Managing Mat Leave

FacelessNumber

Managed 8.5k steps on Tuesday but have dropped down the last 2 days, must try and do better with this, although today I've had a poorly baby as an excuse!

Not much else to report money wise, just ticking over until the end of the month for now. Pay will be reduced from this month so waiting to see what I'll get paid for the next few months. Got a couple of purchases to make so do need to do a money catch up to check I can sort them this month or if I need to wait a few days!

FacelessNumber

Haven't been updating here in the last week, had both kids at home for half term so it's been busy!

Monthly money sort out happened yesterday, we have increased our savings by £400 meaning we were £900 over what our target. We're getting some work done on the house that will cost £600 so kept some aside for that and paid £200 off our holiday, leaving £195 left to pay (due in August).

Another £16 added to the holiday savings for next year, we're at £93 with £25 cash hanging around that I need to bank and put in there too. Hopefully once I start getting baby clothes and mat clothes on vinted I'll be able to increase it more quickly.

Pay has dropped down now, so definitely need to watch our spending a bit more over the next few months.

I also looked at new mortgage rates, we were thinking of extending the term to keep the monthly payment the same, but we've decided to suck up the extra £120 a month as once my eldest goes to school we can afford it without any problems. Before we click the button though we're just waiting to see what happens with my husband's job, as we don't want to be tied in for 5 years if we can't afford it!

FacelessNumber

Haven't checked in all week again, been chipping away at the list though!

*Tax return almost done, just need to pop into work tomorrow to sort out my login so I can access my P60
*£500 refund coming from energy company, need to decide what's best to do with that money
*Finally got a few things listed on Vinted, still an awful long way to go though

Goals for this week:
*Get back into the gym, have had a week off but have been running a bit instead 
*Clean windows - did one yesterday, hoping to do one a day(ish) - deep clean of the frames, not just the glass
*List more things on vinted

Husband is away for a few days this week so I need to be extra organised!

Lonelygambler

Hey - How are the young ones doing?

£500 refund - in the emergency fund? Should you be adjusting your DD paymemt?

Looking forward to the updates. 

FacelessNumber

I have been terrible at updating, things are getting busier! Thanks for stopping by @Lonelygambler.

Savings are where they need to be to cover the loss of earnings from mat leave. We are a bit above what we need but probably need to start thinking about renewing our usual emergency fund as well.

I'll do the numbers at the end of the month, but we're looking set to add a bit more to it, we have spent some this month though on a weekend away and a roof rack and roof box (needed now we have 2 kids and a dog to transport when we go away!)

I've sold a few things on vinted now and it's pretty straight forward. Not making loads of money but every little helps!

Next year's holiday fund is now at about £100 and credit cards and the family loan are steadily ticking down each month. So overall not much to report!

To do:
*Continue listing things on vinted
*Finish tax return (I think I should have £250ish that I can take out of my fund for tax)
*Finalise new mortgage - this will increase our payments by about £120 a month, but we've decided to go for it rather than increase the term which was our other option. We currently have 13 years left on it.

FacelessNumber

Well we had a lovely weekend away, didn't worry about spending so will see where we're at when I do a monthly review for June. Can't believe it's July already!

Bought something on vinted using the credit I've got from selling, and have transferred that amount to my holiday account. Will continue doing it this way I think. Still lots more to put on there too.

FacelessNumber

Did my month review yesterday. Everything ticking along well. Haven't needed to pull any savings out yet and actually still managing to put a little into savings every month.

Had a chat with my husband and we've decided to try and build up another 3k in savings so that after mat leave we haven't burned through all of it and still have a bit of a buffer.

Mortgage rate redone, we've gone fora 5 year fix as that was the lowest monthly payments, it would have to drop pretty dramatically for that to be a bad decision for us, I think our monthly payment is going up about £110 so not too bad. We considered making the term a bit longer but have decided we'll manage the higher payment instead.

Hope everyone's had a nice weekend and feeling set for the rest of the week!

FacelessNumber

I haven't been updating much as not much to report. We have enough money in savings to cover mat leave, now trying to build it up a bit further.

Have opened a chase account to get 5.1% on savings until January. Continuing with vinted, have sold about £45 of stuff on there so far. I'll keep going for now but probably won't bother once I go back to work and will just donate everything then.

Aimingforthegoodlife

I am always amazed at how motivated and proactive you are with a little baby, incredible! It is great to hear you have been able to manage the increase in mortgage, we extended the term as I knew it would be too much for us. Wish I had gone for a five year fix, as it isn't looking like the mortgage will be much lower next year! Boo! Good luck with the new saving goal!

FacelessNumber

Aww thank you! She is a very chilled baby which helps a lot! We went for a 5 year fix as it was the lowest per month and accept that we might lose out later but it would have to drop quite a lot for us to worry about that. We were lucky that we were fixed at a very low rate through the worst of the higher rates.

Managed to clear out a drawer yesterday so we've got a bag of clothes for the clothing bank, need to try and remember to take those today. Vinted sales have slowed down although there's still a lot on there, might be worth getting some more listed.