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Getting a Grip on 2013

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  • Cinny91
    Cinny91 Posts: 6,022 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Debt-free and Proud!
    Happy Tuesday-Monday, everyone! (the one reason I dislike bank holidays, it's ONE DAY DIFFERENCE and it throws me so much!)

    Have my little snack with me today, feeling very impressed with myself! Determined to start making OH and I a lunch every day. But I want to do interesting things, reinvented left overs are okay a couple days but I'd like to do "fresh" things too - if that makes sense? Today we have our wraps, and tomorrow we'll be having left over sesame chicken with noodles. After that I want to get creative! I've found this thread on here which is pretty handy, so will investigate later.

    As of this morning I have a solid £3 in my bank account, and 22p in my purse. I might have to buy a couple bits later on in the week to make up some lunches but other than that I should be pretty golden!

    Oooh, what baby things did you get Birdie? Sounds like you had a lovely weekend too :) Hope you'll post a picture of this cake when it's all gussied up for the contest!

    Forgot to say yesterday, thanks for the comments on the Doctor Who top! I was looking at tops in Primark on Sunday, you can get a plain mens tee for £2.50 and there would be plenty to restyle it into a full skirted top. Had to remind myself the idea is that I'm recyling tees so I don't spend money - never been so happy for OH's grumpy disposition which meant he didn't want to hang around while I walked in circles and ummy-ahhed over the idea :o

    We also spoke about life after the sofa loan. We have the offer on our home until Spring 2015, and I really do think we could get a decent deposit together by then. I've looked at what we could be lent with and without OH's carloan working against us, and while it effects the amount a fair bit we're still way over what we'd need. So we're kind of toying with the idea of saving up for our deposit after this step. I think that'd be a move to MFW to be a MFWW?!
  • Birdie85
    Birdie85 Posts: 9,330 Forumite
    We've (well, baby has I suppose) been very spoilt! :o In-laws bought us our travel system and my parents have bought our nursery furniture (cot, wardrobe and dresser). :) We also bought the blanket in that photo and little matching cushions because it was just too cute and strokeable! :) Not getting delivered until we get back from our holiday though, I just hope that OH can hold off building it all until we're a little closer to the due date. He's just too excited about everything, he was looking for the 'perfect' curtains last night and worrying that the baby's room will look stupid with white furniture and wooden blinds! !!!!!!, they're brand new and it'll look fine, who cares?! :p

    Exciting that you're thinking about mortgages and whatnot! :)

    On the subject of cheap Primark t-shirts, I bought one for OH and have scribbled '30 Today' and suchlike all over it for him to wear on his birthday! Worth ruining a t-shirt at that price! :)
    Overcome the notion that you must be ordinary. It robs you of the chance to be extraordinary!
    Goal Weight 140lb Starting Weight: 160lb Current Weight 145lb
  • Cinny91
    Cinny91 Posts: 6,022 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Debt-free and Proud!
    Had a nice chunk of money plop into my bank this morning, so my savings are now up to £200 and the loan account is at £371.97 :T I think I'll be able to get this paid off in October, which will take 2 automatic payments off so le goal is £815. £445 to go!

    Have to pop to the Post Office after/during work to send off a couple things. Including the cardigan for Tete! Left £15 to one side for all of it, but I'm hoping there's a little left over that I can round down for the loan account. Still no word from bracelet lady... harumph :(

    And as it always goes, just as we're getting somewhere.. OH came home from work last night to say his boss was having a rant about how little work there is etc.. :( In all fairness, they were a small company chugging along nicely and OH was constantly busy, then they decided to expand and it's just messed everything up. I'm worried because why would he rant in front of his staff unless he's seriously stressed? And OH barely slept last night because he was worried, so I had an uber grump fest this morning.

    Love that travel system! Did you get it in the green too? The nursery furniture is just what I pictured in your spare room though :) There must be something in the air with Dads-to-be this year, my Cousin has gone ebay crazy getting the "perfect" things ever since he found out he's having a girl. Have to admit, I keep thinking you're going to have a boy :o

    Don't know if you've watched RAW, but one of the Bella twins was wearing that strapless dress you sent me! Tah-dah!
  • Birdie85
    Birdie85 Posts: 9,330 Forumite
    Really good money news! :T

    Very annoying about the bracelet lady, I don't understand people who win auctions then don't bother paying?!

