I think my Christmas shopping is almost done. I haven't bought anything for my friend's kids yet - I never see her or hear from her - so I'm hoping to get something in the sale for them. Also I need to get a present for the grannies from SG. There's also my mum's friend who always buys SG something. Again, I'm thinking sale.

We're having Christmas dinner at MIL's, with my mum invited too. I'm expecting MIL to ask for x amount per person like she did two Christmases before. I mentioned this to hubby, who had completely forgotten that we had given her money before. I might check my old blog entries to see how much she asked for - although, prices have increased since then...

We've been invited to a wedding in January. I think only hubby will go though. Their gift list at John Lewis went live today so I checked it out earlier. They're asking for gift vouchers, so I haven't bought any yet. If it was actual gifts I would have picked this morning before anyone else had looked at it; I'm not so worried about it being vouchers. I actually checked twice just to be sure.

Went to the shops with SG today and spent £9.xx on some fruit, cheese, apple pie, custard and a bar of chocolate. Tomorrow we're going to get a few things at the supermarket. I haven't done a proper shop since we've been paid, I've just been picking up things here and there. I think that's worse in a way because I'm probably spending more.

I found some unopened Christnas decorations in a gift bag and some wrapping paper.

I spent £15.88 on groceries yesterday.

As a treat last night, and only splurge this pay period, we got a takeaway. Spent £9.20.

Total spending: £25.08

After we went to mother and toddler group, I stopped at our local shopping centre and bought me and SG a sausage roll each (Hubby's idea, he says he does it occasionally for them) Went to the local cafe because I reasoned it would be cheaper than the bakers which recently opened in the local shop. Spent £2.30

Hubby phoned earlier and suggested that we get a coffee tomorrow while we're getting some more Christmas presents. I reminded him that we still have other things to buy that we have to use actual money for (vouchers are already paid for) so I don't want to fritter away money on coffee here, a sausage roll or two there.. He said just a coffee. I'll be standing my ground. If I happen to get hungry I'll go to the supermarket or Boots and grab a meal deal because that will be cheaper than eating in our favourite coffee place. Of course, I know I could make us sandwiches to take - maybe I will if I have time. I haven't even wrapped MIL's presents yet, going to have a nice bath then do it after that. I've been exhausted all day.

Used all of my catalogue rewards today to order two presents for SG's Christmas. I had 28.98 rewards and I redeemed 28.00. They should arrive next week.

Today is payday. The first thing I done today was check my bank balance - it's looking healthy, for now anyway - then pay a few bills. I paid my catalogue bill then I paid £30 to my BNPL item (£35 to go, due 13/12 which is my next payday, so need to make sure I have money the day before)

I logged on to swagbucks and have managed to earn 6SB this morning. Thanks to reading CCF's post I realised that I don't have to let the videos play the whole way through.

I need to wrap MIL's birthday presents today since the meal is tomorrow. All in all, we spent 99p on her and that was for her card. I bought wrapping paper for 20p a few months ago so I will use that.

I'm waiting on both credit card statements to update. It will be CC2 first then Capital One.

I got a letter yesterday from another catalogue wanting me to join. "Get £15 off your first order of £35 or more" No thanks. They must send their letters out at this time of year because I've never had one before. They obviously know people rely on them for their Christmas shopping. I've got almost £30 of rewards to use in my Littlewoods catalogue so that will be used for a couple of toys for SG.

Tomorrow my automatic savings transfer of ten pounds will transfer. I need to increase this but I know I need to reduce debt too. I don't want to increase then have to take money out of savings.

Thank you for all of the kind messages on my last post. It seems, however, that, what five weeks, maybe into this pregnancy and me and hubby are disagreeing about what we should do when baby number two is here. He wants me to give up work, whereas I think I should just reduce my hours a bit? I brought up our debt, but hubby seems to think we'd be ok. The main problem is that we don't think MIL can cope with two under three's and hubby doesn't want my mum to babysit (trust issues etc) We both work on a Sunday so if I could get my day changed then the problem would be solved but we would hardly see each other at the weekend. I don't know why I'm thinking about this now. I haven't even registered with the midwife yet.

