Trying to Save

That's how much we have left in the baby fund. Last night we went shopping, and I think we done quite well. We bought:

- an electric steam steriliser
- six bottles
- 2 big packs of newborn nappies (81 nappies in each pack)
- a changing mat
- 3 outfits
- pack of bodysuits
- a bouncy chair
- a set with baby nail clippers etc
- a box full of baby toiletries

I had two coupons for £1 off each box of nappies. All in all, we spent £110.50.

We've still got more to get. I need to check the list that I have to see what else we need.

I'll need to take some more money out of savings soon. Hubby thought he had enough money to cover everything when he input it on his spreadsheet but it didn't count all the columns. The money will be replaced soon though.

Speaking of spreadsheets, hubby set up one for MIL. He showed me it today when we were over. The first thing I noticed when I looked at it is that she's only included her bills in her monthly expenses, nowhere on the list did I see her budgeting for food shopping or petrol. I told hubby he may want to mention it to her. (I also noticed she's not saving anything each month but I kept quiet about that one)

Hubby told me that, without BIL's money, MIL would be struggling. Apparently with just her wages she's overspent by £40. It must be more than that though since she hasn't budgeted for everything. Not my problem though.

I went for a growth scan today, and baby is doing well. Right now baby weighs 4lb 6oz, at the last scan he/she was 3lb. That was four weeks ago.

I'm off to read your blogs now

Today was payday. I phoned in sick one day last month so my pay was less than normal.

I'm not going to put any money towards my regular savings this month (apart from the automatic savings). There's two reasons for this: I want to build up my car fund and we will be buying baby stuff so I'd rather the money went there. My MOT is due next month and I don't want a repeat of last year (I had cleared CC1 and then after my MOT I added £770 to it) I'm really hoping that it won't be half as bad this year, so I'm trying to be prepared.

Hopefully having a car fund this year will benefit me. Also, I spoke to hubby and if it comes to it I would rather take money out of savings to pay for any work that needs done. I just don't want any more credit card debt, especially with a baby on the way. I'm confident that we will be able to replenish any money taken out of savings... but I'm hoping it won't come to that.

I paid extra towards both credit cards. Hubby gave me £80 towards CC2 so I paid that straight away.

My final car payment is due in April. We're starting to put money aside for it since it is double my usual payment. By the time April comes I will be on maternity leave and not receiving full pay so I have to be organised.

Baby fund will be wiped out tomorrow. We're going shopping. I have a list of things that I need to get. We're going early, I hate the shopping centre on a Saturday afternoon.

Happy New Year everyone!

I've spent a while thinking about my goals for this year. I've tried to make them realistic. After all, we will have a baby to look after this year and I will be on maternity leave for most of the year.


2012 Goals:
[] Reduce CC2 by half
[] Reduce CC1 by half
[] Car fund to £100
[] EF to £100
[] Savings to £700

I have withdrawn the money from savings to buy the pram. We will be buying it soon. So it will be nice to get our savings back up. However, I'd also love to get rid of most of my credit card debt.

It's Christmas morning here, and I'm the only one awake. I decided to check my updated catalogue statement to see what my minimum payment is after ordering my mum a new washing machine this month (old one broke). I was expecting an increased payment of maybe £22-£25, not the same as my payment this month: £67. Eek! My minimum payment is now something like £119 compared to £70 which is what I paid this month.

Hmm.. didn't make sense until I viewed my transaction history. I thought I'd ticked the box to pay it up over 52 weeks (interest free). Nope, I'd ticked the 20 week box instead.

It'll be ok, I'm just stressing.

Hope everyone has a nice Christmas when it comes

It feels as though more money has been going out than coming in recently. I had to take money out of savings to pay my road tax. My plan of saving up for it failed miserably so I will reinstate it next year. More money will come out of savings when we buy the pram from our friends, but that will be after Christmas. (I don't grudge that though)

Christmas dinner is costing me and hubby £30 each. We are both paying for my mum, who has no idea that any money will be exchanged. I wouldn't mind if we were going to a nice restaurant but we're not. We're going to in-laws. In my last post I thought my mum was only being charged £10 but I got it wrong, it's £20 for her too. Hubby said there will be cocktails. That'll be nice for the people that can drink them.

