The Ultimate Incentive Part 11 (or 10B) It's The Final Countdown

wendz86

Hope your mums ok Dinah xx

I'm still at my mum and dads tonight, been out for lunch with my mum and Heidi today which was nice. Going to pop to see my friend in the morning before we head back. Then supposed to be at a BBQ at a friends Sunday , hopefully weather will be ok.

Dinah93

She needs a CT to get better pictures.... at least it wasn't a flat out worry type of conversation.

Booked Grace's swimming lessons today, right at the end I remembered they have a discount scheme for people on low incomes or with disabilities, and just for mentioning she gets DLA we saved 1/3 so pleased with that.

NIM has been to his new work to do his DBS application, and they've paid for the express one so hopefully he'll be starting there soon.

Cinny91

Hoping your Mum is doing okay, Dinah. She'll be booking another holiday to make up for all the bad turns of luck at this rate, bless her!!

Glad you've been having a nice time at your parents, Wendz. Bet they're loving a bit of one on one time with Heidi

Did everyone have a good weekend?! We managed to go and buy our more child friendly sofas. As much as it's nice to have a sofa so big it takes up the whole living room when you're just a couple watching movies in the evening.. not so good when we have something toddling around and needing all the space they can get. We paid cash too, so don't need to worry about another monthly bill once I'm on maternity :money:

Birdie85

Hope all is well for your Mum Dinah.

Good saving on the swimming lessons! :money:

Hooray for new sofas Cinny! Good idea to make more room, Jumperoos take up a lot of space!

Had a nice long weekend, shame I'm back at work now! Had a bit of a hairy moment as we went out for breakfast about 40mins away and when we got there we realised that we'd left the changing bag with my purse and phone in next to our parking space, we each thought the other had put it in the car! Had to ring BIL to run around and get it, luckily it was still there and nothing had gone missing. It has made me realise that it may be a good idea to note down what I carry in my purse though as I don't actually know which cards would have to be cancelled if I lost my purse!

Cinny91

Yikes, Birdie!! But I think it's something easily done. We've gone out without locking the door before because we think the other one has done it Which is now I have a "three tap" system to make sure it's locked :cool: Good idea to make a list of what you do have in your bag though. Would help with insurance things too if you have contents covered while you're outside the home?

Had my 16 week appointment today and Fox is doing swell Growing well and has a strong heartbeat (153bpm) All my blood tests came back fine, blood pressure is tickety and I'm still on track to have an uneventful pregnancy which is perfect!

Dinah93

Glad the 16 week appointment went well, not long until you get the big 20 week scan. I both loved and hated that one, long time to enjoy looking at your little one, but fear when she stopped talking for ages that she'd seen something wrong, even though it was always that Grace had wriggled away into an awkward position (not Ben, my little lump was very cooperative!). I'm being utterly selfish in that in 4 weeks you'll know what you're having and I can post a massive box of baby wear out of my house - I'm in a serious declutter mode right now.

Read a really apt quote the other day:
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
I think this needs to be my new mantra until the debt is gone again.

Went to meet with Quidco on Tuesday - had a great day meeting the team and I'm really excited about the job. Although I did a few hours this morning and it felt like I was skiving - surely they're not actually paying me to browse sales sites?!

Don't know if I mentioned, but we had a big headache about childcare on alternate Wednesdays as NIM and I will both be working. Mum has thankfully offered to swap her afternoon off for the year to Wednesdays, so now we only need about 2 hours of childcare for Ben, and half an hour for Grace. We'll find Ben a nursery or childminder not a problem, we're considering asking a neighbour we get on really well with who dotes on Grace if she'd like a few quid to walk down to nursery and walk Grace back every other week, if not then it'll be an hour or so of nursery - not exactly a hardship just a bit of a faff to organise. The nursery next to her school is the obvious choice, it's not well rated by Ofsted but certainly for Grace's 30 minutes I don't think that matters its more the convenience. Ben I'd still be tempted to send him to the red door one she used to go to that we really like.

