Baby steps towards mortgage freedom

Moominmamma89

Weather better today - sunny but cold as it is very windy. Took a short walk as Button does not have the sense to keep her hands in her gloves or in the foot cozy no matter how many times I try to re-adjust her.

Mr Moomin is away for work tonight so no gym later for me, I quickly did a few circuits this morning in the living room while Button had her morning nap which means I can do my quilt once the kids are in bed. Feeling very inspired and motivated from my trip to the NEC on Saturday.

Has been a NSD and hoping for a few more this week as I find myself popping into the shop a bit too often!

Moominmamma89

My quilt is coming along nicely and me and my machine are definitely friends atm. Ended up in bed for 9 last night which is way early for me but I think I needed it as went straight off and feel more energetic this morning.

Will be another NSD here which is good as with no council tax coming out this month I think we let our eye off the ball a bit and things will be tight until payday.

Anyway hope everyone is good and having a good week so far

Moominmamma89

Happy Friday everyone :j

Should really be going to the gym later but think I will give it a miss and stay in for movie night with Munchkin. Heading up to the school later to watch a Mother's Day Assembly the class has been working on so I am sure I will be a very proud (and possibly teary) mummy later.

Not sure if what we are doing this weekend but I will pop in to see my mum for an hour or two on Sunday with her presents and a cake.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and mother's day

Moominmamma89

Happy Monday all :j

I was well and truly spoilt for Mother's Day. Starting with the school assembly which was adorable and made me very proud - all the kids had to read out what they had written about why they love their mums, Munchkin declared it was because I read bedtime stories and play with him. Made me realise it is these little things they remember and i'll admit to welling up a little.

Mr Moomin then came home and told me I was getting a whole weekend of treats so we headed off on Saturday for pancakes and then when I got home I was told to pack a bag and got shifted off to a spa for the afternoon and overnight stay. It was fab I had a swim and read a book before getting room service and vegging out in my pjs all in a lovely quiet room - living the dream people, living the dream! Got collected after breakfast and came home to the new Ed Sherran album on vinyl before going to lunch with my mum. Then in the evening I had a bath and stuffed my face on cookies . I felt extremely lucky and appreciated all the effort Mr Moomin and the monsters made.

No other news really - looking forward to pay day although I will be lucky to get anything as I think I have now had all my maternity pay, may have a small tax refund though. April will be expensive as we are going on holiday and Munchkin breaks up from school Friday - also have his termly invoice for football and music classes to pay. Still hoping to manage an OP of £340 to knock another month off.

Hope everyone had lovely weekends x

Moominmamma89

Has been a bit of a spendy morning in the moominhouse - have to go to a black -tie event with Mr Moomin on Thursday and needed to pick up some new black shoes which were £20, luckily I can get into the dress I had from before I was pregnant with Button so that expense was spared. The shoes will also do for work if they agree to having me back part time - meeting is next Thursday.

I also picked up some hand weights as I have found I can fit in a quick workout at home when Button has her morning nap which leaves me my evenings free to do other things or just relax with Mr Moomin. So another £17.99 there.

Have not been keeping on top of the shopping and meal prep recently which has lead to us overspending a little so I am sitting down and preparing a list to stock the freezer through April in the hope our shopping bill will come down. Before Button I had it down to around £250 per month and now it is usually between £300 - £350 :eek:. Part of this is due to nappies and formula but mostly bad planning so aim for April is to get it back to £300 and then I will try and drop it again month on month. There will be a reduction come end of June when Button can go onto cows milk as we are using a tub of formula a week at £9 a go.

Anyway hope everyone is having a good week so far

Moominmamma89

I have a bit of a confession to make today - I have just cancelled my personal training sessions which I have been having fortnightly since having Button. Before that it was weekly and at £30 a session isn't very MSE of me.

I started to help me loose the weight I had put on and was still carrying from my pregnancy with Munchkin and were well worth the investment at the time as I dropped over 30lbs and gave me the confidence to use all the gym equipment. However it has got to the point I know what I need to do to maintain my weight and can happily put together my own workouts.

I had lost all the pregnancy weight from Button before I started training again so while I still had toning up to do I was essentially paying £30 for my trainer to chat to me while I worked out. Don't get me wrong he is fab at his job but what we do in the sessions I could sort of figure out myself or have a look on the internet for the information. He is lovely though so I have felt bad just stopping them so kept putting off cancelling them. But with my maternity pay stopping I couldn't help but think of the other things I could use the £60 a month on. It also frees up Sunday mornings for me to take Munchkin swimming but I still feel crap about effecting my trainers income .

On the OPing front we get paid tomorrow and found out I will get paid something because of having paid to much tax at the start of last years tax year so although not a huge amount much better than nothing.

Hope everyone is ok x

Moominmamma89

Pay day :j

I have done all the transfers to our e-savings accounts and will make my OP of £340 on 6th once the standard monthly payment leaves the account. Have an extra £58.28 ready to OP but that will have to wait to May unless I can top it up to another £340 (seriously doubt this will happen).

Had my sewing class last night and finished the apron I was making . Feeling very pleased with myself and as Munchkin has asked to do some baking over the Easter holidays I will soon be putting it to use.

Off out tonight for a networking thing with Mr Moomin so looking forward to getting dressed up for a change - on that note best go wash my hair as I am sure Button managed to get beans in it yesterday when she upended the bowl.

x

Moominmamma89

Happy Monday everyone and happy April - isn't the year going quick!

Well I did as planned and spent all weekend making shopping lists, shopping and then had a huge cookathon and filled the freezer. Spend just under £110 which got us formula, bread, milk and other fresh stuff to do this week and then managed to stock the freezer with:

Burgers (6)
Chicken Curry (6)
Chilli (11)
Creamy Pork (6)
Lentil Soup (7)
Meatballs (8)
Mini Meatloaf (12)
Pizza Sauce (6)
Pork Stew (5)
Sloppy Joes (5)
Spaghetti (4)
Turkey Vegetable (12)

Numbers are the servings I got out of each so as you can see we are well stocked up and this should easily do us well into May as we will have baked spuds and things on toast for a bit of change every now and again.

Was determined to get back into the swing of monthly stock ups to make life easier come June when I may be back at work - meeting is Thursday and I am quite nervous about it!

In OPing news there was £17.91 left from March's bills so added that to the pot but atm will still only be making the one month reduction. I think I have an idea of a way to bring in some extra money so just having a good think and making some notes before having a talk with Mr Moomin - will keep you all posted.

Oooh has anyone else seen the new £1 coin - I got a few at the weekend, very shiny and look a bit odd but sure I will get used to them quick enough.

Weather here is lovely so as Munchkin is on half term now may take another walk with the monsters later.

x

Moominmamma89

I have no real news - standard mortgage payment went out today so will make my monthly OP later or tomorrow.

Meeting with work is tomorrow and although I am looking forward to taking Button in to show off her cuteness I am actually really nervous about talking with my boss about dropping to part time as he has indicated to Mr Moomin he is not exactly in favour of it - will update you all once I know what his position is for definite.

Munchkin is busy with jigsaws while Button is napping - I am not allowed to help as and I quote "Mummy I'm 5 I can do it myself".

Hope everyone is having a good week!

ch4rly2002

Good luck tomorrow! Don't be nervous, what will be will be so just focus on what you want to say to make a case for working part time