Our forever home

Kakiste

That's really exciting! (top parenting tip- my daughter's favourite christmas present for her first two Christmases was a length of tinsel. Very MSE instead of pricey baby toys! ) 

bellevie

I remember dd playing with the wrappers and cardboard more for a while!
I went through old photos and she had a couple of teddies she liked, a musical ball she crawled after and a couple of sensory pram toys. She did love her walker from about 7 months though and would do zoomies up and down the livingroom!

Dd is another near Christmas birthday so I'd purposely buy some things she'd play with right away and others she'd grow into as the year went on, think I'll do the same with this little one.

bellevie

8 weeks left at work broken up midway with 3 days AL. All being well i'll have a couple of weeks breathing space then before things kick off.

Tiredness is setting in now, I feel heavy, achy and shattered. I am usually awake from.3.30, if I'm lucky will fall back asleep around 5 am but more often than not I'm awake for the day....then insanely tired mid afternoon.

The bag I had planned to use isn't big enough for the bits I need, so I sent DH in the loft last night to pull out a small case on wheels, planning to use that and one other bag for baby which can sit on top.

Plan to make a good start on that today, I have been collecting things up so it's just moving it over.

First this morning a long overdue brunch with friends, really looking forward to seeing them.
Its in town so can pop to the shops after for any missing bits for my bag, I can only think of cotton wool but will check my list before I leave.

It's a lot earlier than I planned for dd, but they've warned me of the high risk of bleedingand other complications and if that happens they could operate with very little notice.

Praying with all my heart we will be safe and baby stays tucked up warm until he's due, but I'd feel calmer being ready if there is an emergency.

We have a scan and consultation monday so hopefully will hear that if no improvement there's no worsening at least!

Mse wise I looked to set up another esavings to seperate things out, found my bank has a 3% interest if you save between 25-50 per month for 24 months, one of the better rates I've found for an esaver, the limit on how much to put in isn't a concern as it was just planned to be a separate savings account. I might then use my other account where I need to save more for childcare and this can be a separate pot. My childcare savings I can't really lock in as will need to practically empty the account when deposit and first month is due. Oh the joys of paying for childcare again 🙄 

We qualify for tax free childcare, but the tax on the monthly childcare is actually 350+ the amount they pay out is 2k per year ie 166 per month - that's nowhere near the tax!

Very misleading. I used vouchers deducted from my pay for dd which I'm sure was slightly better. I did move for a short time to tax free for the last year or so of her childcare needs but it was a necessity I think change of jobs meant it was the only option available to me.

I've heard they are reviewing things, I hope not to make it even more financially difficult but my confidence in this government is low, to put it mildly.

bellevie

Babies growth has stabilised, not growing ahead of time possibly because GD is under control or maybe he'll wind up being dinky like dd was.

We have another scan at 32 weeks where if placenta hasn't moved a c section date will be discussed for around 37 week mark, if it moves well out of the way and baby hasn't gotten too much smaller I'll have a 36 week scan then date could be booked for week 38/39.

I have one week at work then 3 days off in half term, it's truly needed 🙌 

My manager had said I can be moved to desk duties when I'm ready, at the time I didn't think I'll need it but now nearing the end I can see I definitely do, it's the breathlessness that gets me, iron levels OK so assume it's just that stage of pregnancy.

Planning to wrap up cases over the next couple of weeks then take on desk duties for the last 4/5 weeks.

Although it's crossed my mind too if the csection is brought forward I might bring my leave forward too, I want to try to get some rest before little one gets here, but dont want too much wasted time. Will see how the next scan goes.

Mse wise the last 2 weeks have stuck to just below budget by getting delivery opting for free delivery wherever I can get it. That leaves £10 spare for a top up which we nearly always dip into.

I wrapped up dds birthday presents yesterday, her birthday is in December, she will also have a cash amount to buy her own choice of things from one of her favourite online shops. We stuck to budget birthday wise thankfully. I am hoping we will fit in a nice birthday meal out too, but that all depends on hospital dates, the earlier 37 week mark is around her birthday so it's a waiting game. Dhs birthday is in January, he said if we don't get dds meal in, his restaurant of choice will be her favourite so she will still get a dinner out, it might be a few weeks later than planned.

Wrapped DHs Christmas presents too, we are moving our room around so didn't want him finding something.

Will aim to wrap dds Christmas presents over the next couple of weeks.

I feel a bit calmer already having my hospital bags packed, and most presents done there won't be a lot for dh to sort out if I have to go in for any reason. He'll just need to put food on the table, and between them both they can manage the laundry and light housework.


The weeks are flying by!

bellevie

Watching the news today my heart sunk in one respect, I've edited my spreadsheets to show what they could look like once bills go up in April, really depressing worrying viewing.

I know they are going to review help and some may be available but as 2 on ok salaries I'm not sure if we would qualify. I know it's just a waiting game but honestly my heart was racing just thinking about it!

