Skint dragon stops spending....

littleskintdragon

Well i'm here, still plodding along, or should i say waddling?! 7 weeks today until baby dragon is due to make an appearance!

I've been paying little bits off the overdraft, but no major payments, just rounding bank down everyday, and then been posting on the 100 days thread.

Pay day thurs, i cannot wait!! Should be a good pay this month and plan on ditching the overdraft once and for all, but cant decide whether to cancel it or keep it as a just incase whilst im on smp?!
Suppose if its not there i have to find a way around it, but if it is, then i may get tempted by things i dont need...

Going to do a budget later to see how im looking, my santander cashback cc has had a hammering this month, £400 on a pram, £120 on a cot etc. have set it up to be paid in full every month, but never expected the balance to be £1300!! Really dont want to change it to a set payment though otherwise ill start payin interest, and that defeats the object really. The cashback this month was rubbish 2, so maybe i'll ditch it totally and be a cash carrier! Love the thought of only taking so much cash with me, and then using a calculator to make sure i dont overspend, no option then of spending/buying more than i need!

Right budget time.....

littleskintdragon

Aaarrrgghh!
A lot of my pay is commission based so its really difficult to allocate money when u dont know how much you'll get! So ive written down what has to be paid,bills etc and how much i allocate for food, fuel gifts and other.

As its going to be a good month for pay my plans for July pay are:
Pay off overdraft x 2 (£170 + £770)
Pay off next account £300
Also need to downgrade dh's mobile to sim only
Downgrade sky to lower package - no hd!!
Ideally pay off t3sco cc but this may be optimistic....

kerron7

Hi, loving the diary. I too struggle with the food budget but have really kept it down the last few months with the help of ff and their vouchers, hoping to get it to £280 next mth and that's for 6 of us.

Out of interest which snowball calculator are you using?.

Kerron

scottishspendaholic

Hey skintdragon,

How are you feeling, are you excited about the new arrival?

Have you budget for more CB after new arrival? Will you breastfeed and/or try and save money (although there is an initial outlay) with reusable nappies? I did both with both of mine and it saved me a fortune!

Have you tried charity shops for clothes? If you go to the smaller charity shops (not the big ones with paid managers) then you'll find some real bargains for baby clothes. Or car boots? Have you tried gumtree for cot/pram etc as £500+ is a lot? Or how about just getting a pushchair and using a sling when baby is tiny?

Do you get any enhanced maternity leave? Can you do any keeping in touch days (and earn commission when you're there?) - one a month after first few months would really help?

Is your husband on board now?

I'd love to have another wee baby so am really jealous, think the royal baby news has made me broodier than expected!

Good luck!

littleskintdragon

Hi kerron,thanks for your reply £280 is really good for the 6 of u, well done!! What sorts of things do u buy/eat? do u meal plan? when i go shopping i make sure i have at least 7 meals in the trolley, and know im ok for the week. Also we eat at in-laws once a week so im constantly one meal up.its so easy to go food shopping and not actually have any real meals, just junk. As for snowball, i googled it to see what came up, will have a look in a while ad see if i can find it, it saves your data 2, so if u go on within so many weeks u can re-load it.

Scottishspendaholic - thank u for all your suggestions nope dh is a lost cause..... Lol. He doesnt spend all that much to be fair, only when we need something, but just a bit of support would be nice, as he completely dismisses anything about paying off debt as if its my issue,and then goes in a mood if i mention that we're skint!! So i'm going it alone!!
I'm very excited about baby think the royal baby made me more excited tbh.
I get 6 weeks @ 90% pay, and then £136 a week after. Was shocked as i work for a big company an thought they'd be more generous, but thats my fault for not checking!! To be fair its taken 4 years ttc, which was plenty of saving time that i didnt take advantage of, so can only blame myself.
I'm going to try to breastfeed, i did both with dd, and that worked well. Will be using disposable nappies, i know its not so mse, but i think cleaning them would tip me over the edge!
I've got everything i need for baby now, i think, havent got many clothes, but im thinking that family and friends will start giving us gifts, which i can swap to other sizes if need be, and then we'll have xmas not to long after
Hadnt thought of charity shops, but not really considered buying to much yet as we dont know what were having.
The budget whilst i'm on smp is very tight, but we do have a few ways we can cut down on spends whilst i'm off such as downgrading sky, mobiles etc. i always shop around for deals and the best offers and cashback websites, and think that the extra time i'll have at home will mean time to meal plan properly, de-clutter a bit on ebay, and i'll also save on fuel etc. i enjoy cooking so will be making loads myself when i get the chance., also making cakes etc and flap jacks with dd that we can all have as snacks for pennies. have stocked up on tins etc already this month,things that wont go out of date. I'm not usually one for buying more than one tin at a time, but find aldi are so cheap i tend to pick up a few extra.
I use ebay a lot when i want something, if i want a book or dvd for dd, or even baby things i'll always check ebay or amazon first and usually get what i'm looking for for about 99p, sometimes with free delivery!

Anyway i just rung s4ntander to find out how much pay is going in tomorrow, and apparently they cant tell wanted the figures so i could complete my budget, and hsbc used to have it on online banking under pending transactions.gutted, tomorrows job now i guess...

kerron7

Well I usually buy what's on offer and plan around that. I can do a shop in FF for £75 which lasts 2 weeks with the vouchers it brings it down to £67.50 then will buy fresh bits during the week.

littleskintdragon

Fortnightly shopping sounds like a good option tbh, especially with a newborn. Hmmm def something to think about, thank u

littleskintdragon

Another rounding down payment made to my overdraft (100 day challenge)
Now paid £56/818!

Hoping to pay it of tomorrow when my pay is in

littleskintdragon

Just paid off my old overdraft and i'm actually now 39p in credit

Now do i cancel it or keep it for emergencies??

littleskintdragon

Just checked my snowball - my dfd has changed from july 2017 to may 2017! Two whole months )