Leaping from debt free to self employed

CreditCardJunkie

Well it's been a crazy few months, business has been busier than ever before. It's been a crazy juggle with such a tiny baby but we're making it work. It's been so nice this time round not having to count every penny, I can remember on SMP last time not being able to afford to really do any of the baby activites with DD or having to turn down lunch with friends etc.

On another note really struggling to shift the baby weight and its starting to annoy me. With work, a 3 year old and a baby it's pretty impossible getting time to exercise. If I'm not looking after the kids I'm working, although DD starts nursery 9am-12.30pm in Sept so this will maybe free up some time and I can take the baby walks in the pram (DD is at that awkward stage where she's too big for a pram but not old enough to go on big walks).

Savings are thankfully going to plan and without going in to detail we are very keen to move as our area has become not a very nice place to live. I just live in hope that the mortgage rates or the house prices come down in the next 6 months or so.

CreditCardJunkie

So our savings have taken a massive dent! However we are now the proud new owners of two middle of the road used cars!

DHs lease car is due to go back soon so we'd been looking at cars for him & I was in desperate need of a larger car. Turns out I was able to get a bit more than what I owed on my car so I sold it and got something much more suitable.

Our car leasing payments were a sizeable monthly sum so we're hoping to be able to save a good chunk more and try and catch up to where our savings should be by this time next year. Unfortunately for us the housing market is just too expensive for us at the moment so we will have to sit tight for a bit longer before we can move.

We've massively cut back on takeaways which is fantastic & have booked and paid for our family holiday next year which will be the children's main Christmas present. I really struggle with the idea that santa needs to leave a sizeable amount of gifts? In reality we live in a tiny house, my daughter has a ridiculous amount of toys (I'm talking 2 and 3 of what are essentially the same items). I guess a lot of it is peer pressure and not wanting my children to feel like they didn't get as much as their peers. Any tips for getting over these feelings?

enthusiasticsaver

While your kids are young they won’t really notice how many toys they are getting. I would go for quality over quantity especially if space is at a premium. Well done on cutting back on takeaways. That will help save money. 

joedenise

At those ages most kids are more interested in ripping off the paper and playing with the boxes, at least my 2 were!  It wasn't really until they went to school when the I wants started!

Once that started we used to give them an Argos catalogue and they could list absolutely everything they "wanted" but were told they would only be getting one or two of them (depending on the price - we had a small limit with only one wage coming in).  Kept them happy for ages and they suddenly started writing very small lists with what they most wanted so made it easier to pick just one or two things.

CreditCardJunkie

Had a verrrry expensive few weeks. Large and unexpected vet bill for the dog and the tumble dryer packed in. Have also massively overspent on shopping this month which means money has been taken from different accounts and I've lost track. Will sit down over the weekend and work out what needs to go back where when payday (finally) comes.

Dog is in much better form after the op but I do notice him slowing down a bit he's 10 and is a large cross breed. He really is the best dog and is brilliant with the children. He doesn't get as much attention as he would have before the little kiddies came along so I've really been making a conscious effort to give him lot of attention this week.

CreditCardJunkie

Pay day has been and gone and the savings didn't budge. I've all my spreadsheets up to date though and I've a high aim to get the savings back up to a certain amount by the end of the year 🤞

I also need to refocus on getting my weight back down after baby no2. If I could get to my pre pregnancy weight by his first birthday I'd be delighted. I am restricted movement wise due to issues with my pelvis during pregnancy which took a year to resolve in the first pregnancy. I was in the best shape of my life before I got pregnant with baby no2 and I'm so keen to get back there. I'm finding myself breathless after activities that have never been an issue before and it's really annoying me. I done the 16:8 fasting for a few weeks in the summer and lost half a stone which I've kept off so just need to get my act together and stop making excuses! I find myself reaching for rubbish when I'm tired and don't have a lot of time, in an attempt to give me more energy so any tips for this would be much appreciated!

Sarahwithlove

I used to love going through argos catalogue choosing what I wanted as a kid lol. I guess today's version would be searching on amazon 

CreditCardJunkie

3 years debt free (and also self employed) this month! Without this forum I definitely think I'd still be in the same cycle!

Savings haven't budged much although my car needed £600 worth of work when it broke down and everything is sorted for Christmas. There literally is always something!