Becoming Domestic

One of the upsides of being hugely pregnant and on maternity leave while the kids are at school & a completely clear diary free of rushing around doing things is the amount of time available to do things one usually never gets round to. While the rain is lashing down and the wind is howling I’m staying warm and dry in our home office (soon to be home office/baby room/guest room).

Last week we were the delighted recipients of a beautiful (if you like shabby chic) cream two-drawer filing cabinet from a generous Freecycler. It was perfect timing for us as we’d just reached the point where our trusty one-drawer cabinet would not accept a single extra piece of paper yet we needed to create some new files. This week I’ve been merrily drinking tea by the gallon while I take each file and review its contents, its label, its position, discard outdated papers and noting anything needing actioning.

We’ve taken the opportunity to make a comprehensive list of all the bank accounts, pensions, insurance schemes in a password protected spreadsheet along with their policy/account numbers, login details and the like. Very reassuring. I’ve added a lockable/fire & flood proof safe or document store to my birthday wish list so I can print the information and have a hard copy stashed away in case of emergency along with our birth certificates, passports etc.

As mentioned in my recent post I am really enjoying being right on top of what we are spending against what we are earning and aiming to save a contingency fund as well as making any excess we save work for us.

A new way of my managing the household housekeeping budget is to draw 50% of it out as ACTUAL CASH at the beginning of the month (50% is left in the bank account so I can pay for online grocery shopping electronically) and keep in kitchen storage jar. Every time cash is removed from the jar it is replaced with a receipt for household things bought. We’re hoping that at the end of each month the receipts will add up to the amount spent from the jar. We have agreed that all food, medicine, children’s shoes/clothes, household items are to be bought from the monthly housekeeping budget of £400.

So far this seems to be a very effective deterrent for overspending and also seems to be easier to keep track of what is being spent on what. Already I can see that the bank account is very low on funds despite it only being the 8th day of the month probably due to an enormous supermarket delivery where I ordered two of each essential non-perishable item to cover my absence when I am in hospital sometime during the coming few weeks.

With this in mind I am finding myself looking through the food cupboards, freezer and fridge and actively thinking about meals we will be able to enjoy given what we have to hand and will try to run down the supplies by the end of the month so that we no longer have overflowing cupboards with no real clue as to what is lurking in the back.

I’m looking at the ongoing list of things we ‘need’ and deciding which ones can wait until next month (my daughter having new party shoes can and so can a new chest of drawers for the guest/baby room).

Posted on January 8th, 2008 under Budgeting and Finances • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback