A Year in the Life of...

savingholmes

Well done on beating your target. I agree with Beanie Lou - it is less maintenance in the short to medium term.

girlatplay

Thank you @beanielou and @savingholmes  Yes, there shouldn't be anything to do for a while.  We would be at the top of our budget and it would be tight but we wouldn't be leaving ourselves short every month, we would just need to be careful until we get into a routine.  I feel right now that we have all the parts, they're just not joining together yet.

I have decided to take the £440 from the EF towards LMG's birthday, leaving £2,500 in it.  I don't expect to spend all of that so there should be some to put back after our couple of days away but that's my max budget.  It is her 21st after all.  I have already got (paid for) her present and paid for my travel and hotel (my sis is paying for LMG as her gift) so I think £200 towards food and drink for 3 days is more than plenty.  We will be splitting bills between the two of us.  I expect to put £200 back when we get back.

savingholmes

Hope you both have a lovely time away. Well deserved I'm sure.

beanielou

Enjoy your break 

girlatplay

Thank you both.  We are not away until 19th.  Really looking forward to it.

I have decided that I really need to put an allowance into my budget for some new wardrobe items.  I cleared out a whole load of clothes that just didn't fit or weren't fit for purpose anymore and I only have a few items left.  My wardrobe and drawers are almost surplus to requirements as they are mainly empty.  I can count on one hand the amount of times I've left the house in the past 18 months for something other than grocery shopping or meeting my family for coffee (where I can wear my old clothes) but days and evenings out are becoming a bit more frequent now that we can go out again.  I don't really have much suitable for going out.

I don't have a fixed amount planned, although I'm thinking in the region of £50 per month.  If I buy a new jumper for £40 that's fine.  If I buy a new pair of jeans for £60, that's fine (these are just examples, I'm not planning to spend £60 on a pair of jeans!)  One item per month for a few months and that should pad out the wardrobe a little.  I have no problem with wearing outfits more than once and I already have a couple of dresses I can wear to weddings.  I just need a couple of tops and some new jeans (not £60).

My bank account is looking a little low for still being in the first half of the month and I've suddenly realised that I paid for my hotel and train from my spends money instead of taking it from the EF which was my original plan.  Not sure there will be much left of that £440 after all as I've left myself a bit short.  I'll ride it out and see what happens.  Other than the few days away, I don't have any other plans this month so it might be okay.  Worst case, there will be nothing left of the £440 but I won't go over that so it's all fine.

savingholmes

Sounds like you definitely need to invest in some new clothes.

Hope you manage to find the right budgeting balance. You have been doing amazing

girlatplay

Thank you SH.  You're doing pretty well yourself!

We had a great couple of days away.  I spent a lot less than I expected but I have slowly frittered the money anyway.  I had £120 left after playing with it so I have returned £50 to the EF (I have this spread over three accounts at the moment and it rounded one of them up to a £hundred) and I have put the other £70 into my Christmas savings account ready for later.

No planned spends for the rest of this month apart from groceries and there is £35 left in that budget.  LMG has started her new job and is doing varying shifts  so I am trying to get us to eat out of the cupboards and freezer for the next few days.  Payday on Friday.

I'm watching Maid on Netflix at the moment.  It brings back a few memories of slipping through the cracks of the system.  I don't miss living like that (similar, not the same).

Nothing else to report at the moment.

beanielou

What is Maid about?

girlatplay

From Google:

"Single mother Alex turns to housecleaning to make ends meet as she escapes an abusive relationship and overcomes homelessness to create a better life for her daughter, Maddy."

It's an American drama inspired by an American author called Stephanie Lamb who wrote the memoir "Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother's Will to Survive". I might see if I can get hold of the book too.

savingholmes

Glad your time away went well. Well done for stopping the fritter spend