

I_want_a_baby

Just did a quick tally up of the purse for this week:

Fritter budget £10 - £6 spent at fair = £4.00 left over
Food budget £20 - £16.60 spent = £3.40 left over
Total £7.40 put into sealed house saving tin.

Total saved for September so far - £68.20
New total saved since July 2012 = £442.65

Going to do some batch cooking this weekend to make some 'ingredients' in the cupboard/freezer into 'ready meals' for the freezer as I am aware that the next few weeks are going to be busy and I don't want to be resorting to expensive takeaways or convenience food.

Also need to do the banks and budgets online to make sure all is as it should be.

Going to view the house again today have a very long list of things to check, write down and measure! Very exciting!

Stacey x

Beckyy

How did the second viewing go?

I_want_a_baby

Morning All!

Beckyy - The second viewing went really well. We were a little rushed as the estate agent needed to get going so we only had about 25 minutes but we managed to get most of the measurements we needed.

On Saturday evening we drew plans of the room to scale on squared paper and then measured our furniture & cut it out again to scale. This way we could re-arrange the furniture in each room until we had it just right.

It was a great exercise as we discovered that we can keep our big desk & chunky solid oak coffee table (which we were gutted we would have to sell). Also we discovered we would be able to fit two wardrobes in our bedroom which means we can have one each!!

Also my husband is in the process of making us a dining table out of chunky reclaimed wood and we could finally decide on a size for it. We are going to wax and varnish the top and then paint the legs in an off white colour. We are going to keep our current cheap ikea dining chairs and paint them the same colour as the legs.

We measured and made some plans for the garden including a summer house that I have been saving my birthday & personal money towards. We are going to rehouse one of the square dining tables into there & also store some of the kids outdoor toys in there - I am going to paint & decorate it all 'shabby chic'.

It suddenly became really real and exciting when we could see our plans come to life & how 'we' would live in that house!!
Also when it comes to moving we will know which piece of furniture will go in each room & where thereby making it much easier!

So today a new week begins - not expecting any major developments house wise but we will see!

To do this week -
Do our banks and see if there is anything I can TRF to savings.
Write a list of freezer/cupboard stores & a meal plan.
Update house move budget with furniture purchase estimates.
Keep looking on ebay to see if anything we want to buy comes up 2nd hand.
Write a list of things that we need to sell.
Start writing a change of address list ready.
Re-organise toys so that they would be ready for the appropriate rooms & get rid of broken ones.
Get on top of cleaning/tidying that has fallen behind after being out of house for induction last week.

So another busy week ahead hoping for some more nice weather too. I am going to make a secret aim of trying to reach £100 savings for September during this week but I think it will be a little out of reach.

Happy savings everyone - please keep me updated on your progress too as it helps me to stay focused!!

Stacey x

I_want_a_baby

Update for today:

Did banks/budgets and saved the following:
3.46 Save the change money in unused savings account
5.26 Quidco payout
4.59 BT budget less DD
10.04 Interest Received
0.64 Water budget less DD
23.99 Saved into ISA.:T

£92.21 Saved in September so far.
£466.64 Saved since July 2012.:D

Mini September targets to focus the mind!
Target #1 ~Bronze~ = Save £100 in September (£7.79 to go)
Target #2 ~Silver~ = Save £500 in Total (£33.36 to go)
Target #3 ~Gold~ = Save £150 in September (£57.79 to go)
Target #4 ~Platinum~= Save £600 in Total (£133.36 to go)

Anyone else care to join in with my mini challenges?

Night All!

Stacey