The Road is Long.......

muddywhitechicken

Congratulations to the JB family on the arrival of Master JB

Mrs_Money_Penny

Congratulations to you all.

Lois_E

Wonderful news. Congratulations to you, and to Mrs JB, and to Master JB.

jimmybrid

After a few somewhat hectic days (and sleepless nights), a quick update:

OH and new DS home and thriving :j
Called in to local Te$co to get a couple of things and ended up spending over £50.......however, that meant getting 5p off per litre of fuel, which I used today to save over £2.50 on refuelling the car. Also picked up nappies (on offer), baby bath bubbles (BOGOF) and a rather large loin of pork joint that was half price - this has been chopped up so we now have 10 pork loin steaks, a couple of pieces of something akin to belly pork, and a portion of diced pork suitable for curry/stir fry in the freezer waiting to be used up over the next few months.
Also called in to Gap to pick up blue baby clothes and a couple of items for myself.....took advantage of VIP week to get 30% off, plus another 10% off when buying four or more items (not a problem) and paid for them all with Amex/Foursquare half priced giftcards (£50 giftcard for £25) purchased with Amex cashback card. All in all I picked up about £150 worth of stuff and only spent about £45. A good days work.

jimmybrid

Interesting few days, now "official" DS (birth registered) seems to be somewhat nocturnal....so glad for current paternity leave/holiday.
DD decided it would be a splendid idea to fall down the stairs at home. All of them. Fortunately, it would appear that 3-yr-olds are remarkably robust and a few sweets and cuddles later she was soon running around, singing and laughing as usual. The day after, not even a bruise to show for her exploits.

Back to MS activities then........
1.moved as much cash as possible across from lower rate mortgage to higher rate mortgage
2.applied for Santander 123 current account
3.applied for Santander 123 credit card
4.opened Junior cash ISA for the boy (6% interest)
5.set up standing order from current account for Junior ISA
6.sent off child benefit application
7.bought 2 x £50 Debenhams gift cards with Amex/Foursquare offer, so 2 x £25 cashback will follow soon

jimmybrid

DS now 2 weeks old and starting to settle into a routine of mainly eating and sleeping, so the sleep deprivation is somewhat lesser now. The acid test will come on Monday as it's back to work for me.
Lots of snow in the last 36 hours so don't think we will be out and about much today, although I'm sure DD will want to build a snowman in the garden and at current growth rate DS will be joining in soon - he has put almost a pound on in the last week and a lot of the new stuff he had bought for him is already getting a bit snug. Think he could end up being an expensive little so and so......just a good job he's not on formula milk, Mrs JB doing a great job there.
Last few days MS activities:
Bought new clothes for DS using half price Debenhams gift cards, but waited for the spring (or should that be winter) sale to start.
Submitted water meter reads to avoid overpaying on estimated readings.
Requested payment from TCB in Amazon vouchers to get 5% bonus - payment will be almost £135.
Made first payment into ISA for DS.
Stir fry for tea last night to use up diced pork from freezer and various noodles from pantry.
Watched Martin Lewis's ITV show, which has rekindled my interest in challenging our council tax banding, although am not overly confident of a positive result.

jimmybrid

Well, after a few days back in the world of work, it's holiday time again....although the 3am stints with DS are making it feel like going back to work will actually be more restful.

Santander 123 current account and credit card now confirmed, additional card also ordered for OH, just got to move direct debits across and set up standing order from FD account to fund the £500 a month, which I'll do on Tuesday.

Decided that with two kids and a cat making a mess of the place that we need the use of a carpet cleaner. Was going to hire one, but decided better longer term value was to buy one. Half price Vax machine ordered from Amazon and paid for with Amazon vouchers taken as payment from TopCashBack.