    Hope your OH's job's going to be OK, I'm sure it will be it's just that the manager may have had a bad day?! Most manager types/business owners I know seem to focus on gloom and doom all the time when they're actually ticking along quite nicely but may have had one month when they were 1% down on the previous year or something! :)

    We have gone for the green colour on the travel system. :) Wanted something bright so it could be seen (just seems safer when out walking IMO) and it can go with blue for a boy or pink for a girl. We'll also get another colour pack (or 2) to mix it up when we're bored of it. :o The nursery furniture is the kind of stuff we both said we'd wanted when we were little so we're living vicariously through our baby! It would have been sensible to buy an adult wardrobe but we decided that we liked how it was smaller so when they got older they'd be able to use it without us having to help them all the time. And it's so freaking cute! :) Also, for the same money we'd be looking at having to buy something from Ikea or Argos and since we've already got Ikea wardrobes that are feeling worse for wear after 4 years we can safely say that they'd need replacing by the time we'd need a bigger one anyway! :o

    and wahay for one of the Bella twins sporting your dress! Knew I had good taste! :)
    Overcome the notion that you must be ordinary. It robs you of the chance to be extraordinary!
    Goal Weight 140lb Starting Weight: 160lb Current Weight 145lb
  • Cinny91
    Cinny91 Posts: 6,022 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Debt-free and Proud!
    I'm just irritated because if it were a case of she'd paid and I hadn't posted it out, it'd be handled completely differently! :(

    I'm hoping that's what it is. Honestly, I'm so used to my Uncle telling me he's going to "close it all down" that I didn't really give it much more thought until OH said he hadn't been able to sleep with worry. If it was just senseless grumbles, I want to go give his boss a piece of my mind! I think what we'll need to do is just be open to having to use the house deposit if needs must to make ends meet if the worst does happen. His boss was mumbling something about 10 months so who knows.. nothing like a secure job, eh!

    I get what you mean with the bright colours, I really like the green. Fun that you can get interchangable bits! Swanky ;) I think most people live through their kids, try to give them the childhood they wanted. I'm determined that our kid will have one of those "play" beds. Like a car, or a princess castle. I wanted one so bad when I was little. Which reminds me, I meant to show you this!
  • Birdie85
    Birdie85 Posts: 9,330 Forumite
    Oh that nursery is too cool! :) There are so many awesome themes I'd love, wish we had a massive house so we could have a load of themed rooms. :cool: We're going with a general colour explosion for now (none of this insipid pastel blue/pink stuff) and will focus on specific themes as time goes on. :)

    I love the idea of having a play bed, hope we'll be able to give our kid's really fun, cool rooms. :) I want mine to have an awesome play tent permanently set up, with fairy lights on the roof. Luckily MIL and my Mum are both super smart with a sewing machine so I just have to give them vague ideas of what I want and I'm sure one of them will sort it out!
    Overcome the notion that you must be ordinary. It robs you of the chance to be extraordinary!
    Goal Weight 140lb Starting Weight: 160lb Current Weight 145lb
  • shrimpy_80
    shrimpy_80 Posts: 1,631 Forumite
    Great money news Cinny - hopefully your OHs boss was just having a sound off. Still, pretty unprofessional and not terribly constructive! Is your OH still enjoying his job generally?

    I love that nursery you linked to, and Evelyn is a really cute name!

