End of the month round up of the budget

(image from www.bishopslaw.co.uk)

Oh dear!  The end of the month round up of the figures has just proved what I already knew - September has been a bad month for spending!!

Looking back at my records, I have had a number of payments to make for various people which have added to the burden for the month:

• £20+ on Chemistry text books for the EFG
• £30 on the half term's ballet fees for the YFG
• £37 gymnastics membership and insurance for the pair of them (annual payment)
• £17.50 on a Bible commentary for my Faith & Worship/preaching studies
• £47.98 on printer ink!
• £27.90 on school jumpers for the YFG and £12 on new school shoes for her
• £28.78 on the annual supply (2 litres) of gin for the sloe gin
• £25.00 on photographs of the YFG at her last gymnastics competition

I would say that only the last two items on that last were really extravagant!

All these add up and make a difference - some of them are one off payments, and others, like ballet, are regular but not monthly.  

The good news [there had to be some somewhere!] is that I have managed to get £650 into savings this month on top of coping with extra expenditure.

The party and the Macmillan coffee morning at the weekend are also another drain on the budget for the month - I provided all the cakes for the Macmillan event bar one, as well as about 12 raffle prizes.  These have been saved up and bought cheaply in sales throughout the year, but they still have to be acquired.  This is a very worthy cause, and I am looking on my outlay as my donation to the cause.  The party itself probably cost me about £150 or so, in terms of food, flowers, decorations, birthday cakes, etc.  But I haven't had a birthday party of any kind since my 21st, and I doubt there will be another in a hurry, so it was money well spent.

This month we have the house insurance renewal due so I will be looking round for savings on the renewal quote, and doing some  investigations through cashback websites.

And that C-word - CHRISTMAS!!  We have the fudge recipe, the truffle recipe, and plenty of fancy card in the cupboard to make wee boxes, so I think that local friends are sorted that way.  I'm still looking for things I can post further afield.  On the subject of the truffle recipe - Tesco now sell orange flavoured chocolate spread so methinks there might be another possibility looming there.  A recipe adaptation might be on the cards.

And so, looking forward to the month ahead, I am hoping to make inroads into my £5000 savings target for the year.  The total this morning sat at £3091.13 so I have a way to go, but if I can get £1000 in there this month, I will be very pleased.  That's the aim....watch this space for an update on the reality!