I love February, from a financial point of view at least, as it's a very short month. This said, I only just managed to eke it out through the month in spite of my spending being the least it has been in a long time, more than two years to be exact.
I'm now down to my last two months existing on what I saved from my last job. It should take me to the end of April, which isn't bad, as it will have lasted 8 months by then. OH does, of course, help out with food and other necessities, so I must give him credit for that, but it is surprising how little you can exist on if you put your mind to it.
From May, I will be using some savings as income, until some pensions mature later in the year, after which I'm hoping to use those going forward. Fortunately, I had a boost to the savings I will be using this month, when some dividends were paid out early and this account should now see me through until my pensions start paying me, give or take a few pounds. With a bit of luck, more money might appear between then and now, what with interest payments on savings due in April and possibly another dividend at some point. It is, of course, not ideal to eke out each month in this way, but until I find a job that resonates, which sounds very selective I know, I am happy to do so.
Spending this month was, as I've mentioned much reduced, probably by at least £150 on even the lowest months in recent years. I'm not quite sure how I did it, but I hardly bought anything other than food and household essentials. I did need to buy a few things on eBay for the allotment (potato tubers and seeds), some toiletries I can't get elsewhere and I spent £8 on a new fitted cotton sheet at Tesco using a £4 off voucher.
The only other non-food/household expenditure was £5 on some books, £6 on various bits and £2 on some denim jeans for fabric, all bought from charity shops and well within the £20 per month limit that I allow myself for thrifting, so I'm fairly okay with these purchases.
No items of clothing were bought this month, save for a couple of small accessories. Having got out of the habit of buying them, it does make me wonder why I was compulsively buying so many items when I did work and earn money. I also bought a few consumable Valentines gifts, but these probably cost around £10 in total.
I didn't book a dental appointment, as I'm still on the fence about whether to move practice and I didn't book an optical appointment, as I didn't get a reminder from ASDA, but I'm intending to do that this coming month, as it is important and can't be left indefinitely. Not sure where I'm going to go for that though, possibly another optician's practice, as ASDA have in my experience, always been very slack on reminding me when I need an eye test.
Apart from this, I don't have any big expenses coming up next month, although Easter is approaching and I will need to buy some chocolate eggs for OH and LB. Also, it is OH's mother's birthday next month, so a present for her, which OH and I will take up north with us when we visit family this month. It will be nice to have a change of scenery.
OH and LB are also both going away at the same time later in March, so I will be home alone for a while, but I am intending to use this time to weave a rug using a clothing rail, as I need space to put up the rail and take my time using it to complete the weave.
Once the weather warms up a bit, I will be able spend time on the allotment and in the garden, both of which are very inexpensive hobbies that I enjoy. I've also earmarked a few free events for Women's History Month that I'd like to attend in various parts of East London, so that might be interesting.
I didn't make it to an exhibition this month, as the weather put me off going out and I wasn't really feeling motivated to do it, but I'll try to do something next month. I was thinking of going to The Stitch Festival in Islington, but at £20 for a ticket, plus nearly £5 booking fee, I've decided not to bother, as I'll only want to spend money when I get there. The booking fee does seem particularly expensive too.
I hope you've had a good month financially in February and have lots of nice things planned for March.
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