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

Cinny91

Lovely to hear from everyone!

House savings is one of our goals too. We're currently a little torn because if we buy our current home we do get 14k off what price it's valued at (main reason our house savings looks so fantastically high!) however knowing what it costs the family company to give us that gift, and how we want to move to a better area before kid starts school regardless... I don't know if buying our home is worth it? Obviously it'll mean the money we pay as rent is technically staying in our back pockets, but equally we pay such little rent that we can make decent savings each month when we put our minds to it... any ideas/thoughts?!

I'll be joining you on the weight loss too once kid is here, Zig. Being slightly lazy hoping that breastfeeding takes care of a lot of it :A I don't think I've put on too much pregnancy weight, but I do want to get down to 140-145ish.

We do have everything ready to go though, Tink! We did a typical parent thing in the sales and bought him bits for next year - like a sweet snow suit and some jumpers half price that I'd been eyeing up all Winter! Was funny though because my friend is pregnant too, so she was sending me all these photos of "cool" baby clothes and I'm just there like.. bought my kid this grandad jumper with badgers on it.. He's going to be dressed like such a little old man. Thanks to Dinah he's even got a flat cap to finish it off The Waddle is completely here to stay now Birdie :cool:

I'm doing the savings challenge doo-dah online now - a lot easier than trying to find change! Told DH that Christmas is on me this year so I need to stick to it Although after this month my monthly bills are dropping massively by over 50% so I think I'm going to try and save the difference seeing how I'm used to it not being there anyways. Just having to stop myself from coming up with crazy plans/goals atm because I get myself so wound up trying to stick to them/meet them!

wendz86

It took me about 9 months to lose the baby weight after Poppy but it fell off me this time. Think running around after another child helped! I didn't diet either time though.

So exciting that it isn't long to go now till you meet little one Cinny!

Birdie85

Cinny - maybe carry on as you are for this year and take stock next year when you'll know better how you're getting on with money etc and how you feel about being in that house/area with little Fox?

I've just had a PM from the MSE Badger awarding me my 8 year badge! 8 years on MSE and I'm still rubbish with money! :rotfl:

Cinny91

What worries me is how I'd be with money if it wasn't for MSE because this is me being actively aware!

The annoying thing is if our house was anywhere else, it'd be perfect! But what you said makes sense, we weren't planning to buy until summer but we might go a little beyond that to see how our money's running once kiddo is here and big enough to need entertaining. We're comfortable atm but it might be a totally different ballgame once he's here.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend! I'm in full on nesting mode and excitedly told DH I'm planning on taking the sofa apart and cleaning everything when he's out tomorrow

zigmeister

Thanks for the holiday ideas Ruby and Kavics! Prague, Krakow and Budapest are definitely on the list at some point but I read an article somewhere saying that Lithuania has the cheapest beer in Europe so I went for that! :beer: Although I was gutted 'cause I found a great hotel that was £38 a night instead of £80 and I was just about to pay for the last room and remembered cashback but by the time I had logged in the room had been taken

Cinny, you look as if you're all bump! I reckon you'll be like my sister and ping straight back into shape. I'm destined to be a blob forever more, baby or no baby! I agree with Birdie re the house, see how you go, you'll have a few years before little one starts school so you can see how your money pans out and keep stashing it away in the meantime.

Congrats on the 8 year badge Birdie! It's mad how even when you're ridiculously busy and don't have time to log in and read or anything how it still sticks in the back of your head and makes you think about your money. Does for me anyway!

Birdie85

I think MSE has been a part of my life for so long I can't imagine ever not having that little nagging voice in the back of my head whenever I spend money!

We had a really sorty outy MSE-worthy type of weekend :money:; I spent Saturday morning on the phone to the mortgage people getting us fixed on a lower rate so we're paying £50 a month less now but we're going to put that difference (and a bit more but we need a few months of normal living to figure out what that'll be) into savings. Whilst I was doing that, DH got a new CC and transferred our debt (around £2.5k ) onto it so it's at 0% for a year now. We had planned on my Share Save money paying it off but annoyingly our share price has dropped to a 1yr low so I can't sell up now, I'd be kicking myself when they jump back up in a couple of weeks! So, going to wait it out for a bit and now that we're not getting killed with interest there's no mad rush. DH also switched our gas and electric (saving £185 a year!) and took some extras off his mobile bill saving about £10 a month, it all adds up! We were feeling pretty smug on Saturday afternoon!

