Jane's Family Struggles To A Happy Family

janegresty

Ok... firstly if this is in the wrong place, or I am not allowed to do a diary style thread... then I apologise. By doing this I am hoping to achieve support and encouragement through my time of change... and to possibly help anyone who is going through simular.
Some may see my life as perfect already... but it has taken me alot of hard work and effort to get to where I am now. And I feel I am getting ever so close to a debt free, financial unstressful and happier lifestyle.
I will go through some rough time and some good times.. and what better way that to de-stress by pooring my thoughts out into writing.

A bit about me. In February 2008 me and my husband married. Before this we have £8k debt (MIL has now been kind enough to pay this off for us, and we are now repaying her monthly by £250 a month).
We had been trying for a baby for 2 years with no luck. After alot of heartache and mithering the doctor he finally sent us to the fertility clinic to be diagnosed/tested etc.
They then put me on 50mg of Clomiphene. The first month the treatment worked, but I did not concieve. The second month through lots of tears I was very doubtful. And then my wonderful *big fat positive* arrived.
So after trying for 2 years and 2 months here I am now 6 and a half months pregnant.

We lived in a 2 bedroom private rented house. It has mould and damp upstairs in the bedrooms and bathrooms and when it rained water dripped down the walls. We phoned the landlord daily and nothing was done, so we then got in touch with environmental health. Long story short 2 years later and after 6 months of sleeping downstairs in the living room on a sofa bed, still nothing had been done!!!
So 2 weeks ago we finally managed to save ourselves a deposit and find another private rented property that would allow pets (we have 2 dogs). For only £25 extra per month than what we were already paying, we now have 1 extra bedroom, a driveway and a back garden. Plus the area is much less rough.

So.. what is my goal for this diary type thread? To cut my spends down as much as possible. To pay off MIL as soon as possible. And to provide the best life possible for our baby boy.
I have the rest of this week working full time, and then 4 more weeks after that. Then my maternity leave starts. So my wage will reduce dramatically, and the demand of spending more will be required once our Jaiden bump arrives into the world early August.
So I will be keeping a record of all money spend and all money saved (lets hope theres some lol).

So far we have spent... £630 on a new car (much needed as other one had to be scrapped, but got £260 for the parts. And needed to get hubby to work and back so that we have a full time wage coming in).
£56 spend on a 28 day bus pass... which is a saving of £15.
Weekly shop we spent £70 (normally would spend £100)

So anyone who has any tips on how to save myself some pennies, or how to motivate myself more with my goals etc.

I have started a bit bottle full of change, so will count that at the end of each month, and that can be savings for our baby boy.

Apologies again if I have posted this thread in the wrong place. Jane.

elona

Jane

Have you already had a look on the Old Style board?

There are threads on cheap and healthy meals, making your own soap powder,using cheap bubble bath as a hand wash refill, etc. etc.

There is one thread in particular that tries to compare American thriftyways with British and the poster manages on about £120 for three months on food as a couple.

I am not suggesting you want to cut down to that extent but it has some good ideas.

I am just going to have another look to find her recipes for lentil pate,liver pate etc.

I have just put a lentil soup in our slow cooker for tonight. it will make about six litres of soup for about £1.50. I might make a loaf of bread in the breadmaker later or just make my own rolls instead (9 large rolls for about 35p!)

elona

weezl74 is the person who started the thread I mentioned if you are looking for the info.

Hope this helps.

SammyD_2

Just a thought, but it sounds like you are starting your maternity leave at the beginning of June for baby due 8 August - is it possible for you to start the leave a bit later, giving you a full wage for longer? I know it is really hard to work for so long, but I did with both my pregnancies, and was glad I did for the money...if you are well, perhaps it is something to consider?

Also, your food bill does seem high for two, but as elona said, a few trips to the OS board will help with that!

Best of luck, I will enjoy watching your progress...!

janegresty

I will have a look at the old style board.
I am starting my maternity on 2nd June, as have very bad spd. I have to get 2 buses to work and 2 buses home and a short walk, so don't think I will be able to manage after 2nd June as I am getting quite big already lol.

The £70 we spent on shopping will hopefully last us more than a week. It was our first shop from moving in, so needed everything. But bought all the cheapies etc.

I will spend far less once our hob is fixed (has a gas leak when we moved in and it was condemned... have someone giving me a quote in the morning, then just need to ok with landlord for work to be done). And then I'll be cooking proper meals in big pans, and putting some in the fridge or freezer for future meals

Also any suggestions on whether its better to return to full time work once maternity runs out and pay for child care costs or to just work part time and only pay partial child care costs?

arthur_dent_2

Can I just say congratulations, you are going to have a small thing to look after. Wooo hooo.
Ask yourself whether you really need something before you buy it and go through a statement of accounts honestly. Make sure you have the best deals on everything.

essexgal

Hi Jane :hello:

Worth joining your local freecycle group - there always seem to be people freecycling baby equipment/clothes/toys on ours - and if pennies are tight this will help enormously.

Can't help on the 'going back to work' question, except don't forget to factor in all the extra 'costs' of going back to work - buses, lunch, work clothes, office collections, etc. You might find it balances out to stay at home and shop/cook/old-style......

Good luck.

essexgal

janegresty

LOL I am an addict to FREECYCLE!! We actually have all the baby things we need now believe it or not (apart from tons of baby wipes etc).
Most was given to us.. and 2nd hand to me is good as gets more use out of things. We got the cot cheap off ebay (£40 including covers, mattress etc), but will buy a new cheap matress for it from Ikea.
We bought the travel system pram 2nd hand for £35 with car seat included and rain cover etc. We got some Ikea shelving unit thingys when they were on offer and also 10 packs of nappies when they were on offer.
Everything else has been given to us free, which I'm very grateful for and has helped me out tons

miemie

Hi Jane
Congratulations on the baby, When my 2 were babies instead of using baby wipes i used old face clothes and old towels cut into squares and only used wipes when i went out anywhere it worked out much cheaper.

Good luck

pebbles88

Hi Jane,

congrats on the baby!

we are looking to try for kids at the end of the year, and i posted on here about the most MSE ways to do it. (not the trying for kids part but looking after them LOL)

I was astounded at the amount of people who advised against wipes due to all the chemicals in them (apparently a lot of decorators swear by them for removing paint from their equipment :eek: ) and also it seems quite a few babies have had allergies to them.

a lot of people said that the best way is to use flannels/towels etc all cut up and just use warm water. I certainly will be going down this route as its much cheaper!!!

HTH

misspenny

check and see if your local council does free reusable nappy pack many do a few
washable nappy good to try out to see if you like them washables work out cheaper i think and you can keep them for as many kids as you have.