Is anyone else like me with the hot weather having the effect on oneself of spending less? It has been too hot to anything except lie in the garden/play in the pool. That pool I invested £90 in last year comes into its own yet again. Hours and hours of fun just this weekend, all free.
This week has been mostly with the boys which does mark a week where spending tends to increase, but I have been trying not too spend much this week. Also I have redone my budget, prompted by an Insta post from Thrift Londoner Laura. I constantly blow my budget each week so I’m going to make it more realistic, now that lockdown has lifted.
Food Spending as normal = High
I really need to focus down on food spending and spend less. I have slipped back into Tesco and Co-op food shopping rather than Aldi recently. And Tesco is SO much more expensive for everything. I have also started shopping every few days rather than a big shop and I often go with a child, who inevitably picks up something they want, like a box of 12 krispy kreme donuts, at £12.99, excessive. I need to get back to that weekly or fortnightly big shop (at Aldi where the gin is far superior)
This week I spent £154 on groceries, mainly made up of a big shop at Tesco including said donuts. I also spent another £83 on eating out, this was mainly made of a dinner at Fire Jacks with the boys. One of our favourite places to eat out at in Stevenage, good burgers, nachos and cocktails.
Bounce Back Loan Repayment
I am toying with what to do about this loan. I borrowed £17,500 a year ago, as it was the only help available to me a limited company owner at the time od stressful coronavirus uncertainty. This was interest free for the first year, and now a low 2.5% annual interest rate after that period. Thankfully it transpired that I didn’t need to spend any of the money so it sat gathering a teeny bit of interest. Now its time to pay it back.
I paid back £7,500 as soon as interest started being charged. It then turned into a £10k loan, and now I am paying monthly repayments of around £200 per month, one payment was taken last week. I have the £10k sat in my emergency savings to repay this and will still be left with 6 months of essential expenses, but also there is a part of me that worries still about inconsistent income from Mrs Mummypenny and unexpected big emergencies. Something is telling me not to pay back the 10k left too hastily, just keep extra money sat aside in my emergency pot just in case. And I always say listen to the gut.
I think Ill carry on making the monthly payments for a while and see how I feel in maybe six months time.
Holiday Costs
Our next holiday arrives soon and we are off to Cornwall. I wanted to take the boys to Isles of Scilly for a day trip so booked the boat tickets last week. £75, which is actually very good for three of us to get a day return on the Scillionian ferry. Hopefully we see the dolphins again like I did last year.
We are driving to Penzance, so have fuel costs to consider. Thankfully we have free accommodation as we are staying with my sister, who has the cottage garden of dreams. See here on instagram.
Bills Bill Bills
Not quite the most expensive time for bills, but a few were paid this week. Broadband and mobile phone (3) were paid at £91. Life insurance and Disney Plus was paid for (which I might cancel this summer) with another £23 spent. Total spend of £114. My mobile phone bill was bigger than usual as I have just moved contracts from a SIM only to a new Samsung phone. I’ve paid more than a months worth of contract. It will settle next month.
Fun Money
We had one trip to cinema to watch Space Jam, not the best, say no more. Although I did enjoy spotting all the cameos from Warner Brother film characters, Captain Jack Sparrow, Neo, Harry Potter, The Joker, etc. I also had my nails done at £25. I WILL NOT sacrifice this treat every three-ish week.
Plum Auto-Savings
I had to clear out my Plum Auto savings last week to put extra money towards my ‘pay in full’ American Express Bill. After many weeks of bigger spending, including two little holidays, my bill of £2,500 needed paying. My Plum balance was there for a reason to help pay for holidays so I withdrew the money.
I’m now back to nothing so start again with a £41 transfer into my Plum Auto-savings.
Total Spending
My total spending for last week was £728. This would have been more palatable if I hadn’t had the bounce back loan payment. But its a price I am prepared to pay for cash flow freedom. This week is going to a lovely low spending week, hopefully. As of Wednesday I disappear off to Standon Calling festival. I am working so it ‘should’ be a total freebie with food, tiks, tents (and hopefully drinks) all included. We will see if I manage to not spend any money! This was taken at Standon Calling a few years ago, a day with Neilboy.
Thank YOU
Just want to say a big thank you to those of you who have recently switched energy companies to Octopus and sorted out your pensions and consolidated with PensionBee using my refer a friend links. Time are lean for me in the summer months in my industry and these referral payments are so important to me and the running of my business. Lots of you have done these two things in particular recently, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Next week I’m on hols so likely to be much less content on here for a while. But there as always will be tons on Instagram and Twitter, so catch me there.
