One step at a time

sunshineli

Oops, it’s been another month since I last posted! 

I’m happy that the total amount in savings currently stands at £7,695, despite some rather large purchases recently. 

We finally bought an armchair for the living room after a year of having just one small sofa. This will make such a difference when we have guests over and one person doesn’t have to sit on a dining chair. This was a considered purchase that I've been mulling over for the past year, and we managed to get one in the sale with 1/3 off so I’m happy with this.

I also recently bought a new phone as mine was on its last legs. As it’s my birthday coming up I have received money from family towards this. I’m really looking forward to having a new phone as I love taking photographs and I will finally have one with a good camera. 

I also had an opticians appointment recently which came to a very expensive £155. This came out of my personal savings which I don’t count in my savings goal. I’m hoping that’s enough large purchases for a while now. 

I’ve slightly altered my savings goal for the year which is to have £10,000 saved by the end of 2025. This is including my emergency fund and s&s ISA. I think this is going to be very ambitious. I estimate we can save another £3,000 before the end of the year but factoring in car costs, I think we will end the year below the £10,000. Either way I’m proud of the progress made this year. Despite reducing my hours at work this year due to health, we’ve still managed to be on track with our financial goals.

I have been struggling quite a bit with my health recently, but I am trying to focus on healthy plant based food where possible, a little bit of movement such as short walks and yoga/stretching. I am also trying to get back into reading which I love but have neglected quite a bit recently. I’ve just bought a few 99p kindle books which should keep me going for a while. Although I find this hot weather quite difficult, I am trying to embrace summer as much as I can by enjoying the garden, watching the butterflies and listening to the birds. I know I will miss it when we are in the depths of winter. And of course, no heating on is a big plus. 

sunshineli

seventh88 said:

Congratulations on the one year anniversary of living in your home! Well done on building a solid foundation for yourself with the emergency fund first, before looking at overpayments. It sounds like you found the vinted dress just in time, the other one will be easy to return, and now you know it fits because you've already tried the same one on! It's a win win! 

Thank you! I do feel having a good amount of savings behind us before making overpayments will make us feel a bit more financially secure. For example having funds available in the event of job loss/redundancy/house emergencies etc. I do find Vinted quite difficult sometimes and being an awkward size (petite) I need to try things on before purchasing. It works well when you can try the brand in the shop and then look for something similar on Vinted. 

sunshineli

July Review

July was an expensive month! 

It was my birthday in July, and also a friend's wedding so I ended up doing more social things than usual and consequently spending more money. I had such a lovely month though, and I really enjoyed the time spent celebrating with family and friends. Despite spending more, I still ended the month with the credit card balance at £0 so I’m happy with this. I have some ‘personal savings’ which I don’t include in my savings goal. At the beginning of July it had around £300 in it and now it has £180 in it, so I will be looking to replenish this on my next pay day.

The amount we have in savings now totals £8031.94 which I’m really happy with. The mortgage currently stands at £278,000 being owed. I do feel really tempted to start overpaying the mortgage now, so I can start to make progress here before we remortgage in summer 2026. I would like £10,000 in savings though beforehand. 

DH got some good news in July too. He found out he’s getting a £4k pay rise starting in October, so I do feel like we should be able to start making mortgage overpayments sooner rather than later. He also got told he’s being put forward for a further £4k pay rise next April, which would be great.

I managed to sell 1 item of clothing on Vinted in July and made £4. Although it’s not much, every little helps.

In other MSE news, DH started making homemade pizzas last month which was a revelation. I worked out that it cost approx £1.50 to make a lovely homemade pizza with mushrooms, olives and chillies. A huge saving in comparison to supermarket bought pizzas and it was way nicer. Moving forward we will definitely be prioritising homemade pizzas (unless we are feeling particularly lazy).

Next month I hope to save another £500. I also really need to work on my gifts and christmas fund which currently only has £42 in it. It’s terrifying to think there are only 4 pay days left before Christmas! I am going to work on adding to these savings in September when we return from our holiday.

sunshineli

I’m pleased to say I succeeded in having a no spend weekend! On Saturday DH and I went to my mums. It was so lovely spending time with my mum (and the dogs) and I felt a real boost afterwards. My mum made such a nice lunch, which included homemade potato salad, cucumber salad, veggie sausage rolls, hummus, flatbreads and rocky road for pudding. 

On Sunday I had a very relaxed day as I wasn’t feeling well. I ended up spending most of Sunday and Monday in bed reading my book and sleeping. It’s quite frustrating how my chronic fatigue shows up at random, but I do feel a little better today. On the plus side when I’m not feeling great I stay at home, out of trouble and not spending any money! 

I’ve got a busy week at work, 2 out of my 4 days are spent out and about this week so I just hope I have the energy to get through it. I’ll be taking a packed lunch tomorrow and my lunch is catered for on Thursday, so I’m hoping there won’t be too many spends this week.