Monthly Roundup - October

This month has been pretty disastrous on the spending front in most areas and I can't blame anyone but myself, as I've just relaxed my attitude once again, after so long being on a tight budget in order to pay off my overdraft. I didn't actually go into the red again, but I do have a smallish credit card balance to pay off next month. I have, however, had the expense of paying for LB's Duke of Edinburgh award this month, which at £220 wasn't cheap and made a dent.

Most of the budgets were over spent this month as follows:

My Personal budget of £25 was over spent by £143.09. (Hmm, yes, I did treat myself to a few new clothes.)  I promised myself that I'd spend £100 on clothes for myself once I'd paid off my debts, but I spent a bit more than this amount, mainly on some basics such as two pairs of jeans, a sweater, socks, a new coat, a new nightdress, new t-shirts and new gym clothes to replace some pretty worn out ones.

The most I spent on any one item was £20, which I don't think is extreme. These things should keep me going for a good while. I don't really feel like I need to buy anything else now and working with clothes at the CS, I don't feel that inclined to shop for them when I'm not at work these days. Besides, with Christmas on the horizon, there's now no room in the budget for much else.

LB's budget of £25 went over again by £48.72, mainly due to buying her some new underwear, pyjamas and a few items of clothing, plus some toiletries and giving her some cash during the month for spending money and gifts for friends birthdays.

Again, I promised myself I'd spend at least £100 on clothes for LB, once I'd paid off my overdraft.  I need to spend at least another £50 on her in the coming months, but there's not too much she needs at the moment. I'll probably wait until the January sales and spend the money on her then, as she'll get more for it.

The Household budget of £50 went over by £33.19, mainly due to buying a few make up products for me this month and other extra toiletries for other family members. Everything else I spent was the usual dog, household and toiletry products that I buy every month. 

The Xmas budget I set this month of £60 went over by £51.14 this month, which was mainly due to buying a pair of trainers that LB wants for Xmas, using a 15% off birthday voucher from ASOS. I figured I might as well use the discount now, than let it go to waste and pay the full price nearer Xmas. I also found a couple of Xmas present bargains that were too good to ignore, or were offers that might not arise again before Xmas. Next month this budget goes up to £100, followed by a rise to £200 in December.

The Home budget went over by £1.21. I did, however, manage to replace a few things that needed replacing this month, namely some drinking glasses, the replacements for which I got from the CS, a whisk, a sink tidy and some other bits and pieces that will come in very useful.

The Miscellaneous budget of £50 was over by £2.59. A few small gifts needed to be bought this month here and there, which comprised the main expenditure here, plus a coffee out with friends, which was a rare treat.

The Food budget of £400 was over by £22.66. No excuses here, I just wasn't adhering to the budget as well as I should be.

The only budget that came under was the Travel budget for work of £60, which came under by £15, which is surprising considering that I worked and travelled on several extra days in my Manager's absence.  Perhaps this budget is set a little high, but I'd rather that than too low.

A slightly more relaxed month in terms of spending, but I can't afford to continue in this vein and need to rein it back in next month, especially with Christmas around the corner.  I'm hoping to go back to minimal spending and stick to my budgets next month.  We'll see how that goes!!!

On the positive side financially, I did start to put some money aside for LB's college fund this month, i.e £50 and I will continue to do so every month from now on.

In addition, from next month, I will also be contributing to the pension scheme at work, which will set me back around £100 per month, but as my employer pays in another £60 or so, this seemed too good to miss out on. I definitely have a large hole in terms of my work pension, due to staying at home with LB for the past 14 years, so I need to do something to help fill it now that I'm working and earning again.

Hoping for a better month next month, I hope your financial month was a good one.