Monthly Roundup - August 2018

It's been a strange kind of month really.  Expensive in some areas and not in others, but overall the budget fared pretty well for once. Here's how it all panned out:

Food - This came in at £16.95 under the usual monthly budget of £400 which was very good.  Possibly because we went away for three days, whereby family members kindly fed us, but I was never the less happy with this result.

Household - This budget was one of ones that came in over, namely by £8.05 over the £50 budget.  Not bad though, as this is usually one budget that gets well and truly busted each and every month.

Miscellaneous - This budget came in at £27.99 under the £50 budget allocation.  I'm not sure why this was really, save that there were no birthdays and I had less cakes to buy at work due to the fact that most of the interns left whilst I was on leave for a week.

My Personal Budget - This went over the £25 allotted by £15.15, which isn't too bad for me.

LB's Budget - This was the major overspend this month at £90.16 over the £25 allotted, mainly because I bought her some new school skirts and socks and I also got her hair cut properly for a second time, after the previous hairdresser was frightened to cut as much off as she wanted.

In addition, LB was going to a music festival at the end of the month with a friend and her family and needed a few things to wear/take with her, so I obliged and also gave her some cash to spend whilst there. Not a big deal, as she doesn't ask for much these days.

Home - This budget also went over by £17.75 over the budget of £20.  I did treat myself to a new docking station for my iPod which cost £16 from the CS though, plus some other bits and pieces for the house and garden.

Travel for Work - This budget came in under by £14, due to the fact that I had put £10 on my travel card at the end of last month which saw me through the first week, plus I was absent from work for a week.

In all, a good result, but I needed to be a bit careful this month due to having less income.  OH usually gives me some money towards groceries, but he had a large credit card bill after our holiday, so he put it towards that instead, which was fine by me, as he actually paid for the groceries when we were in Portugal.

Next month, I don't think I've got any major expenses coming up.  I am, however, going to start thinking about Christmas presents and possibly start early buying some of them.  I suggested forgoing gift exchanges to one family member last week, but she really wanted me to continue to buy gifts for a couple of her children, so I relented.  The others I'm giving cash to though, which will simplify things a little.

I hope your budgeting efforts have rewarded you this month.