Keeping our options open

savingholmes

With baby clothes - I would be tempted to find a friend with a newborn and give it to them - they are likely to be exceedingly grateful. I certainly was.

becky170

Yay today has been a no spend day I calculated that my packed lunch, snack and coffee bags cost me £2.25 today which is much cheaper than buying a c0sta coffee and lunch.

I would happily give away my baby clothes to friends but I was the last one to have my baby and most of the others have completed their families. Although you never know someone may get broody again not me I hasten to add!

becky170

Well this week has been a bit of a mixed bag. I took lunch in everyday (well apart from having to buy a roll for 42p one day) which I'm really proud about. I treated myself to coffee and cake at work today but that was out of my personal spends money. I only succumbed to the vending machine once (I was bone tired and was hoping the sugar would give me a kick). So all in all I had 3 nsds

I had to have two very lukewarm showers this week as we had run out of hot water I guess it was kind of moneysaving!

I'm getting my haircut tomorrow. I've downgraded to a stylist rather than a senior stylist so that saves £10. It will still be £40 though, but my hair is like a disaster zone at the moment so I'm hoping a good cut will help. In fact 48hrs sleep would probably help my appearance a lot but I don't think I'm going to get that wish

savingholmes

Good to practice self care Becky. Enjoy being pampered.

becky170

It feels like ages since I posted on here. I've not got much MFW news to report as we've been away. It wasn't the most successful trip as we all came down with a vomiting bug and the baby has been really slow to recover poor mite. I'm actually looking forward to going back to work for a rest.

I have requested an £8 payout from Quidc0 which will be overpayed to the mortgage when it arrives. It's also payday tomorrow so I'm looking forward to being able to make an overpayment when that arrives the mortgage is now nearly down to £155,000 which is quite exciting as my aim for the year was to get the mortgage sub £155000 ready for when we refix. Mission accomplished....well from October onwards anyway 😀

Right time to try and get another 40 winks now both kids have gone back to sleep.

becky170

Well I've just made an overpayment of £102 today ideally I need to overpay more than this this month if I'm going to make my target of £1615 for the year (£1150 made so far) but I'm not sure how much wiggle room we have. Now that my DS is starting school our childcare bill has dropped by £200 per month which is less than I thought it would be ( I think we're still paying around £1300 per month which is still painful). Therefore the reduction is just going to give us some breathing room in our budget. At least we have room to spare £100 per month for an overpayment we could change our lifestyle to overpay more but I don't think DH would be onboard and besides it's all just about survival now with two young kids! As much as I love my kids it can be hard work at times...although a smile from them or seeing them play together can melt my heart sorry I'm feeling a bit emotional at the moment...DS leaving nursery and starting school has left me an emotional wreck!

twinklie

My youngest has a year left at nursery and I’m sure it will break me when he goes to school. It’s because that part of my life will be over. But at the same time it’s an exciting new chapter.

Be brave.

becky170

Thanks Twinkle! I'll try and be brave for my DS, I don't want to make him worried that something's wrong. I think he's quite nervous about starting school as he goes really quite whenever there's something on cbebbies about starting school. I just worry about him making friends and being able to sit still and listen when he needs to. I know the teachers are used to it all but I still worry as he's mine. I just want to get it over and done with now but he doesn't start until next Monday and then he's only doing 9-12 next week. Fingers crossed he settles in well.

savingholmes

I think most mothers feel weird when their child first goes to school whether they work outside of the home or not. Take lots of photos and then if need be cry in private after you've dropped them off or commiserate with other mums in the same position.

becky170

Phew that's DS' first day at school done. I was brave and focused on the task at hand and managed not to get emotional. In the end I was just glad to get his first day over and done with as it's been a long time coming. He seemed to enjoy it and we've had a lovely afternoon at home together whilst DD was at nursery. Let's hope the rest of the week goes well

There will definitely be no more overpayments this month. I had a flat tyre yesterday so I've had to replace two tyres today. It's my second flat tyre this year.... let's hope it's the last!