Anyway, random ramble there. I got the distinct impression from Quidco one of the things that impressed them was what I achieved in my first diary, clearing more debt than I took home in wages 7 years or so ago. Which sort of reminded me that yes, life is busier now, wages are lower, kids are requiring attention for about 12 hours a day... but I'm still capable of clearing debt and being that person. Maybe not in the same way, probably not as fast, but I need to stop being alarmingly fatalist about the whole thing and just crack on and do it. So possibly tonight (but I'm out until 8.30ish), not tomorrow night (brother's surprise Birthday party), but quite possibly Saturday night NIM and I are going to sit down and work out our new budget from his wage once the new job starts, what I'm going to be bringing in between Quidco, Yogabugs and Mr Museum, and decide on our priorities for money making. I actually have quite a few ideas, but it's a case of deciding what really gets my time, for example am I better to finish this ebook and take a gamble on it bringing something in, or keep listing baby clothes at £1 a go (10 minutes per listing, takes an average of 3 renews to sell... it eats up a lot of time for little money but it does eventually make something). We have a pretty low cost business idea that should be a steady earner, but do we risk the outlay? Matched betting always paid well, do we set £200 aside to start that up again? If I finish ebook 1 should I write up the first diary as an ebook since Quidco have told me they want to build me as a brand (scary statement if ever I heard one)? Should I start a blog as part of this building of my financial presence so the diary is more personal the blog is more hints and tips I've picked up as well as deal alerts etc? Am I better to play it safe and work evenings in a pub (challenging childcare wise with NIMs new shift pattern)? Between Yogabugs and Quidco I've got £200 a week coming in once all my classes have started (before expenses and term time only) which is a lot more than I used to have but it's not enough to slack off as the debt is only going to clear itself with graft, those wages just pay the bills and ongoing training costs.

Cinny91

Won't be long at all, 3 weeks tomorrow! Itching to start buying the big things but we want to wait until we know everything's okay. Gives us a chance to save up a little money too. After pooling all the extra money in each saver together for the sofas we're feeling broke for the first time in a while!! Just put some old dvds and games through on MM so that'll be an extra £70

Had a maybe random thought while walking Ryder today for an extra money maker, what about driving for Uber? You set your own time table as you obviously just click to accept the routes you want to do, might be something that NIM is more comfortable doing though

That is scary-weird-but-exciting talk about them wanting to make you a brand! I'm not really surprised though, you did go on a pretty awesome journey to get NIM here. And there are a few people from the boards who have managed to make a name for themselves, so it's not unheard of really!

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend! We had a busy morning, emptied a change tin at the bank (almost £200 :T) finally found our advantage card so signed up for the Boot's Parenting Club (had a real "DAMN IT, CINNY" moment when I saw they had free MAM bottles for the parenting club members ) Dragged OH to Mothercare too so we (I) could have a play with the travel system we (mostly I) like Settling down with a (decaff, boo!) cuppa and some cherry scones now, Total Divas time!

Birdie85

So, did you manage to go through your budget Dinah? It's good that you've got the debt-buster head back on. It is possible, absolutely, it's just going to be hard work. It will be worth it though!


Hope everyone had a nice weekend and enjoyed what was probably the last of the summer!

Cinny91

Made the most of the sun yesterday and gave the garden one last overhaul before Autumn! On top of the housework and cooking tea, I was fast asleep on the sofa at 7:30pm :rotfl: Can't manage a day full of chores like I used to!

Meant to ask if you'd done a budget yesterday too. Always find it helps me feel better, seeing everything down on paper just makes things seem more manageable? Less impossible!

Dinah93

Will get a longer answer later but short answer is not yet, maybe today. Grace has a chest infection so can't sleep without being sick etc, the usual fun, so we're all very tired and taking care of her is a full time job the last few days. Throw in a 10k, brothers 25th birthday party x2, working 8-3 yesterday, my first Quidco assignment due in Friday and second today...

Quick question for apple users - does my laptop come with anything that is Word or Excel equivalent?