A pound stretching maternity

debtaghh

Hope your son has a lovely day.

You seem very motivated.

MrsSave

debtaghh wrote: »

Hope your son has a lovely day.

You seem very motivated.

Thank you. He had a brilliant day!

MrsSave

What a fantastic day! I think I can safely say that my son loved his birthday! He was completely shattered by bed time!

Money wise things have gone well! We used Tesco vouchers for our day out. Lunch was £17. That was our only spend of the day! We had an ice cream bought for us, as well as our dinner! That leaves plenty of money for our haircuts as well as money left over in the 'birthday' pot. There is almost £50 left over there, which I will use a little of for his thank you cards, £10 towards his school shoes and the rest will go towards our holiday (should cover lunch out on Friday).

The second survey I did last night has been approved, so that's a confirmed £2.30 in that pot. I hope these surveys come through at a good rate!

I am shattered tonight, and my pelvis really hurts! I've also had a Braxton hicks contraction, which was exciting! It shows that I've done a lot today, though!

Right, it's bedtime.

MrsSave

Good morning!

My to-do list for today:

• [STRIKE]Check Tesco credit card[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Check bank accounts[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Check YNAB[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Check emails[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Check for surveys[/STRIKE],
• Tidy upstairs,
• [STRIKE]Normal clean up (eg wipe down kitchen)[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Start sorting clothes for holiday[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Take son for haircut[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Buy new pants for son[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Laundry[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Sort thank you card from my son[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Check grocery list for delivery tomorrow[/STRIKE].

I think today is going to be a day of doing lots of little things. I'm going to take my son to buy new pants (thinking we'll need a few for a weekend away as he has days where he has a few accidents still, though days where he has none). I'll let him choose so will probably cost a little more than the cheapest ones!

I've done one survey this morning already. It was for £2.67 so I'm hoping that's accepted. That will bring my survey pot to £4.97 then. It's £5 minimum for a payout, but £20 for a payment where I won't have to pay PayPal charges so I'm aiming for the £20.

MrsSave

Another survey done for £1.25. That's £3.92 earnt this morning if they're accepted. I've also got 10p cash back for an online purchase (purchase was for my son with his birthday money so didn't cost me anything).

This morning my son had his haircut (cost £8). I've ordered his thank you cards. I cheat whilst he's too young to write them himself, and order ones that I've typed on. They cost more but it saves time! I managed to get 20 for £7.99 delivered, which I'm happy with. Most I looked at were almost £20 delivered.

The mattress I ordered almost a fortnight ago for the cot was delivered today. I need to open that later to make sure it's ok and fits! I've also had a message from mamas and papas to say that the monitor I ordered 3 weeks ago is out for deliver from tomorrow. I really hope it arrives tomorrow as we're not here until Wednesday then to accept it. Fingers crossed!! I bet it will arrive when I'm in the hairdressers!! Grrrrrrr!

Time to make some lunch now, and then out to buy some pants!

MrsSave

Money spent

I bought pants for my son. 2 packs as well as a pack of trainer socks (his are very well worn by now!). The total came to £10.

This evening I did send Dh to get chocolate. Total cost £3.29.

Money earnt

I've had a good survey day, especially to think I only pop on from time to time. From one site I have earnt £3.92. From another I have earnt 90p. Topcashback of 10p. That almost brings me to my target of £5 per day, though I have to wait for the surveys to be approved first.

Today's total spends: £29.28

Today's money earnt: £4.92

August money earnt: £16.72

MrsSave

Well, what a lovely start to the day. I've had interest added to one of my savings accounts. I'm not quite sure what to do with it all..............a whole 3p!!!!!!!!!!

One of my surveys has been approved over night. Still waiting on 4 now!

Today will be a spendy day. We finally had the bill for our MOT yesterday (which was done back around 3-4 months ago). So hubby will pay that today. He was going to do a bank transfer, but as he's passing the actual building today I've told him to call in and pay it on the Tesco credit card so that we get some points! This is £35.

We're also getting a food delivery today, though most of it is food for our weekend away, though I have stocked up a little on toilet paper and kitchen towel to get it over £40. This should be around £41.

I'm also getting my haircut, which will be around £23.

Today's list:

• [STRIKE]Check Tesco credit card[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Check bank accounts[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Check YNAB[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Update today's spends on YNAB[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Pack for our holidays[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Haircut for me[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Check surveys[/STRIKE],
• [STRIKE]Check emails[/STRIKE],
• Clean fridge.

