Welcome back to Monday Money my weekly look at what I have been up to in the Mrs Mummypenny money saving world. These posts are so much easier to write looking back at my spending diary. I have continued with writing down all of my spend every day and its making a significant difference to my monthly spending. I then analyse the spend at the end of the month to see where there was over and under-spending. I can see that March is a good month for spending. At 2/3rd of the way through March we have spent £1000 less than February.
Tracking Fun Money
My spending diary has been really good for tracking my fun spending money. I allow myself 7.5% of my turnover for fun spends. This is where I allow myself some money to spend on me. My fun spending this month has included some contact lenses, okay not fun, more of a neccessity. But I have discovered Vision Direct who are masses cheaper for my stigamatism lenses. I pay £35 for 3 months worth of lenses that used to cost £54 from Specsavers.
I spent £99 on my hypnotherapy session, and I am so pleased with the results. After one week I had already lost 1 inch from my waist and visibly look different comparing before and after pictures. Other treats included new tattoo eye liner from Kat Von D, and new black pumps from H&M, I’ve bought the same shoes three years in a row now! £16.99 and they look great with jeans or a skirt.
Flowers Delivery
Another fun spend purchase was flowers for my friends birthday…, which I bought from Moonpig. Firstly I bought them using my Topcashback account. I signed into Topcashback, searched for Moonpig and click through to their site via Topcashback. This got me 7.5% cash back on my purchase. Then I searched for voucher codes online and got a further 10% off my flowers. Bargain, saving me nearly 20% off my basket price. Always look for cash back when you are ordering flowers online!
Ikea Storage
My friend Charlotte popped over for a coffee on Friday. She is a professional interior designer and specialises in de-cluttering. I have A LOT of clutter, including an unsightly corner in the living room. She recommended an Ikea kaxxon solution with hideaway boxes for the sections. I ordered straight away and now have a flat pack storage unit to put together. Here is a before pictures! The unit with drawers cost £78, plus £10 for delivery. I hated paying the £10 for delivery, but my nearest Ikea is 45 minutes away and I would end up spending more when there!
Foreign Currency Savings and Travel Insurance
I have been umming and ahhing about when to get my dollars for my holiday in April. I gave in last week and got some from Debenhams. Turns out the delay to Brexit has meant the dollar rate has slightly improved since last week, damn. At least I didn’t get all the money I needed. A little known fact, but Debenhams are really competitive for making foreign currency savings. They are as good as the best rate places you can find in central London and via the post. The in store rate is slightly higher than the online rate but ask them to match it, and they do!
I also found my annual travel insurance policy that I bought last August. Yeah, no travel insurance needed for April.
Swopping my Stocks & Shares ISA
I spent the day with Vanguard last week and co-hosted a Twitter chat all about investment. There were so many questions aimed at beginners and those with some knowledge of investing. It links back nicely to the post I shared a few week ago about the cost of delay. How much it might cost you leaving your savings in cash rather than investments.
I am swopping my stocks and shares ISA over to Vanguard. Their fees are super low, like way lower than anyone else. And the historical returns are really good too. And if I am working with a brand, I am putting my money where my mouth is!
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