My credit card took a hit last week. My mum's tv broke so I bought another one for her - with my credit card. She has given me half of the money already.

I haven't added to the EF yet.

I need to post a few Christmas presents this week, and buy a card for hubby and my mum. Apart from that, I'm done. It definetly helped saving up for Christmas. We've already agreed that we will be doing the same next year.

It's the first of December already, I can't believe it. I will be helping my mum put up the tree later, and then I will be wrapping some presents.

As far as my yearly goals are concerned, I didn't do well. Hopefully next year will be better as far as completing goals. I need to start thinking of my 2012 goals soon.

I don't know if I've mentioned this in here yet but the three of us have been invited to MIL's for xmas dinner. It was her turn this year. Months ago MIL was talking about booking a place but now it looks as though we'll be going to hers. Fine. Well, husband mentioned to me the other day "remember we need to put money aside for the meal" Meal? We never booked anything. No but we've to give MIL money towards xmas meal. £20 each for us, £10 for my mum. We'll pay my mum's since I don't want to have to tell her. So that's £50 from us she will be getting - money that's better off elsewhere in my opinion.

I don't understand to be honest. I might be naive but I thought that when you invite people over for dinner, you don't make them pay. Bring drinks/desert yes but paying? Am I just wrong? The three of us could have a meal here for less than £50 I think. Apparently MIL keeps saying to hubby how she can't afford this, can't afford that. The usual.

I can only think of one goal for this month so far, and that's to add to my emergency fund.

It's been ages since I updated. I've either been too tired or lazy to update.

My Christmas shopping is basically done. And I have paid cash for all of it. Next year our plan is to save up high street vouchers again, and start a savings card at ASDA. Next Christmas the baby will be here, but we won't be going crazy since he/she won't be old enough to appreciate or understand it. I think it will just be little gifts.

Speaking of the baby, I had my second scan at the start of the month. Everything's ok - blood pressure, measurements - but they want me to go for two more growth scans to check on baby. I think it's because I was underweight when we found out.

I'm beginning to notice that everyone seems to have an opinion when you're pregnant. I'm sick of being told that my bump's tiny, I'm looking pale, I'm having a girl cos of how I'm carrying (but we won't know till later when I'm bigger, apparently) The list goes on. Of course it doesn't help that there is a girl at work who is due the week after me and she is showing more than me - she was bigger to begin with though...

Back to finances: we're going to buy our pram from one of our friend's. It will mean taking some money out of savings though, and using the baby fund.

Since it is practically the end of the month I thought I'd better update. I managed to complete all of my October goals. The one I'm most pleased with? Not using my credit card.

At the start of the month I thought I would take my credit cards out of my purse so they didn't tempt me. Well, I didn't do that - they've been in my purse the entire time. So glad they weren't touched.

Hubby and I have been talking about our finances, specifically making cutbacks. Right now we've not cut out anything but it will happen soon.

I want to start my Christmas shopping in November. I've saved £100 of high street vouchers. Christmas this year will be bare minimum for everyone - I'm thinking of doing some homemade gifts, maybe fudge or something? I'll look into it.

Hubby paid MIL the last payment towards his debt on Friday. Woohoo!! We're still discussing the best use of the extra money next month. I'm torn between debt and baby fund, although I think the money will be divided between both.

I bought a cot bedding set yesterday (really early, I know) It has a cot bumper, cot quilt and a fitted sheet in it. Original price £30, I paid £18. I keep looking at baby stuff now. It's funny, I never noticed it before.

I've worked nine and a half hours extra so far this month, so next month will be my first pay in a while that includes overtime.

My car fund now has £51 in it. My original goal at the start of the year was to have £200 in it but it just wasn't feasible, so I changed it. I know I will need more than £50 in it but right now I'm declaring it a success.

My EF however, only has £7.60. I thought I was close to £20. I will have to get that sorted soon.

I have still to add money to regular savings and baby fund.

Well so far I've managed to achieve one of my goals for this month: tell friends about baby. I told my close friends and work colleagues on the same day. That night I updated my FB status to let everyone else know. The news went down well.

