PinknSparkly's Mortgage Wannabe savings dairy

savingwannabe

I am so sorry that no one can go to the funeral. It is such a sad time. It is good news that your husband's nan is out of isolation and well. It will be so hard for her. Baby is disco dancing inside you so you will be busy for a while bless you, well done on walking every day. I am not doing anything and must start as I can feel I am putting on weight. Stay positive. It will get better soon think of nice things in the future. 

Skint_yet_Again

So sorry to hear about the funeral Pink. However when all this is over you can always get together and have your own remembrance service/ celebration/ party. Best to all stay safe just now even though it will be hard not to be there to say goodbye. I am so pleased to hear nan is well. I’m sure just speaking with her will bring some comfort at this difficult time. 

Good to hear baby pink is moving around. Brings back memories! My DS is 25 this year, where did that time go !! Stay safe xx

pinknsparkly

Thanks both. My husband's mum and sister managed to get over to his nan's (they're *just about* within walking distance - neither of them drive) for the time the funeral was booked and they had a lovely socially distanced couple of hours in the garden drinking tea, playing his favourite music and remembering him. I know, strictly speaking, they shouldn't have done it, but I'm so glad she wasn't on her own for it. We're planning a memorial/celebration later on in the summer for family and friends once the lockdown is lifted.

SW - I definitely feel for you in terms of the putting on weight. Obviously, in my case, putting on weight is to be expected but it's insane how quickly I feel like my general fitness has gone downhill as a result of not walking into work and back each day! And working from home in the kitchen, with the fridge in my eyeline isn't helping matters either 

Skinty - it's crazy how fast time flies isn't it? I've already instructed my husband that one of his tasks is to take plenty of photos of baby and the three of us when we get home (the other task is keeping me fed: we've decided that for the first few weeks our jobs are literally I keep baby fed and alive, he keeps me fed and alive!), because I'm keenly aware that the time will disappear in the blink of an eye and we're both terrible for never taking photos of things like this! 

Today was my 28 week growth scan (because of gestational diabetes, they have to keep a close eye on the growth of baby to make sure it's not being affected by the GD) and the consultant was happy with the size of baby which was a relief! I've been working sooooooooo hard on keeping my blood sugars under control via diet and it was amazing to see that it's been doing the trick  It's definitely starting to look a little cramped in there though!! Logically I know there's plenty of space and it'll happily continue growing for the next 12 weeks but it just doesn't look possible! I've got another scan at 34 weeks. I asked the midwife who took my blood pressure a few "midwifey" questions and she was horrified to realise I'd not had a midwife appointment since 16 weeks. My appointments were cancelled as I was seeing the consultant for the gestational diabetes (and they're trying to minimise the number of visits to the hospital during covid) so I was already being seen medically. But she wanted to arrange for me to have midwife appointments too as they check extra things like your mental health, preparation for birth, birth plans etc, so I have a telephone appointment at 31 weeks.

savingwannabe

I love that name BabyPink! who sounds like they are doing very well. Gosh to the appointments! I hope that is being sorted. Taking photos is brilliant. I only have one of when I was a baby and it makes us all laugh. It is glorious outside I hope you have a good weekend. 

pinknsparkly

Thanks SW BabyPink is now getting pretty energetic, but gave us a bit of a scare this week, when they decided to have to super lazy day and barely move for the entire day. As I'm still working, and had a pretty hectic work day, I didn't notice until we sat down for dinner and then realised I'd not felt much movement all day. So after a call to the midwives, I headed into the hospital for a couple of hours to be checked over. Turns out, they were absolutely fine - probably just struggling in the heat like most people at the moment!! 

We've had a rather expensive few weeks round here, and the house is now bursting with baby bits! We've managed to get quite a few bits second hand locally (which I wasn't expecting to be able to do during lockdown, as I've only been getting bits that are less than 5 miles from our house to minimise the travelling!) but some things, such as the carseat, baby carrier and cot, I wanted to get new for safety reasons. I'd like to refuse to total up how much we've spent and continue in blissful ignorance but my parents want a list of the expensive items so they can pick one to "buy" for baby. We're also going to try out reusable nappies, and I've ended up buying them brand new as the recommended brand I found online is actually cheaper to buy new than anything you can get second hand which seems a bit mad....! I've taken advantage of still having a university email address for a few more weeks, and have signed up to the 6 month free trial of Amazon Student Prime. I figure there will definitely be at least one vitally important thing I've forgotten to buy and this way we can get it delivered the next day!

We're still chugging along making mortgage overpayments, for the time being at least (we'll see what impact BabyPink has on that)! And since taking the mortgage out in December 2018, we've already made enough overpayments to pay it off 28 months early  The aim is still to have it paid off by the time I turn 55 (as I'm older than my husband). We took the maximum term we could, running until I'm 67, so we do have quite a long way to go yet but if we can keep the overpayments up then it's certainly doable! We need to make a minimum of £300 per month overpayment to meet that, and my newest "game" to play with myself is to try and ensure that we overpay enough to cover the interest each month (currently a little over £350) so that the entire monthly DD is going towards paying off the capital.

Skint_yet_Again

Good to hear from you Pink. Glad that you & babypink are both doing ok, what a scare ! I remember having a bleed when I was pregnant, can’t remember how far on I was, but thankfully all ok, but I know your heart stops for a while. 

Sounds like you have done well saving money on baby things and overpaying on the mortgage. Every little helps and even if things do slow down / stop for a while once babypink arrives I’m sure you will soon get back on track even with a few adjustments if necessary 😊. 

savingwannabe

Hurrah hurrah, I am so glad you are all ok.I hope you are resting a bit too in this heat you are like everyone else on this forum full of energy. I thought you were supposed to sleep a lot and be pampered!!!! lol. So happy for you. You have planned everything so well   finishing off your thesis, starting maternity leave,  the OPs, baby things and it is falling into place. You are one of those yummy mummies on the tv programmes!!!! 

Skint_yet_Again

Hi Pink how are you. Baby Pink must be due to make an arrival soon. I hope you are all well. Are you organised and ready to go. Best wishes with everything xx

pinknsparkly

Hi Skinty and SW, and apologies for the ridiculously long hiatus

BabyPink is now 9 months old, and has been loving spending her days at home with Dad for the last three months (he's doing 6 months shared parental leave). I returned to work in January and it's been a surprisingly smooth transition. I'd been WFH since March last year for covid reasons so was very ready to see people again! It's a bit mad that going back to work was a way of vastly improving my social life!! It's been a funny old maternity leave, I had visions of drinking coffee in coffee shops or baby groups with other sleep-deprived mummies. Instead I have a 9 month baby that still hasn't even met all of my siblings or had cuddles with friends or extended family and is only vaguely aware that other babies exist  

We've been chugging slowly ahead with mortgage overpayments (actually helped slightly by covid as there's not been any baby classes, holidays or weddings to spend it on and we've not been able to get people in to do the house renovations we were intending to do pre-baby!). My husband returning to work in 3 months will increase our income but nursery fees are going to swallow most of that up! We've got a self catered cottage booked for a week in early July which will hit our overpayments but we need a break and I can't wait!!

Skint_yet_Again

Great to hear all your news Pink, especially about baby Pink 👶 wow 9 months old already. The time flies so just enjoy it. 

It’s been a hell of a year so I hope you have a great holiday. Savings can be as much or as little as you can afford, once childcare starts that will swallow a lot of your cash until free childcare starts. 

I can’t wait to get back to work & some normality. Once restrictions are lifted we will all have to get used to a new normal I guess.