A pound stretching maternity

MrsSave

I popped on one poll this morning. There were 5 surveys available, but not 1 let me get to the end! Grrrrrrrr!

Pay day is Monday. I'm hoping that after pay day, next month will be a little less spendy and I'll keep on top of things a little better. All big baby purchases have been made now. I have had my new £15 Gift voucher so will buy a changing mat with that in a couple of weeks. I'll buy a few clothes bits after we find out what we're having next Tuesday (eeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!).

MrsSave

Feeling all grotty and full of cold this evening again! Ds is at nursery tomorrow so I plan to watch rubbish on tv, read and soak in the bath. That will hopefully clear these bugs away!

Today I've spent £7. £2 on 2 bottles of Diet Coke (my one vice, though I gave up completely during my first trimester, and now only have one from time to time). I needed change from a £10 to pay £5 for my dress alteration so figured I'd treat myself to the Coke and they were on offer. I've drunk 1, the other is in the fridge chilling!

I've been feeling more baby movements this evening. I felt quite a bit last week, then it quietened off slightly and now I'm feeling movement again. I can't wait until a few more weeks where I'll be feeling movement, kicks and hiccups every day.

One of the Christmas gifts I ordered yesterday for my son has arrived today. My son was with me when I answered the door, the delivery driver gave him the box so he held on tight to it and asked me what was in it! D'oh! I just said it was something for me and Daddy!!

I ended up making a pasta bake for lunch for me and ds, then hubby had it this evening after his swimming. For dinner this evening, I just had my son's left over toast! It's been that kind of day!!

MrsSave

What a rubbish night sleep.......flippin' cold that's now turning into blocked sinuses.........ouch!! I've decided to organise my diary entries into categories to make it easier.

Money saving

I need to start meal planning again. I used to meal plan, but have stopped and now the odd thing is being chucked in the bin. Will meal plan today for the next 10 days.

We're going out for the afternoon tomorrow (to a free event) and I've decide we can stop for chips on the beach on the way home. To save a few pennies we will take a big bottle of already diluted squash with us, as to buy drinks for the 3 of us you're looking at £4. Also, it will be sausage and chips dinner, not fish which costs an absolute fortune!!

I've also decided to make use of the local library myself. I often take my son, and then buy books for me! How silly! I'm now going to use the library to save a few pennies.

Lunch today will be left over pasta bake from yesterday, so no waste there.

Baby

My husband has finished painting the nursery. It's magnolia (as it was before) but neutral is good. 4 days to go until the 20 week scan. I'm starting to have dreams every night about it now!

Other things

Ds is at nursery today. My plans are to have a bath (can't have one that's too hot because of the pregnancy, but will hopefully help a little with the cold). Other than that I don't have many plans today. I'm taking ds to his swimming lesson this evening, and then we're going to have a quick and naughty 'beige' dinner. We have a beige dinner at home about once a week. Probably waffles, fish fingers and beans this evening.

I'll probably update during the day today with my meal plan, etc.

MrsSave

Meal planning

I've meal planned up until Thursday 4th August (we're going away on the 5th for the weekend).

Fri - Waffles, fish fingers and beans.
Sat - Chippy
Sun - Gammon, mash, veg, parsley sauce
Mon - pasta, cheese sauce, gammon and broccoli
Tues - Gammon, homemade chips and pickles
Wed - Spaghetti bolognese
Thurs - out
Fri - Chicken fajitas
Sat - BBQ
Sun - Party
Mon - Jacket potato, bacon, beans and cheese
Tues - out
Wed - Homemade pizza
Thurs - southern fried chicken, chips and beans.

I've sorted my next food shop to make sure I have all the ingredients for these meals, as well as a few treats and picnic type food that will keep so no need to rush and eat it.We'll probably have a few picnics over the Summer holidays, and they usually involve visits to the supermarket to pick up lots of different bits. I'm aiming to avoid this.

Budgeting

Pay day is next Monday, but I checked my account today to see if the amount was under next working day transactions and it was showing ready for Monday. I've sorted out the budget for August, which includes a little money for baby clothes (there's no chance I won't want to buy anything after the scan on Tuesday) and money for August days out.

I've already made a list of possible days out over the Summer and added up the costs. We'll be using Tesco vouchers for the more expensive ones, and instead of eating out in more expensive places we'll be taking picnics or chippy whilst taking our own drinks.

MrsSave

I'm still full of cold, but slept a little better. It was 5am before I woke!

Money

Yesterday was a nsd. Yippee!! I've actually planned ahead and booked 3 home delivery food slots though! One for next Wednesday, which is a normal weekly shop, 1 for the Thursday afterwards, which will be the shop before we go away (we're off to Center Parcs and taking our own food instead of eating out) and the third is for the day after we get back from Center Parcs. I've meal planned for that week as well and ordered what we need plus the usuals. All 3 shops come to under £45 each so I'm happy.

Dh fitted window locks to our upstairs Windows after work. I'd ordered 4 as I didn't think the bathroom window would open enough to be a risk, but it appears it is, so I need to order another one. I think they were about £6 each, so will get that ordered today and inputted straight into YNAB.

Baby

Dh has built the cot up in the nursery. I know it will need to be taken apart again and moved to our room once baby is too big for the Moses basket, but I really want to see the nursery all completed. I did realise that we need to buy a new mattress for the cot, though, as my son is using the one we had on his toddler bed. It is suggested to buy a new mattress with every baby as well. I need to have a look around at prices to see how much this will cost. I'm hoping for under £20 but I literally have no idea!!

