A pound stretching maternity

Money_spending_mummy

A similar thing happened to me with my 2 children. My FIL bought my first child some gifts when he was born and then picked out a nice money box when DS was christened. When my daughter was born, he didn't buy her anything and then nothing for her christening either. I did ask my DH to talk to him about this as I didn't want them to realise later on that one child had gifts from their grandad and the other didn't. My DH and FIL then picked out a necklace for my DD as a delayed christening gift.

Glad to hear that all is going well with your 2 little ones Mrs Save!

MrsSave

I may not have posted all weekend, but that doesn't mean I've been spending (for once). Friday, Saturday and Sunday have all been nsds. :j today hasn't After dropping ds1 off at school, ds2 and I headed to the supermarket to do the weekly shop. We spent £46.75 (and I feel I got loads for that!!). I also picked up floor wipes and toilet paper from Wilko (£4), and a new photo frame from the Range (£2.99). My next job is to update them all on ynab.

Ds2 started his 'bedtime routine' Saturday night. Saturday went really well, last night he was more restless until around 10:30 and then went off. He had his 2 night feeds and then woke at 6:45 this morning. He's just fallen asleep now....he fell asleep this time yesterday, too, and slept for 3 hours. Let's see if we get a repeat today!

Right, time to update ynab and start making burgers for tonight's dinner (I found ys lamb mince whilst shopping....50% off).

louby40

I used to love those long afternoon naps when by boys were babies, lots could get done!

Bobarella

On the subject of saving for children, my eldest is 8 so he benefitted from the government £500 CTF whereas my daughter hasn't (15 months) he also had an inheritance from his great grandmothers estate. Which obviously can't be replicated.

I've just taken the view that I will save the same for each on a monthly basis. It's always an emotive subject isn't it our children's financial futures. At least all savings in their own names benefit from tax free status up to about (£10,000 annually I think)

MrsSave

I'm pretty tired today. Ds2 is sleeping pretty well in between feeds at night, but after his 3:30/4:00 feed he is such a noisy sleeper. He's fine up until that point, so not sure why the change! It means little sleep for dh and me after that last night feed! He did sleep from around 8:15 last night so a couple of hours earlier than the night before.

Yesterday afternoon's nap was another 2-3 hour one. He's been asleep for over an hour now so I've made and eaten lunch, found a recipe for tonight's risotto, checked the accounts and YNAB and actually done very little else!

This morning, after taking ds1 to school, I took ds2 to a baby class. That cost £5 and we (I - ds2 slept for half of it!) enjoyed. I think this will be a regular outing for us. I did have to pay £1.60 for parking as well.

My mum collected ds1 from school today and is spending time with him this afternoon. She has sent me a text to say he has had a letter from school saying that there are head lice in class. Lovely! Hopefully he won't catch them as he has short hair, but I think I'll pick up a nit comb just in case. I also need to pick up a loaf of bread, so will head out for a walk with ds2 once he wakes and has his feed (as long as I have enough time.....otherwise we may go in the car). I like having dinner on the table by 5:45 as ds1 goes to bed at 6:45/7:00. It will take around 45 mins to an hour to make tonight.

I need to start thinking about losing a few pounds now. I'm around 7lbs over my pre pregnancy weight, which at 4 weeks isn't bad, but clothes wise my maternity clothes look awful on, and pre pregnancy clothes are a little tight (I can get away with a few bits). I don't want to spend money on 'inbetween clothes'. I'm constantly hungry though (I'm not breastfeeding so it's not because of that!). I think I need to up the protein to see if I can feel fuller for longer. I think I'll leave it a few weeks to see how things go, and if these pounds aren't shifting then I may rejoin slimming world. I'm doing a little exercise through walking now (mainly the school run!).

MrsSave

No extra nsds to declare this week so far. Today won't be one either (unless this snow hits and we can't go anywhere!!). I spent some of my Christmas money on new clothes yesterday. Jeans (from matalan......price was fab, hope I'm as impressed with the jeans!!) and 2 jumpers (both sale......one from Oasis and the other Fashion Union). I've still got over half my Christmas money left. It is so nice to be able ble to buy clothes without having to move money around and have to choose between them and something else. It's nice to just have the money sitting there.

I had a busy housework day yesterday. Lots of laundry done, and just odd jobs all day. I made a cottage pie (took most of the afternoon in stages) for dinner (it was very tasty.....even if I do say so myself). I managed to eat pretty healthily yesterday as well! Walked ds to school and again to collect him. We're actually forecast heavy rain today (boohoo) so will have to take him in the car instead of walking. I've never been a big fan of walking/exercise in general, but I'm really enjoying walking the school run and am so disappointed in the days where we have to go in the car.

