My DFW Diary by ShinyShoes

brizzledfw

:wave:Hi Shiny Shoes..

Well done on getting on here and joining us!! I am in a bit of a rush but didn't want to read and run! I have subscribed so I can support you on your way..

Immediate thoughts:

- its fantastic that you are being honest with your OH....you will find this goes much much easily together, especially with a LO (they are exhausting at that age..I can remember it well!)
-my grocery bill is just one of my downfalls..and even though I feed 3 adults and 2 children (9 and 12) AND much is organic, not cheapest we do not spend £500 odd. Do you cook from scratch? We do. Bulk cook at the weekend and chuck in freezer if necessary.Even if you cut down to £400 for the upcoming month that's another £100 to throw at your debts..
- nappies - use reusables...they are great (even better as LO gets bigger) and SO much cheaper. My kids prefolds and wraps were used 5 times..(I even sold them once!) and I still use prefolds as brilliant mop ups for kitchen floor etc etc
- childcare - are other mums in the same pickle? I know your LO is tiny but can you share on at least 1 day and swop and look after theirs on one of your days off
- agree with RFTA re looking at hours...are you being ripped off? Its not just pay but work benefits eg. pension, life insurance etc.
- I also have a huge mortgage as you can see from my signature:( whats the interest rate? Is it worth trying to rejig that?
- you do have some luxuries eg. entertainment, Sky in there..you just dont have the room at the moment for these. they need to go. sorry.

I am not too familiar with DMPS etc so others can advise better. BUT...just keep on posting and remember there is a fab fab fab community out here, always ready to help and offer a hug or a supportive word.

Take care

Brizzle

brizzledfw

Our posts crossed..

Don't put it into a savings account..you need to use it for him now. Thats the immediate issue. Honest. you can do that when you are debt free and on the slope outta there! ;-)

rising_from_the_ashes

ShinyShoes wrote: »

Thanks, I do get child benefit but I'm transferring this into a savings account for my son.

brizzledfw wrote: »

Don't put it into a savings account..you need to use it for him now. Thats the immediate issue. Honest. you can do that when you are debt free and on the slope outta there! ;-)

I agree - you've years before he'll need this (whether for uni costs, buying a house etc) and you need to balance the books just now.

Even if it's just until your DM moves to the area & the nursery costs reduce.

ShinyShoes wrote: »

For the hours work, I'm intending to do nearly the full time hours but spread on less days. The child care costs are a local nursery, unfortunately we don't have family near by to look after DS. My mum's hoping to move over but that's not until Oct 2013.

Lots of people do this at my work & it's a great idea - you can't be that short of FT hours so think that a extra day would be wiped out by the extra nursery costs .....

Good news is at least you know it's going to be relatively short term if your DM is moving nearer you next year.

ShinyShoes wrote: »

These are the figures as was spent, so will try and create a budget to stick to. I use moneydance so I'm setting it up from fresh with the same account headings as SOA for easy comparison in the future.

Great!:T I must admit I use the SOA every couple of months to re-check my budget (very tight!) - have just downloaded MoneyDance so off for a look!:D

ShinyShoes

Today I've been creating my new money file to keep track of our spending. I'm one of those people who loves starting things new, I just need to make sure I keep it up to date! I'm going to try and do it every night before bed so I hopefully remember all those misc. cash expenses!

I've also been looking into other nurseries, one near me costs a lot less but I'm not sure if I like it as much. I'm seeing another one tomorrow then I'll make a decision. Both nurseries open at 7.45am, so I could be in the office by 8am which means more hours in the pot.

Tomorrow is another day!

Lois49

Sure start nurseries are great. They are not in great areas but the staff are excellent and they are well run. They are cheaper.
We used childcare vouchers also.
Shop at Aldi or Lidl for a while. It's cheaper. You must be shopping at Waitrose with that food bill!
Spending diary works really well. I discovered my costa coffee habit was out of control.
We got rid of a car and manage ok now with one. Lets Face it 2 cars is a luxury. So are those holidays.
Part of paying back debts is realising you cannot afford the lifestyle you were having. It's like a grieving process but you can enjoy the debt repayment part.

rising_from_the_ashes

ShinyShoes wrote: »

I'm one of those people who loves starting things new, I just need to make sure I keep it up to date!

One of my problems too!:o

Lois49 wrote: »

We got rid of a car and manage ok now with one. Lets Face it 2 cars is a luxury. So are those holidays.
Part of paying back debts is realising you cannot afford the lifestyle you were having.

Ohhhhh Lois I wish I could stick this on the front page of the board - you've got it in one!:T

Especially things like holidays, I see so many people saying "I / the kids / need a holiday every years" "everyone goes abroad" etc etc .... then all the other non-essentials like Sky .... Gym .... new cars .... etc etc

I think a lot of people need to think back to their childhood - did my family go abroad every year? (once when I was 10, couple of camping trips with my grandparents but that's it!), did we have the latest gadgets etc etc nope! Did we survive without it having a huge detrimental affect on our development and it not scaring us for life - yes!:rotfl:

brizzledfw

Wise words Lois and RFTA..very wise words indeed...

Hope we haven't scared you off Shiny Shoes!

brizzledfw

Oops..didn't see your last post ShinyShoes..it was hiding!!

That sounds like a plan and a spends diary is a great way of keeping track. if you have an iphone/Apple device you can use MoneyWhizz...we have just started using it (we used another one before)..and it seems pretty handy.

Lois49

How has the nursery hunt gone? I go into a lot of nurseries in my job. I looked for a good age range of staff and the training they receive. Which is why I chose sure start.

ShinyShoes

Lois49 - I think the one I've chosen is a surestart one but I'm not sure. It's next to the SureStart centre where I live. They still charge £54 a day though. Is there a link to the SureStart nurseries so I can double check before I sign up. The bad thing is they want 2 weeks fees upfront as a deposit which will be £432. Not really sure where I'm going to find that from to be honest.