A distant dream of being morgage free

ZoPig2016

I'm just the same now I'm a mum. I'm happy to go without or second hand but always buy new for DD and can't resist books for her.

I'm also an October birthday! We're like diary twins...

claireee2008

So it would seem ZoPig2016. Although I do buy some of the kids things second hand. We have loads of children's books!

Today has been a good day money wise. I have started a switch for our gas and electricity to a cheaper tariff. It will save us money compared to sticking with our current supplier when our switch ends. I haven't checked how it compares to what we have paid for the last 12 months.

It was almost a no spend day but we needed a loaf of bread. I returned a faulty item I bought in @ldi yesterday and got a refund which was more than the bread though.

Our local milkman knocked on the door today and I ended up signing up to getting our milk delivered. It's the same price as the supermarket and will be delivered spread out during the week so it seemed like a no brainer to support our local milkman/farm. I do feel like we've gone back in time to when I was a child!

claireee2008

We've had a quiet day at home today. Not quiet no spend though as I bought a snowsuit for the baby off ebay (£11.40). We had thought having two girls with only 6 weeks between their birthdays would mean we could save on clothing costs but our baby is smaller.

I used up a lot of veg by making soup today. I hate food waste and love cooking. Today I made pizza and focaccia bread from scratch, blackberry and apple crumble, leek and potato soup and also butternut squash and carrot soup. I still need to meal plan for next week and place our online shop tonight.

claireee2008

Spent £46 on the online food shop this week. Looking like we will manage on that until next week. We've done 4 online shops with Mr M now. We've been getting the cheapest slots which have been early or late. We've been offered a £20 anytime delivery pass for 6 months. The down side is we will be tide in for 6 months but think we will go for it. We want a Saturday afternoon slot for our holiday which cost about £4 so seems a good deal as long as we don't get fed up of them.

Next up i plan to look at our bank accounts. We set up a joint account when we bought our first house (9 years ago before we were married). We chose to keep having our wages paid in to our own accounts and each paid the same amount in to the joint account each month. We've not really reviewed this much in 9 years!! Our circumstances have changed a lot so i think we need to review things. My account is a Halifax rewards so I'm happy with that but think we need to switch the joint account and also my husband's account. We also have isas each that a probably rubbish interest wise. Lots to think about and hopefully savings to be made (or interest gained anyway).

PrincessLou

£20 for a 6 month delivery pass is a bargain. We pay £7 a month, so £42 for 6 months.

claireee2008

That's what we thought PrincessLou so we have taken them up on the offer.

claireee2008

We haven't got any further with bank accounts unfortunately but I have listed a few items on eBay. We did have a little look at our in comings and outgoings and discovered we don't have very much left at the end of each month so overpayments look even less likely. I'd like to stay focused and keep up this diary as money saving is going to be very important for the next 12 months. My maternity pay starts to decrease December or January and I get no pay for 3 months. Even once I'm back at work things will be tight for a few months as we'll have childcare for two children to pay until September.

claireee2008

Four months sleep regression has hit us! Shattered doesn't cover it. I'm prioritising sleep so I've got no further with the bank accounts. Our gas and electricity switch has gone through so that is something. I sold my first item on eBay. I had several items on and only one sold for £2, can't see me getting addicted to ebay selling, doesn't seem worth the trip to the post office!

ZoPig2016

Hi Claire

We've just been through the four month sleep regression and in desperation we started sleep training. Despite the health visitor saying she wouldn't be able to learn until six months, it has gone so well and now we have evenings again! Little ones are adaptable and quick to learn. My advice would be to give it a go!

All the best x