That said, plans for our baby bonus...

I'm not sure what or how I'm meant to 'utilise' the bonus coming our way. I am sure there are those wise people out there who will use it to set up a bank account for their offspring, that by the time they are 18 is worth a squillion dollars and sets them on their voyage of discovery (ie drinking and random acts of a sexual nature with as many partners as possible without officially becoming a slut) or buys them the new Ford Fiesta or Mistubishi Lancer when they finish their HSC or turn 18 or whichever comes first. Then there are the people I mentioned who will use it to buy a plasma TV. And really, considering the amount of late night television I watched pacing the house with a screaming child or feeding, I do sort of get why you would want a big flash tele to make it all seem a little less horrendous than it really is. Then there are people like us. I swing from a mindset of financial sensibleness, which believe me, is impressively fleeting although getting better as I get older and we roll around in joy at the life that is a fortnightly reliable income - to a mindset of "oh my God think of the shoes, the SHOES (and clothes) I could buy with that!" So here it is: Sensible: pay off large portion of Amex bill or pay off all of DJs bill and other sundry bills hanging around us for months (Bec I hear you loud and clear on those specialist doctor fees that you f.i.n.a.l.l.y. pay) Reckless: Get new glasses - I've seen Leona Edmiston now does a range of eyeglasses and well, let me say, the dress at the end of the post-baby-I'm-getting-myself-in-shape-program is a Leona. I am so seriously addicted to her clothes (as addicted as I am to Glamourpuss' range of accessories) I'd consider calling the incubus Leona if it came out a girl and well, it wasn't actually Leona (I mean what is that?). She also does shoes which literally take my breath away. Buy the ridiculously expensive bells and whistles pram that I always wanted with the boys but that we never had the money to buy. Buy new shoes and work clothes because lets get real, as if my gut that was a horrendous blob of jelly pre#3 is actually ever going to, well, not. Sensible: Pay bills Reckless: Buy the shelving for the back room, and the fabric and bedside tables for our bedroom (which, in my all-hail the great Ikea we could actually do). Sensible: Pay the Amex bill Reckless: Buy a laptop. Oh, as I sip my second pint of Raspberry leaf tea (with two teabags in it) and watch the boys mesmerised by Terry (or is it Teddy) Savalas in some war movie (the tanks! the TANKS!) these are the things that occupy my mind.