stopping-shopping

So once again I am stunned by the kindness of strangers. A very generous blog reader has sent me a fabulous breast pump after the post where I had several moments of madness in boots. The breastfeeding issue is a sensitive one for many women, we all know it is best for out babies but for some it is difficult or even impossible. I had a breast reduction surgery in 1999 and was told then that breastfeeding wouldn't be possible for me in the future. I wasn't worried, as a single 25 yr old with no plans for babies breastfeeding seemed a world away. Skip forward to 2006 and pregnant with DD1 I was gobsmackef when my frankenboobs decided to produce colostrum! Bear in mind that these nipples have been removed from my body, reduced in size and then replaced on boobs that were 9lbs lighter and 5 inches further north on my body. I began to think that breastfeeding might be possible at least I could try and feed straight after the birth. To cut a long story short all I managed was a c

So I didn't succumb to the No Added Sugar sale, yay me etc ;) But I did get a £10 gift voucher from Boden in the post, and I spent it wisely and didn't use it as an excuse to buy stuff that would be more affordable with £10 off, which I'm certain is their marketing strategy behind the giveaway. I bought a top for DD1 which was £7.00 and free P+P thanks to another code, so that would be a totally free garment, huzzah! Only a short post but a positive one for a change, which is nice :)

Got an email this morning from No Added Sugar, they are a designer clothes brand for small people and they wanted to alert me to their clearance sale, which is kind of them. So I idly clicked the link and surfed a little, no that would be a mistake...I found £50 worth of beautiful baby clothes for the impending daughter all at hugely reduced prices, 65% off that sort of thing. I am sad that I can't afford to buy any of these things, but honestly do we need them? No. We've been given literally bags and bags of lovely baby clothes from our childminder and I bought 6 enormous boxes of newborn - 9 month clothes for £60 from a friend. Baby, as much as I love you, mummy is trying to reform her character and raise you in a financially stable home. I hope you won't feel impoverished or as though you're missing out, but I am only going to spend money on things for you which are affordable and necessary.

My maternity leave is looming and I still don't have a plan in place, other than living to a v strict and scary budget. We've definitely decided against an IVA for reasons mentioned last month : too expensive, restrictive and would cost us more than we owe! The DMP may have to be an option in September when we'll be paying for two small people at childcare again. In the meantime the strict and scary budget is going pretty well! I no longer have access to a debit or credit card and instead am on a £30 allowance. Here's how it works, on Monday's DH hands over £30 in cash and I have to spend that and that alone for the next 7 days. £10 goes on my bus fare home from work each day and the rest is mine to fritter away on rubbish. In a not very surprising move I negotiated an advance last month in order to buy some limited edition Urban Decay eyeliners ta daaaa http://www.temptalia.com/urban-decay-15th-anniversary-247-eyeliner-set-review-photos-swatches So for 4 weeks

A busy couple of days in the stopping shopping household. I managed to get a phone consultation with Payplan on Sunday. Spent an hour and a half talking to their rep Bill who was very thorough and seemed upfront and honest. He doesn't think an IVA is the best option for me/us as we would be repaying more than I currently owe and Dh's disposable income is factored into the debt payment. He suggests a DMP as the better option. Pros possibility of freezing interest. Only takes my disposable income into account when working out payments. We would be paying £100 less on debt than we are presently. Potential to be debt free in 4 yrs 9 months Cons Shags up my credit rating. Would shag up Dh's credit rating too as we are joint account holders on a v overdrawn bank account. IVA Pros legally binding on both parties so creditors can't ramp up interest etc All interest frozen. Debt free in 5 yrs Cons Shags up credit rating Shags up Dh's credit rating My name goes on the persona

With a heart full of trepidation and angst I went to the RBS for the meeting today with Jack my "customer adviser" It all went pretty well! I was immediately upfront, probably too upfront but hey ho at least he knew where I stood and said "I'm in the poo and don't want you to try and sell me any products or further credit please" I went through my big debts and the impending issue of DD2 and basically asked for his suggestions on how to reduce my level of overrall debt. In a nutshell his suggestion is to approach our mortgage provider to extend our mortgage to 90% loan to value and then repay a big chunk of the debt. He feels that nuking the credit rating is too risky as we may need to remortgage / move in the future and lenders are being so hard core in terms of high risk borrowers that he thinks it's worth protecting the credit rating if possible. My initial reaction is "gaaaaah a secured loan to pay off all the rubbish I've spent money on is

I am having a tough time at the moment, the IVA looks like being a non starter and the payplan and CCCS people are all hugely busy with other new year destitute types. I found myself revisiting some very dangerous websites yesterday and was in exactly the right frame of mind to buy a Mulberry Roxanne bag in Antique Glace Plum leather for £200... ahhh the purse forum and ebay how I miss your temptations. I didn't buy anything yesterday though unless you count my chicken slice from Greggs at lunchtime! I feel very "at risk" in terms of my spending, so I've given DH my debit card and asked him to give me a cash allowance every week for the foreseeable future. I just don't trust myself not to have a massive splurge. If I had access to credit right now I would buy literally anything to get that brief glow of satisfaction and feeling of worth and belonging, only problem is that they charge 17.9% APR on it and the brief glow is replaced by hours of nausea and self