January is one of the hardest months financially. It stretches over 5 long weeks due to Christmas pay day often coming in early. Christmas fatigue also sets in, as well as the January blues. It feels like 200 days since Christmas, but thankfully we are on the final few days. For me, pay day has arrived (25th of the month) and I am ready to review January’s spending.
My aim this month was to get a good solid start in with my budget. I allocated set amounts for spend, food and petrol. These are the items that I track more carefully – the rest are fixed with my bill account.
Spend account: So for my spend amount I budgeted £70. This was to cover activities and other items that might be needed.
- gifts were brought for £31.95 (these were a few additional presents prior to Christmas)
- home items, including batteries and artificial flowers for £12.80
- clothing £17 which includes a beanie, shoulder bag (replacement item) and a dress.
- parking was £4.40
- activities such as a film rental £13.99 and museum of the moon tickets £5.84.
In total I spent £86.02. Only £16 over, which is rather good for me.
Food amount: I budgeted £200 each month.
Thankfully, this is the first month in a while where I have kept to budget. I have done a bit of using up of cupboard items and planning ahead for meals, which has helped me keep on track.
Overall spend was £196.68. Phew!!
Petrol amount: Budget is £140. In total I have spent £110.36. I was mostly home for the last of the Christmas holidays so my usage was definitely lower than average.
This month has been successful. What is normally a tough one, has been a positive one.
Rach, Declutter your life
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