A new royal start

QueenJess

My to do list is absolutely crawling by this week.  Had to accept that I can't do all the housework as well as the to do list, so temporarily concentrating on maxing out the cooking and will pick up the housework after.  I was planning on finishing all the freezer cooking this week, but got my notification from my massive online stock up order for later and they don't have any fish for my fish pie.... so that one will have to wait until next week now.

Making some progress on the food front, but everything else is going to pot.  By the time I've cooked in the mornings I need to sit down and have a nap in the afternoon.  Then DS is home and cue dinner and bedtime.  Can't fit it all in whilst I feel knackered.

On the plus side I have 7 meals pre-cooked in the freezer, 6 portions of leek & pot soup, 3 different muffins for puddings and DS's flapjacks and I am more than halfway through sorting out the cupboards ready for the big stock up.  Also been stealthily adding bits and pieces to the weekly shopping list for later, so hopefully I should be a few weeks ahead food wise by the time DD makes an appearance.  Things still to do:

• Make chocolate brownies for the freezer tomorrow
• Make cookies for the freezer
• Finish sorting out the drawers/cupboards so I can find all the food!
• Empty/sort the rest of the non-new freezers (I've been using the new freezer for all the food and need to finish digging through the old ones to reorganise and/or use things up - more than halfway now)
• Make the fish pie to freeze

Once that is all sorted, I'll be back to the housework and my unexciting remaining list of things to do before baby arrives (like packing my hospital bag and remembering to make a mother's day card!).

Maybe I can get there by the end of next week and so have nothing to do the week after... will see how that goes.  Money wise, it is still spendy (but only on food now) and I am hoping that the last half of March and most of April will be very low spend indeed since I've bought so many things in advance.  Need to get the joint account under control!

Looking forward to the mortgage renewal in October as our monthly payment will definitely go down and we will have no nursery fees for about 6 months!  Hoping to divert at least some of those savings towards the mortgage overpayment.  My current estimates will be that we will have halved our monthly mortgage payments in 6 years, which is pretty good going.  Gets more difficult now though because a 10% overpayment will obviously have less effect.  In any case, as I am way more comfortable with the monthly amounts now and we are already in the cheapest LTV bracket, I am concentrating on trying to "fill" pensions and ISA's at the moment.  I still want to overpay, but am hoping that DH will overpay most the 10% (since he saves from working from home and earns more than me - I already worked from home) and I will do some of the amount to try and get my mortgage amount into the 70's at the end of the year (if possible).  Also means he can catch me up on my previous mortgage overpayments so we can even up.  Works in theory, but there's no point in talking to DH about it as he'll randomly decide what to overpay depending on the amount of cash he has when we renew.... so I await with baited breath until then! 

Also, who knows what I will do next year.  In signing a contract (and getting maternity leave pay - yay!), I have to stay with the company another year.  But I may well decide to go part time (if they support that) when I go back.  Lots to think about in the next year or so, but gives me time to put myself in the best financial position I can before then.  Will see what happens..

savingholmes

I am so glad you got the contract and maternity pay. It's been challenging for you for a while. You are being fabulous wanting to get all that cooking and baking done and I'm sure it will help later but you sound like you're trying to be super-woman. I'm in awe of what you get done but wonder whether you need to factor in more rest too. 

QueenJess

Been getting through some of my to do list and to be honest there is very little on there now.  Will be packing the hospital bag next week 

Got a fish pie to make next week after DH does the shopping and will do a last ditch stocking up, but otherwise the food is all done with really and all organised.  I celebrated by actually making some food we can eat now instead!  Made an apple crumble yesterday, pea and spinach soup today for lunch (got enough for another 2 days... love a good soup) and some flapjacks for me and DH so he stops munching all my stores of the expensive snacks.

Feeling slightly virtuous today as I had porridge and fruit for breakfast, pea and spinach soup for lunch and yogurt and fruit for after.  Looking forward to spoiling it all later with a big beef roast with all the trimmings followed by apple crumble and custard  

Back onto my usual house cleaning schedule and been doing little bits of tidying around that.  So slowly getting everything in order.

QueenJess

Not much happening here.  Been very lazy today and achieving nothing at all!  DH is going shopping tomorrow morning though, so need to do the food plan for a week including the last bits of stocking up.

