Keeping our options open

BachSoon

Just caught up on your diary. It's a refreshing read, sometimes I feel like the only parent whose toddler chucks their food on the floor!
I know what you mean with missing them while you're at work how are you getting on with it?

Regarding the meal plan and food budget, have you thought about increasing your meat free days? I'm veggie and DH was amazed by the reduction in the shopping bill once he stopped eating meat at home / joined me on the dark side.

becky170

Being back at work is going ok....thanks for asking BachSoon. I still have my days when my eyes well up when I'm leaving for work but it is getting easier. Work feels like I've never really been away though! Just trying not to let myself dwell on mum guilt too much.

We've just returned from dinner out with the kids. It was pretty stressful. DS was having a strop because his drink and dinner didn't appear instantly and DD dropped most of her dinner on the floor (que me crawling around on the floor picking bits up so that the waitresses didn't slip on anything). Luckily I had a glass of wine to help me through it. Left before dessert again as we couldn't take anymore. Maybe when they're 10 we'll get dessert and coffee, well you can live in hope anyway

zcrat41

Becky mine are 6 & 4 and we had a meal out recently where we actually enjoyed 60% of it. The day will come sooner than you think! And on the bright side you didn't have to cook!

becky170

Maybe I don't have to hang on as long as I think then Zcrat41!

We are currently camped out in our living room as it's too hot to sleep upstairs. It's currently 28c in our living room so I dread to think what it is upstairs.

I popped into the supermarket yesterday and the squash aisle was nearly empty and the ice lolly section was like a ghost town. I therefore brought some orange juice and have used my lolly moulds instead. It's the first time I've used this mould so fingers crossed I can actually get the lollies out!

Anyway it's forecast to be 35c here tomorrow. I already have two grumpy kids so I don't think tomorrow is going to be fun. Really looking forward to Saturday when it forecasts 22c and rain

becky170

I've been adding up this month's spending and I'm disappointed to say that we spent £170 more than we earnt this month. Luckily we have money in savings but it still doesn't feel good. On the plus side our DS has a new car seat and his school uniform so it is a well spent overspend! Next month will be spendy as well so will have to think carefully about what we can overpay on the mortgage in August.

becky170

I've been thinking about our outgoings in August and to be honest there is no way we are going to make an overpayment. We have to pay £600 for DS wrap around childcare for next term (on top of the £1500 we have to pay for August childcare!), the car is having it's service, our national trust subscription is due and we have to buy school shoes. We are definitely going to spend more than we earn

Going forward we are going to have to save £200 a month for DS wrap around bill so that we have the money saved to pay his termly bill. When DS starts school our childcare will drop by £300 per month so we will be able to resume overpayments. We are going to have to look at reducing our outgoings as we'll still be paying £1200 in childcare a month which is still painful and if we're not careful we're really going to start eating into our savings. I've just switch energy suppliers so the next job is to review the phone & broadband and mobiles.

savingholmes

Just wondered whether either of your organisations offer tax deductible straight from salary childcare vouchers as they can help

becky170

Hey savingholmes, luckily both our employers do the childcare voucher schemes so we're both taking advantage of the maximum we can

becky170

I managed to take lunch into work every day this week...well the 3 days I was in anyway I did succumb to buying coffee as keeping my eyes open was a struggle, but that was out of my personal spends so doesn't count. Our current account balance makes depressing reading this month as we are now into our slush fund and it's only the start of the month. Roll on next month with a slight decrease in childcare costs. We always knew when we decided to have two children that it would be tough for the first couple of years financially, but it's still difficult having to dip into our savings. On the bright side at least we have the savings so we've not had to drastically change our lifestyle just yet.

We've had our shopping delivered today so we're all set with stuff for pack lunches for work. I've also got coffee bags and breakfast bars so that I can try avoid spending any money at work next week. I haven't got any chocolate to take with me though so that may be my downfall!

becky170

We have done some other moneysaving things this week. I noticed that my dh mobile phone bill had been higher than usual for the past 2 months. It turns out he's been going over his data (we've now put a cap on mobile data on his phone so this should prevent this happening again) and he was getting charged £3 per week from one of these scam gaming companies. He phoned his mobile provider and they are refunding the charges and blocking any premium services which is great.

My parents also tried to car boot some of my old baby clothes. They didn't sell much so I might have to think of another way to get rid of them (already tried on Facebook and tested the water with eBay without much success). Maybe I will just have to charity shop them as it's turning out to be more hassle than it's worth!