Profile of a budgeting mum: Kelly Innes

Hi, what’s your name? Kelly Innes, otherwise known as Domestic Goddesque

Any kids? Two absurdly photogenic Girls- Little Big Girl is five and Dimples is three- and the Wonder Hound who is part child, part challenge.

Do you work? FT/PT? I am a stay-at-home mother, and I blog around parenting to keep my sanity!

If you don’t work why don’t you? My husband has a very unpredictable job: he works long hours as standard but frequently has last-minute projects that require through-the-night turnaround. He also travels, which means if there is a crisis at home, I need to be available. When we met, we made the decision that I would stay at home to raise our children. I used to be a nanny and a maternity nurse, so it doesn’t make sense for me to go back to that and let someone else look after The Girls.

What are your child care arrangements? Me, primarily. I am lucky that my mum relocated to be near us: she works part-time at a local school and is very happy to spend time with The Girls so she usually covers for me if I have an event in London. LBG is in full-time school and Dimples does three days at Kindergarten, so I don’t have them all day every day except during the holidays.

How do you manage for money? DH has a well-paid job. But it’s all on him. I sometimes get paid for blog-related work, but it really isn’t much. I know that I could do more, but until The Girls are both in full-time school, I also want to be around for them.

Do  you worry about money? Who doesn’t? The burden on DH is vast, so I worry all the time: I worry that he feels the pressure to earn enough to pay the bills, and I worry that the pressure will make him ill. Then I worry about how we would manage if he was ill….

What do you waste money on? Amazon! I should earn loyalty points with them, I’m such a regular customer. I spend willy-nilly on The Girls, probably unnecessarily, and things for the house. I don’t really spend a lot on myself except having my hair done (when I remember) and my Hello! subscription.

Have you made any big financial changes since having kids? My earnings were never enormous, so losing them has been absorbed by DH’s increasing earnings. I guess we just follow the pattern our parents did- bigger house, bigger car, bigger pension. We also invest in a pension for The Girls so that should help them out when they are older. They also benefitted from the Child Trust Fund initiative, and have savings accounts in addition. All our spare cash goes into their accounts, so I hope they don’t both go on a giant bender when they eventually receive it! DH has a Financial Advisor who has given us advice we have acted on for ourselves. It’s mostly about being tax-efficient. I confess that he deals with most of the financial arrangements: I consider him to be very astute financially, and in the time that I have known him, he has reads markets and the economy very well. He could have worked in finance!

How do you make extra cash? I get small bits and pieces from the blog, but primarily prefer to receive items such as food, toys or clothes to review. I tend to work on the ‘saving’ rather than ‘making’ side of cash-flow.  I do try to negotiate discounts, buy second-hand or in the sale with larger purchases. I fail regularly to meal plan but buy in bulk those things that we use regularly. I sell things we no longer need on ebay. I enter competitions for products that would work for us as a family.

Can you share 3 top budgeting tips for other parents?

1.    I find that online shopping reduces my ‘spontaneous purchase’ abilities, so I buy the bulk of my food online then shop locally for fruit and veg as I need it.

2.    If you really like a magazine, ask for a subscription as a birthday or Christmas present. that way you get a gift you really want, as well as your favourite magazine every week or month. (I do this too Kelly! )

3.    Research: checking out a product and the reviews online help you decide if you a) really need it and b) have the best deal. 

Thanks so much for you answers Kelly.

Kelly is the face behind the vintage silhouette at Domestic Goddesque. She eats too much cookie dough to have a waist that small. She is a thirty-something Mother of two absurdly photogenic little girls, is married her beloved DH and endures daily battles-of-will with the dog she refers to as the Wonder Hound. She likes to avoid housework as much as possible, preferring to bake, craft and drink cocktails. Sorry, did I say cocktails? I meant coffee. And nap. She likes to nap too. When not blogging, you can find her haunting Facebook for interesting snippets of gossip, or throwing her wit around the twittersphere. (She may have made that last bit up too: she’s not that funny.) She is a former Tots 100 Blogger of the month and Finalist in the Social Media category of the ‘Brilliance in Blogging’ Awards

web: domesticgoddesque.com

twitter: @domesticgoddesq

Google+: Domestic Goddesque

instagram: Domestic Goddesq

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