A new royal start

savingholmes

Hope you got some sleep

QueenJess

DD tried to trick me into a false sense of security by sleeping for 8 hours straight overnight and then continuing to be a pain since then. Luckily I am onto her game..

Since DD was ill I was woefully behind on everything. I’ve made a huge effort to get myself sorted and tick as many things off the to do list as possible. The living room revamp is still in progress, but very close now. I’ve taken a break as I have decision fatigue. The kitchen spring clean is pending too, but I need to get back to it this weekend.

I’ve achieved loads of my to do list and I felt very disconcerted this morning to find I hadn’t got any washing to do and I’d already put all the clothes away! Been a while since that’s happened! As it’s the run up to the end of the year, I usually try to blast through everything on the long list so I can start the new year with a clean slate. Lots still left to get done..

Started worrying about going back to work and how I’m going to manage. I keep trying to tell myself the worst case is I have to manage for a year and then quit. Will have to contact them soon so I can figure out childcare arrangements. The difficulty will be going to the office as it is a monster commute. I really hope I can work from home a lot. Will see what they say…

As it comes to the end of the year, I start reassessing finances, doing the budget for next year and amending goals etc. I have decided that it is currently more important to me to put money in my pension than overpay the mortgage since DH is able to overpay the whole allowance himself come Feb. I want to get to my pension goal of my minimum pension amount (with growth factored in) ASAP and then I can work back from that. Means if I didn’t work I would still have an ok pension and just need to fund until 57. If I did work I would start saving in my ISA and doing mortgage overpayments, whilst reducing pension to the max employer match. Will then buy me holidays and stuff in retirement.

That’s the theory for now and so I am currently putting extra cash in my SIPP. I’m not too far away from my goal - it is frustratingly close, but somehow also quite far!

Better get back to the list of things to do. been buying lots of odd things that made their way up the list (reusable baby wipes, toothbrushes etc). Will actually get round to opening DD’s ISA this week as my parents want to do a monthly contribution. That’s been in the list for ages!

savingholmes

Glad you've been able to get some stuff done. I hope sleep improves for you soon. I promise this stage doesn't last forever. 

It's a difficult one knowing what to do about work and childcare. Let's say I'm not a natural earth mother - and I genuinely think I did my kids a favour by working and paying for childcare. It certainly helped their social skills and helped me appreciate the time I did spend with them. I do think part time hours are great if you can get them - even if it is just for the first year or so.

QueenJess

Oh yes, childcare is a headache, but it seems harder with school now involved. Nursery is relatively simple in comparison.

I will go back full time just to start with, but I suspect I will be requesting part time within that first year. Worst case is they refuse and I still have to work for that year as it would be difficult to pay back my maternity pay. At least I will have two years of holiday to use in one year, which will make things a bit easier!

Even if I wasn’t working I would want DD to go to nursery as they can do much more than I can. The social skills are a major thing for sure. The difference would be that she wouldn’t be there full time out or as long days.

I just remember being full time with DS and how much I hated it as I felt like I never saw him. I would love to work 2 days a week, but I doubt anyone would let me do that. I am hoping for 3 days spread over 4 days so I can do school hours. I just need to see how it all goes and just save as much as I can in case I decide to quit altogether.

savingholmes

At my company after DD I was able to do part time phased return for 3 months and then used holidays to create a 1 day a week off for a considerable period.

QueenJess

savingholmes said:

At my company after DD I was able to do part time phased return for 3 months and then used holidays to create a 1 day a week off for a considerable period.

I did think about that, but I’m thinking I might prefer to use my holidays for the school holidays so I don’t have to send DS to holiday camp all the time.

Of course, they may require me to use it up. Last time I did 3 days a week until it was used up. This is why I need to contact them really. So many things I need to know so I can make some decisions. The biggest thing is location as it is far away. If I can work from home most the time it is a game changer because then they’ll be flexible on when my hours get done in the day. My immediate manager has young children too, so I’m sure he’ll be reasonable. 

savingholmes

Sounds like a plan. If I remember rightly - yours is a bit of a shortage skill so hopefully they will be more flexible.

QueenJess

savingholmes said:

Sounds like a plan. If I remember rightly - yours is a bit of a shortage skill so hopefully they will be more flexible.

Well the problem always is the wider company who are not nice people - plus apparently the main boss is being replaced. They’ve never liked people working from home, but it used to be fine for me as I reported straight to the US so they never cared. Now I report to the UK and actually have colleagues in the UK it may be different. Who knows really..

QueenJess

Right, I have completely fallen off the wagon the last few months and horribly so this month. We have never sorted the living room (we’ve lived here 6 years) and I had saved a bit of money towards it, but I’ve spent so much more than that it’s making me feel a bit sick. I avoided looking at the card until now to be honest and it’s a bit scary. We can pay it, so not a disaster from that point of view and I did desperately want a lovely relaxing room for adults in the evening, which I now have. However, I went a bit mad..

Need to completely refocus now. I’m drawing a line under it all. If I want to potentially be only a one salary household, I need to act more like it. I do have a to be really good for a long time and then spend loads in a short amount of time and then be good again. Don’t think I’ve ever managed to find that happy medium.

I’m going to slowly go through budgeting for next year, although much is unknown with how much childcare will cost (probably 2x my mortgage 😱, but I have to work through all the details).

My laptop is now so old that I can no longer update the software on it. So I am going to have to replace it (I previously planned that for next year). I can take it out my EF, but I’m going to have to replace that. I’m currently reviewing what I need in a laptop. I’ve realised though that I do need a fund for phone and laptop each month to build up. Doesn’t need to be much, but will get that in my new budget now so I don’t have this problem next time.

I am also worried about my car - it’s all working fine and in great condition, but it is 8 years old. I do have an EF that will cover a replacement, but it would wipe me out. So I am going to start a fund for a car in the budget, although I know it won’t be enough, there will be something there.

Other changes will include more money to spend on myself as guilt free purchases to try and stop my no spend, overspend cycle. Usually I end up cancelling these altogether to save more.

I’m going through my personal rather than the joint budget as it’s a lot less scary. I will be doing a thorough review and see if I can cut any bills anywhere. I will also try and calculate my required saving for next year and work backwards to see what my overall (personal + joint) budget should be. I’ll then see how sensible it all is…

MSE actions today:
- I was watching some second hand books online for DD for Xmas, but then I realised I sent the in laws a list for DS to choose from, but nothing for DD as I wasn’t sure what to suggest. I’ve now sent them the books as a suggestion as they probably haven’t bought anything yet. Money saved 🙂

Lots more money updates to come as I work through all of this!

savingholmes

Well done for facing it and coming up with a plan. Could you do bank account switches for extra£?