A pound stretching maternity

MrsSave

The joys of holidays........in my mind I don't have to be up early for work so I stay up later at night. In reality...........my son doesn't care whether I'm working or not and my body cares even less so I'll be awake just as early and then suffering later on! :rotfl:

I've been a proper hormonal grump this evening (well if I can't blame hormones now, then when can I??!!) Money is going to be ridiculously short over the coming months, where I'm going to look to do as much overtime as possible (when I have childcare available). After 31 weeks when pregnant with my son I struggled big time with walking, working, basically anything. But, we need the money so I'm going to keep going until 37 weeks this time.

My husband wouldn't know what overtime was if it jumped up and bit him on the backside. He's self employed so chooses the hours he works. After discussing money over the weekend he firstly uses the tumble dryer :eek: and then says he's going to start working late 2 days per week......every Monday and Thursday. Today is Monday and home he comes at the normal time. He forgot.

I also sorted out a job for him to go and price up. Gave him the phone numbers for him to contact when he was working nearby. He was working 2 miles away today. He forgot. :mad: As I was a tad on the fed up side he contacted them this evening to arrange a time for this week. Sounds good.until he told me he was going tomorrow when he will be nowhere near so will have an almost 2 hour round trip just to price up 1 job. He's back working 2 miles away on Wednesday :mad:

I've got my scan tomorrow at lunchtime. He had it in his head that he was going to take the whole day off. For a half hour appointment. That's doesn't make sense to me. I mean yes, take time off to attend the appointment, but surely you can do half a day at least!

Sorry........complaining over!!! I just want him to realise that sometimes we have to put in the extra work because there are times in our lives where things are tighter. Babies and children are expensive!

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Line drawn.

Tomorrow's plans.........

Check next and Tesco credit card statements. Pay Tesco in full and £50 off next.
Sort out son's nursery fees for August.
Go and see whether my little monkey is a prince or princess and check that everything's looking good.

MrsSave

5:30 start. Pre seeing baby nerves! I'm so excited and nervous. I've spent the last hour looking at baby clothes. Boy and girl clothes. Eeeeeeek! This morning is going to be he longest morning ever.

After breakfast I'm taking my son over to his grans. Then I'm just waiting for it to be time to go.

Right, need to make a to-do list to make time go a little quicker.........

• [STRIKE]Check bank accounts and YNAB,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Take son to his Gran's house,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Sort August nursery payments out,[/STRIKE]
• Pay Next bill, the statement isn't available yet
• Pay Tesco credit card, the statement isn't available yet
• [STRIKE]Complete any One Poll surveys,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Check tomorrow's food shop. Add/remove as needed but stick to £45 budget,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Check emails,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Paint my toe nails (whilst I can still reach!!),[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Book tickets for Longleat, using the Tesco vouchers already ordered.[/STRIKE]

I'm sticking to that for this morning. It actually won't take long but will keep me busy for a little while.

Haven't spoken to hubby yet this morning, but I'm a little calmer than last night. I guess it's his choice whether he does any extra to help us, but genuinely hope he does something. I just hate the fact that whenever things are or have been tight, I'm the one that's got off my backside and done something to sort it. I had a little crafting business for a while and did that alongside full time work. I've also done things like mystery shopping, bar work, etc when things are tight. Sorry...........I'm starting again, will shush now!!

Have a good day.

I'm seeing my baby later :j :j :j

MrsSave

Well, that's my to-do list done and it's only 10am! Time is going sooooooo slowly!! I've spoken to someone who was looking to have some work done in the field my husband's in, so I've got all her details and will make sure my husband phones her this afternoon!! Even if I have to dial the number for him and hold the phone up to his ear. It's an ideal little job. 10 minute drive down the road, and will probably only take a day or 2 (as much as I know anyway!!) so can be fitted in around current jobs = extra money!!

Toenails are painted.......I had to bend my legs in all funny directions and hold my breath to do it. I'm sure it wasn't that difficult this early on with my son!!! Saved £20 ish on a pedicure anyway!