My mum has been desperate to buy baby things since I told her the news. Well, this week I gave her the go ahead. She's going to go the shopping centre this week and pick up a few things. I wrote her a small list of essential items that she can pick up if she wants to - scratch mitts, sleepsuits, muslin squares. She is desperate to buy some bigger items too, but I'm trying to get her to shop around and compare prices first.

A colleague of mine has offered me a few items that she no longer needs for her grandson.

I took some time yesterday to price cots and prams online. I didn't realise how expensive they are. We'll be saving up some money first before we buy anything.

Husband will FINALLY be clear of his debt to MIL when we get on Friday. Woohoo!! Next month the money he would have given her will either be divided between savings and credit cards, or will all be put into savings. We need to decide exactly what we're doing.

I looked into my maternity leave at work. I'm entitled to one year off. For the first six weeks I will get 90% of my average earnings. Statutory Maternity Pay for weeks 7-39. The last 12 weeks are unpaid. I think I will take nine months off, as I doubt we could afford three months of me not having any pay.

In other news, I haven't used either one of my credit cards

I hope October is better financially for me than this month has been. We seem to be spending a lot just now, whether it's actually cash or my dreaded credit card. However, I did manage to achieve my goals, although I know £20 in the baby fund is a small start compared to what we will actually need. The money will be used after Christmas when we start baby shopping.

Next month my goals are:
[] don't use credit card
[] complete car fund
[] tell friends about baby

I've been a really bad friend recently - I've been avoiding getting in touch with my friends. I know why: I'm not ready to tell them yet. I hardly ever see my friends so I don't feel like we're close, but I will tell them.

In other news, I seen the midwife today. I was a bit worried because I've hardly put on any weight. She said that everything's fine and I've nothing to worry about. I thought she would have weighed me to compare with my last appointment, but she didn't. She did let us listen to baby's heartbeat again though.

Payday came and went. It was only yesterday but it doesn't feel like it. It doesn't help that we spent £50 having a meal with in-laws, then we went out afterwards.

I put £50 into savings. However, I took £40 out last week so that replaces that.

Hubby seems to have more money going out than coming in. He's away with his friends tonight. This will be his last big night out for a while, we can't afford it.

Baby fund has been started: £20.

Not added any money yet to EF or car fund. I just really wanted the baby fund started.

Looking at my revised goals for the year, I doubt I'll achieve the CC ones, especially since we've added so much to them, but I will try my best. I really should update the balances, but I've been putting it off - it's depressing.

We used the credit card to buy tools and furniture. We only done it because the furniture that hubby ordered was going to be delivered in November. November. We can't wait that long. So now hubby is going to cancel his £500 order. And we've added about £200 to my credit card.

I took my car to the garage. £477 due next week when they have the part in. Ouch.

I'm stressing about the fact we've used the credit card, even though hubby is helping me pay it off. We should be getting rid of debt now, not adding to it. Ugh.

And to top it all off I'm feeling crap today, last thing I want to do is have dinner at in-laws, but we are.

But I thought I would update anyway. It was my scan today, so we have exact dates now. I'm thirteen weeks pregnant, baby is due 15th March, so earlier than we thought. It was so nice to see on screen, moving about. We got a picture so we showed it to the parents, who were both excited. It all seems real now.

Well I made it through August so I'd better make some goals for this month now. They are:

[] Start baby fund
[] Cook one family meal

I've been really bad, I still haven't said to my friends. In fact, one of my friends text me and I haven't had the nerve to get back in touch with her yet. She doesn't even know we've moved into my mum's so I know that will lead to questions.

I want to make lasagne this month. It's been so long since I've cooked. Apart from feeling sick on Saturday, I've basically been okay so I think cooking is feasible. Plus, I'll actually have space in the kitchen to do it.

I seen my midwife for the first time this week. I had to finish work early, but I still got paid for the rest of my shift. Hubby came with me. It was an hour full of questions and taking blood, checking weight etc. Over here you have to carry your own notes about with you - I don't know why. So, I now have a folder full of my notes and another folder of suggested reading.

My scan's booked for next week, so I may be further on than I thought. We'll know on Thursday when they can give us an exact date.

We're both trying to settle in here. Hubby ordered new furniture for our room that we can take with us when we get our own place. Right now, there's not enough space for all of our clothes and I'm still in the middle of unpacking and having a clear out. If I wasn't so tired all the time I would have had it done by now. The furniture arrives next week. When it's here we're swapping rooms with my mum, who has the biggest room.