I checked my email and my phone bill is going to be £33. Ten pounds more than normal, and more than I'd like. Hubby used my phone because his phone wasn't working so I guess that's why. I will be keeping track better this time around.

Made a homemade birthday card from SG today for MIL. We used some of my rewards from the catalogue to get a photo frame which will be from SG. Still need to order a gift from us, but hubby will use his rewards. I told him he has a budget, so look at gifts within the budget, not what you really want to get, We told our family the news and MIL wants to go out for a meal for a double celebration (her birthday is next week). Apparently BIL will pick up the tab as a birthday present. I hate the fact that he's paying but then it wasn't our idea.

The Christmas tree that I bought from the catalogue last year - yes I bought a tree and put it on Buy Now Pay Later, crazy - is due to be paid in two paydays. I will get that paid off. I refuse to pay interest on a tree.

I forgot to mention that this pregnancy has cost me 9.99 so far. I bought a Clearblue pregnancy test. I think I will try and keep track of my baby-related spending.

Found SG's library book that I thought I'd lost. It's funny, I wasn't even looking for it.

Work has been busy this week, and my days have been long. I've been leaving the house to get the bus before 7am and not getting home until almost 7 that night because my bus never showed up. The first night that I missed it I was standing opposite McDonald's and I was freezing... but I never went in.

I found a dress in the sale for SG's Christmas. It was £3.00.

I've been distracted this week - had a few things on my mind. I will probably leave that until another post for now though. But the good news is that we still have food money left.

I'm working four hours extra this weekend. Hubby is doing a nightshift after his dayshift.

My mum's coming over today. I was meant to meet her for a coffee but I'm not feeling well so I've invited her over here instead. I think hubby gave me his cold.

First of all, yesterday I ended up spending 1.49 on two packs of salt (50p/kg) for hubby to soak his foot in , and some more tissues for SG.

Today has been a no-spender. I've been spending the day getting organised for going to work tomorrow, and cooking up food for us and SG. I've got a sheperdess pie cooking just now. First time I've made it, there's certainly plenty of veg.

I found over a kilo of dried green lentils that MIL gave us a while ago. Expires next month but I want to use them before then, so I've been trying to find recipes using green lentils online.

Mil text me yesterday to tell me that she had sandwiches dated tomorrow for me for work (lunch sorted), and to invite me to my first ever bridal shower. I told her I couldn't afford it at first, then she told me it's at the bride-to-be's mum's house. She offered me a lift home that night, or I can stay at hers. I said I would go after that. I'm not sure about etiquette at bridal showers though. Do I need to bring a gift?

I've been obsessively checking my credit card statement online for the past few days, waiting for it to update. It finally updated today. Minimum payment was 70, I paid 90. Getting close to my goal of 60 by the end of the year.

It's two weeks until payday tomorrow. I get paid every four weeks. Is it possible to go six weeks with minimal spending/no spending? I've done a No Spend Month before, but we were in a different situation then: it was just the two of us and we were living at MIL's.

Speaking of MIL, it's her birthday next month. Wonder if I can get a "free" gift for her?

I spent just over six pounds today, bought a 2.5kg bag of potatoes, a pack of yoghurts for SG, 4 pints of milk and a loaf of bread.

We went to Aldi at the weekend for some food shopping. I had a trolley full and it came to £60.21. This included £11.46 of misc items for SG and £2.69 worth of household items. I think we will be going back to Aldi. Right now, the fridge, freezer and cupboards are full.

This week we are going to have:

- tortilla bake with salad
- baked potatoes
- fish, chips and peas
- chicken stir fry

Today is payday. Not much to report though. I bought some groceries (£14.88) and some clothes that were on sale for SG in her next size (£13.50)

I bought some small document holders a few days ago, a four pack for £1. I will use these instead of envelopes for my cash-only purchases: food shopping, household items and nappies/misc.

