For a minute there, I lost myself...

Blackcats

Hi Applewood - I'm also still working and likely to be for the foreseeable future and I agree it feels strange knowing how worried others must be about their finances and future.  We can only do our best to do good work and be compassionate to others.  I hope that the measures the government are putting in place to support people who are currently unable to work have provided some reassurance.
An end of month review is a good idea, but it will be far from an average month.  Do you have targets that you have set yourself? 

Applewood1

Blackcats, thanks for your comment  Hope you're keeping well during this odd time. I've been following the rules to a T and have only been out for groceries (and for my elderly neighbour) but other than that have been hunkered down. Luckily my employer requested us to work from home prior to the official request from the government so I'm thankful for that. I'm busy finishing some work off now but will be back later tonight with my March roundup. My goals for the month are just those from my first post, I'll use them to refer back to

Applewood1

March round-up time. It was a strange month for us all, that I'm sure of. I'm going to reference my goals here and update on how I'm doing:
1) Save up deposit for house / flat. 
- Going well. In March I put 36% of my income into savings. Happy with this overall but would like it to sit around 40% going forward. 
2) Stop overspending on food!
- Getting much better in this area. This is improving month on month. I'm much more planned and concise with my purchases now than I was before and using Monzo to track my spends has helped enormously in this area. I've kept to my budget for the most part and even in March where I've spent more on groceries than in January or February, this has been planned overspending to take account of shopping in bulk rather than stopping at the shops 1 x week. I've been going once every two weeks and have bought slightly more than needed to save running out of certain things which means I've spent more. I've not been panic buying or anything and feel like for a single, able bodied person there's no need to. Just trying to take it day by day really. 
3) Update and keep on top of my budget every day.
- Success! Can say confidently now I LOVE my budget. I love looking at it, updating it, reflecting on it... I update it every day and use Monzo reports to reconcile my spending for all categories of my budget. It works really well for me. 

Other things:

• Transport costs are (obviously) down this month.
• I got some refunds for accommodation and concert tickets etc that I had planned for later in the year. They will be rescheduled I guess. 
• I paid off my credit card this month. I didn't feel as joyous as I'd hoped but I think that's due to the current climate in general. I'm (obviously) happy about it and hope with everything I have that I don't ever fall back into the CC spending trap. It was truly a nightmare. 
• Still not been to Starbucks in 2020. Admittedly easier now that it's closed! In March I spent no money on clothes and for 2020 I've only spent a total of £18.30. Happy with that. 

Not sure I've got any other updates really. Hope everyone is safe and well. 

Applewood1

Just checking in Still staying at home, so saving money which is good. I'm trying to find the positives in the current situation so taking the wins where I can get them. I'm trying not to spend money just for the sake of it (out of boredom etc) but it is definitely taking some willpower. The personal care section of my budget usually averages around £35/month whereas this month it's already at £95.40! For clarity, the personal care section covers the following:

- Bathroom stuff

- Makeup / Nails / Perfume

- Hair care

- Dental

- Eyecare (glasses, contacts)

- Skincare

- Medicine  Anyway, I'm going to make a goal not to spend any more in this area for the rest of the month.  Other things - on Tuesday I'll receive my first updated wage, so that's something to look forward to. I've also got some overtime in for next weekend so that will be a bit of extra money for the month. I need to establish a better day to day routine so that I'm not using browsing things online mindlessly in an effort to entertain myself. I could easily slip into old bad habits here! Yesterday I was browsing fancy handbags but talked sense into myself and turned off the laptop! I'll maybe start to use a scheduler that sorts your time into hour blocks to see if that helps at all.  This week I'm going to focus on organising and decluttering where I can and then spend some time thinking of my longer term goals. My plan is to basically do anything that will stop me falling into a pit of despair about the world in general and keep my head focused on better days to come. Hope everyone is well and finding pleasure in the small things.

Applewood1

Feel like my state of mind is all over the place lately. I feel grateful that I now don't have any debt hanging over me given the current situation but that doesn't allay my overall fears for the world in general. I don't even really have anything positive to say except I guess that at least the weather has been nice? I think I just feel frustrated today. 

Blackcats

Hello Applewood, I was talking to a friend today and we think there is a general feeling of worry which builds up to being out of sorts.  You are right to be pleased not to have any debt.  As you say in a previous posts finding pleasure in small things is good.  I think if this was happening during dark, grey November days it would probably feel worse.  

I hope you feel less frustrated tomorrow.  

savingholmes

You have lots to celebrate - not in debt, able to live on your budget and work from home, saving on some costs and a payrise to boot. I am really pleased for you. So far we too have kept our jobs and are working from home - I wish we were also debt free though.

Applewood1

@Blackcats @savingholmes - thank you both. I do appreciate your comments! I feel better for reading them. I know I just need to focus on the positives (which personally there are many) and not overthink things too much. Some days it's worse than others but I have been trying to limit my exposure to news coverage etc which I think has been helping over the last few days!

Hope all is good on both your ends too  

I plan to update closer to the end of the month in the next few days (how is it almost May!?) with a monthly roundup (as riveting as that will be!) x

Blackcats

Hi Applewood, I think that the news media can be unhelpful and the spin put on stories is designed to create headlines.  xx people dying but not xxx people recovering.  Phone in shows are the worst I find with armchair experts all wanting to share their views over an issue over which they have no control.  I try not to watch, listen or read too much - I felt the same during the 2 years of Brexit wrangling. 

This forum is great because we all have a focus on improving our lives through better financial decisions as well as improving our lives in many other ways.  We are all in a different place on our journey and we all support each other in a helpful and positive way.  You are in a strong place with your finances and you are amongst a community of "virtual" friends.  I enjoy your updates and look forward to the end of April news.  I can't believe it's nearly May either!  

Applewood1

Ok, failed on my April roundup post - sorry for the tardiness, but I've just not really felt inspired to post about it. It's almost mid May now so... good a time as any I suppose! April was a good month, savings wise. I saved 66% of my salary in April - this is the highest month of the year so far. I'm grateful for savings (obviously) but I would trade that in a minute for life to go back to pre-covid life! 

Bills etc were same as every other month with the exception of fuel - I spent £14 on petrol in April when I usually average about £60/month. Now we're half way through may and I've not bought any petrol and it doesn't need topped up. I spent £147 on food in April but that's because I've been experimenting with recipes and baking so have bought some things that in a normal scenario I wouldn't. Happy with that though. For May, I'm on track to spend £120 for food for the month which is my target (in general). 

Personal care........ in April, I spent £99.33 on personal care items. I have found that I've been gravitating towards self care rituals as a way to find peace during the lock down, which is why it's as high. I spent £30 on an eyelash perm kit which has 7 perms in it so fairly good value for money, in the long run! I've used it once and the results were really good so I don't regret spending that money. 

Other things: April was the first month I didn't have to repay a credit card, which was an amazing feeling. Overall, not a bad month money wise . Savings are coming along nicely. The overtime I had scheduled for April has been moved to this weekend instead, so that money will fall into the June pay period. 

Nothing else to report really. Hope everyone is keeping safe and well.