Me & Money!!! Find Out More About My Life!

I have never spoke about money before on my blog, so today i thought i would do just that!

Iv always been wise with money, even when i was little and got little bits of money for birthdays and such, i would never spend it! It would always get saved up in my piggy bank, it would only get spent on something i really REALLY wanted and i am still like that to this day. I was not a spoilt kid, we did have what we needed and got by but i was never ever spoilt and my dad taught me good manners as well as good manners with money! I got presents on birthdays etc but any other times i would have to save my own money or earn it, i never got pocket money like most kids and i only ever got a magazine once a fortnight. I am funny about money, some may even say 'tight' but that is untrue! I look at it like i am super wise and responsible with it, especially now that i have children. When it comes to paying bills and buying things for the house, i take those things head on and get them sorted straight away, i am a very focused person. When it comes to buying things for myself like beauty products, i only buy things if i really need it and want it, i don't like buying things and wasting them, i tend not to experiment to much with make up as i know exactly what i like and what suits me, i don't want to buy something that i am not going to use and that i am going to throw it in the bin. I admit i am anal with money but i think in this recession and with me a stay at home mam, only Jak in our household works and we have a home, car and family to keep so i think my attitude towards money is healthy. I know a lot of people my age don't have half the things i have in life, for example some of my friends still live with their parents, i know people with kids who again still live with their parents, just trying to save on money etc, which is great, a great way to save on money but for me, i personally am not like that and i could not live like that, i am so super independent and i like to take everything on myself or together as a family. Jak is not to good with sorting money out so i do all paperwork and all that sort of thing, i deal with all the letters that come through the door, like bills etc.

I left my parents home when i was barley 18, my first home was a luxury apartment on the qauy side of Newcastle, it was mine and Jaks first home together, we wanted to try it out first so we only took a Leese for 6 months, good job too as the rent was SO expensive! At the time i worked in 3 bars and nightclubs so we did get by but it was such a huge life change! I will go on about my work life further down! I worked so hard that i never really went out, i did by a couple of expensive things at this point which did knock my finances for a little while but everything was sorted in the end and i always make sure i am ok and going to get by, i borrowed money (which i never do now as iv learnt from it, always rely on myself these days) but i always made sure it got payed back. Our second home (where i fell pregnant with Bobby) was just a 3 bedroom upstairs flat, i hated it by the end so we decided to move on again, because i was pregnant i wanted to have a house so we moved into my cousins old house as he was just moving out, it was a 3 double bedroom house and i loved it :) this was the house that we brought Bobby home from the hospital too :) i only lived 2 doors down from my auntie too, although i think that was a bad idea now but never mind, we lived there for just over 1 year until we decided to move out of Newcastle for a better life (I was pregnant with our second son by now) we moved to a built up village i guess you could call it, did not know anyone nearby but the house was amazing! First time i ever had a conservatory lol! But to be fair the landlord and estate agents were not great in the slightest! We lived in that house for about a year and a half and now we have finally settled back in Newcastle and i am really really happy where i am right now :)

We never used to have all of the stuff we have right now, the first place we had was fully furnished as i never had any furniture, jak had just came back from Australia and so it seemed like the best idea :) then in our second place we had to get all second hand stuff as new stuff is expensive and this was where i had fell pregnant. We used second hand stuff for the next couple of houses, nothing grubby, we got like my mams all sofa's when she had bought new ones and things like that. We slowly built ourselves up over the years and i think we have done very well! Now we have no second hand stuff and have bought everything brand new and to our choice :)

We have done so well from starting out as a young couple, we were never wild and we were always and still are very family orientated :) I am very proud of us because i only know a couple other people our age that are doing what we are doing and i am happy for them :) but i do know a lot of people who have hit hard times and have a struggle. 

I wont lie though, it has not always been a bed of roses! We do have two kids and times can be hard!

From the young age of 16 i went off to college, on my first ever day i actually met Jak :) he was not in college at that time but my friend from school was working in a shop near by and he worked with her so we got introduced :) Ahhh happy memories :)

Anyways, from studying young i also had part time jobs :) Iv never been a big party animal or anything and i actually don't drink! But anyways i studied and i worked in a shoe shop at the weekends! When i started getting qualified in beauty therapy i landed myself a lovely job in a holistic centre, i loved it and at one point i was sort of running the place. I was only about 17 going on 18 and the companies main therapist had left so i took on the full clientele, had to work after college and on weekends, i never even got the chance to party even if i wanted too!!! The company ended up closing down or moving and i did not want to go with them as i was still studying, they actually wanted me to leave college and work for them full time, it would have been a steady full job but i wanted more experience and i did not want to leave my course! When i did actually leave college, i only did half my level 3, i had to leave for personal reasons (Bully's in the class that would not leave me alone! Wish i just stuck it out as now i know it was jealousy and they were just pointless bitches) i got a job in a sports shop, i hated it lol i am not sporty anymore and i bloody hate crap shop work, but i did go back to college on the night times to do cosmetic make up, fashion and photography. I then left my crap job and worked in gay bars (met some of the best friends), this was the time when me and Jak got our first apartment together. After my time there i worked in a store in town and worked on the night time as a shooter girl. Then i worked in TK Maxx right before i fell pregnant with Bobby, i ended up leaving as my Nanna was dyeing in hospital and the horrid people would not let me take the day off so i walked out! And now and since then i have done little wee bits of mobile beauty plus a little bit of writing work, i do write for some top companies on and off my blog, its just pocket money most of the time but i love it :) i think the most i have been payed for writing is £50 for a couple hundred words but it does help out :) I am also in the More! Magazine beauty hot 100, which is the beauty panel, giving hints and tips for the magazine and testing products etc. I know that does not sound like much but as a full time mother i am still happy to be bringing in little bits here and there, i work the weekends doing mobile beauty and i love it :) i cant wait to go back into work full time :)

Jak has always worked and worked well :) One time he got made redundant but he got a good pay for that and got a job not long after!