Financial wise, not much is going on. The midwife gave me a folder and spoke about vouchers I might be entitled to. We're both working so we're not entitled to anything. The only freebie I got was two sachets of herbal tea, and a coupon for 60p off appletiser.

I'm off to catch up on your blogs now.

I think it's going to take a bit of getting used to living at my mum's, hubby and my mum were almost arguing last night. I need them to keep the peace.

I've not managed to half a proper conversation with hubby about finances. From the way he was talking today he doesn't think he'll make it to October living here. He thinks we will have declared ourselves homeless by then. I'm trying to think positive, I told him we need to save more and get rid of debt before we do anything. Plus, I spent almost two years at his mum's, he can manage some time here. He's just going to have to.

As for the baby fund, hubby thinks we should start that from next pay. I say the sooner, the better. I might actually just save up what I have just now to get us started. I think he's worried we don't have enough money.

I told my manager the news this morning, and that I didn't want anyone else to know. Personally I think she asked if I was having morning sickness yet pretty loudly but never mind, nobody said anything. I ended up telling a few people, but told them to keep it quiet.

I seen on the news at work about Hurricane Irene. Who all lives in the East Coast? Hope you guys are okay.

I haven't had the chance to think of goals for next month, but I will soon.

I really wanted to update my blog yesterday but I never had the chance. I woke up before 8 yesterday so I could phone the doctors to get an appointment. I phoned at 8 and the earliest time she could give me was 5pm. We took 5pm since it was our only option.

The rest of the day, before leaving for the doctors, was spent packing and moving stuff to my mum's. It's mostly my stuff we've moved. In the time spent at in-laws I've gathered a lot of crap, so I'm going to have a massive clearout and give a lot to charity.

We spent over half an hour waiting to be called at the doctors. When I finally seen her I was exhausted so I didn't ask any questions, just told her what I knew so far. She said I should receive a letter from the midwife soon. Apparently it's the midwife that deals with it all. She said she got in touch with them electronically to let them know so I should get a letter soon. I'm going to hang off changing my address details at the doctors just now until I get the letter.

We had a close call this week. When we told people at the start of the week, we told them not to tell anyone. Apparently MIL misunderstood/didn't listen and told one of her friends. On Thursday I decided to sign on to Facebook when I noticed a huge comment that had been sent about an hour before: "CONGRATULATIONS!! So happy for you" One of MIL's friends had decided to publicly leave a comment on my page, and had changed her status to talk about how great a gran MIL will be. I deleted the comment as soon as I noticed it, and hubby got on the phone to MIL. She's now not talking to her friend, and she apologised for telling her in the first place.

I've text some of my close family members today to let them know, with strict instructions to NOT post on my Facebook page. We're telling our friends in a few weeks, and I'll let work know soon.

Some financial news now:

I paid my "digs" to MIL. Hubby spoke to her and they came to an agreement that half of my money would go towards hubby's debt.

Hubby gave me £50 towards CC2, plus I paid £50,so £100 payment. Nice.

I've finally reached my moving out fund goal, but I'm still going to add to it.

I spoke to my mum and right now she thinks £50 each from me and hubby will be enough. However, I'm not too sure if that will change. We will start giving her that next month.

As I sit here writing this entry, I'm surrounded by boxes. Yep, we're moving to my mum's this week. We're hoping to be there by Friday. I've managed to pack up most of my books and dvds so I'm hoping the rest won't take too long.

So, in my last few entries I've mentioned - a lot - that hubby definetly did not want to go. I couldn't persuade him, he was staying put till we found our own place. Well, what happened? Three pregnancy tests happened. I took one on Friday, then Saturday, then Sunday. And they all came back positive. In fact, according to the tests, I'm 3+ weeks which is about 5 weeks according to the leaflet that comes with it. You guys are the first people I've "told" apart from my mum and in-laws obviously.

Hubby told MIL we're moving out and that I'm pregnant. The first time she worried about was money - she's behind in her bills etc. Apparently - and this is the first time we've heard it - when we give her "digs" its for gas/electricity/food we've already used. Therefore, she said to hubby about wanted the money since we've used the stuff already. I don't want to leave on bad terms so I feel like I have to give her my usual money too. Hubby disagreed but I don't want her bitching about me, saying how I left things etc.