With the childcare costs we worked out I'd be better off working nights in a lower paid role but I don't want to walk away from my training, I really do love my job so I'm hoping prices don't increase hugely between now and then. We were prepared for things to be tough but still breaking even (without clubs, holidays etc), but getting into debt if bills rocket just won't make sense.

Will have to keep a close eye on numbers and I guess hope for the best!

Kakiste

I'm hoping there is increased pressure on the government to step in and sort something out. I've still not put our heating on this autumn and my bills have continued to rise. 

bellevie

First time in a while I've remembered to check our mortgage account on 1st.
Balance is showing at £271,371.37. £15471.73 paid so far this year in normal and overpayments. Minimal overpayments to be honest, but something has got to be better than nothing.

Enjoyed a couple of quiet days in half term before family descended for a visit. I done as much as I was able to with them but by the end of the stay had to quite firmly decline joining any more walks. Lovely to have them but would have been easier a month or two ago.

23 working days left at work assuming no changes following scan next week.
Lighter workload has been agreed, I say lighter I mean physically lighter not at all mentally lighter but should be achievable over the next few weeks, so grateful my workplace are flexible, would be different if I were in a hospital setting I have a feeling.

Dd has started to get the bus in mornings, I am immensely thankful she's being so good about it. Most days I wake around 2-3am, dont get back to sleep until around 5-6, I was starting to feel quite groggy trying to drive her in at 8, her bus is at 7.45 20 minute walk away so she has to be ready a good 45 minutes ahead of time. Such a gem she is. That extra time in bed for me makes such a difference, I wake with a bit more energy.

I need to have dh move the rocking chair from babies room to our room. He only decided to tell me the other day it was difficult to get in there, but I'll need it for those night feeds and am finding my 2-3 hours awake in the night I'm going to sit in that chair to relieve the pressure on my ribs, would be easier if it was in our room so need to get it moved somehow.

Need to add a few more things to our hospital bags, plan to get dh involved in those he pretty much left me to it when I first packed them preferring to be on his blimming xbox. That's a habit that's going to need to ease off a bit.

Mse wise cancelled home insurance it was due to go up £4 a month, but a quick online search showed better prices. I called to see if they could match the quote on comparison site and was spoken to for a good hour on how downgrading the package was a risk, well actually having some insurance is better than none and its one of the few bills this year I can prevent from riding so after a frustrating hour I asked them to cancel the renewal and said I'd be in touch if I decide to take their advice.

Our broadband provider wrote to offer an early renewal price 6 months ahead of time at £5 more than we pay now advising that if we wait until the end of term prices will be higher. I have no intention of paying more so warned DH we may well move to another provider. 

Everyone wants more more more where it literally doesn't exist, its becoming very irritating!

bellevie

After my down beat irritable post, dh surprised me, he was raring go do to sort the hospital bags and moved the chair! Such a difference, made me instantly calmer. He's a good one really.

I watched martins show and discovered an account I hadn't heard of, app based with 1% cash back on debit card spends in the first year and a linked 2.1% easy access account.
Quick sums working out our debit spends grocery, fuel etc the cashback will be well worth it, less hassle than switching direct debit changes etc. The interest rate is better than a couple of others I have so I'm thinking put our initial childcare and emergency savings in there make it go a little further! It was set up within 5 minutes.

I know the cashback is only for a year, but could still remain useful as a budgeting account after that time especially if linked savings rates are good.

So all in all yesterday improved very quickly and unexpectedly!

bellevie

Mse wins: saved £2 per month on home insurance, that's £2 on old price, £6 per month on what would have been the new price. We've gone with our bank they had a good no claims bonus and membership discount.

Made my first card payment from new account, it was actually to clear a balance on an online shop account, £1 pending cashback so far!

Saved money on one dogs food with a repeat delivery via amazon, will need to monitor that make sure the price doesn't change overnight.

Our dog groomer was a home visiting groomer, she's stopping now so we are going to put to good use that clipper set we got in lockdown and practice. If we can get to grips with it, it would save us 60 every 8 weeks. We were debating seeing if we could do it ourselves a few weeks ago, but we were unsure. When we found out she was stopping seemed the ideal time to get a move on. 

Work wise we've had what I feel is a good payrise, compared to last years shocking 1.5%, it's going to be backdated this payday to April, so that'll be a welcome boost to our emergency fund. We also gain an extra day's annual leave, that's a very welcome increase. I had lost a couple of days when I moved teams as I dropped down the payscale.  I'm anticipating remembering how poorly dd was at nursery that most of my AL will be used to cover baby sick days for the first year at least.

Although I was thinking with dd being at school he might build up some sort of immunity before starting school. Time will tell.

4 weeks left at work now

bellevie

Cashback building has started on new account, £1.85 to date it comes through so quickly!

With planned grocery shops and a couple of planned purchases I'm expecting another £3 this month at least great news!