But we have had hard times, with Jak being the only one working whilst i was and am a full time mam, we have had the worst of times. I wouldn't say we have ever been homeless or anything like that but there has been times in the past where we have had to lend money off one of the mams or one of Jak's friends so we could buy baby milk etc, i find that so annoying though! We have not had to do that in such a long time as our finances seem to be good at the moment, but from being SO independent so young its like i don't want to ask anyone for money!

A few times we have had to get out pay day loans etc just to tie us over for shopping etc till Jaks next pay, which i don't think is a bad thing as they have helped us out in the past and if you pay them back straight away and you know what you signed then that's ok, just be wise about money and what you do with it!

I know one site: http://www.paydayloansuk.org.uk/

does not give you a loan but it does ask you questions etc and it actually finds the loan and company to go with that best suits you and your needs! It also cancels out all of the sites/companies that will refuse you, so when you use this site you know you re getting 100% help dedicated to you and its so fast and easy!

Personally, i have used these in the past, never gone wrong with it and i don't judge people who use these, if you have a young family like me and sometimes struggle, it seems like the only way!

I want to say i wont use these again in the future as i hope to be in full time work once the kids start school fully but who knows what the future will bring, i just know that if i need help again, i can go on this site with no bother and they will help me, locate the right choice for me and i can log off happy with no worries :)

I am 100% happy in life at the moment, i have no worries what so ever right now but anything could happen in the future! I know i will always do my best for my family and i cannot wait to get back into the working life :) I could never imagine being my age now (23) and still living with my parents! I am glad i got out young, the life experience i have had is unreal and the things i have gained from it all! Unbelievable! Don't want to sound big headed or anything but i am so incredibly proud of me and my lovely fiance for raising such a lovely little happy family :) We have money saved for the kids future and have a separate savings account! i may not know what the future will bring but i am ready for it and i now feel as if i can take on anything!!! One of the worst things we went through as a family was loosing both our dads with in the space of a year! My dads death did knock us financially as my mam does not work and at the time my brothers were not working, i had just had a baby and was not working but Jak was so we actually had to pay and put our money in to pay, i love my dad and i would do anything for him so i was happy to do that :) but yes it did knock us which was a tad annoying at the time as I'm sure other people could have helped out, the funeral directors actually had a financial plan thing that if you couldn't afford it then it would be passed on to next of kin etc etc etc but i did not want that to happen in the slightest! I was with my dad every single day since he got cancer and i never left his side, even though i had just had my first baby, i took on a hell of a lot, i was nursing my baby as well as being there for my dad and helping him, i guess at this point in my life i did sort of move back in with my parents as i did not want him to die when i was not there. I am glad we went through that struggle with money though as i know my dad would be happy that we helped my mam out and i know exactly what he would be saying right now :) we had loads of conversations the time he was dying, more then we ever had done but i loved it and that's when i realised i was really going to miss him more then ever because we had grew so close, he gave me loads of advice and the main thing was that he saw his grandson every day and he loved it :) he loved being a proper grandad for the first time and if i poped out for the day he would keep asking my mam where we were and when were we coming back lol. Anyways i am rambling now but i am happy we got over that little hard financial time, i remember we had no money left that i could not even buy flowers for my dad for the funeral which seemed daft to worry about as i had just payed for everything but luckily i had a lovely next door neighbour who lent me money to buy flowers to give to my dad off his grandson :) Thanks Danielle if you are reading this :)

My good tips!!! 

Consider a pay-as-you go mobile

Make a shopping list
Consider own-brand goods

Don't buy designer labels (i save buying these for birthdays, more special that way)

Sell your clutter on eBay/blog sale

Use your talent to earn extra cash (i blog and do mobile beauty)

Learn to say 'no'
Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses
Ask yourself: do I really need this?

Cut down your drinking (i don't drink, occasional glass of wine at a friends twice a year lol)

Pack up smoking
Cancel your gym membership (find other ways!)

Buy clothes and presents in the sales
Claim your benefits and tax credits (i get them for my children, not a scrounger for this but they are entiled to them, jak works and i am going into work, never have we took money from anyone or sat on our bums doing nothing! so if you are entitled to child benefit and tax credits then get them!)

Do you need all those TV channels?
Shop online!
Dont lend money off people if you can help it!

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1591904/50-ways-save-money-.html#ixzz1nPvnMUiX

If you are struggling with money, it might be worth a go...

Pay day loans in the UK!!!

Are you good or bad with money???

Do you have as much responsibilities as me in life???

xox Tink xox