I told people at work we've moving. They were really pleased. A few people said "you should get champagne". Nobody at work knows I'm pregnant, I'm reluctant to tell them. We're going to the doctors on Friday so I'll know more then.

Oh, a few hours after we found out, me and hubby were talking and it's agreed: we need to start a baby fund now.

Hubby and I spoke again today about our situation. We've reached a new decision: if we're not out by Christmas we're going to my mum's. Hubby wants us to try to save to buy our own place. The only way to do that is to get on the LIFT(Lothian Initiative for First-Time buyers) scheme, and that fell through the last time. Also, it's really popular now, and it would take us ages to save up the money needed.

There's no way we can afford to buy, but at least we've made a decision. I guess if we don't get accepted for the scheme the money can be used for renting a place.

It seems like all I do is try to find extra hours at work. Yesterday I worked a twelve hour shift, it was only a few hours extra but I was exhausted. I've got a shift at the weekend too- basically any excuse to get out of the house. I might as well get some money for it. That being said, I earn just above the minimum wage.

Sometime soon I'm going to do some baking with my mum. She has the ingredients, I just need to find the time to go over when I'm not rushing about.

Speaking of my mum, the other day hubby questioned if we were moving to my mum's. Seriously? I said we were only going if we both agreed to it, which we clearly don't. Part of me is tempted to say I'll go myself, I'll save us some money. But I don't know if I could do that. After that, he said he wants us to move out by October. I think it'll be tough enough to aim for Christmas, never mind October. There's no way that will happen, we're halfway through August. As much as I'm going crazy here - people have started to comment on how tired and stressed I look at work - it just isn't realistic.

I told hubby he's been letting the team down: I'm the one who does extra hours at work and I'm the one who saves. I'm hoping as of next payday he'll step up. He's agreed he'll help so come payday I'll transfer the agreed amount from his current account to mine, and then to savings.

My car's making a rumbling noise. Not good. I think it's coming from the front of the car, not sure where though. I really don't want to spend any more of this car. When it's paid off in April I'll need to look into getting a new one.

We spoke yesterday about moving to my mum's. Well, no surprise here, DH doesn't want to. Pointing out that it was his idea in the first place didn't help either. I'm not happy about it, but we've agreed we're staying here. I told hubby I'd like to be out of here by xmas and into our own place. I don't know how feasible that is but I need a goal.

Staying here is costing us money we shouldn't be spending. We both wanted out of the house on Friday so we went out for a few drinks. The money we used was meant for booking train tickets to England.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not as close to my CC2 goal as it appears. Last week DH found an online comic subscription. It was an American website so I wasn't sure of the cost until I checked my statement online (which I'd just set up that day, makes life easier) I think it was $59 USD which was about £38. I think we'll be adding the train tickets to CC2 aswell... once DH has spoken to his grandad. I'm not booking them until we know he's free.

We've agreed that hubby will contribute towards savings, and pay for half of our Love Film subscription. That will start from next payday. Hubby pointed out that he wants to get rid of his debt to his mum too - which is at £450 now - so he won't still be paying her when we move out, whenever that is... Well we need him to add to savings. So, he'll do both: pay his mum and save something.

After work I went shopping for a birthday present for my friend's little boy. I budgeted £15, spent £7.44, I just need to post it now.

I added £7.60 to my emergency fund and £10 to my car fund.

I'm going to phone my credit card company tomorrow and cancel the repayment cover. They charge me almost £20 each month. I never would have took it out normally, just when the woman in the bank was telling me about it, I thought I should get it. Well, I can do without it now.

The minimum payment for my catalogue has decreased by £20 but my CC1 min payment has increased. That's because of last month's shopping for hubby's gran's funeral. I was expecting an increase.

My goal is just to get though this month. It's not been the best month so far. If I have money in the bank before payday that will be good.

Last week was crap. I had myself geared up for hubby telling MIL we're moving out, I was thinking I'd start getting rid of junk in my old room, tidy here etc. It never happened. Hubby's family dog died on Thursday. He'd been ill for months. So, hubby decided to postpone telling her.

