diary of strugglin working mum

poorbabe

:T Bartgirl you are doing really well.

Just a thought on the shop-bought water. Why can't hubby buy his own or at the very least buy a water filter and cartridges? If he's that worried about the taste, add some squash or squeeze a lemon into it?

Keep it up :beer: <---- alcohol-free pints :rotfl:

BartGirl

We used to use a filter but it would just take so long to 'filter thru' and the rate at which he goes thru the water it just didnt work for us...
God idea tho..

Merlot

BartGirl wrote: »

:eek: OK guys....(deep breaths..)..here it comes..the good old SOA :eek:



Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1,168.03
Partners salary - £1,200 which i see none of in anycase cos he pays rent £450 plus his own overdr, a £3,000 bank loan, 2 CCs,
CTC - £123.16
CB - £72.40
Total - £1363.59

Monthly Outgoings:

Childcare - £200 - can vary up and down by a tenner or so
Council Tax - £100 (pls see below)
Water - £ dunno - a bill arrived few days ago - need to check!
Electric - £35
Sky £36 Needs to go immediately.
Phone and broadbnd - £19
Cover for washer dryer - £5.81 I would cancel this
AA cover - £15.60 (pls see below)
CC 1 Payment - £30
CC 2 payment - £39
CC 3 payment - £30
Dad - £36.84 Not sure what this is for
mobile - £45.39 - can sometimes hit 50 / 60 How long into the contract are you? try and reduce it.
specsavers - 10 (see below)
car insurance - £31.09 I think this is high. check it out and go through Quidco to get a better deal
provident loan - £50 - i know...
computer - £50Is this on a repayment plan?
Food for home- £100 variable (see below)
Food at work - £35 take sandwiches
Petrol - £50 MAX

Total: £923.34

I'm in arrears with council tax and owe them £1,230.76 but they agreed £100 a month then increase next years amounts.

The AA may be going now cos i think my callouts have been all used up, and my banks doing an offer where i'd pay the same to upgrade my account, get free travel insur,RAC cover etc etc..should I ??Take a look at martins advice regarding Car breakdown cover, sorry I can't put the link into it, cause I'm useless at technical stuff.Or do you a Tesco clubcard, you can get basic RAC cover for free if you have enough points.

I have 2 credit cards. Had 3 until this month!
1.Barcaycard - which i pay £30 monthly. Its with their 'collections' dept and its – Balance £306.51 APR 6.9%
2.Littlewoods card - paid last £39 this month so its cancelled now!!
3.Vanquis card - Balance £472.06 - the min on here is £23 but i give £30 Whats the Apr on this.

Specs - have decided to cancel cos realised much cheaper deals to be had elsewhere..

Food - i go to aldi, lidl and costco wholesalers. Also use asian shops, butchers and markets for fruit and veg..cheaper..

I usually send money back home as this is expected of me - and can amount to roughly £100 / month.

I've already spent £50 on a new car seat for DS but done thru quidco.
He needs a new bed, his cots broke, and also a new pushchair. I know that right now I'm down to £300 left in my acc and not paid council tax yet or the vanquis CC either.We're from Africa and its our 'xmas' this weekend so i'm paying for thorpe park visit - about £30. Check freecycle, adverts in papers, even E-bay for cot, pushchair etc, noticeboard in Tesco,I bought nothing new with my youngest DS, and it was all in good condition.

I'm also thinking of cancelling my CTC cos just got payrise at work and dont wanna end up owing them more money at end of tax year..so shall be calling them shortly..thats why i only get a small amount cos i'm paying back some.I would certainly let them know regarding changes in your income, I would rather be up front now then have to pay it back next year. But don't cancel it, I would think you are entitled to a wee bit as you are working and placing your child in childcare.

OK GUYS....hit me with it.....

aargh!!! :eek:

What is your credit score like, would it be at all possible to get a 0% or a low apr c/c to transfer your 2 credit cards onto.

I don't see MOT, car tax, or provisions for birthdays etc.

I hope this helps.

Merlot

BartGirl

Merlot, the years tax was paid in May and luckily i pay the lowest amount for that.
My MOT was passed in Aug and cost £50.
We dont celebrate birthdays - and just had our religious celebration the other day.
My next major expense'll be DS's first bed but dunno how much should budget for that - come payday.
Think i need to visit snowball

BartGirl

My credit score's rubbish. I applied for a goldfish card and was turned down when it was 'fair'..

poorbabe

BartGirl wrote: »

We used to use a filter but it would just take so long to 'filter thru' and the rate at which he goes thru the water it just didnt work for us...
God idea tho..

Get a large empty bottle (or a few) and keep topped up with the water? I can't believe hubby is so *&)* lazy that he couldn't do this :mad: . In the summer months that's what I do.

BartGirl

poorbabe:
i know what u mean.
He's pulled a sickie today so loungin around. I'm truly irritated. He;s still in bed too !! I just fed DS and now gonna put washing on line. Sunny here.
I've done a MSE move ( i think?) yesterdays washing was still semi-damp from line so instead of putting it in drier have decided to put on line with todays washing!!
Also have decided shall wash the whites on Hot Wash this evening when elec's cheaper..;)

Am determined that even tho i cant have a NSD cos of ebay stuff being posted, i'm not going to buy any food until Sun. I'll need to go market on Sat/Sun cos thats when the markets on..i get my fruit and veg then. But i'll try MSE that too, so i'll walk it there instead of bus/car.

Unfort'ly i was due to pay my £100 monthly council tax instalment yesterday but mum called and she's short of $ so had to send her £60 which i've been promised shall be repaid by my aunt on Mon. In the past my aunt always paid up when she's said she would, so shall go straight to council and make that payment once its been repaid.I'm disapp thats happened but its outta my hands

BartGirl

Today was not a nsd but a low spend day !!
I had just under a fiver in my purse - and in the MSE spirit of things - decided to walk to town instead of bus / car.
Bought fruit for £3 which was mangoes,strawb's and grapes.
DS got some chips as a treat, and i needed to get my uniform adjusted. Luckily this was done FOC by a friend who's a tailor.

I have defrosted some mince that'll be used for lunch tomorrow (and i suspect shall be going into work with me on Mon too!!) plus got a 'whites' wash on this evening as is much cheaper than daytime elec-use.

Have also put 5 things on ebay tonight, and had intended to see Snowball this evening but OH is home and cant really get any privacy.Shall add extras on ebay tomorrow too..

Did my pigsback and quidco clicks which i've decided i'll be updating every Fri on my signature.

Altho i'd intended a nsd for tomorrow, i'm going to go to the market for some veg which'll cost me a fiver usually - for the week. I'm determined that i'll withdraw a tenner, and use the rest for meat / fish / chicken to last the rest of the week. I'll go thru the freezer and see what we have/not, and make my decision from there...wich me luck for another low spend day, peeps!!!

Little.Miss.Sunshine_5

Hi BartGirl,
I was just wondering have you tried looking on freecycle for a bed for your son. I recently got a bed frame for my son off our local freecycle and it is practically brand new. As the bed frame cost us nothing it meant we had more money to spend on a new mattress.
Good Luck
Little Miss S

chevalier

Bartgirl you are doing really well. Well done on sussing out the markets, it is amazing how much cheaper veg and fruit is there.

I was just wondering, does you OH not pay you a contribution towards the childcare? After all he benefits from you working which is only possible because of the child care? Or is he in a really big load of debt?

I would echo what others have said about www.freecycle.org. I regularly see beds etc offered on there, as well as pushchairs and things. Some people can't be bothered to use ebay etc, so just give things away for nothing! You do have to join a group (free), but other than that it is great. Could save you a fortune
chev