Debt-Free wanna be vs Maternity pay. Determined to stay on track.

hannahroberts1985

My partner was the same. From Birmingham never needed to drive as public transport was easier. But now he drives I've slowly been moving further and further away and he loves it! Job opportunity isn't great around here so own day my boys will probably move away :,0(. Good job I'm good at cooking that should keep them visiting me at least. X

Drawingaline

My husband can't drive so it would be more awkward if we lived in the sticks. Although he refuses to use buses so will walk to town (about 40mins). With his new job he is working about a 45min drive away, but he has to take two trains and because the first one is at 7am j end up getting up at 6.30am and taking him to the train station. (My oldest is 14 so can leave all the kids at home, am home in 15mins) it is annoying him not driving, means I have to take the kids to all appointment/parties/activities. But he is over 40 now and will never learn.

hannahroberts1985

Morning,

Drawingaline my parter was exactly the same but changed his mind when I was pregnant. Maybe one day he will you never know.

Completely and utterly skint here. My sister was meant to be coming over yesterday but saw her husband had posted all over Facebook about his new girlfriend so she wanted to go to the beach for some fresh air. I managed to scrape some money together but that is it until pay day we are wiped out and it's half term and Valentine's Day before then yay! I have a card already and dp is off velentubea day so thinking of suing Tesco vouchers for a lunch out with the boys. He can't get the drinks I think he has a little of his pocket money left. I had to take £47 from the ISA :0( I'd cleared the next card which needed doing badly for the mortgage check anyway. Received an invoice from the solicitors for the fees and deposit and EE are about £370 short for this, £278 short for the mortgage fees and our electricity account is about £200 over we upped our payment last summer to cover it but it's not been long enough yet so I could do with just clearing that incase we don't carry our account over to the new house. Then there is money for removal costs. Good job the house buying process is slow it should give me a few months to tuck money away. So for now I need to be as frugal as I can. I need to do a food shop but need to meal plan around what we already have in the cupboards to keep costs down. Lots of free days out with the boys in a bid to not spend all my pocket money and squirrel some of that away too. I need to come on here more often too and get it out of my brain as it's stressing me out a little. Xx

hannahroberts1985

Oh also the broker is sending the mortgage proposals over to be checked today then it'll go to the underwrites. Eeeeek!

hannahroberts1985

Quick pop in as my brain keeps going over and over money. Food shop coming today £70 spent which for me is a small shop....maybe I need to join a food shopping thread.

Day in with the boys again today. Just built a massive den so that should keep them busy for at least 4 minutes.

Roll on payday 15th....not so I can spend money just move it all around and be skint again. X

chelseablue

Wow £123,000 for a 5 bed house :eek:

We paid £400,000 for an ex-council 3 bed semi 2 years ago

Sometimes hate living in the South East!

hannahroberts1985

Yeah it's crazy isn't it. I really don't know how some people afford to buy in bigger cities. X

System

Hey HR. All this skintness will be worth it!
I find trying to cut down on food budget super tough - but planning has helped. I presume you are already using Aldi / Lidl?
One of the best things I do is make soup (butternut squash, onion and stock with tikka masala spice mix) so that does good for lunches, with a bit of toast and a knob of cheese. Otherwise its adding lentils to bolognaise to bulk it up and then making chilli, cottage pie and bolognaise with it, if I do a kg at a time I can make about 5 good sized family teas.
All takes prep though!! Homemade pizza really easy and much cheaper too and great for kids to make their own.
Hope things keep progressing with your purchase. I think the average time is 12 weeks for sales to go through, but can be longer than that!!

hannahroberts1985

Hi ramblehan,

I used to use Aldi but got a Tesco deliver save pass for £3.50 and have been a bit lazy. I will commit to alternating between the two so every other week Aldi then Tesco delivery for my vegan biscuits that Aldi don't sell. I only give the kids meat once a week and fish once a week so the costs on that are pretty low as lentils and beans are used for most receipts.

Things are progress will with the house. Mortgage send to the underwriters Wednesday eeek! The conveyancing costs keep creeping up tho! Not fun!

Sat in bed with a brew feeling guilty as I caved and ordered a take away last night £27 for two of us to eat! Shocking! Dp was meant to be home for dinner with us all but ended up staying late so I decided to not cook twice and have a treat as it was Friday. I can't wait until I don't have to feel guilty about every little treat. But then even if I was loaded I think £27 for a take away for two is a waste of money. Oh well it's done now!

Staying at a friends house tonight she has a hot tub for her birthday week so that'll be fun. I'll grab a bottle of wine on the way and eat with the boys before I go incase take away is suggested. Can't be wasting more money on take away after last night. Then I have a girls take away night next Thursday for a friends birthday. My sisters birthday this payday too so I'll grab her present next time I'm in a shop so that's done and I need to save some pocket money incase she wants to do lunch or a day out for her birthday. She is settled into her house now and seems a lot happier. X

Right I can hear the toddler singing to himself in bed so I'd bed concentrate on my brew before he comes and jumps on me x

hannahroberts1985

Quick pop in to clear my brain.

£250 ish left to save to cover solicitor bills....unless they go up again which I have no doubt they will. Hoping next week when dp gets paid this will be saved and also another £100 or so in the savings for moving costs.

Solicitor said the date they are working towards is 30th May so that's 5 pay days we have to get money tucked away. I need to go through the boys clothes and make sure they have enough summer bits to last. I'd prefer to not have to buy anything bar shoes for now but we shall see.

The mortgage house valuation is being carried out today and they took the £250 for this yesterday. My dad paid for this too though. I won't ask him to cover anymore bills now though he said he'd help out a bit with fees as he paid £1200 for my sisters wedding dress so he's covered £975 of bills for us which has helped loads. I would like to pay this back to him one day but we shall see how things go. Nice of him to offer as he knows a grand wedding isn't my cup of tea.

Take away night at a friends tonight has now turned into oven pizza and snacks so I've grabbed a vegan pizza so that's saved me a bit of money. I don't think I'll drink not really feeling up for it and I have an 8am start tomorrow. Staying at a friends house after the dinner so I'll drive her there and drive back. Also save buying a bottle of wine I don't really fancy anyway.

No food shopping done this week. Dp picked up a few essentials spending about £10 but other than that I have enought to make do. It'll just be boring meals for a bit which I don't mind as they are normally easier to cook. Dp knows we need to have a few cheap meals and clear the cupboards and freezers anyway so we will crack on with eating all that up.

£70 pocket money left until 15th I have to buy my sister a present then no other real plans. Soft play date yesterday which cost £22 with lunch so not to bad. Nice and sunny here today so after the baby group I help run Ds spend a good hour in the garden. When the little ones we'play all go out again for a play. Loving seeing the blue sky's again. X

Think that's all. Not much really to report just trying to clear my brain out as it's over thinking. X