I think he's close to changing his mind. If we do stay here he will have to talk to her about his money and the fact that we're going to manage his money for work each month. We've already bought juice for him to take to work (30 pack of cola for £7) I'm hoping that we will move but we'll see.

I probably shouldn't be writing about this since we haven't spoken to the people involved yet. However, I mentioned it to a couple of people at work so there's no harm writing about it. Basically we might be moving to my mum's house for a few months until we find a place.

It's hubby's idea. He spoke to me at work on Sunday, then again after work when I picked him up. They argued - again - before he came to work. He wanted to move to my mum's this Friday and tell his mum that night. I persuaded him otherwise thinking that telling her the same day they've argued, she'll put it down to that, plus he'd been working all day, I didn't want them to argue after he had finished work too. Financially, we've already paid our money for the month and, from what I can gather, most - if not all - of it has been spent already.

I was at my mum's and I jokingly mentioned it to her. She was all for it. However, I didn't have a proper conversation about it yet cause nothing's finalised.

DH is going to tell his mum on Saturday. I would love us to go to my mum's, so I hope it happens. I can't see MIL being happy about it but that's not our problem.

Every four weeks, hubby gives MIL money, £300 to be exact. For most of this year, hubby has been asking her to write a list explaining exactly where his money his going. Well, today she wrote the list. According to the list, the £300 is made up of:

£160 digs/rent
£15 broadband
£35 gas and electricity
£30 figurines*
£60 break money*

We disagree with the last two. The figurines are comics which DH gets every month, they started off as a gift a few years ago for his birthday. We checked the letters and the total is less than thirty pounds. As for break money, hubby works four days a week. We get paid every four weeks. Hubby gets £3 for each shift... well that only totals to £48, where's the other £12 going?

We can't do anything about is until next pay at the end of August. DH has already given her this month's money. However, he's going to talk to her before next payday. We'll take control of his break money and the figurines. For his break, we will buy juice etc so he's not spending/spending less at work. I'm just glad we finally got an answer.

Today was payday. Usually I post an update in the morning but I was working all day today so I couldn't. Anyway, I added my usual £25 to savings, taking my balance to £541.15.

Hubby has finally come round to my way of thinking, well sort of. After a few arguments with a certain person he declared that he "wanted out" and he "didn't care if it was one-bedroom cos it won't be forever" Well you can imagine how pleased I was. However, the one-bedroomed flats that Ive looked at this week require a £675 deposit, and I have less than £600 in savings so clearly it isn't happening yet. When it does happen it will wipe out my savings, so I would love to have more than the deposit saved.

Hubby disagrees with one aspect though: he thinks we will be fine just having the deposit saved, I don't. Plus, I also pointed out to him that neither one of us has a lot of disposable income which can be used towards household bills. And we both have debt.

I don't know why I've spent so long writing about something that isn't happening yet. Oh well, I can dream.

I finally have more than £500 in savings! I went to the bank today to add money. I had £20 leftover petrol money plus £2 in change. My savings balance hasn't been this high since March 2009 when I was saving for our wedding. How bad is that?

We went to England yesterday for hubby's gran's funeral. It was a lovely service. His grandad wants us to come and visit soon. We're both off in September so it would be nice to visit him then. I don't want to drive there so I'm going to compare train vs coach. Travelling by coach will be cheaper but I'll have to see what hubby wants to do.

After a few hours shopping yesterday, we got hubby a suit for the funeral. He also needed a shirt, a tie and new shoes. I think I spent close to £200 yesterday, so my contribution from my emergency fund, £17, really didn't make an impact at all. I mean I knew it wouldn't, I just wanted to know that I hadn't put it ALL on to my credit card. Hubby thought I should have just left it untouched, well it's too late now.

I got my new credit card statement in for credit card 2. Due to my increased payment this month I'm close to reaching my goal. I've updated my sidebar to show the new balances. I've also updated my balance for CC1, although I won't receive the statement until next month. I'm miles away from my goal now.

I found out yesterday that I've managed to drop a dress size, which isn't a good thing. I had to buy a 6 (US 2?)instead of my usual 8. A few days of not having proper meals and I'm down a size. Once my mouth's better I'll be back to normal.