Our forever home

bellevie

Home insurance switch complete.

Bank account cashback 2.49 so far this month, annoyingly I forgot to do last weeks foodshop on there should have been a little more by now!

Two weeks left at work then the countdown starts, I hope to have a couple of weeks resting before any dates are booked hospital wise but i know thats out of my control so just need to see how that pans out.

Hopefully this pay day should be in increased wage and back date, plans made to finish off any outstanding payments, buy a breast pump and the rest goes into savings which will be helpful if I need extra bits whilst on maternity leave.
I get occupational maternity pay for a little while so it's around April time I expect to drop to smp. I have managed to leave a small 'allowance' in my monthly budget for a few activities when I'm off with baby but not enough to cover bigger things like clothes for me if I don't get back into my old bits, haircut pre return to work etc. So it'll be peace of mind knowing if I need something I have money set aside.

Almost 34 weeks my wedding ring is becoming too tight think it'll need to come off soon. Hopefully not for too long!

Baby seems well, growing on track so far, and active, we are all so excited to meet him! It's going to be such a lovely Christmas.

This weekend DH is planning to fit a worktop in the utility above our spare freezer, washing machine and tumble dryer. 
He plans at some point to lay some level flooring in there which will be useful  its an uneven rough concrete floor, haven't even attempted to wash it! I think it used to be a coal room of sorts, but it has the wider door so I think will be easier to wheel the pram into rather than our main door. It could be made really nice but hadn't been a priority for us  its mainly used to dry clothes in and store bits in.

DH has ordered a small shed to move his tools from utility into which he's excited about. It isn't going to be his main area, just pure storage. Long term he has plans for a huge shed at the back of the garden but that'll cost a fair bit as work needs doing to the garden itself so it's got to be saved for.

 He seems to be going through a nesting stage getting the last outstanding works sorted 😊
I think nesting hit me last week, I deep cleaned the kitchen, windows, oven the lot. Really felt it by Sunday though was aching all over. So this weekend I'll go a bit easier!!

bellevie

5 working days left, whilst it's been a little easier than when I had dd in the days pre home working I'm still very ready to stop come Friday!

Hopefully will have a couple of zen weeks before he makes his arrival but will see, I'm carrying very low and feel ready to burst.

It's been an expensive week, our washing machine broke as did our hoover. 
Thank goodness for black Friday prices but still annoying timing spends wise. We went for the ones with the best warranties we could find and best efficiency, hopefully allow us to save money in the long term.


I had a 20% voucher offer from a supermarket so ordered from there, wound up spending £7 under budget but managed to include some drinks for dds upcoming birthday, nappies and wipes. That was pleasing!

We've ordered dog 2s food in a bulk 15kg bag, it was reduced price so will need to see how affordable it is at standard price compared to buying 2kg bags, I'd hope there is still a saving, will see.

Nursery wise we found one closer to home, it's initially more expensive than the one near my office but with blue light and nct discounts it brings it around the same as the nursery near work. It would be easier for DH when he helps with drop off.

 The work nursery would be a 40 minute round trip on my home working days, Id wind up working more at the office to save fuel but they are changing things, shutting off part if the building to save money so I might not always get a desk. On days I do, I guess I'd save on electric by working in the office. Pros and cons to both.

We've got viewings booked on my first week off so will see which setting feels right.

In preparation for monthly fluctuating pay, I wrote out a list of our joint account contributions to be sure all bills get covered, I don't envisage having much time to check my laptop so a quick glance list has been made. 

Washed our windows indoors this week, they are really old I could feel the cold coming through them, rust spots on frame mould spots need clearing every few weeks. They are steel 1st gen double glazing type. We decided we do need to prioritise the kids windows, keep the warmth in so hopefully will get those done imminently and the rest soon after, it might be a window or two a month depending on finances and DHs time.
Thank goodness for DH and his skills, so blimming amazing what he can turn his hand to, it will save us a fortune if he can fit them himself.

bellevie

Payday has been.
Cashback in one month on new account was £8.49, almost every debit card payment I made I put through this account, included joint and my purchases. 
Really happy with this amount, worked out more than I got for my S lite account. I think it's only for a year will be a bummer when that perk ends!

I have £20 vouchers from shop scan. Going to save them for post baby maybe a nice return to work blouse  or towards shoes when I need them.

Washing machine arrived looking forward to catching up on my washing hopefully get started tonight if DH is up to plumbing it in.

Very tired, I've worked out the longest I can lay down for a night is 4 hours then heartburn and or rib pain wakes me. I've varies helices, earlier and later, nothing changes.
Heartburn medicine, some stretches, 2 hours sitting straight then I can manage a couple more hours sleep before getting up for work.
 Still a bit pants broken sleep but I'll be able to catch up when I need to in 3 days! Until baby is here that us then ill be desperate for those 4 hours I've been getting!

