Living a SPIRITED life filled with wanderlust, emotions and everything in between

Category: Finances

Having kids is expensive…

Are you prepared for having kids?

Nothing can prepare you for having kids. I mean you can prepare and save and do what you need  to do but, in my opinion, you will never have everything just right to prepare you for having kids. Dudie is 7 years old and we have a resident alien in utero, who is due to arrive in less than 9 weeks…

As we are wrapping up 2016 we are also preparing for our new journey of becoming a family of four… This is by far a very exciting time but also a bit nerve wrecking as I think – “I hope we can manage everything”. We have been faced with tougher decisions before and somehow when we put our minds to it we make it work. Dude and I make a mean team. We work for what we want out of life. And we work damn hard to achieve it!

Do you know that we have already paid Dudie’s re-enrolment fee for 2017 in October? We also had to pay for his stationery pack for 2017 in October. That I can still comprehend. What baffles me is that the resident alien is still in utero, we don’t even know when he will make his grand entrance aid his fee BUT we already paid his fee too secure his spot for 2017!!! When I completed the enrolment forms many questions were answered with TBA because frankly we don’t know his date of birth/identity number/vaccination schedule/allergies etc…

School fees, just a drop in the bottomless pit, of why kids are expensive

The resident alien’s fees are almost aligned to Dudie’s private school fees….pardon me they refer to themselves as an independent school. Soon we will have two kids in an independent school. It scares me. The cost their education. The cost of living.

I see people moving their kids to different schools because of the costs… What price tag do you put on you kids’ education? Life in general is expensive. For now we bite the bullet and have Dudie in an independent school and the resident alien in his over priced nursery school.

For now I am going to take a walk to the cafeteria and buy myself a treat…

Spirited Mama

Random Conversations with Dudie:

Dudie: Guys when I have to leave and buy like my own house…can I have the BMW please?

Dudie: My tummy doesn’t feel well.

Me: Why?

Dudie: Cos I ate 5 spoons of honey at home…

Benefits of a half day JOB

Yes, it is NOT all moonshine and roses but it does have ALOT of benefits. The biggest pitfall is you earn less than you normally would. (As an aside – my salary is actually NOT too bad compared to most full-time employees….)And you do a full days work in half the time. Nowhere has anyone ever said you will do half the work. EVER. You are supposed to be superhuman.

I am out of the office between 12:30 and 13:00 EVERYDAY! I do not compromise my time anymore. I get Dudie and do the usual school run with extra-mural activities, shopping, etc… We are generally home by 3pm with the exception on Fridays. Then we are home, if we didn’t have any errands, by 13:00 – 13:15.

Dudie doesn’t get homework on a Friday so by the time we get home that child is like a caged animal who has been set free. I allow him to watch TV/play his Playstation/just lounge around as he wishes. All whilst I too just plop onto my bed in my lazy state ‘cos come Friday I am beyond tired too.

So essentially a half day JOB means that I am there for all his activities. For all of his sporting fixtures – this kid plays cricket, golf, hockey, soccer and swims. Homework is done by latest 16:00 everyday. Dude gets the benefit of knowing that the family is sorted by the time he walks in the door, which is usually around 16:00. We actually have some good quality family time together. Dinner time is 18:00/18:30. Bath time is 19:00 and bed time is 19:30. And then the adults can have “time-off”.

I sent Dude this article, as I found that it was an interesting read. He agreed that the benefits of a half day JOB outranks the financial gain for a full-time salary.

BEING A STAY-AT-HOME PARENT IS A LUXURY … FOR YOUR SPOUSE

We have time for afternoon snacks, and Seattle Coffee stops whilst we go through the car wash. No more rushing like a headless chicken to get things done. And yes we eat together as a family EVERYDAY. In retrospect, our environment is alot more calmer than it used to be. And considering that our resident alien will be arriving in less than 15 weeks – well it’s definitely more beneficial to work half day.

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Happy Friday!

Spirited Mama

P.S. Try to stay cool as we are experiencing a HEAT WAVE in Pretoria. Even one of the dogs is feeling it… A refreshing night swim1477583964944

 

Pregnancy anatomy….

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Even with Dudie I never bought maternity clothes. JUST couldn’t find “non-drab” maternity wear. I opted for maternity jeans and just ended up buying “non-maternity” clothing that I liked in a bigger size… thankfully I didn’t get too big. Crossing my fingers I can stay within limits of pregnancy weight gain….

BUT let me just say that Maternity wear has come a long way….And how easy to do online shopping…

Now as much as I love online shopping – I also feel the need to actually fit the clothes before I purchase them.

Some favourites are:

Cherry Melon

MeAmama

Yummy Mummy Maternity

Apart from the fact that my bank balance is trying to stab me with a dagger because I need to curb my spending – I need a new wardrobe all whilst Preparing for baby.

Sigh…My piggy is broke.

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Maybe I should just come to work in my robe and who knows if I jazz it up with pretty accessories maybe no one will notice. Could start a new trend.

Spirited Mama

ONLY 1 more sleep until my BIRTHDAY!

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