I've increased my food budget by £20 to £140. Household and nappies/misc remains the same: £20 and £40 respectively.

Hubby got paid less than he thought he would, especially since he done overtime. Not good. Spending will be kept to a minimum, even though we are both on holiday from work. Hubby has been off for almost a week, my holiday doesn't officially start until Sunday.

After using the envelope system for almost three weeks, it's obvious there are a couple of problems:

- Two out of three envelopes have fallen apart so I had to put the money in new envelopes. I'm going to have a good look through what I already own to see if I have something better than envelopes to put my money in - maybe a little folder or a pencil case?

- I've not budgeted enough for food shopping. Yesterday I went to buy fruit and veg because we were running low, and I overspent by £5. I guess 120 for a family of three is too little. I'm unsure whether to increase this by ten or twenty pounds though. ( I took the money from my household envelope) Eight days till payday and we will need milk before then.

Hopefully I can fix these problems soon.

I spent over half an hour last night trying to work out what I'd spent in each category. It's less time consuming to use separate envelopes for each category so I'm doing that instead now.

Here's the balances for each envelope with the original amount in brackets.

Household: £17.85 (£20)
Nappies/misc: £24.04 (£40)
Food: £82.98 (£120)

Every four weeks, when I get paid, I start off the pay period well by writing down what I've spent - then I start using my debit card for purchases and lose track. Well for this pay period I've decided to use the envelope method. However, I've just put all of the money budgeted for this pay period into the one envelope. It's not as crazy as it sounds, it's my food shopping money (£120), SG's nappies/misc (£40) and household items (£20) Therefore I won't be using my debit card for any of these purchases. I've been putting my receipts into the envelope too.

Spent £61.36 on food shopping so far. Three weeks to go. I've budgeted £120 but I'm hoping to make it less.

I am going to try to snowflake towards debt this month, despite things being really tight this month.

Spoke to hubby and we agreed that he will consistently do overtime, if he can get it. I hope he manages to get some.

It's been a whole week since my last entry.

I managed to lose a receipt a few days ago. I spent about £10 buying ingredients for a recipe for chocolate fudge cake for my mum's birthday, so I saved about £1. I paid £1.63 to CC1. I'm going to practice making it tonight, then I will replace the chocolate and butter that I've used.

The chicken and spinach pasta bake that I was planning on making turned into cheese and broccoli pasta when I found a whole broccoli that needed using up. It was nice. I didn't have chicken in the house anyway so i would have had to buy it.

It's almost March and I haven't found any snowflakes yet. I have decided that whenever I save money shopping - either from my colleague discount or coupons - I will add that to my credit cards. Not too sure whether to start with the card with the highest balance or the one with the highest interest rate. What do you guys think?

I bought invites, thank you cards and bags for SG's party. Invites and cards were £1 each for a pack of 6. I need to buy more thank you cards in. Bags were 55p each, bought two lots. I've also bought baby fruit bars and milk buttons. Wrote invites out this morning, will send them later today. I already have a pack of stamps so don't need to buy more.

I checked my email yesterday and there was an email from chef Nick Nairn about food waste. There was a link to one of his recipes to prevent food waste. Here it is: http://landing.greenerscotland.org/foodwaste-nick-nairn?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6683+Nick+nairn+Malay+Curry+recipe&utm_content=6683+Nick+nairn+Malay+Curry+recipe+CID_89f4180cd3c274969e90024e9c78800e&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=my%20delicious%20and%20easy%20Monday%20Malay%20Curry

Not too sure if the link will work but it's called Monday Malay Curry.

I started back at work on Sunday. Anyway now that I'm back DH has been asking me to pick up shopping after work. Well I just looked at my receipts and I must have spent close to £70 since we got paid a week today. This includes baby food so it might not be as bad as I am thinking. I'm stressing now since we still have three weeks to go until we're paid, and I've overspent. Yesterday I bought things for Christmas Day e.g. mayonnaise for prawn cocktail, parsnips, desert. I spent £18. I still need to pay my credit cards.