Dd is off with a cold, I'm keeping my distance really do not want to catch anything now.

bellevie

I had a lovely goodbye lunch at work, a bring and share it was so lovely. They gave baby and I some lovely gifts, felt so emotional!

36 week scan, placenta still too low so going ahead with c section, just waiting for the date.

As baby is growing nicely and things seem to be good consultant was flexible re c section being between 38-39 weeks. 
I did have questionable sample and slightly high blood pressure, that's been sent off for further analysis if it comes back as pre eclampsia they'll be looking at week 37-38.

So still slightly unsure re dates but the decision re c section at least means that part is decided. I've been  reading lots, think I've packed appropriately.

Shopping budget higher this week, picking things up for a little buffet lunch for dds birthday she has 4 cousins over this weekend which will be nice. Have also been setting aside extras for Christmas, once the buffet bits have gone should free up space in the freezer for Christmas meat.

So yesterday was my first day off work, a bit full on 3 hours in hospital for all the meetings then a nursery viewing. 
Nursery we viewed is the cheapest and closest to work. It was a lot bigger than dds had been and seeing all the children there even at gone 5 I suddenly started to panic about the months of sickness we can expect. I know it's part and parcel of life, but it brought back so much remembering the weeks taken unpaid when my leave ran out. My hope is with two of us to share the burden we might miss out on a holiday but hopefully won't face taking time unpaid which would cause us serious problems very quickly.

Viewing another nursery Wednesday, then a decision needs to be made. There are lots of others but all completely unaffordable.

Not much more planned at all this week at least, I'm thinking of baking some gingerbread biscuits for dds birthday, and maybe some low carb cookies for me, will see how this week goes.

We've got a list of family asking to visit post baby, I'm reluctant to commit to dates until we have our date, even then I'm not sure I can commit, I remember struggling after the ectopic surgery, I can well imagine a c section will be a lot harder so I'm struggling to know how much time I'll need to recover before having people descend on us. Because they are not local they won't intend to really pop in for an hour which would be very manageable but stay a few days which is very different.

Dh was struggling to understand my viewpoint its caused some heated debates which is quite rare for us but I think he's coming around. I've just asked if we can wait until I'm home see how the recovery / feeding / sleep goes for the first week at least, ideally 2, before we commit to anyone staying overnight.

Hopefully things will work themselves out, so that everyone will be happy, time will tell!!

bellevie

Nursery viewing was great, I much preferred the 2nd over the 1st which was unexpected!
They've just put their standard day price up by £100 a month, but also introduced a cheaper shorter day, so if I adjust my hours to start earlier every day, finish early twice a week with a longer day 3 days a week, we can save a little money on forecasted costs.
Will need to check that with work, the do have flexible working in place we can pretty much choose start times as long as our contracted number of hours are worked, so hopefully it'll be approved. I'm not looking to cut my hours at all, just shuffle them around.

C section date in for between Christmas and new year. Mixed feelings about it all, but that would have happened regardless of the date given. I saw pros and cons to every date I considered. I do avoid being in over Christmas, and should be home before new year all being well.

I've been over spreadsheet adjusted grocery budgets for weeks after birth  planning easier meals and more of them with the visits we are expecting, hopefully I've been generous enough for DH to stick to if I'm out of action!

Dds birthday this weekend, her cousins were going to visit but have come down ill so it'll be quieter than planned. Shes going to go shopping with her friends, I had toyed with the idea of a sleepover but being close to my date I was worried if something goes off I could be making a dash to hospital whilst having all these kids in my house. So they planned to meet up in the morning for shopping, I'm going to suggest I buy her and her friends breakfast of their choice before they hit the shops.

Once her birthday is over, well, in the evening we will decorate for Christmas, it used to be the day after, but she does love putting Dec's up, so we compromise and agree to the evening of her birthday. I do like to make sure her birthday is seperate to Christmas.
That's what's a bit crappy about little man's birthday, I can already see he will be 'lost' in those days between and new year, bless him. The only thing I can think of will be for birthday parties bringing them to before Christmas, or in the new year. I'm sure we will work things out.

Kakiste

Glad to hear you've found a nursery you like, bonus that their shorter day will lead to you being able to save some money (with the adjustment of your work days) 

However as a counter point, the timing of your baby's birthday will also mean that seasonal things like pop up ice skating rinks/winter wonderland style funfairs will be a possibility for birthday parties at the end of primary school/secondary school.

Plus he'll always be on school holidays for his birthday (speaking as someone with an August birthday that is a massive plus!) 

How did DD's birthday go? Is your house all christmassy?

bellevie

Yes thats true, my colleagues daughter had a Christmas birthday and she said she always makes a point of finding an event as a birthday outing. 

