A pound stretching maternity

Katzen

I love the sound of those 'dump dinners' and should probably have a go at some myself, not seen too many vegetarian ones but I bet they are out there if I just have a look.
If you do make up some lasagne/cottage pie type things then I'd say definitely worth splashing out on a few foil containers so you just have to chuck them in the oven (and avoid washing up).

I can't believe that you offered to host Christmas, or that your guests are letting you to be frank, but like you say, it'll be a good excuse to have plenty of easy leftovers in the house. Who cares if it's not that healthy, in those early weeks just being fed is an achievement!

I'm so gutted that I forgot about survey etc when I was on maternity. I spent literally hours parked on the sofa under a sleeping baby, I could've been a millionaire if I'd been swagbucks-ing and survey-ing with Gossip Girl on in the background!

Enjoy your weekend

MrsSave

I did give people a condition with their invite.........to cook and wash up! I think ds would prefer to be at home with his new things, I really don't want to be traipsing around the county with a newborn and to be honest I'll just want to be home. I'm spending More on Christmas food this year by ordering a few bits from Marks and Spencer. It will make life a lot simpler though. I'm not making anything from scratch and I won't be peeling spuds for hours! I can also head up to bed for a snooze if I fancy and leave people to play with ds!

I've managed another £5 Marks voucher from swagbucks this morning. They take up to 10 days to come through, but it means I will now have £35 vouchers to spend on extra food bits. I plan to go to a Marks food store soon to stock up on things that won't go off. Nibbles, nuts, crisps, pop, etc. I need to make a proper list.

I've also packed my hospital bag this morning. I just need to put an extra bag together that will stay in the boot, which will have extra bits in it and food in case I'm in a few days. It means that dh won't have to panic about what to bring!

Dh is looking after/spending time with ds today as he's been working the past few weekends. It means I get a chance to do nothing! They're off out this afternoon so I'll get some proper peace and quiet!

Katzen

Actually that sounds like not a bad plan so long as they do cook and wash up!

Can you buy those storing bits from Aldi? A couple each week with a few £ scrimped from your food bill and then put vouchers to the main food? For two reasons 1. That way you have a fixed budget for fresh food when the time comes 2. I'd bet money you won't notice the value of the extra cost on snack foods as much as you will on fresh stuff! Imagine if you managed to cater Christmas without any extra spends...

MrsSave

I can see your reasoning, but I won't be heading near any shops to buy fresh things a few days before Christmas. I'll be getting the fresh things delivered by Tesco because there's no telling how newborn the baby will be. If I go as far over as I did with ds1, then this one will be born on the 23rd December. :eek: I was then in hospital for another 3 days, so I'm planning to be out sooner this time. I have been buying bits and pieces each week with our normal shop that falls within our budget. We already have the stuffing, streaky bacon, croissants for breakfast (part baked, frozen - they're really tasty!), Christmas pud, and quite a few other bits.

If it was any other year, I'd probably agree with you, but it's definitely going to be a case of what's easy this year, and by getting a food delivery sorted then I can arrange for someone to be here if I'm otherwise engaged!!

MrsSave

A productive morning so far. Dh has taken ds out for a run on the beach with their kite, so I've wrapped ds's Christmas gifts. I will admit to having watched a Christmas film at the same time! Christmas with the Kranks! Just a shame I couldn't have a glass of Buck's Fizz to help me along

I now need to hide the gifts in the baby's cot! :rotfl: I love the fact ds is still too young to look for gifts! I think next year may be different (though all Santa's gifts are hidden at my mum's.....just in case). All I've got left to wrap now are the baby's gifts, the stocking fillers, dh's gifts and family and friend gifts. Not many then :rotfl: Oh, and a gift from the children to each other (so funny saying children........more than 1....... :eek: )

Jacko_amz

Hi mrssave,

Your so prepared its really good!

Just wanted to ask a question regarding the using ur credit card for household bills and then paying it off in full at end of the month, do you pay it off after your monthly statement has come through or before that? I'm thinking about getting a tesco one to get the points

Amy x

MrsSave

It's more everyday spends I use the card for instead of bills. I pay it off in full after the statement comes through. Usually the same day. I always make sure the money is sitting in a separate account so that it's there waiting to be paid off. It's definitely good for getting points, which we use for days out/eating out. You do need to be disciplined to make sure you can pay it off in full every month, though.

Jacko_amz

MrsSave wrote: »

It's more everyday spends I use the card for instead of bills. I pay it off in full after the statement comes through. Usually the same day. I always make sure the money is sitting in a separate account so that it's there waiting to be paid off. It's definitely good for getting points, which we use for days out/eating out. You do need to be disciplined to make sure you can pay it off in full every month, though.

I will have a think about this, i use the envelope system so the money is always separate so it could work well Thank you x

Katzen

Hi Jacko,
I do this for my online shopping for the extra security. If you wish you can set up a direct debit to take the full amount each month but, as Mrs S says you have to be disciplined, if you miss the full payment by even a penny then next month they can charge you interest on the whole lot from the previous month. Mine works like this:
Bill is released on 7th of month, and the DD comes out around the 1st of the following month. So if I buy something on 8th oct, it will appear on the bill for 7th Nov and be paid for on 1st Dec.
Nothing to stop you doing it manually like MrsS though

MrsSave

Katzen is right and you could set up a direct debit to take the full amount every month. I like to do it without because I like to see the credit card fully paid off and the balance go down to zero each month :rotfl: which I wouldn't see if the payment was taken 2 weeks later. I think it's the part of me that needs to be in complete control of our finances at the moment!

I've been able to check pending transactions to see how much I'm being paid tomorrow. I did a little dance at 4 this morning because it is the amount I was hoping for and not the minimum I though it might be. There wasn't a huge amount of difference between the 2, but enough to mean that we have the full amount for all our categories instead of having a tight month.

I've decided to split our spending money to weekly next month instead of monthly (I did this with our food shopping money last month and it has worked well). It will hopefully mean that we won't get to the last week of the month and only have a few pennies left.

November is going to be expensive though, so I'm going to draw up a budget for us to stick to. Christmas activities are starting as well as things like bonfire night and a fair. I think we'be got something on every weekend in November :eek: