A pound stretching maternity

MrsSave

Payday was yesterday, and it was less than I was expecting. My payslip hasn't arrived yet (I'm hoping it turns up today). Once that arrives I'll be able to see how my pay has been worked out.

Other than the planned spends, this week has been a quiet money week. I've just downloaded the Tesco app that you use to pay for your shopping on my phone. You get an extra 50 points for each time you use it for the first 10 times. I shop in Tesco regularly so should be able to get the maximum points.

Dh gets paid tomorrow and once that is in I'll transfer money for February. I might even do the bulk of that now as ds2 is in school and ds1 is asleep, and just transfer dh's pay tomorrow.

I really need to sort through the freezer again as I have no idea what's in there. All I know is that it is full to the top! We've probably got enough food in this house to feed us for the whole of February (other than a couple of fresh bits!).

Right, I'm going to transfer the money before ds1 wakes!

Bobarella

That's a great tip on the tesco App. Thanks!

MrsSave

My payslip still hadn't arrived by Friday so I phoned payroll to ask 1. Where it was, and 2. Why my pay was low? The lady I spoke with confirmed my payslip had been sent to my place of work and that I'd only been paid 3 weeks of smp. She could't work out what had happened so will be phoning me back on monday after looking into it further. The school my payslip had been sent to posted it out to me, and that turned up Saturday. It makes no sense at all. It shows the 3 weeks of smp. It also shows that they tried to pay 2 weeks of my previous salary but took that back off me. They took out 2 lots of my pension, but paid one back in. It makes no sense. Fingers crossed it gets sorted tomorrow and I get a nice bit extra in my next pay.

My eldest son has started having lots of party invites (including a joint one for 3 of his classmates next month). I've decided to go to Wilkos tomorrow to see if there is still a toy sale and pick up a few gifts. If there isn't still a sale I'll still pick up some bits as they're reasonably priced there. I need to start building up a gift cupboard!!!

I'm doing the food shop tomorrow and that should be quite a bit under budget. We don't need much! Other than that my plans this week are:
*Take ds1 to get his feet measured (fingers crossed They haven't grown!!),
*Return to Slimming World (I'm eating more now than when I was pregnant),
*return clothes that don't fit,
*Possibly take ds1 to soft play (well, and take ds2 along for the ride!),
*Meal plan for next week.

Other than that it will be the usual cooking, cleaning, tidying, school runs and most importantly cuddles!

Sorry about any mistakes, I've typed this on my phone with ds2 asleep in my arms!!!

louby40

Mrs Save

If you pay into the teachers pension scheme go online https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/ and check it. Our head is retiring in July and has been assessing her pension - she has found loads of discrepencies in her service history, we thought it was because our LEA moved it's payroll to someone else but other teacher's have also found things amiss. One teacher is down as being part time, others have months where it appears they haven't worked - but they have, it's all very odd.

I seem to be one of the few people whose pension/service history looks normal

MrsSave

Thank you Louby. I do check periodically, but my contract changes so often I have no idea what is right! I need to have a proper look and compare with my pay cheques!!

Payroll didn't get back to me today. No surprises there! I will chase them up tomorrow.

I went to Wilko this morning to look for children's gifts. I ended up with 8 gifts for around £18. That makes it just over £2 per gift. They were mainly crafty things (which the parents will probably hate me for, but the kids should enjoy!!). I also took a pair of trousers back to Debenhams and received £20 back on a gifts card. We did the food shop and came in a little under budget, but I had toast and a drink in Debenhams whilst feeding ds2, so adding that on means I'm at budget.

I bought sea bass for dinner. It was so tasty! I'm trying to eat more fish at the moment as we very rarely used to eat it. Tomorrow I'll be making homemade pizzas with ds1......he'll enjoy that!

I used the app for paying at Tesco for the first time today. It's so easy!! It was so simple that I have added a card to my Apple Pay wallet this evening. I'm feeling all modern and cool :rotfl:

MrsSave

Where on earth is time going??

I phoned payroll and spoke with someone else. He managed to sort it over the phone with me. Fingers crossed it means things will be correct at the end of this month! 3 weeks until I find out!