The only good thing I can say is that all of this money came out of my pay, credit cards haven't been touched.

Hubby hasn't seen my receipts, he obviously knows I went shopping though. I just wanted to vent here first.

I thought I was doing so well when I got paid last week aswell cos it was more than I was expecting.

It's only Tuesday but I feel as though I have had a busy week. On Sunday I met up with my friends from school, and yesterday me and SG went to M&D's theme park to see Santa. (I only spent £1.80 on a portion of chips) It was a good day. I had packed my own lunch but bought chips because I wanted something hot to eat.

It's been a bad week. Next month I will be charged £15 for an unpaid direct debit fee cause I was a few pounds short. This is the second time this has happened. Well it will be the last.

I didn't phone my CC company to ask them to reduce my interest rate since there's not a lot going in my favour just now: CC is almost maxed out. When I'm in a better position I will get in touch. I am up-to-date on my payments though, I don't think I've EVER missed a payment.

Next year I will focus on CC debt. I just want to find extra money to throw at it.

I go back to work on Sunday. I will be working three days a week. When I get paid in January I will know how much money I will be getting every month since this pay will include the last of my maternity pay.

DH asked MIL to borrow some money this week (£10) just to tide us over. We are giving her a high street voucher of the same value so she's not losing anything.

I didn't do my usual meal plan post this week. Yesterday I made up pasta with leftover bacon, mixed beans in tomato sauce, peppers and onion. It was ok, would have been better if we had more meat in it. I'm cooking beef casserole again tonight, it's in the oven just now. Going to try making homemade dumplings for the first time. Tomorrow we are having chicken tikka masala. We've ran out of rice though so will probably just have bread with it.

So, today I had to drop my hubby off at work. Afterwards I was supposed to meet my cousin but she cancelled. Since I was at the shopping centre, I spent some money:

ASDA: £11.99 (formula,milk,white wine,potatoes,mango,greek yoghurt)
parking: £1
Scotmid: £1 (multipack of mars caramel, bought to get change for parking)

I withdrew £10 from the ATM today. I have £8 cash left after buying sweets and paying for parking.

MIL gave us half a dozen frozen burgers from her work, so my whole chicken is still in the freezer. I bought some potatoes today to go with the chicken when we have it. Tonight I will have a burger on a roll, hubby might have the same when he comes in. Tomorrow possibly tuna and sweetcorn pasta, or macaroni. Normally I would have bought more since we got paid today but we have stuff here that needs used up.

We started Christmas shopping yesterday. I'm about halfway there. It seems to be mostly kids that I'm buying for this year.

It's MIL's birthday soon. A while ago we received a leaflet offering a personalised mug and a free t-shirt for 99p. We uploaded a pic of S to put on both the mug and the t-shirt. Mug will be given to MIL for her birthday; t-shirt for BIL for xmas.

Meal planning is still going ok. We have some leftovers in the fridge. I went to Asda the other day and spent £11 buying some more fruit, veg and tins. I think we will be ok for a few weeks. There's lots of food in our fridge, freezer and cupboards so I am determined to make it last.

I've just finished writing my shopping list for when we go shopping. It probably won't be until Monday but I feel so organised doing it now. I found a recipe for bacon and sweetcorn potato cakes. I've never made them before but a lot of the stuff that I need to make them I'm either already buying, or I have it in the house. So, I'm going to try making them next week.

Today is payday. I paid my bills this morning and my credit cards.

I got a letter through from another credit card company, trying to tempt me. They are offering 16 months interest free, with a 2.5% charge for balance transfers. It's tempting to do but I don't know if I can juggle three credit card payments, two is more than enough. On the other hand, if it would save us money in the long run. I'm still thinking about it.