The next and Tesco credit card statements aren't ready yet. It will probably be tomorrow now before they are. I doubt that there are many people in this world who get so excited and sit and wait for their bills!! I love knowing the Tesco card will be empty and that it's the start of a new month!

I feel sick. I've had to have a little snack to help. I think it's nerves. Tick tock, tick tock.......

MrsSave

Mr and Mrs S, and their son, are having a baby................

BOY!!!

:j :j :j :j :j :j :j

I'm going to be completely outnumbered, so my new plan is to make the house all pretty and floral! :rotfl:

It'll definitely be cheaper than having a girl because we've got so much left over from our eldest. It definitely makes it feel a lot more real.

I did spend a little today, which I had anticipated. I bought an outfit in our local Next. It was one that I'd spotted online and loved. It cost £15.05 (I forgot to bring a bag!!). We also ate lunch out, which cost £23.55. That's all been added onto YNAB. I managed to use some next vouchers online and have ordered £63 worth of things, and it will cost £38. That has been entered into YNAB already and will be paid off as an extra payment on top of my usual monthly payment.

After collecting our son from his Gran's house, we took him to the library. He chose a Christmas book, a dictionary and an animal picture book :rotfl: He also wanted a Chinese first word book, but figured the 3 he had were enough!! :rotfl:

I took out a couple of books, one from an author I've read before and enjoyed, the other one is a completely new author for me. Celeste Ng. Will give it a go and see how I get on! If I don't fall in love with a book, I struggle to read it through and often give up half way!

My next and Tesco credit card statements are still not ready. I assume they will be by the morning.

I'm off to read a few pages of this book now before attempting a good night sleep!

MrsSave

Good morning!

I started reading the novel 'Everything I never told you' last night. Only managed half a chapter before falling asleep, but those 12 pages seemed good!

Today's plan:

• [STRIKE]Check and pay off Tesco credit card,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Check and pay next bill,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Tesco delivery this morning,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Make a rhubarb crumble with free rhubarb that we've been given,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Print out form for new degree certificate, post with cheque,[/STRIKE] Didn't need printing or posting, filled in online
• [STRIKE]Check onepoll for surveys,[/STRIKE] 2 available today = 30p
• [STRIKE]Treat me and my son to lunch for under £12,[/STRIKE]Came to £7.27
• [STRIKE]Return my son's school trousers that are way too long,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Check poundland/world for a couple of books/DVDs to add to my son's nursery hamper, [/STRIKE]and see if they have a box/basket there too,
• [STRIKE]Have a look for party plates, decorations, etc for my son's birthday. Will compare supermarket and pound shop prices,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Wash towels at 30 degrees,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Pick up new school trousers for my son,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Wait for, and then get super excited about my Next baby clothes delivery (eeeeeeek!!),[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Check YNAB and bank accounts,[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Update today's spends this evening,[/STRIKE]
• Finish chapter 1 of my book.

A lot of little things to do, but shouldn't take too long. Food is being delivered between 10 and 11. I aim to do the crumble and the laundry beforehand, and then we'll go out straight afterwards. Lunch will probably be a supermarket caf!, unless I'm feeling super organised and put a little picnic together, though not sure where we can eat it. Will think about that one!!

MrsSave

A quick mid afternoon update whilst ds is watching Paw Patrol - a new favourite!!

Food delivery came this morning. One item that I'd ordered to stock up on for after having the baby (I won't go into detail) was substituted, for a similar but more expensive one that I will also need. Result! The same thing happened last week. Yay! The food shop came to just under £44 and included 5 packs of baby wipes.

We made our rhubarb crumble, and have done 2 loads of laundry. Mainly towels so they have been dried in the tumble dryer. My aim is that just towels and bed clothes go in the tumble dryer.