Cancelled First Directory in favour of individual policies, main one being breakdown cover. Went for RAC cover after seeing their £50 free fuel offer, and linked through from TCB to get cashback too......then after signing up saw T&C's saying free fuel offer not available if linking from cashback sites. Rang RAC to cancel, but came away with policy of 16 months for price of 12....and free fuel offer has come through too. Also have a matched cashback request in with TCB for £60, so if that comes through I think we could call that a result.

Bought a few things for DS last week, but mainly by using up gift cards and vouchers, so spend was minimal. Although have just had to order him some more clothes as he is growing at an alarming rate (another pound on in the last week). Got quote from Golfbidder to take some of my old clubs off my hands - this will be another £100+ coming my way.

Lois_E

jimmybrid wrote: »

...at current growth rate DS will be joining in soon - he has put almost a pound on in the last week and a lot of the new stuff he had bought for him is already getting a bit snug. Think he could end up being an expensive little so and so......just a good job he's not on formula milk, Mrs JB doing a great job there.

Congratulations to Mrs JB - very moneysaving. Glad to hear DS doing so well.

jimmybrid wrote: »

Watched Martin Lewis's ITV show, which has rekindled my interest in challenging our council tax banding, although am not overly confident of a positive result.

Hmm. Maybe I should watch that. Not that there's any future in challenging my council tax band - I'm the same as neighbours with slightly smaller houses, so definitely don't want to rock the boat.

jimmybrid wrote: »

Well, after a few days back in the world of work, it's holiday time again....although the 3am stints with DS are making it feel like going back to work will actually be more restful.

Enjoy the weekend. Happy Easter!

jimmybrid

Just taken meter readings for end of 1st quarter so have been able to compare usage this winter with last. Despite the fact we have installed a larger bath (hence more hot water usage) and the heating seems to have never been switched off in the last 6 months our usage is down 15% from last year. Guess that new boiler was money well spent after all (not that we had much choice when the old one stopped working).
Fast approaching end of current fixed price period for both gas and electric, so need to keep an eye on that one.

First readings on water meter(s) suggest an annual saving from switching from rates to metered that should be more than £200.

jimmybrid

Been up since 4am with DS, so I'll keep this update as brief as I can. The following MS activities have been undertaken over the last week or so:

1. Completed setup of Santander 123 Current Account and Credit Card, although stupidly neglected to go via TopCashBack, so £60 missed out on there. Doh.
2. Started earning cashback on 123 Credit Card, including 3% on fuel purchase.
3. Annual Amex cashback received, just over £110.
4. Cheque from Golfbidder for old clubs, again just over £110.
5. Pay rise and changes in tax levels. Extra £80 per month in pocket after deductions. Will use some of this to increase pension contribution (salary sacrifice) when new company pension scheme starts in May.
6. £1000 into Fidelity ISA (Stocks & Shares) via Quidco for £100 cashback.
7. As above but for Mrs JB.
8. Bought new carpet cleaner using Amazon vouchers taken as payment from TCB.
9. First trawl of options for new utility provider for when current NPower fix finishes in May. First utility look best option, and cashback available through TCB.
10. Identified best option for DD's child trust fund when current bonus period ceases in May.
11. Confirmation from water company that monthly direct debit will drop from £50 to £34 following submission of meter reads. Was £61 prior to meter being installed.
12. Dropped DD down to 3 days a week at nursery while Mrs JB on maternity leave, saves over £300 per month.
13. Just ordered new SIM-free mobile phone. OK, I know this is a spend (£260) but it means that when my current contract expires in July I can go onto a SIM only contract. This should save me around £15/month for the same level of contract. Typical contract for a new smartphone these days is 24 months, so it will pay for itself over that period. Plus I get a shiny new phone
14. TCB have come up with the goods on the RAC cashback, now tracking at £66. Add that to the £50 of free fuel that wasn't supposed to come through, and the extra four months cover I got from ringing RAC about the supposed lack of free fuel and it means that I will be effectively being paid £11 to have 16 months of breakdown cover.

So, things are looking pretty good at the moment really.