Hi Everybody,
The first month of 2019 has been vanquished, and we all survived it, huzzah!
When you have as little money as I do January isn’t usually too much of an extra hardship, however I do have to admit that Christmas 2018 really did wipe me out financially. I am having to seriously reduce my disposable income to try and reset my accounts. The good news is I haven’t used a credit card in around 7-9 months (and even when I was it was 0% on purchases and I paid it off in full every month!!!).
I am writing this very early on Monday morning as I am staying up late to watch the Super Bowl, which is something The Boy and I try to do every year. We had a little nap between 7.30pm-10.30pm and two cups of coffee in I am wide awake!
In January I paid off £450 of debt, go me!!!!
To update you all, I wanted to do a spending challenge of only spending £70 initially in January on my ‘personal’ spends, but this was topped up with £30 when two of my usual counselling sessions were cancelled. So I had a budget of £100, and I spent….
£123.93
Booo!
BUT, let me explainez vous. I had to see a physiotherapist for a potential injury – that was £35, and I bought a 26-30 year old railcard for £30 that will give me 33% off train travel for a year. The physio appointment was unexpected and unplanned for, and the railcard was a bit of an impulse purchase, but if you discount them then I only spent £58.93, which isn’t too bad.
Let’s see how I spent my money this month.
FOOD AND HOUSEHOLD SHOPPING
JANUARY (Last couple of days)
| Toilet Roll, Laundry Cleanser | 2.68 |
| Milk, Clover, Breakfast Biscuits, Cereal Bars, Chocolate Bars, Veggie Sausages, Quorn Mince, Carrots, Parsnips, Rolls, Potatoes, Yogurt, Bananas, Apples | 15.4 |
| Frozen Onion, Butternut Squash, Peppers, Peas and Sweetcorn | 5 |
| Eggs, Part Baked Rolls x 2, Milk, Bread | 4.69 |
| Plum Tomatoes, Cheese, OJ, Lettuce, Mushy Peas, Cucumber | 6.52 |
FEBRUARY
| Bleach, 2 x Washing Up Liquid, 2 x Squash, Diet Coke with Strawberry, 4 x Chopped Tomatoes, Lemon Juice, Yogurt | 10.38 |
| Beer, Marmite, Spaghetti Hoops x 2, Milkshake x 2, Pitta Bread, Falafel, Sweet Potato, Houmous, Rice, Spice Mixes x 4, Basil, Courgette | 22.63 |
| Beetroot Salad, Turmeric Hotshot, Choco Leibniz, Sweet and Sour Sauces x 4 | 5 |
| Milk, Buttermilk Chicken, Pizza, Onion Rings, Veggie Chorizo, Veggie Meatballs | 12 |
| Toothpaste x 2, Toothbrush Holder, Toothbrush x 2, Dental Floss, Toilet Roll | 11.23 |
TOTAL SPENDS = £95.53
We went over on the January food budget by £57.67!! I blame The Boy, he has to do a lot of the food shopping because I work 7 days a week and he tends to buy a load of unnecessary treats, grrr, I must rein him in.
DISPOSABLE INCOME SPENDING
TRAVEL
Railcard – £30
WORK EXPENSE
Coffee and Milk for work £3.75
GIFTS
Share of a present £3.50
Total disposable income spending = £37.25
Total combined spending = £132.78
It’s a bit high, but it usually is at the start of a new month when the food budget resets and we can ‘freely’ buy food again.