A little(ish) list today. My son is at his Grandmother's for the day so that I can have a quick haircut and can pack for our holidays without disruption. We're leaving tomorrow pretty early so I want to get everything packed except the chilled food today.

I threw the left over salad from the fridge last night (it's probably the only food that ever goes to waste with us!!) and noticed that the fridge needed a good clean, so figured today was an ideal day to do it!

MrsSave

Today's been pretty productive. I've had a few outgoings, but a few incomings as well! I received a voucher through the post for £20 for Very. There was no minimum spend so I bought a toy for my niece's birthday/Christmas (bday in December so haven't decided which yet) and a nice warm looking fluffy jacket/cardigan type thing for baby. It will be ideal for the Winter. Those came to £21.99, so after the £20 voucher I had £1.99 left to pay.

The Tesco shop was around £3 less than I expected. I had ordered the £6 meal deal, and they didn't have any of the sides and couldn't substitute so I had the 2 pizzas for £3. Those pizzas are huge, and at only £1.50 each, they're a bargain. I've got some garlic bread in so will have that with it.

We've also been given money for our holiday today, which was lovely. We were given £60. I'm not adding that to August's money in though, as it was a gift.

Outgoings:
Car MOT: £35
Haircut: £24
Food shop: £37.91
Other spends: £1.99

Incoming:
Surveys: £1.50
Interest: 3p
Tesco vouchers: £36.50
Very voucher: £20

Today's total spends: £98.90

Today's money earnt: £58.03

August money earnt: £74.75

MrsSave

We're away on holiday at the moment, and I'm typing this on my phoen so please forgive any errors!!

We've still got a couple of holiday days left, but as I'm up early I thought I'd update.

Moneywise we're doing pretty well (I think!). I'm updating everything on YNAB daily that is spent on the tesco card. We also had some cash which never showed on YNAB and we're using that for ice creams/drinks/a little cake etc.

We were close (well I was) to eating out Saturday night despite us being self catering. We'd brought mince with us to do a bolognese, which was to last 2 nights. I went to open the mince and it had discoloured and I was concinced it smelt a little (though hubby didn't think so). I know they can discolour sometimes, but being pregnant I really don't like to take any risks. In my head then we had to eay out or get a takeaway. Hubby took control, though, and went out to buy a packet of mince. £3.45 instead of who knows how much!

We are out for the day today, and had budgeted in eating out. But, as we were looking through our leftover food last night we realised we had all the ingredients to a picnic so we'll pack one of those instead. Probably save £20-£30 there. We're staying in a different hotel tonight (no self catering and one night only). We were supposed to stay in a Wetherspoons type one, but reading the reviews it can get very noisy from the bar (not just a Spoons but a Lloyds bar as well. I didn't like the thought of that so cancelled (with no charge) and looked around for something else. I found a 4* hotel for £1 less than we were paying with breakfast included. Figured we'd end up spending around £15 on breakfast, so I'm very happy with that. £59 for a 4* hotel with breakfast included. It pays to look last minute it seems!!

I think I've just had another braxton hicks. My tummy just went very hard and felt funny. It was either that or baby was really pushing his bum or head out!!!

MrsSave

Another early morning holiday update!!

It's our last day today It will be nice to be in my own bed tonight, but we've had such an amazing time!!

Moneywise yesterday, we had the picnic for lunch and no ice creams. We did eat dinner out, which cost a few pence under £30. We then filled the car up with petrol but that's it. Today we will buy lunch out, but have already discussed Wetherspoons so won't be too expensive and then something for dinner (might end up with a McDonalds - not particularly healthy but my son will be happy!!).

We should have some money left over from our holiday. I'm going to split it into a couple of different pots. £10 will go into a pot towards my son's school shoes, should have more than enough there then. I don't have any maternity jeans that fit well so I'm hoping I can afford a pair of them. I'll see if we've got anything left over then and decide what to do with it. Maybe split it between baby fund and spending money.

This hotel we're in is very nice. I can't believe it was a little cheaper than the budget hotels and we get breakfast! Happy days!!

I've got a £15 voucher for Mamas and Papas so will stop at one on the way home. We need 2 changing mats. They have a nice clearance section online at the moment so I'm hoping they have it in store too! I've also seen something online about yankee candle wax melts that are 2 for £1. I may stock up on a few! I do like my Yankee candles but don't usually buy for myself as they're too expensive. I just hope I can find some!!

Right, it's 5:30 and I've been awake for an hour already after waking as well at 2 for a while. I'm going to attempt another hour or so before it's time to get up!!