stopping-shopping

Hi all, I sold the carrier that I should never have bought, and also sold some live role play costume that I'm not using any more. The funds just vanished into the current account and seemingly didn't touch the sides. This month would have been horribly sparse without that extra coming in. I really am freaking out about how we are going to manage on the DMP budget for another 6 years.  DD1's bargain birthday went pretty well, the only traumas were the sort that overwrought 6 yr olds cause and nothing to do with any debt / lack of money issues. We are incredibly lucky that my Dad is able to help us financially, and last week he bailed us out again when our car broke a spring and needed £250ish of repairs. I am equally mortified that age 37 I am still needing his help and pathetically grateful that he can help out when we need him to. DMP wise we are waiting to hear from creditors who CCCS will have contacted re the new lower payment offers since we lost our child tax

Hello again, it's been a while! Brief update DD2 "Lexie" born 15/3/11  she's amazing and a total joy, apart from the not sleeping thing but hey ho! DH left his job when she was 3 weeks old, he had a breakdown and just quit with no warning. Needless to say that was a bit stressful, and didn't exactly help with the being in debt situation. Fast forward to now DH is a SAHD who works one day a week I'm back at work full time but compressed into 4 days, so I do 4 ten or eleven hour shifts in a week. We are on a DMP (debt management plan) with CCCS and if our income stays the same we will have paid it off in 4 yrs and 10 months. The budget is really strict and leaves no money for "treats", we are only one month in and already I'm pretty depressed about having to scrape by. I remain credit card and store card free and have paid off Next Marks and Spencer Monsoon  debts which were about £1200 in total I am still an addict however a

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