Yesterday we sorted out Zach's room and we took 5 bin bags of clothes and toys to the charity shop as well as a couple of bigger toys that don't give enough entertainment for how much room they take up! DH was a bit of a man possessed so I didn't get to sift through it as much as I'd have liked but I managed to save some nice bits for you Cinny so will get it posted this week (hopefully!). His room looks so much better now that we're not tripping over toys and spare pushchairs!

I was very spendy last week though as I got drawn into the Emma Bridgewater sale and got plates, serving dishes, fancy tea cups, mugs etc in this prettiness. :happyhear (a lot of it's sold out now so you can't see it all, but it's beautiful!) It's stage 1 of Project 'Make our flat a nice grown-up home!' I'm sooooo excited about it all arriving!

wendz86

Annoying about the room Zig but at least you get cash back.

It is crazy how long we have all been on here!

Well done on the money stuff Birdie. Also on the sorting of Zachs room. I'm looking forward to getting rid of some baby stuff to my sister .

Love the crockery as well, so pretty!

Took Poppy to a party sat morning and she has been destroying the house rest of the weekend. I love she has a great imagination but I am glad to tidy / clean on a Monday.

clearmydebts

Birdie85 wrote: »

I think MSE has been a part of my life for so long I can't imagine ever not having that little nagging voice in the back of my head whenever I spend money!

We had a really sorty outy MSE-worthy type of weekend :money:; I spent Saturday morning on the phone to the mortgage people getting us fixed on a lower rate so we're paying £50 a month less now but we're going to put that difference (and a bit more but we need a few months of normal living to figure out what that'll be) into savings. Whilst I was doing that, DH got a new CC and transferred our debt (around £2.5k ) onto it so it's at 0% for a year now. We had planned on my Share Save money paying it off but annoyingly our share price has dropped to a 1yr low so I can't sell up now, I'd be kicking myself when they jump back up in a couple of weeks! So, going to wait it out for a bit and now that we're not getting killed with interest there's no mad rush. DH also switched our gas and electric (saving £185 a year!) and took some extras off his mobile bill saving about £10 a month, it all adds up! We were feeling pretty smug on Saturday afternoon!

Yesterday we sorted out Zach's room and we took 5 bin bags of clothes and toys to the charity shop as well as a couple of bigger toys that don't give enough entertainment for how much room they take up! DH was a bit of a man possessed so I didn't get to sift through it as much as I'd have liked but I managed to save some nice bits for you Cinny so will get it posted this week (hopefully!). His room looks so much better now that we're not tripping over toys and spare pushchairs!

I was very spendy last week though as I got drawn into the Emma Bridgewater sale and got plates, serving dishes, fancy tea cups, mugs etc in this prettiness. :happyhear (a lot of it's sold out now so you can't see it all, but it's beautiful!) It's stage 1 of Project 'Make our flat a nice grown-up home!' I'm sooooo excited about it all arriving!

Sounds like an extremely productive weekend Birdie. I Bet you feel so good after all of that! We didn't do too badly ourselves with decluttering!

clearmydebts

wendz86 wrote: »

Annoying about the room Zig but at least you get cash back.

It is crazy how long we have all been on here!

Well done on the money stuff Birdie. Also on the sorting of Zachs room. I'm looking forward to getting rid of some baby stuff to my sister .

Love the crockery as well, so pretty!

Took Poppy to a party sat morning and she has been destroying the house rest of the weekend. I love she has a great imagination but I am glad to tidy / clean on a Monday.

My two are the same Wendz. They have amazing imaginations and role play all day long but it does mean I find toys in the oddest of places and they tend to congregate wherever I am! Like you, wouldn't have them any other way though

nakedpufik888

Another good one is :