Waiting for life to begin....

stiltoncheese

Been too busy with packing up house and work to post for a while, but managed to get online and sort things out for this months payments so thought I had better update on here and update my sig too.

Paid another £225 off the credit card so far, bringing it down to £600 and another payment made to the loan so nice to see that coming down slowly. 2 more payments on the cc and its clear

stiltoncheese

Well, it's been almost a year since I last posted here and so much has changed in that time.

I am now happily married, moved into a military quarter and then moved again into a new quarter 3 months later as my husband got posted. Gave birth to my beautiful son, am due to start back at work from maternity leave next week after almost 12 months off and I am 17 weeks pregnant with baby number 2!

Thought I should re-start this diary as it kept me nice and accountable before and I have lost my ways a bit in recent months due to the demands of a new baby and life just generally getting in the way.

The good news is, my debt hasn't increased but has gone down how I had planned. I did pay my credit card off before my maternity leave started and I managed to save enough money to tide me over on SMP until I started back to work. I still have £400 of these savings left and go back next week so have done pretty well. This £400 will now form my new maternity leave savings and I think I can get these back up to £1500 before going back on maternity leave in December.

My loan wasn't paid off as the inheritance money I had been gifted was delayed for a few reasons. I am now getting this money next week but have decided that as my loan only has 9 payments left and will end next May, I will just keep paying the monthly amount and add the inheritance into my mortgage deposit fund. Most of the interest has been paid on the loan, so it makes sense to just keep ticking on.

9 months until I am debt free and will be just after I go back on maternity leave

Nice to be back in here and hoping I can join some of the challenges again and get back on top of things (mostly the amount we spend on food each month!!).

stiltoncheese

So, my list for today is:

NSD ---> Completed. Not going out due to weather
Check internet banking and update YNAB ---> Completed
Line dry 1 load of washing and wash and line dry another ---> Raining so not possible
Storecupboard tea ---> Completed. Hubby is making chicken and mushroom pie using rubber chicken from yesterday's tea. All ingredients in fridge waiting for when he gets home from work.
Write new menu plan (not done one for AGES) ---> Completed
Catch up on MSE challenges to see if I can join any ---> Completed. Will join sealed pot challenge again

Bit of a rubbish list today but most of my bigger jobs will need to be done this weekend when hubby is here to help out

stiltoncheese

Well, I have decided to do the menu plan up to the end of the month to save me time as opposed to one for just the week. I will need to stock up on a few bits towards the end as I will run out of veg and stuff, but it should be doable. We have just done a massive shop so fridge, freezer and cupboards are bursting at the moment.

I used to be religious about menu planning and sticking to it, but it fell by the wayside once my son was born as we literally lived day to day for those first few (tiring!) months. I'm hoping that I can get some frozen batch cooking in the freezer in the last couple of weeks before this new baby arrives to make life a little easier as we ordered far too many take-aways to get us through those early days which was bad for the wallet and waistline.

Washing has fallen by the wayside as it's raining here and still trying to get a load dry on the indoors airer before I can do another load. Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow so I can get it outdoors instead.

stiltoncheese

Well I managed to get the other load dry indoors after all so hubby put on a load of washing last night and it's now also drying on the airer. Just one small load left in the basket which I will do after lunch. Still raining here though, so will have to dry on the airer indoors too. It's times like this I'm glad we have no space to put a tumble drier anywhere because once baby 2 arrives I'm sure I would be overusing it and spending a fortune on electricity.

Hubby's pie last night was lovely...it was my tried and tested recipe though haha. Still, nice to have a night off from cooking and I always love a meal that uses up rubber chicken and other fridge odds and sods. That's an area I have massively let slip. When my son arrived, we got into the habit of buying more convenience type freezer foods and not cooking from scratch as much which adds to the shopping bill. Need to get this back under control before no 2 arrives really. Hopefully the menu planning will help me though as half the battle is actually figuring out what to cook in the first place.

My plans for today are...

Final load of washing into machine and onto airer ---> Completed.
NSD ---> Completed. Not planning on going out today.
Tea from menu planner ---> Completed. Jacket potatoes for tea.
Check online banking and update YNAB ---> Completed.
Put away clean washing ---> Completed.
Clean bathroom and toilet
Sort out work things for my return to work next week ---> Completed.
Phone work to organise collecting laptop and mobile ---> Completed.

Think that's it for now, although I'm sure to think of some other bits I need to do.

stiltoncheese

Haven't cleaned the bathroom or toilet yet but have ticked everything else off. Managed to sort out DS toys too and get them more organised so my living room is looking nice and tidy...doubt it'll last though, he'll be back into everything as soon as he's awake from his nap!

It feels nice being accountable to something again, even if no-one but me reads it. Amazing how it helps to focus your mind and your goals.

stiltoncheese

It's Friday

Main mission for today is to get into work and pick up my laptop and organise a few bits before I start back next week. Hoping to log on to the work servers from home over the weekend and clear the backlog of emails I would have had while away. There will be thousands and I don't fancy doing it on my first day back, as would rather just be doing proper work. Fun!!

Other than that, I've got to make a fish pie for tea, remind my husband to make some important phone calls, and I still need to clean the bathroom. Think I will just leave that to tomorrow morning though and do all of the housework in one big hit so hubby can help out/keep an eye on DS while I do bits.

Also need to pick up some bread and milk as we're almost out.

Happy weekend everyone

stiltoncheese

I've had a productive Saturday so far. Managed to get all my work things on Friday so spent this morning bringing myself up to speed on things and clearing out emails. It will feel nice to start back on Wednesday with everything clear and ready to go.

Haven't really made any firm plans for the rest of the weekend beyond the usual boring stuff, ie: housework! I need to hoover the house and clean the bathroom/toilet and just general tidying up/polishing to finish off.

Dinner is planned though and although I still need to nip to the shop for bread and milk, it will be out of my grocery budget so already accounted for.

Feels like a boring old day really

stiltoncheese

Well, been a mad week for me so not had a chance to get on for a week.

Started back at work part-time on Wednesday after my maternity leave finally ended. Only 3 days a week thankfully and will have Mondays and Tuesdays off. Means I have to be mega organised now though to get out of the house and my son to his childminder on time.

Have eaten off the meal plan all week, which I am really proud of. Dinners planned for tonight and tomorrow night too, and I have written up a plan for next weeks dinners which will take me up to payday and big food shop. Do need a few bits though, so will be a smallish spendy week.

Plans for this weekend are:

[STRIKE]Check online banking and update YNAB[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Transfer inheritance from my nan from my bank account into my savings account[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]All meals from menu planner[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Housework (boooo)[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]2 loads of washing to be washed, dried and put away[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Try to take son out for some fresh air (raining on and off here). Maybe to the little park with the swings[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Research stage 1 car seats as need to upgrade my son's to next size up[/STRIKE]
Put advert on FB selling group for second hand crib for new baby
[STRIKE]Sort out recycling in kitchen and put into recycling bin[/STRIKE]

I'm bound to think of some other stuff that needs doing, but that will keep me going for now. Car tax is due at the end of the week so need to remember to sort that out on Friday when I get paid.

If anyone is reading this, does anyone have any referral codes for YNAB? My trial expires in a couple of weeks and I am going to buy the full package. May as well use a referral code for someone on here if I can

tootallulah

I am reading but no referral code - sorry. Good to hear that all is working out so well for you, congrats on the new baby news too.