July Round Up

My finances went a bit awry in July.  Mostly due to our impending holiday and my doing a bit of unscheduled shopping on my credit card in the days before we left, to get a few things that to be honest weren't completely vital, but were nevertheless necessary.  In actual fact, I went a little mad in TK Maxx and bought myself a new leather handbag, purse and some black gladiator sandals.  I also prematurely bought myself a new pair of trainers, which were on the list of things I needed when I got back, but as is the way with TK Maxx, if you don't buy something when you see it, invariably it is gone the next time you go there, so I bought them, even though they would be sat in the wardrobe for two weeks before I used them.

I don't actually regret any of the purchases, as I did need a new black handbag, the zip on my current one having broken, my purse was looking incredibly shabby - I'd been looking for a new one for a while, and I had thrown out a pair of black sandals this year as they had broken, so didn't have any summer footwear to wear with many of my clothes.  In effect, it has meant that my credit card bill this month will be a little large, so my spending money for August will be limited.  Committment wise, I have almost £100 to pay for Little Bird's school uniform, an 18th Birthday present to buy and another £100 to pay off the overdraft.  For this reason, I will be tightening my belt where I didn't last month.  I'm looking on it as a challenge, otherwise it is just too depressing to contemplate.

I do seem to have quite a bit of food in the cupboards that still needs using, so that will help and I'm hoping that when I visit the allotment, there will be a few things to harvest.  The tomatoes in garden are now ripening and I managed to harvest a lettuce and some apples from there this week.  There's another lettuce still growing too.  Small savings, but they should help keep the food budget down.

With regard to the summer holidays, treats will need to be limited or will need to be free, but as we have just returned from 10 days holiday, are spending a weekend with relatives in Yorkshire later in the month and a week with other relatives in Norfolk at the end of the month, there should be plenty to keep Little Bird happy.  Not to mention possible visits from relatives from abroad and friends from Yorkshire.  I just need to fill in with a few activities and days out in between.  A visit to the fruit farm or better still blackberry picking locally may fill an afternoon or two, as will a trip to the library or into town and possibly a theatre visit later in the month.  Children's Theatre Week in London can reduce the cost of this treat  and I know there is a show that Little Bird would really like to see.

Other than the aforementioned, we may be staying close to home for much of the next two weeks and trying not to spend money.  I'm sure it won't hurt for once.  I have combined my food bank donation for July/August and most of it has already been bought and is waiting to be delivered to the food bank, which will be a trip out.   We've also got to go and collect Little Bird's new uniform from the school and do a little bit of back to school shopping.

I think we might take the opportunity this month, to do a serious declutter of Little Bird's bedroom and other areas of the house and to take the accumulated items to the charity shop.  That should keep us out of trouble for another few days, not to mention garden and allotment jobs.  I think swimming is free for Little Bird in the summer holidays and her swimming club is still running for another two weeks, so she'll be attending sessions as usual.  I may need to do a bit of swotting up on things going on in the holidays at local museums to fill other days, but hopefully we should be able to amuse ourselves without too much trouble or expense.