Such a short month February I suppose it should be easier to stay in budget but I still went over by £1.85. Now I am thinking if only I had taken one more packed lunch I would have hit my target.
If you haven’t been following along my budget allowance for this month has been taken from the whole of last years spend for each category – less 10% then divided by 52 and times 4 which gives me the figure in the end column.
The £13 for cleaning product was spent on water filters – a box of 6 which were half price. I have classed them as a cleaning product as it isn’t really a grocery item either and after all in my logical thinking they do clean up the water!
My groceries were well under budget but my lunches more than double – I must make an effort to pack up more – my mornings are always so busy I need to know exactly what I am taking in fact Ideally I should prepare it the night before.
I had to buy more supplements this month as I had not been replacing them as I ran out since Christmas and they are always expensive I also stocked up on Homeopathic remedies which have to be ordered over the internet.
And you may have noticed the stationery spend ooops – still I am reorganising my office space – I will have some photos soon to show you of the new streamlined office which is slowly coming together now – but not yet finished.
I managed without buying any petrol last month but I know as I write this I will need to fill up tomorrow when I go shopping I am just hoping I will get a petrol voucher to get some money off.
I am really pleased with the toiletries coming in at £6.24 all I bought was Epsom Salts and Ball of foot cushioned pads both items for my feet. I add the Epsom salts to my foot bath when I soak my feet.
And now the items that came into our house in the last week or two.
From left to right –
- Black display binder – to store my decorating ideas
- Patterned shopping bag – self explanatory
- Mini spray bottle – for cleaners – I use these around the house as they are neat and small enough to store in small spaces
- 3 books – yes I went to Waterstones when I was in Leeds for my hospital appointment but I only paid for one of them as I had £10 on my stamp card and £4 on my points card.
- 1 box lawn food – ready for April this was on offer at Sainsbury’s
- Toiletries – 3 for 2 offer on shower gel plus extra points, handwash from the £1 shop
- 3 spiky physio balls – I have been wanting to order these for a while as the osteopath I saw last year swears by them for tight muscles.
- Pack of commemorative children’s TV stamps – occassionally I treat myself to a pack of special stamps for my collection – I couldn’t resist this one of Childrens TV characters
- Garden Illustrated magazine – I bought this for the article on planting a white border.
None of the items came out of my housekeeping budget apart from the toiletries which are from the March budget and so don’t appear in the table above.
These pictures will now go into my Incoming items tab on my rerouted blog click here to see the full list so far this year of what has come into the house that is not food.
This weekend I had to search for car insurance and breakdown. After the performance I had when I broke down before Christmas with the free breakdown included in my insurance which turns out is not free at the point of need I decided to buy a years cover from Green Flag which will cover me going to work or further afield for £65. My car insurance does not reduce if the breakdown is not included as it is ‘free’ but my current provider is still the cheapest available to me when I search the internet comparison sites.
I am always glad when that job is done and I am signed up for another year. To make the whole task easier I have a typed sheet with all the information I require to answer the questions such as the year I passed my test and the year I bought my car. I keep this with my folder so I can refer to it each year – I also keep a note of my no claims bonus years as different providers have different limits. I am now on 11 years no claims wheras my providers limit is 9 years.
I will need to keep a careful eye on the March budget – it is a longer month and with Mothers Day coming up I will be having a visit from my mum which I will need to save for so I can treat her to a few days out and about.
How are you doing with your budget so far?
where the journey takes me 
I look forward to seeing the office re-org. And I like your stamps! So far my March seems a little spendy!
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We have just bought some new furniture for our office revamp – only from Ikea but it all adds up. We have also just paid the money for the roofing slates to be delivered at Easter but we have had that money saved for a while. It doesn’t matter how well you budget there are always the unexpected and the temptations to contend with!!
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Oh, the roofing slates, at last 🙂
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That’s exactly what I said!
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I’d love to see what Alan Titchmarsh recommends to plant in shady spots. I love his style. Though I know the plants generally don’t do well here, because of the heat and humidity. Less than £2 over is pretty good!
I’m pleased with my potential savings this month. I investigated a new ISP which came with a bundle for phone and TV. Given we are downloading so much more for the last 6 months what with movies etc, our Internet bill was always going way over. The excess was exorbitant. Now I should save over $100 a month, even more compared with some months. I get rid of a phone line and a cheap phone call provider and the ISP. And the calls to mobiles from our phone line will be so much cheaper I won’t have to use my mobile so much. Win, win, win. Well, hope it all works out.
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I am hoping for ideas with the Alan Titchmarsh book – I like his guide for idiots approach and we have a lot of shade in places.
Sounds like you have a good deal there with the phone – we are sticking with BT here – not the absolute cheapest but all with the one provider can save a lot of headaches if one thing goes down – when we had different phone and internet providers they each claimed any fault was the fault of the other and no one would take responsibility to fix the problem. Just waiting on the Council Tax bill for the year now to see how much they are wanting me to pay then that is all my bills allowed for until the house insurance renewal in November. I can then focus more on my general spending or should I say not spending!
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This post reminds me that I really need to sort out our paperwork! Perhaps this will be my next project after the Spring Cleaning.
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Is there ever an end to paperwork? – I deal with it all day at work and then again when I get home! I have very little at the cottage as we treat the time there as a holiday. A 52 week holiday sounds good!
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The pound store is good for stocking up on toiletries such as handwash and toothpaste isn’t it? Last year I bought a pack of 6 spray bottles in there for a pound and find them so useful!
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I use them all the time and yes the handwash is great it even beats the offers at Sainsbury’s.
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I love those stamps … well who could resist a stamp with Dougal on 🙂
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Obviously I couldn’t LOL! I only buy the ones that catch my eye if I ever have a reason to go to the post office which is rare. These are my favourite to date.
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