Oh dear, it's not been a good month spending wise 😱 I mean it's not terrible, I'm not in debt but I've been buying things to futureproof my retirement. I've spent a lot on DIY stuff and on the garden. Although I'm getting the garden and house ready for the party next month it all needed to be done any way.
I managed to cobble the damaged raised bed together with some metal brackets. It's not that sturdy but it will last until I sell the house and then the next owners can decide what to do with the raised beds. They might remove them altogether like the folk across the road from me did when they moved in.
Youngest son in the garden in 2013
My lovely mum in the same spot 3 years ago today
Same spot this morning!
Amazon spending was £129.84 and Other Spending was (gulp!) £358.72!! I bought 2 books, some Urban Fruit and went for coffee and a bacon roll with a friend. Everything else was on garden/plants/compost/paint and DIY supplies. All things that will improve the appeal of my house and garden when it comes to sell next year.
I've also paid for new laminate flooring for my kitchen and utility room and the window repairs. But they came out of a separate savings account.
I'm hoping next month will be less spendy!!!!
The price of food is scary! We try to bulk buy things eg porridge but then have to find places to store it. My daughter has just dropped in two bag of clothes so that will be some additions to my wardrobe as I had to put out some really worn stuff at the weekend. The difference in the garden in the three photos is amazing-sometimes you need to look back at things to see how far you have come. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI buy basmati rice and porridge in bulk but yep, storing it is tricky! Sometimes I forget that the back garden was dominated by those leylandii. The stumps are still there, I've just planted stuff round them! :-)
DeleteIt's so difficult to keep the actual amounts down when everything is going up so fast, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Catriona - the changes in the garden over time is stunning. xx
I've already cut out treats and stuff like avocados. Very little meat.
DeleteNo alcohol either. There's not much left to cut out! Recording changes is the main reason I blog. It's good to look back and see how far I've come :-)
I'm finding it's almost as expensive to prepare vegetarian dishes as those with meat these days. You really can't win, everything has gone up in price. The only thing still cheap are bananas, maybe I'll live on them!
ReplyDeleteBananas, carrots and potatoes are still cheap here but agree even veggie meals can be expensive. It's definitely becoming a challenge to live well on less :-)
DeleteYour garden is beautiful. How lovely to have photos of it in transition with your family.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm planning on doing a wee video tour soon :-)
DeleteHaving a blog is a great incentive for getting out the camera and snapping away at changes isn't it, and your garden has evolved beautifully over the years.
ReplyDeleteIt might have seemed a 'spendy month' but it is mostly in good investments to get ready for retirement and selling the house. If only we didn't need to eat we'd save a fortune wouldn't we!!
Evolved is the perfect description as I've never set out to make it like that. I just kept putting bargain plants/gifts/bits from my Lovely Mum's garden into the empty spaces. There are also a few self seeded things or maybe even things the previous owner planted but they got engulfed by the leylandii.
DeleteAnd yep, eating costs a fortune!!! xxx