FTM on a mission

Abz12

I have spent the evening scrutinising my bank statement from last month and have found the following;
I spent 103.68 on food shopping out of a budgeted 200
I spent 146.59 on baby clothes shopping (all babygrows and vests for a couple of months)
I spent 48.91 on takeaways (which annoys me because i also use my 100 Monzo allowance for takeaways/meals out)
I spent 45 on the gardener (this has now gone and not every month)

On the advice and suggestions on here i will cancel the lottery, window cleaner, nails from November (i have already paid deposit for October)
Total monthly saving from cancellations 106

This month i am also due to be paid back 55 from a friend i lent money too.


Extra earnings so far

PA - 31.79 ready to cash-in/ 24.98 pending (this is from leaving the tab open for the last 24 hours and doing surveys as they appear)
Swagbucks - 4253 SB (aiming for 7250 which is 50 paypal cash)
Yougov - 220 points until i can redeem 50
Yougov Direct - 16.70 ready to cashout
Topcashback - 62.14 ready to cashout / 25.22 pending (usually save for xmas)

Emergency fund 

825.33, aiming for 1000.

What would everyone suggest i do with the extra money this month, pay down debt or save for maternity leave? I think my priority should be maternity leave. I have also signed up to an online focus group, after reading someone elses diary. I have only applied but if im accepted its 50 with a 20 bonus!

I'm not very good with numbers (if that wasn't obvious already) so i hope the above makes sense. According to my calculations this month i should have 316.19 left over. I don't know how but if everything that i have budgeted for comes out then this should be the case. 

Thats all for now, writing it out really does help get my head around it. Bring on October!

Abz12

Thank you both for your kind words and encouragement. You don't understand how much i really appreciate it right now. It puts things into perspective when you hear that they only get 6 weeks in the US! I think alot of it is peer pressure as majority of my friends are married and were able to take the year off, its like it should be the norm! 

Forward planning is a good idea and a nice little wake up call for me to sort out my finances before the baby comes. I'm seeing it as a challenge at this point. 

I will keep the DMP in mind, does this affect your credit rating overall? Must do some research on this over the weekend. Yes i agree, maybe it was a good thing that they declined to lend me the 20k i requested. It would've been additional pressure on mat leave. 

I am both excited and nervous about the baby! This seems trivial when i feel the movement. 

mumtoomany

Have you looked on Facebook marketplace for baby clothes? Vests, babygrows, etc from £1. Baby will not know if they are new or secondhand. He/she will only wear them a few times before growing out of them. mumtoomany

stymied

Hi! Don’t stock up on too many size 1 nappies (or any size before 4) because they’re not in them long. If you want to buy newborn clothes, just get one pack because they may never be in that size at all - don’t be afraid to take some back if you’ve already gone OTT. I’m still not convinced a posh changing bag is any more practical than a regular backpack with a travel changing mat in. The nesting instinct is strong so it is very hard not to buy all the super cute things out there! Also friends are likely to buy a lot of the 0-3 and 3-6 month items for you. Failing that there’s whole wardrobes of baby clothes on Marketplace for only a few pounds per size.

Is there anyone at your work who’s recently had their last baby? We received and gave a lot of hand me downs to and from work friends and neighbours. People desperately want to de clutter and have things reused.

I wonder if you could ask for a mortgage payment holiday?

Most of all, look after yourself x

mumtoomany

If you are saving swagbucks for cash. The best deal is to save 10,000 and buy $100 on paypal. The exchange rate means you get £73-£74 depending on the rate that day. This is the equivalent of around £53 for your 7250 points. Problem is it takes longer to save. Have you looked at the Swagbucks thread, on boast your income, for tips on picking up extra points? mumtoomany.

mumtoomany

Have you looked at the FREE postcode lottery? It's called pick my postcode. 20-30 postcodes picked a day. Only smallish prizes but up to several hundreds. And it's FREE! Might be worth singing up, still get the buzz of maybe winning, at no cost.

Abz12

Good Morning Diary...another week debt busting. My weekend was not very spendy with my new goal in sight to save for Mat leave. Saturday i mainly stayed in and tidied up the house, went out for breakfast with a friend (planned expense) and sunday had lunch with another (planned expense) I finally managed to get petrol woohoo!! Only spent the 40 of my planned 45 budget. That should last ages as i barely use the car in the week. I did a mini top up shop yesterday for milk and mince, i plan to make spag bol in the slow cooker today, this usually gives me tons of freezer meals and is delicious. 

@stymied thank you for the advice, i have done all my baby shopping now for vests and baby grows. I have stuck to 10 per size. Hopefully this will be enough! I don't think i have gone to crazy. I will heed your advice on the nappy storage, i currently have three packs of size 1 and a voucher for another so will collect that and stop. My friend also recommended the payment holiday as i do currently over pay my mortgage slightly. I will call them and see how long they can do as it may be worth me doing that later on when my mat pay is reduced. 

@mumtoomany i didn't know this existed will have a look at that. I don't usually use it but have some points so don't want to walk away from them. 

Plan today is to see if i can do any more PA surveys, currently have 44.65 ready to pay out with 18.24 pending. 

Have a good day all!

Abz12

Hello Tuesday. 

NSD yesterday!! Had my planned meals; Toast, chicken with rice for lunch and a spag bol from the slow cooker for dinner. I managed to get 6 meals out of the mince i brought so popped all that in the freezer for quick 'ready meals' I saw a lady online who buys a chicken crown and cooks it on a sunday then splits it throughout the week for lunch meals so i have done that also. I have added some greens for the baby :-) 

More surveys completed yesterday, now up to 52.50 payout with 19.97 pending. Not a lot i know but better than nothing. I have been reading up on some diaries and quite like the round up some do, it looks like it is very profitable especially to have just a spare pot if its needed. I have this feature on my Monzo account and save the roundups for xmas. I may start this next month, i want to see how i get on first in my new journey. 

I am trying to get into the habit of checking my bank account every morning, when i update the diary. According to my current balance and what i have left to pay out i should have 268.39 left over. If and i say if this happens i will round it up to 270 and put it towards my maternity fund. 

Have a good MSE day everyone.

castlelough

You are doing great! 

The mortgage break sounds like a good idea too, for when you are on mat leave. If you cannot have a break they might be able to lower the repayments in the short term to reflect the ops you have made (ie. keep the original term) then you could return to overpaying when you can afford to. 

Baby clothes wise I got so many gorgeous gifts on my first. She was almost decked out for the first year! So I would definitely hold off on a baby shopping spree once you have the basics. Mine live in babygros for the first 6mo with the odd outfit for a special occasion!

[Deleted User]

Hello, just wanted to mention as I don't think anyone else has that you can pay for childcare tax free so that's a 20% saving, and good luck!