Diary of my new life !!!

mae

I know what you mean about the hobby thing... I am so organised with my money now, I never go overdrawn, I plan and keep on top of it all.
The mortgage is definatley the next thing to sort. Changing it to interest only has served its purpose for the last 3 years but I want to tackle it with vigour as soon as I can so I will be over buuging you all on the mortgage board as soon as I can.

benbenandme

Part of my reason for wanting to lower it as much as possible is that my fixed rate deal (5.19%) runs out in June 2009 and then I will want to shop around and move it to a better deal, but because of my low income I will be very limited as to who (if anyone) will offer me a mortgage. I was still in my old job when I got this mortgage, so I'm hoping that the smaller I can make my mortgage total the more choices I will have, and alo if they can see that I have been able to afford to make overpayments that may go in my favour too
Another factor is kids ... I always wanted 2 or 3 children and obviously with my ex walking away when ds was nearly 2 that kind of screwed it up :rolleyes: :mad: ... however, I am considering looking into the possibilities of adoption or even having another one (without a bloke involved:eek: ) ... onviously a bloke would have some ahem "input" :eek: but may even look into buying this off the internet ... but then it raises the problems of that child never knowing their father ... like I say, its all just pie-in-the-sky ideas at the moment, but I definitely want another child and I'm not getting any younger and things with cutie guy are going rather slowly :rolleyes: ... although there is a rather cute pe teacher at work that I've got my eye on ...

mae

Sounds like you've got some interesting plans.... good for you but 2 or 3 kids :eek:

I've got 2 and that will be all thank you very much

benbenandme

2 or 3 was my original plan before I had ds ... now I would be really happy with one more .... maybe it won't ever happen, but my best friend was an only child and I always said I wouldn't want just one, either none or two/three. I know there are lots of people who are only children and are very happy about it, its just not what I wanted But then there are so many other factos to consider ... I'd need a bigger place to live (only 2 bedrooms here), I have already figured the maternity money bit and I know I could manage on that, I still have loads of ds baby stuff so wouldn't need ot buy much of that .... its more the practicalities of two children really, and also I had a horrible pregnancy last time and it was hard enough getting through it with a partner whereas this time if it was bad again I would be on my own and have a child to care for ... but then that broody feeling is bloody powerful :rolleyes:

yeovilmac

Blimey Benben, that's a post-and-a-half there....:T

I have four children now and I'm glad that I did. I was an only child and had a good childhood but others complain of loneliness and having to work especially hard to win friends ( children with siblings have "automatic" friends so to speak ).

My children were born when I was 23,27 and the twins came at 32. I'd say that I was best placed to be a "great" dad with the last two as I wasn't mature enough at 23. Not sure how old you are, Benben, but I got better the older I get ( how arrogant does that sound? :eek: , not meant to ). Equally I can see the point of having them close together, my first two there was a four-year gap almost.

Should have said that the twins mum and I ( she had one already, I had two ) decided to have one more and the twins came along so be careful you don't end up with three. It's more common than you think.

Good luck with it all. It will cost you if you go down the, ahem, donor route, best open a "deposit" account soon...:rotfl:

Martin
xx

benbenandme

I'm 34 already so obviously time is fairly limited :rolleyes: yeah it woul cost me but that is soooo preferable to having a [EMAIL="!!!!"]!!!![/EMAIL] father involved again ... then again I don't know if it would be fair on a child, ie. they'd never have a clue who their father was and I think that may be too selfish of me to do that :rolleyes: ... I know it would be tough financially and hard work generally, but a big (or bigger!) family is something I've always wanted ... I never particularly wanted a career or have never been driven to achieve anything in particular, but having more children is something I know I want ....

benbenandme

Have just been to the park and then stopped off at Somerfield for some bits for lunch. Also picked up a coupld of bits to go in the shoeboxes, they had pack of 10 coloured pencils for 49p and 10 felt-tip pens for 49p and a geometry set for 74p ... wouldn't have thought a geometry set would be much use (did you ever need a set square at school ?? ), but it was one of the suggestions on the sheet so I picked one up ... hopefully some child somewhere will make use of it or maybe they'll just cover it in tipp-ex like we used to :rolleyes: :rotfl:

ladypinkof66

I understand what you mean Benbenandme I am 41 nearly 42 and i am still waiting for my 1st child to come along, I never really wanted a career but being childless it has sort of forced me to be one, dont get me wrong i do like my job and have reached an excellent position within my company with quite good wages but i would give it all up tomorrow to have a child, so if you really feel you want anothe child you should go all out to have one, you have to do whatever makes you happy, hopefully one day not too soon i may fulfil my lifelong ambition.

ladypinkof66

The shoebox seems like a very good idea, i have always wanted to do one but have not seen anywhere local who might be doing it or requesting them. My remember my sister done one a few years back with her kids. As i am excellent at bargain hunting and picking up little useful things at a fraction of the cost, bit like you I suppose you always seem to be grabbing a bargain.
Before i joined this board i did not really think of the cost but since joining MSE I have managed to nearly pay off all my debts have nearly gotten all my xmas presents and seem to be more organised than i ever was.

benbenandme

We are doing ours through our schools, but it is the local rotary that is organising them and collecting them from the schools, perhaps you could try them?? If not, contact a local school, most of them get involved I think
My pressie cupboard(s) are full of bargain I have put away and some of them are bits that I don't really have anyone suitable to give them to, so many of those bits go into our boxes
Lots of freebies and samples that I've picked up can go in too ... and it teaches ds a nice message too :A