This month has been much more successful in terms of it being low spend. I've taken care to not buy inessentials on the whole, although a few did slip by me. It has helped that it has been a short month, I can't deny this, but I did drastically reduce my expenditure by over £400 or one third compared to last month, so this has been a big win as far as I'm concerned.
In terms of the budget, I was just about on target for food, a little over, mainly due to meeting some friends for supper at the end of the month, but I'm not going to punish myself over this. I managed to keep well within budget for household and miscellaneous items, but spent over budget on the house and garden due to buying some new bedding and a new toilet seat, plus a few bits for the garden/home.
I also spent a little too much on myself, on account of my £25 thrifting budget, which I stuck to. (I haven't really felt the urge to visit the charity shop so often this month, I think because I already have so much stuff in my house that I don't want to bring any more in.) I did, however, succumb to buying a new silver ring I'd been watching on Etsy for a while and a couple of other small items. The main overspend this month, however, was gifting, as I had a 21st birthday gift of money that I gave. This did come out of money I'd already saved up throughout the last year though, which was good.
In terms of putting money aside in savings, I did my usual £100 for gifting, £50 toward a contingency fund for LB, in case her bills turned out to be more than she could afford (I've been doing this for the past 6 months and if it is not needed, I can either give it to her to spend/pay off her overdraft once she's finished Uni, continue to save it for her or use it for something else). In addition, I got the ball rolling this month on the car fund, putting aside £200 for this purpose, another £16 into another savings account to round up the figure in there and put aside £30 in cash for a rainy day. I also won £100 on the Premium Bonds which got reinvested in more bonds, so altogether it's not been a bad month on the savings front.
I'm also trying to give more to charity on a monthly basis, where I can. I regularly give £18 per month to 3 different charities by direct debit and I've continued to contribute 7 items to the Food Bank every week. In a Some weeks it costs more than others, depending on what I donate, and sometimes I get freebies (or discounts on item) through my Lidl plus account, which I often donate if they're not something I buy regularly or would use. I do intend to continue with this, unless, of course, there is a change in my circumstances that means I can no longer afford do so, as I like to try to do something charitable in my everyday life, especially now I'm no longer volunteering or working in the Charity sector.
Looking ahead to March, there aren't really many large expenses on the horizon, save that I still need a dental checkup and a haircut. I keep putting both off, but I do need to book appointments for these. Otherwise, I'm hoping to keep expenditure low again and save more towards the car fund. I'll keep you posted with progress.
How was February for you? Have you got any financial plans for March?
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