If the weather is ok we'll head to soft play after lunch today. I may treat ds1 to a cake (we'll share one!).

I've sorted through ynab this morning already and the bank accounts. I have had an extra child benefit payment made which is back pay as I've recently sent off the forms to add ds2. It's a little extra for next month's money, which is nice.

Right, I'm going to see if I can manage an extra hour sleep before this house wakes for the day!

MrsSave

Oooops.....I haven't updated for over a week. Being a mum of 2 definitely means I'm busier now!!

Financially, everything is going good. It's pay day next Wednesday for me, so I'll be able to see on Tuesday how much I'm getting :eek:

We had an email to say that our house insurance was due for renewal next month. It is currently £12 per month, and was going up to £13. I've had a look around this morning and managed to get it for £8.50 ish per month. I also went through topcashback for it, which is £27. :j Whilst going through topcashback I checked whether we had any money currently waiting to be paid out and found £6.28 :j

As I'm home every day now I'm doing plenty of cooking. Toad in the hole last night, as well as pasta bake, salmon and cold meat, slimming world style chips and pickles this week. Tonight is a freezer night after ds's swimming lesson, which means he gets to choose something. I think he wants waffles tonight, so will find something else beige to go with it :rotfl:

Ds2's nappies were starting to run out so was planning on stocking up during next week's food shop. I then saw Aldi had their baby event on, so checked online and could get ds2's size for cheaper than the supermarket with free delivery. I've ordered 2 boxes for now!

Ds1 was supposed to have a haircut yesterday, but he came home from school with bit of a temperature and complaining of a headache. Paracetamol, custard creams, cuddles and frozen on the tv and he was much better by the time dh got home from work. I cancelled the haircut though. We're going next week instead now. I was so unsure about sending him to school today as he was totally fine this morning and his temperature was normal. He also slept well all night. I've sent him in, and not heard anything since so it looks like a little viral thing.

Right, half an hour and it'll be time to pick ds1 up.

louby40

Thought I hadn't seen you post for a while!

Nice to see you busy with your boys and still money saving

MrsSave

Ds went swimming last night and then looked awful by the time he came home. Hardly ate any dinner, so it was medicine, cuddles and bed. He slept in until past 8 this morning, but seems much brighter today.

I've been sorting out our phone bill today. Our contract ends in a week, and the price was due to jump up. I looked around and found one different supplier that would be cheaper than our new price. I contacted our current provider to see whether I could switch today without being charged and they said they'd see if they could find a good deal. The 'good deal' wasn't good enough, and I told them. They replied saying they couldn't reduce it any further so I said not to worry and I'd switch. Amazingly they could then find an even better deal. £25 for unlimited broadband and unlimited anytime calls to landlines and mobiles. That's a few pounds better than the other provider so I'm staying where I am at this new price.

I've been through ynab and the accounts in detail today. It all balances so all good. 4 days to go until payday!

I treated ds to 2 dvds yesterday from the local charity shop! They cost 50p each!

Ds2's nappies have arrived today so that should keep him going for a while. Also today I popped into town quickly and ended up buying a couple of birthday gifts for my 2 boys. They were both already on the lists I've written for ideas and were good prices. One was £4.44, and the cheapest I've found it online since getting home was £7.50 (and that was an offer 2 for £15 price).

MrsSave

2 days until payday! I'll be able to see how much I'll be getting tomorrow. I'm aiming, though, not to start using it until February though. Up until now I've always started the 'new month' straight after my payday, so the 25th of the month. I'm trying to stretch things out this month though.

I've meal planned for this week......
Mon - fish pie
Tues - chicken and bean enchiladas
Wed and Thurs - beef casserole
Fri - out
Sat - homemade Chinese
Sun - roast

I've been to Tesco with ds2 this morning and came in £6 under budget. We will probably need to top up on milk and bread at some point though.

This week will be a little 'spendy'. Both me and ds1 are booked in for haircuts. I also want to take ds1 to get his feet measured. It's my birthday coming up, so we're going out Friday night for food and I've booked in to get my nails done. This has all been budgeted for, other than the shoes. I realised that whilst I had a budget for the children's clothes, I always had to move money around if ds1 needed new shoes. I've created a new 'shoe' budget within ynab.