Other things

Dh took ds swimming last night instead of me as I was feeling rough and sorry for myself. Ds hasn't been swimming in this class long, and was so unsure to start with as it was his first time in the pool without either of us. There were lots of tears back at the beginning of June. There were tears again last night, according to Dh. This time, though, they were because he didn't want to get out of the pool at the end! Cue a nice tantrum in the changing room! I'm pleased Dh took him instead of me!! I'm so happy that his confidence has grown so much with his swimming, though.

Today we were going to head to a fire station open day. I thought ds would love it as he is such a big fan of fireman Sam. I've mentioned it a couple of times, but he is adamant that he doesn't want to go. I think it has freaked him out a little. We saw a police car in a show a couple of weeks ago and I think being so near to one scared him. He's happy enough to 'read' books about them or watch them on tv, but this is scaring him.

I'm not sure whether the best option is to take him so that he realises that there's nothing to be scared of, or to not take him in case it freaks him out further. I definitely don't want the emergency services to be something he's afraid of. He's still not quite 3 so still young. I'm thinking that it may be best to avoid today, but make a fuss and point out police cars/ambulances/fire engines when we see them passing or hear them and discuss what they do. I may even look in the library for specific books about them.

There is a food fayre on nearby today as well. That could be an option, but I need to be careful with money there! I've already popped a 2L bottle of diluted squash in the freezer to save us buying drinks this evening as we planned a chippy tea. We were going to eat it on the beach, but it appears we are going in the opposite direction now. Right, need to think of plan B.......

MrsSave

Spends

When I get something in my head, I need to do it there and then!

I had a look at cot bed mattresses and found one with amazing reviews for £20 on the Tesco website. It was from a different seller and the p&p was almost £6 :eek: So I looked up the retailer and found the same mattress with £3.95 delivery. Still not great but better. I then googled for a discount code and found 5% off. So, the mattress with delivery is £22.95. Most mattresses were 3 times that price. There are over 100 reviews on the Tesco website and the majority give it 5/5. It has also got a removable cover, which may remove the need for a mattress protector. I'll decide once it arrives.

I then had a look at window locks. I've ordered one from amazon for £5.39 with free delivery. Cheaper than I could find anywhere else and it's the same type as we've already got. I'm off to update YNAB now!

kimplus8

Hi there- love your diary- just wanted to say that if you have worked all the required hours then you will be entitled to statutory maternity pay and not the lesser amount of maternity allowance
This is set by government so as long as the criteria is met your employer has to pay it to you by law. They claim it back anyway so shouldn't be a problem
Congrats on your pregnancy

MrsSave

kimplus8 wrote: »

Hi there- love your diary- just wanted to say that if you have worked all the required hours then you will be entitled to statutory maternity pay and not the lesser amount of maternity allowance
This is set by government so as long as the criteria is met your employer has to pay it to you by law. They claim it back anyway so shouldn't be a problem
Congrats on your pregnancy

Oh, thank you. My maternity leaves are never straight forward! I've done the hours required, so just waiting to hear from the council now to see what my entitlement is. The only issue is that my contract is due to end around a month after I start my maternity leave and I won't have a job to go back to, but I'm under the impression that it won't make a difference to what I should get. I'm budgeting at the moment with the minimum and any extra I get will be a very much appreciated bonus!!

MrsSave

We had another change of plan this afternoon. Ended up at a local beach. Ds had great fun, but I figured that sitting on a blanket on the sand is highly uncomfortable when you're pregnant. I may add camping chairs to my list of things to buy, especially for when I get bigger. I'm aiming to find one for under £10.

We spent £8 at the beach. £4 of that was on parking the car!! Grrrrrrr!! There's no other option so we had to pay it. The other £4 was for an ice cream for me and ds. We're still having our chippy tea, but we're having it at home. Hubby and son are out picking it up at the moment. It should come in at around £7, which makes our day out £15. We took a frozen bottle of squash to drink instead of paying for ridiculous priced pop, but we should have taken it out of the freezer far sooner!!! It was still pretty solid, but we got by with a little at a time and a good giggle in the process!!

Tomorrow is going to be a boring day. Housework!! The house is starting to get cluttered, which I hate. I've also spotted the odd cobweb so we're sorting this house top to bottom. My son enjoys things like hoovering, so he'll have a good day!! :rotfl:

I'm going to have a nose on netflix tonight to see if there's something that catches our eye. I think a comedy would be good!

MrsSave

Had a quick look at camping chairs, and they have them in stock at my local Argos for £6.99. The reviews state how surprisingly comfortable it is, so may pick one up tomorrow.

Chippy came to £6.05, which makes the whole day out £14.05. I had £23 in my purse and my aim was to not spend more than that. Mission accomplished!!

I just had a thought about a teaching agency I've got an appointment with in a few weeks time for a few extra pounds. Last time I joined one, I couldn't find my degree certificate anywhere. I was lucky and the union let it pass as I had all other documentation, but I've had a list now saying that they want to see my certificate this time. I've had a look online and you can request a copy from the uni for £30. So, that's another £30 I need to find this month. Will have to move things around on YNAB. I wish there was an easy way to make a few extra pounds over the Summer holidays!!

Oh, and ds's swimming fees are due ready for September. £45.50. It would've been there, but I decided to book a week's crash course for him over the summer as I felt it would be very beneficial for him. That left me with £20 in the swimming pot, so I've had to juggle things around to find the rest.

I guess we're lucky that we're in the situation that although things are tight and I have to think about and plan our money to make sure we don't add to our debt, we are able to pay for things such as those listed above if needed.

I'm determined that August will be a good financial month and a chunk of the pay that I'll get at the end of the month will be able to go straight into savings.