#18 February 2016 Summary

So, in word did we stick to the budget?

No. For the 9th month running.

If not, why not?

Spend was £449.07 over budget.

This was due to 3 large costs. TV Licence (£145), Car Tax (£180) and Flights + Hotel for a stag do (£174)

Any positives?

£488 paid off of the credit card. Mainly due to reimbursement of expenses from work and money made via Quidco gambling trick.

I made the decision last month to sum up all large one-off costs throughout the year (inc TV Licence, Car Insurance, Home Insurance etc) average the cost out over 12 months (£60) and pay this much monthly into an account. This will spread the cost over the 12 months and allow me to better budget.

Having only started this didn’t help for February, but if it had TV Licence and Car Tax would be removed and thus I would have been only £124 over budget. Still too much though.

Lessons / thoughts?

Sainsburys grocery shopping £49 more than budget. Acceptable as a one-off but will aim to keep down next month.

Expectations for next month?

Car MOT. Min £50 have to hope nothing major.

Potentially buy the fence, which was one of our 2016 aims.

Effect on overall finances?

S    Student loan – £336 was paid off direct from payslip. Total remaining now is £7,467

·         House loan – £298 was paid off direct debit. Total remaining now is £8,633

·         Credit Card -  £488 was paid off. Total remaining now is £5,710

   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Total Debt = £21,801 (Student Loan is £7,467; House loan is £8,633 ; Credit Card loan is £5,701)