stopping-shopping

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