We then popped out. Our lunch came to £7.27, which was almost £5 under the budget I set. I also returned the school trousers that were too long and collected the regular sized ones. I spent £9 on decorations for my son's birthday (paper plates, napkins, balloons, candles, etc.) and bought some Disney Princess and Spiderman pencil crayon packs for a £1 each for ds's nursery hamper. They also had Peppa Pig books at £1 each so picked up 2 of them. My husband also needed new socks (I threw 3 pairs of his away this morning - he won't let me do it when he's here and says there's nothing wrong with them! They had holes on the bottom where they had worn through! They cost £4. Once that was done I filled up the car with petrol (£49.01). I'm hoping that that I won't need to fill up now until I get back from our holidays in just under 2 weeks.

Bargain baby clothes shopping

Then the bargain shopping started! I wasn't planning on buying any baby vests/bodysuits until after next payday, but I couldn't resist. I saw that someone had posted online that Peppa Pig/George vests and sleepsuits were reduced in Tesco. They were showing that they were down from £7 to £6 I think. I took a scan as you shop scanner with me to check prices, and they were actually £2 per pack. The vests came in packs of 5 and the sleepsuits in packs of 2. I stocked up a little They also had packs of muslins marked as £4 down from £6, but they were also scanning at £2. Put it this way........I bought £89 worth of needed baby items for £26. I stocked up in a few sizes, should keep this little baby going for a while!!

Total spends

Our total spends today were £43.74 (food shop), £49.01 (petrol) and £42.05 (everything else). I'm happy with that.

Time to start thinking of making dinner. I'm making spag bol tonight, and will try frozen mince instead of fresh to see how different the taste is.

MrsSave

From today's list the only thing I haven't done is the reading! I'll do that now before I sleep!

The spat bol was nice. The mince was 20% fat, and it was pretty greasy so next time I'll drain the fat off better and add some flour to soak it up. Other than that, the taste was good. There's enough left over for lunch for my son and me tomorrow, I think with jacket potatoes.

The topcashback money appeared in the bank account today, so I've updated that on YNAB and sent money to the correct accounts.

Hubby worked late tonight (something may have sunk in with him). Bolognese was an easy one to heat for when he came home then. He's very impressed with the babygrows! When he saw them initially he thought I'd gone completely bonkers, but when I explained their price, he was very happy!

The next items have arrived and they are completely gorgeous. It's hard to believe that there'll be a little person wearing them soon. Though, that little monkey has started his own routine.......9pm every night is kick about time! It's happened several nights in a row now. It's so exciting!

MrsSave

Thursday's money saving to-do list...

• [STRIKE]Check bank account and YNAB,[/STRIKE]
• Print out Tesco reward vouchers that have been exchanged,
• Attempt to book my son in for a last minute haircut today,
• Take my son to buy his new school uniform,
• Write a list of food I need to buy for my son's birthday party,
• [STRIKE]Check onepoll for surveys,[/STRIKE]
• Usual cleaning jobs - wipe down kitchen, and keep downstairs tidy (once my son has finished playing!!).

Only a little list today. To be honest I don't think my brain has woken up yet, so I can think!

It's raining this morning. If it dried up later I'll sort out my son's outdoor toys so he can play outside for a while. We'll go out on his bike or scooter as well so that I get a little exercise walking with him!!

MrsSave

I knew my brain didn't want me to make a big list for a reason. As it happens my son has a sickness bug so we're not going anywhere. We're currently watching a Curious George film after spending the morning watching Paw Patrol (I'm very please we've got Netflix today!!). He's fine in himself (his usual cheeky monkey self), so I'm hoping this is just a 24 hour thing. I've pulled him out of nursery tomorrow, and have changed my hair appointment to another day when he is with my mother in law.

School uniform buying will have to be next week now, as will be his haircut. I have the world's weakest stomach, made far worse by pregnancy, so today is a challenging day!!

Postman knocked on the door, as did a courier. Postie brought a Paw Patrol set I'd bought for my son for Christmas that was reduced from £30 to £12, and the courier brought a new changing bag. I love, love, love it. I can't remember how much we paid for it, but I think it was something like reduced form £45/£50 to £22 with sale and voucher. Bargain!

smallholdingsister

Congratulations on your moneysaving boy.xxx