Managing Mat Leave

Lonelygambler

Hey - Checking in to say, I'm still reading. Keep up the good work. 

birdsfoottrefoil

Good to hear you progress. Months with lots of birthdays in are a bit of a pain (I know that sounds misery-ish!). Hopefully they’ll be lots of nice bits to go with them x

FacelessNumber

The month is going ok I think, just one more busy weekend to go! Need to do a money catch up.

Very much trying to use stuff up and clear stuff out at the moment, as the end of mat leave feels very close and I want to be as organised as possible before then!

Currently have a few things earmarked for a charity, a box full to go on vinted and a few things for the tip. 

It's neverending with kids stuff as we know we aren't having any more now so trying to get rid of things as we go along!

Aimingforthegoodlife

You are so organised, you do so much every month and with little ones! Well done you, your hard work has seen you be able to afford the pay reduction, fab work!

FacelessNumber

Aww thank you. I'm very fortunate to have a very chilled out baby which makes it easier! Also I know when I'm back at work there'll be no time for anything so trying to be as on top of it as I can!

FacelessNumber

Haven't done an update for a while. We've spent a lot more this month - we've been away, a few years payments come out in October, and we've all been unwell and therefore spending more on convenience food because we can't be bothered to cook.

Will be doing an end of the month money sort out soonish so will update then! Minimums have continued being paid to debt, and we've taken out £200 less than I budgeted from savings thanks to a couple of kit days, although that may change.

Also starting to think about Xmas and birthdays coming up, it's going to be an expensive run in to Xmas just as I'm only on statutory maternity pay.

FacelessNumber

For once I'm actually here with an update when I said I would be! I've had to transfer an extra £60 from savings to cover a subscription but we've drawn out 860 this month instead of the 1000 I had budgeted. Our savings are actually still just above where I aimed for them to be to cover the whole of mat leave so we're in a good position there. This means approx 1k above my forecast at this point if that makes sense! Hoping to keep it this way as we're going to have a tight few months paying for nursery until my oldest goes to school next year.

I have a couple of other savings pots too:
Car Replacement - currently £300ish - I'm putting 50 a month in here, knowing it won't be enough to replace the car when it needs to be replaced but hoping it lasts at least another couple of years which would give me 1500 towards the cost of a replacement. We may also need to buy a second car, as my partner has a company car but may have a new job in the next year which means we'll have to buy another.

Holiday - currently £400ish - I'm just putting bits and pieces in this pot at the moment, things I sell etc. We have one holiday booked and paid for for next year, but hoping to do a last minute one in the UK as well, and also I'm hoping to take my husband away for a weekend for his birthday so will keep adding to this as I can to help with the cost.

Now onto our debts:
Card 1 0% - 399 - we're currently paying 25 a month off this one (the minimum is 14). This is interest free until January so will be down to 349 by then and we will just pay it off with savings.
Card 2 0% 2590 - currently paying 30 a month off this one (minimum is 25.90). This one is interest free until February, at which point I will try to get another 0% balance transfer with 0% fee. We should have just about enough to clear it but would rather keep the cash available to us to cover the period of no pay. If we can't get a no fee balance transfer we'll need to weigh up what the best option for us is at that point.
Family Loan - 9800 - this is ticking down at 50 a month, once we're back up and running with both of us at work we will up this again to 100.

So we're in a good place overall, but I'm trying to keep spending down to hopefully mean we'll still have a savings buffer when we get back to work rather than back to 0. We have 6 months of high costs with nursery to get through before things start to improve so I'll be hanging around here for a while still!

Lonelygambler

Good to see you checking in. 

I hope everyone is feeling better. 

FacelessNumber

Wow it's been a while! All ok money wise here, everything is still ticking along. I'm now back at work and my partner is off, we think we have enough to cover it all so still just generally trying not to overspend too much.

Christmas is mostly organised too, a few more bits to order but it's all budgeted in. Hope everyone else is doing ok!

FacelessNumber

Had a bit of a money catch up yesterday, all looking pretty good, I think we have about 2k more in savings than we need to get through my partner's leave. 

Had my first full pay this month which was lovely and included some kit days so about 400 more than normal which will go straight into savings.

Debts:
Family 6700 - this has had a chunk taken off it as was kindly gifted an amount towards it.
CC1 349 - the 0% deal ends on this one next month so will be clearing this completely
CC2 2530 - only been paying 30 a month to this one whilst on mat leave but it's on 0% until February. Hoping to get another 0% no fee card for this one, but if not CC1 sends a lot of balance transfer offers for about a 3% fee so that might be an option. 

Savings: 
Main account 5.5k
Car 415 -  I've started a separate account to start saving towards a new car - mine has 2-3 years at least still but we might need a new one for my partner and have nothing saved apart from this. 50 a month going in here currently. 
Holiday 437 - this has just had extra bits going in it, vinted sales etc. We're going to get away a couple of times next year so I need to add more to this monthly now I'm back to work. 

Goals: 
*Finish parental leave period with 3k still in main saver - we'll need to take 3k out so this would require finding 500 to go back in. Stretch goal would be 3.5k.
*Holiday fund up to 750 - I've got about 80 in my vinted account so need to find 250 to put in here.

I think this will do until March when I'll do another review - double childcare fees then kick in for 6 months so will just be getting through it until that starts to drop again when our eldest goes to school!