Monthly Roundup - May

It's been a tough month this month, mainly because it's been a long month, with five grocery shops. As a consequence, I've limped to the end of it and most of the budgets have gone over, which is disappointing, but just couldn't really be helped.

Here's a breakdown:

LB's budget of £25 went over by £18.44 mainly due to two school trips costing £25 in total that needed paying for and then I spent another £18.44 on her new calculator, a denim dungaree dress (which she subsequently didn't like but which I've kept for me to wear) from the CS and a couple of other very small things she needed.

My budget of £25 went over by £8.77 due to needing to spend £18 on a new vegan perfume, as I'd completely run out, and also I bought a few bits from the CS at the beginning of the month including a book, some shoes and a t-shirt.

The Misc. budget of £50 went over by £13.94 which was almost exclusively spent on gifts and cards for other people, some of which were Xmas gifts bought early. I did actually include the new foundation I needed under this budget too, which on its own just about accounts for the overspend.

The Household budget of £50 also went over by £16.46. There weren't any big stock up spends in here either, save for buying a few things in Home Bargains that will get used over the next month or two. Just regular purchases such as toilet rolls, mouthwash, distilled witchhazel, toothpaste, cleaning products, dog food and my shampoo, which cost £10. It just shows how running out of each special product that I use has ramifications for the budgets, as the three special products I ran out of this month meant overspends in all of the relevant budget categories and illustrates how these budgets are really down to the bare bones, with very little room for manoeuver.

The food budget also went over by £28.24 , although £47.32 of this was purchased on my M&S gift card, which when taken into account, means I actually spent £19 approx. under the budget in this category.

Finally, the Home budget of £20 went over by £2.14.  I did buy a few bits for the house this month, including some new ceramic roasting dishes, a new laundry basket for the ironing, a new can opener, a kitchen timer and a cd case for the car, which sounds quite a lot for just over £20.

So, not a very successful month in terms of keeping within the budgets. Don't ask me how, but the overdraft did still go down by another £54, so progress is being made.  I did only aim to reduce it by £30 too this month, so I did better in this regard than I thought I would. I'm not sure how this happened but it did.

I was saved from total disaster this month by my M&S voucher, which I used for the final grocery shop to get us through the last few days of the month. The Waitrose and Tesco money off grocery shops vouchers also helped a lot and without these I would have been way more over budget. I have just £3 left on the M&S voucher now, but still have a few money off £40 spend vouchers to use at Waitrose and Tesco, which should help again next month.

Next month, I should be able to reduce the overdraft a little more. I have a nephew's birthday present to pay for and a £60 visit to the dentist for a scale and polish, but other than this it should be a straight forward month. I just hope that I can keep within my budgets this time. If I do, I should be able to reduce my overdraft by around another £120.  I'll let you know if I manage this.