I'm going to start planning our meals. Tomorrow is payday. When I go shopping I want to make sure that I only get things that I need.

Tonight we are having beef pasties (free from MIL) and baked beans for dinner.

Tomorrow DH is working late so I will have whatever I can throw together. I made leek and potato soup so I could have that

Saturday we will have chicken curry, pilau rice, garlic naan and vegetable pakora. The curry and pakora are in the freezer. I bought them from the reduced section. Naan breaed was on offer at 50p.

Sunday: another late night for hubby. Possibly pie and chips for me.

Next week I would like to make:

- macaroni (need plain flour)
- chicken curry (need veg and chicken)
- hotdogs (need rolls)
- minestrone soup
- bacon cheeseburgers (told DH about LR having these so he's in the mood for them)

I need to have a look through my recipes to come up with some other ideas.

DH's phone bill was about £30 more than he expected. I transferred the difference to him. You know what that means? We're eating out of the food cupboards - or should I say pantry? - for the next two weeks. I will still have to buy a few perishable items like milk since we ran out a few days ago. I had planned to use my Morrisons coupon to get £2 off a £20 shop. I won't be doing that now. I have got a £2 voucher for Tesco though.

I have a few birthdays this month, so this afternoon I am going to buy some very cheap cards and wrap.

June is going to be tough. Last June I think I done a No Spend Month, that won't happen this year.

My statutory maternity pay has started: less than £150 per week.

Our first gas and electricity bill came: £101.

Only paid just over minimum to both cards.

Hoping catalogue payment will drastically decrease next month. If I've worked it out right it should.

Hubby is going to do overtime this week, and next, so that will help us next month.

My baby girl had her vaccines today - she'll be eight weeks tomorrow. How time flies.

I'm currently looking at meal ideas online, stretch our food budget as much as I can.

It's been a few weeks since I've updated. I finished up work on the 15th. I have to say it's been nice not having to follow a schedule. Apart from taking hubby to work I've been trying to get as much rest as possible.

My car failed its MOT. I took the money out of savings. While it's depressing to know that my savings have been almost depleted, it is better knowing that than adding to my ever increasing credit card debt.

Not much to report money wise. I haven't been doing any impulsive spending since I haven't been at work to do it. I need to return a few baby items which will be too small for baby when he/she arrives. One of them I've lost my receipt for but that will just go on a gift card.

First of all, I have a confession: I used credit card 2. I wish I hadn't. As for CC1 I'm going to update my balance the same date each month once the payment and interest has been applied. It looks as though today is the day that my new statement is usually available to look at.

I started packing my hospital bag, only to realise that there's a lot we still need to buy. It's a bigger job than I thought it would be.

I took money out of my car fund to help my mum out (it was the only cash I had in the house)

I found out why I've been so tired: I'm meant to have been taking iron tablets since the end of December. After Christmas I picked up my prescription and there were tablets in the bag that I didn't recognise so I didn't take them. Well we went to see the midwife and one of the first things she said was that I have been taking iron tablets. Nope. The last time we went I don't remember her telling me I needed them.

My MOT is due this month. In fact I need to find last year's certificate to double check the date. I can see savings taking a hit... I guess it's better than using the credit card which I'm hoping NOT to do.

It's the end of January and I didn't make any goals. Things will be different next month though. In February I'm going to aim to: pack my hospital bag, but in any last minute baby items and take some time to relax. I know none of these goals are financial.

I only have a couple more weeks left to work then I finish up for two weeks holiday then my maternity leave starts. I can't wait, I'm always tired after working all day so it will be nice to get some rest.

The baby fund is almost gone. We've got a lot to show for it though. Our list is done to about half a dozen items now e.g. sheets for moses basket, cot blankets and teats. We need to get formula too.

I've got a hospital appointment this week and I'm seeing the midwife. I have a feeling that when I finish work my time will be taken up with seeing the midwife every few weeks until baby's here.

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

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.

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.