Should itsthelittlethings spend less on coffee?

itsthelittlethings

Thursday. Two more days of work to the weekend. I’m just watching my favourite programme, Dinner Time Live, on Netflix. Just had a cup of coffee. The coffee I have at the moment is delicious. I can’t remember if I mentioned it but my sister gave me an old coffee grinder that they weren’t using so I enjoy freshly ground beans in the morning.

Going for a no-spend day today. I’m popping out at lunchtime to get a book I ordered from the bookshop but I am using a book token I got for my birthday so won’t be spending any money. The book is The Monzo Book of Money. More learning about money is always a good thing!

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Just had my sister and my niece round for a really nice dinner and a really nice chat. Did the washing up and now just watching tv. I told my sister and my niece about my potential plan to move to Lille. My niece said, “I’ve been to Lille”, which I didn’t know, but it turns out she has changed train there on the way to Eurodisney.

One more day to the weekend. Chores tomorrow evening, swimming and knitting on Saturday and a quiet day Sunday.

itsthelittlethings

Have just caught up with a couple of days recording my spending and reviewing my budget. It’s not too bad actually. Didn’t manage a no spend day yesterday but somehow the budget is ok. My friend paid me back some money he owed me that I hadn’t accounted for and I’ve paid myself my weekly spending money today. I spent quite a bit earlier this week on trousers for my new job off Vinted. You can get them through work but apparently they are very uncomfortable and the fit isn’t good so I bought a few pairs. I also bought a few t-shirts to keep at my mum’s house so I don’t have to pack much when I go to see her, as well as a sequinned top to wear at Christmas. Clothes are definitely my vice!

My course website has opened for my Open University course which is very exciting. I get a year of free Microsoft 365 so I will be able to cancel my Microsoft Office subscription which will save me a bit of money. All good.

itsthelittlethings

Did all my main chores (still really need to clean the bathroom) and a Friday night Aldi shop that came in under £10. Now I’m watching a film on tv and having a cup of decaf coffee.

I’ve decided I want a bedside table to tidy up the mess beside my bed. There’s only a small space so it will have to be a small one. I’ll look around, I should hopefully have some money for it fairly soon.

itsthelittlethings

Am going to wait and ask for a bedside table for Christmas. Swimming yesterday was lovely. I forgot my pull buoy but luckily they had one I could borrow. Knitting was also good in the afternoon. Picked up two parcels and refilled my washing up liquid at the refill shop. I watched a film in the evening called Hot Milk with Fiona Shaw. It was good. It cost £4.29 so that wasn’t too bad.

I have a quiet Sunday planned. I want to clean the bathroom and need to do some washing up.

itsthelittlethings

Ended up taking a trip to London yesterday instead of the quiet day knitting I had planned. It was very nourishing and the bank balance damage wasn’t too bad! I will be living on fumes for the rest of the month (luckily I have money aside for my weekend away at the end of the month). I bought a new jumper and a shirt at my favourite second hand shop for about £21.50 and a book at a really cool bookshop I like to go to and get a coffee. I have quite a lot of books to read at the moment so I think that needs to be the next area I crack down on.

I met a friend in the afternoon which was lovely and in the late afternoon had a free ticket to a gig at the Jazz Cafe in Camden. I only got offered it when I was on the train to London so had not been planning it. I have anxiety in crowds so often don’t go to gigs any more but it was someone I was really interested in seeing and I stood at the back. It was absolutely great and because it started at 5 I ended up getting home about 9.30pm. I certainly didn’t feel like I’d wasted the weekend!

In a bid to be money saving, I took a sandwich for lunch and a flask of coffee which I actually ended up drinking on the train on the way home.

I am reading The Monzo Book of Money which I bought with a book token last week. It’s very very good - I highly recommend it. It deals with the practicalities but also the emotional side of money. I have learnt an awful lot from this website but reading that book is consolidating it. It says “remember to enjoy your savings”! I’m going to take a bit out of my emergency fund to have a little bit more to spend on my weekend away and so I can buy dinner for friends when I meet them - it’s something I love doing and makes it worth it. I won’t empty my emergency fund though!

itsthelittlethings

Exhausted due to my long day yesterday (13 hours out of the house). Have had a slight headache all day. Had a fairly busy evening this evening with various things and am late to bed again. I’ve written down all my spending from the weekend - quite a lot. Next weekend will be quiet. I am going to a local town and country fair with a friend (we go every year), getting my hair cut and brows tinted/ lip waxed on Saturday ready for my break job. On Sunday I shall sort out some clothes to declutter and knit if I need to finish anything up before the workshop next week.

I must go to Aldi tomorrow night as I’m running short of supplies.

itsthelittlethings

Tired and waiting for payday. It seems like the later I go to bed the earlier I wake up so I will be having an early night for a couple of days, perhaps until the weekend.

Just watching the Sewing Bee final. I like all the finalists. They are all such good sewists. I am hopeless at sewing. I can just about take a pair of trousers up but struggle to follow a pattern. I’ll stick to my knitting. I’ll do some work on the baby cardigan when I’ve finished writing this.

Finances are in disarray until payday. I have got to dip into the emergency fund. Am a little bit cross with myself.

My new Aldi habit is helping with the budget though. I find it so much cheaper even than Asda where I usually go, I think because they don’t have the range.

I am going to start a budgeting tip I saw somewhere else which is to keep a “did not buy” list. So far I will put a beauty advent calendar and a swimming weekend next year. I have been sorely tempted by them but they are not in the budget!

itsthelittlethings

Aldi is proving a bit problematic as the food isn’t as healthy as Waitrose. Still very tired. No more days in London for me. 

itsthelittlethings

On the waiting for payday treadmill.