    Your nursery stuff looks fab Birdie - I think you should also invest in the giraffe lampshade for good measure :p I was reading the new Ikea catalogue last night and they have some really cool kids stuff in at the moment, play tents etc. which I totally wanted for myself!
    Barclaycard [STRIKE]£7,296.35[/STRIKE] £6134.99 - MBNA [STRIKE]£4,182.88[/STRIKE] £3267.08 - O/draft [STRIKE]£569.31[/STRIKE] £413.59 - Capital One [STRIKE]£1477.55[/STRIKE] £1451.44
    Total debt [STRIKE]£12048.54[/STRIKE] £11267.10 6% paid
  • Dinah93
    Dinah93 Posts: 11,466 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker Bake Off Boss!
    Aw bless you Cinny, I've been reading back and catching up and I'm sorry money is getting to you so much. Wish I could just hug you. Don't worry about the loan, you're a right trouper at stretching every penny and I'm sure you won't have it the full 5 years.
    I can't offer any advice regarding the dark and twisties and money, I feel like all I think about at the moment is money and it's only Grace's very easy giggle that keeps me from going completely to the dark side in that regard.
    Is there any second job you might love doing that would give you a boost? If it becomes more about the job giving you confidence and happiness and less about doing it for the paycheck you might well find it has a positive rather than negative impact on your MH. Personally I've found the ebaying/surveying for pennies has a worse impact in the long run as I feel like I spend all my time faffing on for a few quid and never really get anywhere.
    I can't believe your mum won one of your ebay items - did she know it was yours?!
    Eeeee that's our pram system Birdie! We have it in purple and I LOVE it, I've had 4 prams/buggies now and it's my favourite by far. I love that for £40 you can completely change the look of it with another colour pack. If we end up having number 2 before Grace is out of the buggy stage I'd definately get the oyster max as I'm just to pleased with the oyster. Only thing I don't like is the one piece fold is so large it's really bulky to get in the boot and the handle drags in the mud.
    I have to say girl for Birdie, I can't imagine her with a boy at all. I just have this image of a nurse handing him over in a blue blanket and Birdie looking puzzled and asking them to check his bits again as they must have made a mistake!
    I hope your OH can get a bit of rest from worries Cinny, but if the worst does happen there really are jobs out there if you're prepared to just take anything to get some pennies coming in. He can work on getting back to a job he really wants later, any job at all is something you can find much faster. It's not ideal and hopefully it won't be nessesary as things will turn around where he is now.
    Debt January 1st 2018 £96,999.81
    Debt September 20th 2022 £2991.68- 96.92% paid off
    Met NIM 23/06/2008
  • Birdie85
    Birdie85 Posts: 9,330 Forumite
    Dinah93 wrote: »
    Eeeee that's our pram system Birdie! We have it in purple and I LOVE it, I've had 4 prams/buggies now and it's my favourite by far. I love that for £40 you can completely change the look of it with another colour pack.

    I remembered you saying how much you loved it when we were looking, OH zoomed in on it and said he wanted it, I just went along because I knew it was a great choice! He still thinks it was totally his decision though! :p
    Dinah93 wrote: »
    I have to say girl for Birdie, I can't imagine her with a boy at all. I just have this image of a nurse handing him over in a blue blanket and Birdie looking puzzled and asking them to check his bits again as they must have made a mistake!

    Ashamed to admit that this is true! :o My SIL was the same about having a girl, she could just never picture it so was really pleased that she had a boy! We're finding out the gender now (OH realised he was being a crazy person by wanting a surprise) so if it is a boy I've got a while to get my head around it! :o
    Overcome the notion that you must be ordinary. It robs you of the chance to be extraordinary!
    Goal Weight 140lb Starting Weight: 160lb Current Weight 145lb
  • Cinny91
    Cinny91 Posts: 6,022 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Debt-free and Proud!
    Aw, thanks Dinah! In all honesty, it isn't getting me down too much now. I have a hand on it, and while we're on a very tight budget I'm just focusing on what our lives will be like when we have little or no payments. The only problem I have is staying on this track :o

    But I'm so tired today. I gave the bathroom, living room and kitchen a good clean because my old work buddy is over tomorrow to walk Ryder with her pooch and I want the place to look nice! But other than that I'd just sat down, poured over recipes to get our meal plan and shopping list ready for Friday. Have marked "CHOCOLATE" in bold at the top. I didn't get any last week and while I've managed, I haven't managed gracefully at all ;)

    Off to see my Sister tonight. She's house sitting and has been granted permission to have friends over, so we're off for tea! It's just nice to not cook if I'm honest :p

    I just think you and your OH would make an adorable family with this little chubby boy who likes wrestling but will sing louder than anyone to the disney princess songs :o I surprised myself last night with that, actually! I was watching Mulan and knew all the words to every song. And it's like, no offence Mulan but I can't even remember watching you that much.

    Got my Kindle back :T 100% not selling this! Nice to have all my books back, and when I get paid I think I'm going to download "Start" for OH to read.
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