Spend wise, it feels like money is always going out! Ds1's feet have grown, so I've bought him new school shoes. I do need to get him new trainers at some point (soon) as well, but I'm not spending on Clarks shoes for them.

I took the boys to soft play this afternoon. It was mainly for my own sanity as ds1 was wild at home and I thought the running around would burn off some energy!! I'm a complete home bird and could quite happily potter around and not venture far for a few days. I think ds1 takes after dh and need to be out! With the horrible weather today (and all this week) the soft play had to do!

I have been working on onepoll surveys for what seems like ages (probably 5-6 months) and I've today reached the £40 needed for a payout. :j

Ds2 is full of smiles now and is starting to chatter. He melts my heart ever time he smiles at me. Proper mouth wide open smiles where you can also see it in his eyes. I'm loving it.

I made a chilli con carne yesterday, and had enough for this evening as well so dinner was nice and easy.

Right, I'm going to have a nose around the boards here and then may possibly have an early night!!

MrsSave

Not much has changed in the past few days! I sat and worked out how much ds2 was costing us in nappies, wipes and formula :eek: and adjusted our shopping budget to reflect this. I've now separated the budget for ds2 and for our food shop on ynab to make it a little easier.

Next food shop is tomorrow, and I've made my list. We will need to call over to co-op later to pick up some fruit before tomorrow. We have 1 apple left in the fruit bowl. I don't remember ever letting my fruit bowl get so empty!! Will pick up a couple of bits for ds1 and dh for the rest of today and for tomorrow's lunch box and will then stock up a little better tomorrow where it will be cheaper!

I kicked our coffee table Friday (accidentally). It flippin' hurt! My little toe is still sore today and after looking at it, it is swollen, and a mixture of red and bruised. I can walk on it without too much pain so I'm doubting I broke it. Hopefully it will settle within a few days.

I've got a nice pork joint to cook for Sunday roast today. I'm planning to make a sweet and sour pork during the week with the left overs (and maybe sandwich filling for dh tomorrow - we've also run out of ham!!). My meal planning for the week is sorted
Mon - fish (probably trout)
Tues - Cajun chicken pieces, homemade wedges and corn on the cob
Wed - sweet and sour pork (homemade)
Thurs - hopefully left over sweet and sour
Fri - homemade burgers with homemade chips (salad if I'm feeling good and there's some in Tesco tomorrow :rotfl: )
Sat - our budgeted takeaway for the month
Sun - roast (chicken).

Bobarella

Sorry to hear about your poor toe! Hope it feels better soon.

hannahroberts1985

Hey Mrs Save, thought I'd check in. How are you getting on with the boys? Guessing your like me and life is super hectic right now! Hope your still on track money wise and just to busy to post. Xxx

MrsSave

Hi all!! Where on earth is time going? Just a quick middle of the night, post feed check in!!

The boys are doing great. We have discovered that the baby has an intollerance to dairy, so he's on a special (though very smelly) formula. Looking at the positive, it's saving us a fortune in milk, though obviously I'd much rather he didn't have the intollerance. Apparently, most babies who have this do grow out of it between the ages of 1 and 3, so I'm hoping he does!! He started sleeping through the night, did it for a whole week, but is back to waking for a night feed again. It was nice while it lasted!!

The eldest is such a good boy, though he has started to ask for dinner out on Friday nights (it's his choice for dinner), so I'm putting my foot down there and we're having freezer junk instead!!

I returned to Slimming World on the 1st Feb. I'm 16lbs down and lighter than I was when I fell pregnant! Still a long way to go mind!!

Money wise, we are coping pretty ok with maternity leave. I obviously wish we had a lot more money so could relax a little more, but we are putting food on the table each day, we can heat the house and can clothe the children. All in all, I definitely can't complain.

We had the council tax letter through today for the new financial year and for some reasons they've changed it to over 12 months. My first thought was to phone them up to change it back to 10 (I love the 2 'free' months), but then figured £20 per month cheaper whilst on maternity leave is surely a good thing! Going to leave it as it is for now.

My eldest is going full time in school after Easter so there's a new expense.......dinner money!! I've budgeted the first lot into April's money.

Right, back to sleep for me (hopefully). Will update properly soon!!