She had a great birthday, we got the tree up, stockings out and a few lights for the evenings, the countdown to Christmas is now on for us!

bellevie

Dds last day at school today, her Welsh cousins don't finish until next Friday, so she will be back at school when they visit in the new year annoyingly.

Larger shop done this week most for delivery on Saturday, but I also managed to pop into tesco yesterday to pick up a few things. Christmas meat, frozen veg, nappies etc.

I got doubles of the things I could like filtered milk, butter. Trying to make any top up shops dd and dh need as simple as possible. Looks like they'll need fresh bread, fruit, veg, sandwhich fillings, they can always pick up pizzas or ready meals if freezer runs low before next shop.
Dd will be fine she would eat pasta daily given half a chance. DH likes meat and 2veg type dinners, but won't cook much more than beans on toast if he's just cooking for himself.

Had an email the new online bank account savings interest rate is going up again, nice to receive a positive email. Less cashback so far this month just generally spent less with being at home and Christmas shopping finished. That said I did buy a couple of small bits on amazon and forgot to put it through that account.

We decided to downgrade our netflix to 1 screen save a few £s there  and have cancelled Disney. 

Scary watching the smart meter. Yesterday, 1 load of washing, occasional heat top ups with electric heater spent £4.95 on electric, but gas was £13!! The gas has been set to 16 overnight, I upped it to 18 around 6am, dropped it back to 17 when dd and DH left for work. Kept it at 17 until they got home around 5 then put it up to 18 until we went to bed at 10.  I dread to think what it would have cost at last years 22 degrees.

I've been wearing jumpers cardigans and putting on my dressing gown when it gets too much. Strange being 9 months pregnant and freezing.
When baby is home the temperature will stay at 18 over night which might see our bills rise a bit more.

I'm sure it's because it's been colder out the house is harder to heat as on milder days we've spent between £5-8 a day. It's such a difference to last winter when I panicked at dreading £5-6 daily on gas at weekends. I still panick now but am resigned to knowing there's not much we can do. 

Will see now next week when it gets a little milder.
We've bought a heavy curtains to put at our front door. The door itself is much better but when it's been minus outside I can feel the cold on the glass panels either side of the door. No draft but I'm sure it contributes. 

There is a definite draft at kitchen window so I keep the kitchen door to keep the cold in there.

Dds room is a puzzle coldest room by far, we've checked the loft there's lots of insulation, she has a big radiator that fires up well, heavy curtains. Just always feels cold. I wondered if its the size of her window it is huge. DH has windows arriving early Jan so will work on getting those fitted when he can. In the meantime she tops up with a little oil filled radiator at night which seems to help.

Today I'm trying to knock it back down to 16 via gas, will use the electric heaters to boost which ever area I'm in, see if that makes any difference at all.

bellevie

Milder days and hurray our daily charge for gas /electric has dropped to 7/8 for the past couple of days. So on minus days it costs an extra £10 a day.

I'm so thankful we are both in work, I look back 13 years ago when I had a year out of work following our relocation, on a £25 food budget, our electric bill was at the time 90 a month, I'd never have been able to afford anywhere close to what we are paying now. I remember turning off storage heaters as they were so expensive and using standalone heaters which somehow worked out much more affordable.

38 weeks now, a week until we meet little one. Becoming very uncomfortable finding myself wishing the days away, but at the same time pretty terrified of the op and recovery.

The bugs going around have freaked me out, I've made clear to DH no visitors with colds / coughs, he looked at me like I was mad, said its the middle of winter.

I remember rushing dd to hospital when she was tiny struggling to breathe through a bad cold, not an experience I want to repeat, especiallywith hospitals being as they are. He's very relaxed about things like that, whereas I'm probably over protective but not something I'd back down on with a newborn.

We had a very lucky escape just a week ago family were due to visit, cancelled the day before, thank goodness only one was ill but over the past week all 6 of them from youngest age 3 to parents have succumbed to the flu. That would have been a blimming nightmare.

Hopefully everyone will be well when they visit, or make sensible decisions and it won't lead to uncomfortable conversations.

Payday fast approaching, we've managed the joint bills relatively well but still a little tight. Will need to stick to a strict budget to get through the next 9 months.

bellevie

Updated overpayments, up to 450 now, will check total interest paid on last day of the year and starting balance if I can.

No huge savings goals planned for next year, just tucking what we can away as and when we can.

Our main focus is keeping an account topped up for possible car works and building up our advance childcare fees.

Everything else just needs to tick over.

Dog 1s let insurance renews in Jan, it's due to go up £5 a month, I've found some cheaper prices around the same we are paying now so I've diarised to get that changed early new year  starting as we mean to go on!