A small money saving win - I rang my broadband provider and switched myself onto a cheaper deal.  Saves me £10 a month   I already spent this much on a new (plastic free) toilet brush as mine is on its last legs.  Exciting times lol.

Definitely need to get on with everything tomorrow and actually pack my hospital bag..

savingholmes

You've been doing amazing. I always feel jealous reading about your food - I mostly want to be the one cooked for LOL instead of doing the cooking. I did get DS to cook chicken fajitas for tea

QueenJess

savingholmes said:

You've been doing amazing. I always feel jealous reading about your food - I mostly want to be the one cooked for LOL instead of doing the cooking. I did get DS to cook chicken fajitas for tea

Well if I leave the cooking to DH (which I was forced to when I had DS), we will just eat the same three meals cycled over and over and the food bill will be off the chart!  At least this way I can have nice home cooked food and hopefully not spend a total fortune!

I quite like cooking though (although not every single day) and would love to have more time to make my own bread etc which I don't do very often.  Maybe this year whilst I am not working...

QueenJess

Been a bit lazy today and not getting through the list of things I had planned.  Knackered after another hospital visit for another scan.  Will get back to the list tomorrow instead... still got a bit of time left 

Finally managed to finish stocking up and filled the entire chest freezer (which is no mean feat!).  Our food bills have been outrageous recently, but I think I have enough food for way more than a month now (with the exception of fresh fruit/milk).  Should be able to spend almost nothing over the next month at least and get back to normal spending (whatever that is!).

I also switched my energy provider this week.. I mean why not?!  My current provider was insisting on increasing the DD based on an estimate of energy for the year I am convinced is too high and because they want to be at least a month ahead.  Given energy use is dropping now it is warmer and I have a huge disparity between summer and winter as we are electric only, it felt unreasonable.  Anyway, did a comparison and found a good place to switch to.

Found time to research a few environmental/waste things.  I tried to stop buying kitchen towels quite a while ago, but DH now shops and buys them.  He says he "needs them".  To be fair, with a child in the house, we definitely need something now.  Going to give the washable ones a go instead.  DH always seems bemused with my experiments and not sure how he will take this one.  He's stuck in his ways and it took me years to swap over to bar soap, although he still refuses to use it in the bathroom (grr..).  Ironically I have really sensitive and dry skin on my hands and the bar soap I use is better for my skin than any liquid soap we have.  It is a work in progress..

At least since I do all the cleaning I am completely in control of any cleaning products in the house (plus I seem sensitive to almost everything chemical anyway).  I sorted those years ago 

savingholmes

Well done on filling the freezer with home cooked goodies. That's amazing.

QueenJess

Urgh.  Practically didn't sleep at all last night with baby making me feel very sick (nice of her to just save it all for the night).  It means todays plan is basically to just survive the day really.  Will send DH out to put the baby car seat in the car though so I can tick that off the list.

Tried to explain earlier to DH we have a new kitchen washing up sponge to try (in case he got confused as it looks different) - it's washable and then compostable at the end of it's life.  Cue eye rolling from DH and questions on why this sponge is "different".  I hate washing up as I'm short and it makes my back hurt to reach the sink (they always put them too far away for me), plus being pregnant means I am a stupid distance away, so DH is in charge of washing up at the moment.  Also put a load of washing on including the new washable kitchen towels.  When they're dry I can explain those to DH... that'll make his weekend 

Finally sold the last bit of furniture on eBay and so will package it up over the weekend.  Looking forward to getting back to normal clothes this summer.  I really need to sort out my wardrobe and probably have some clothes to get rid of (which will include my maternity clothes!), but put it off last year as it felt pointless whilst pregnant.  Going to give selling old clothes on eBay a go as I suspect the charity shops are overrun and won't want my stuff anyway.  It's less about the money and just that I want to save them from landfill.  Some of them have been worn to death and need to go to the fabric recycling.  Will deal with it over the next 6 months or so.  May need a few bits once I've figured out what I have/what fits, which I may as well get second hand online as well.

QueenJess

I should say that next week DS finishes nursery, parents arrive next weekend and then the week after is baby week.  So don't be surprised if I mysteriously disappear for a while pretty soon!