Savings? 3p according to the banking app I’ve just checked.
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My student loan comes out of my pay each month at £65. Loan payments: Around £40 for my overdraft excursions each month, £100 on a loan I took out when maternity was more expensive than anticipated and around £200 on my credit card (minimum payment usually). As a stepmother, I find it quite challenging balancing my values around ethical shopping and avoiding plastic tat against the values at their mum’s house and have really had to rein myself in to avoid ruining the magic for the girls." Currently, we’re down to 15 stocking presents of about £5 for my stepdaughters and one big gift from their dad and me. I try not to be too consumerist and have gradually tapered the amount we spend over the years. I usually pay for everything with savings and space purchases out through the year but with maternity leave I still have lots to buy and there is a lot of credit card use and, for the first time, Klarna. This year I’m trying really hard to avoid Amazon as it’s hard to justify supporting a multinational company that pays so little tax when I’m taking food vouchers to kids struggling to survive on universal credit.
![fed ed store s white fed ed store s white](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/211008231516-kansas-city-school-mcmorris-santoro-pkg-thumb-vpx-exlarge-169.jpg)
I have a notebook where I keep logs of what I’ve bought and numerous lists on my phone of what I still need to buy. At Christmas I take charge of all the shopping and try to be really organised and avoid panic-buying.