I've spent the day finishing the wallpaper in the craft room. I'm sad it looks good as I'll not get the benefit but it will help sell the house. Every single room in the house has now been updated/decorated so it genuinely is in move in condition once I do a deep clean!
I needed to buy more rolls of wallpaper so my February spending is a bit higher than I'd planned.
Supermarket £70.97 (includes big March shop)
Dogs £416.76 (includes a puppy pass and 2 x 15kg of dog food)
Energy £234.76 (my half of the monthly bill)
Car £51.99 (full tank of petrol)
Other £171.76 (includes 4 rolls of wallpaper and 20 packing boxes for moving)
Total monthly spend £946.24, a mere £10 less than last month. As I said last month this doesn't include my direct debits and is way more than my pension income. So I'm still living off my savings until I downsize.
The dogs are a huge expense just now. Emma is elderly and needs expensive meds. She's 12 and realistically not got long left. She deserves to be pain free and have some quality of life. I've been paying a dog trainer to help with some of Luna's issues so that's added to my costs. Plus she's been going to puppy day care so I can get some decorating done in peace! That's just a temporary solution for now.
I'm also tracking my annual supermarket spending. It's set at £100 per month so £1200 for the year. This includes everything you get in the supermarket not just food. Current spend for the first 2 months is £252.26 so I still have £47.74 to spend in March to stay on track. And I just did a big shop today in Tesco!
Keeping a written track of everything I spend is definitely keeping me focused on where my money goes. Even if it makes for scary reading!! 😱
Pretty sure you can keep that grocery store spending to what you have budgeted for. I need to enter our spending for the month into my spread sheet either later tonight or as soon as possible tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Supermarket and 'other' spending is easy to keep down. It's the dogs at the moment that are eating my money! If they need vet attention I have to spend money. But I do think they're worth it :-) xxx
DeletePets can be a shocking expense, can't they?
ReplyDeleteI find it helps to keep a close eye on expenditure, whether it looks good or not so good. It least I know! xx
I always knew I spent a lot on my pets (dogs and chickens) but it's only by writing it all down I can see how big a proportion they take out of my budget! :-) xxx
DeleteWow, Ali-that’s a huge energy bill if that’s your half. We pay £250 a month for a 3bed bungalow built in the 60’s. The weather is brightening so hopefully not long until your house hoes on the market. Catriona
ReplyDeleteThe energy bill is high because the heating is on 13 hours a day for my son and DIL!! If it was just me the heating would be almost off completely by the end of March. If I get a run of decent weather I can tidy the garden in readiness for marketing photos :-) xxx
DeleteScary reading indeed, but you can also see where the savings will be made once you downsize and Luna no longer needs puppy day care or a trainer, so there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed that you can get the house on the market and it sells quickly.
Yep, I can see where savings will be made. It's just scary right now!! House is getting a thorough declutter and deep clean in the next week :-) xxx
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