January 2021 Budget

That's January over and done with already.  It went a lot quicker than I thought it was going to, but I still managed to keep a note of our spending as it whooshed by.  This month was more about having a look at what we usually spend our money on rather than keeping to a budget so that we can see where our money goes and what we need to work on.  That being said, it's funny how keeping a note on what you spend makes you think twice before buying something.

There were quite a few wins this month, which is a really nice way to start the year.  Firstly, the credit card debt from buying our car is all paid off, which was just under £740 so I'm very happy with that, and I haven't had to use my initial emergency fund of £1000 for anything.  We even managed to put some money away into our 6 months emergency fund, which now sits at £465.88.

As well as the emergency fund, we've put away our first month's sinking funds for Christmas presents and car repairs.  I was also able to send £200 to my pension fund, a little bit less than I had originally planned when I spoke about my intended pension contribution, but this is an amount I thought was more realistic for me to do on a monthly basis at the moment.  I did actually forget to write about my intended pension contribution in my Goals for 2021 post (updated now) which adds another £2400 to the money not going on general living.

We're still flat hunting at the moment, which does mean that there's a big chunk of money we're not having to spend right now and the reason we were able to pay off the credit card debt so quickly.  It'll be interesting to see how we go once we have this additional out-going, which, along with all the utility bills, I estimate at being around £700 per month.

I had hoped that a little bit more money would be coming in once I had begun working but unfortunately, as my work is very weather dependent, I haven't earned as much as I had hoped.  As we move into spring and summer this should change, but at the moment I'm just grateful that I have any work at all.  I'm also really enjoying being outside all day long again.

Looking at our budget I would say that our biggest downfall is groceries, and that's mainly the snacking food we keep going out to buy instead of our general larger shop that happens once or twice a week.  It would be no over-estimate to say that reducing these would probably save us at least £100 a month.  We also got more takeaways than we should, but I don't want us to stop this treat completely, so maybe we'll just have it once a month.  I also did a shop one week at Tescos, rather than Aldi which I've been trying to mostly do, and the difference in the receipt at the end was quite eye-opening.  There are also a couple of bigger buys of £85 on shoes, £45 on a skateboard, and £50 on birthday presents, but as they are only now and then purchases I'm not too worried about them.

All in all, I would say that it's been a pretty good month, with some good lessons learnt.  We definitely need to keep an eye on the food spending.  And maybe we should accept defeat and bulk buy some of the snacks we keep eating during the week instead of pretending to ourselves we're definitely going to be healthy and end up buying them individually at a much higher cost. 😂

Eating from Redwall

 

When I was younger I absolutely loved the stories of Redwall, by Brian Jacques.  They fitted perfectly into my sense of adventure and my love of animals.  I found them again recently when I was doing some decluttering and introduced them to my partner.  Discussing them with him reminded me just how much food written about in these stories and I had a vague memory that there was a Redwall.  A little bit of research showed that this was true and was followed by a bit of searching to find somewhere that had it in stock, which was found and the book is now winging its way to me.

The recipes are separated into the seasons and it'll be interesting to see if the ingredients are seasonal too.  My plan is to cook at least one recipe a week from the season I'm in at that moment, and I'm hoping this will give me a bit more variety in my cooking which has become a little bit stuck in the rut of late.  As the food is mostly made by mice, moles, etc I think that most of the recipes will probably be vegetarian, which means I'm not going to have to make too many changes to them to make them me friendly - always good.

I did try and find a second-hand copy of this, but without much success.  However, I do expect to keep and use this book for many years to come and so I'm not feeling too guilty about the purchase.  I'm actually quite excited about its arrival and I'm hoping it'll help me get back to enjoying cooking a little bit more.  Searching for this book has also shown me just how many more books there are in the Redwall series now.  I see a lot of woodland adventures, with accompanying meals, in my future.

Crafting in 2021

Whilst everything else didn't really go to plan in 2020, it did turn out to be a pretty good year for crafting.  I definitely don't expect to get as much done this year as last, especially now that I've managed to finally get a job 🎉, but I do want to keep my hand in and carry on creating things.  I have a few projects already planned and, obviously, the list will probably increase as I go along.

Christmas Cards

For the last few years, I've made my Christmas cards, starting in January to spread the task out.  Usually, I do a cross-stitch, which I put into a card, but this year I want to try something new.  I haven't quite decided what, but I am thinking maybe making a type of pop-up card or even seeing if I still know how to paint with watercolours.  Either way, I'll need to make a decision soon so I can start as soon as possible.

Biophilia Shawl and Tie

I did write about this project in my last craft plans post and update, but I have a special event coming up, hopefully this year, though who knows as I sit in another lockdown.  I'm wanting to make most of the clothes for it myself and I'm starting with my shawl.  This is a knitting pattern that I found on lovecrafts.com.  It's called Biophilia and is designed by Mary-Anne Mace (Lace Eater Designs), who is from New Zealand (fitting as my partner is a kiwi).  I've found some yarn that I really love, Fyberspates Vivacious 4 Ply Merino in Peacock (though there is some transfer of the colour onto my hands when I'm knitting), and have already started knitting it.  I'm also doing a tie to match, using the same wool and the pattern for the shawl for the end of the tie.

Fantail Skirt

This is the skirt that I'll be making for that event, along with the top below.  I've ordered the pattern already from Scroop Patterns, which allows you to either make it in the historical style or in a more modern length.  I actually want to make it in a length that's in between the two patterns, so this will need some tweaking.  The plan is to make both this and the top from pre-loved fabric, so I'll be looking for sheets and tablecloths in the charity shops (when they re-open), and I plan to dye the skirt a light blue.  One thing that will connect the two items is the lace design, I'm thinking about lace curtains, which will be the same design on both.

Off the Shoulder Top

I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to make this, but I am thinking about possibly working with this pattern from We All See.  It would be the simplest to make and I would be able to wear it other times as well, which is the plan for all three of these projects.  I may change my mind once it's made, but it should be a pretty calming project after the skirt.

Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit Cross-stitch

I had these in my last crafting plans post and, though I've brought some thread and fabric, I haven't actually started yet.  I brought all the patterns last year from Etsy when I really shouldn't have but just couldn't help myself.  They're basically vintage-style travel posters for places in middle earth and I'm going to make them to go up around the home.  I decided to start at the beginning, of both stories, which is Hobbiton.  I'm actually really quite excited about doing these and there are nine of them so it should keep me pretty busy.

Jumpers

I never used to be someone who gets cold, but now I seem to get cold much more easily than before.  Due to that, I've decided I probably need to add more long sleeves and jumpers into my wardrobe than I have had before.  However, instead of just buying them I think I want to carry on making them like I made my cardigan.  I'm going to be going back to the Knit Vintage book that I used for the cardigan.  I want to make a long sleeve jumper called the Natalie Feather-Stitch Sweater and a short sleeve one that I can layer (and wear in spring/ summer) called Vivien Fair IsleStyle Sweater.  These will be a little later in the year as I want to concentrate on the other items first, specifically the cards, shawl, top, and skirt, and I will probably have to save up for the wool as they tend to be quite pricy, but it'll be good to get them done before winter is back.

And that's it for now.  It doesn't seem a lot, but I am wondering if I'll get them all done by the end of 2021.  It should be an enjoyable past time though.

Project Pan 2021

 

Last year I managed to get rid of the last big chunk of my makeup to get it down to the size I want.  I will admit that I do still have too many blushers, but I do love all the colours and can't really see myself getting rid of any of them any time soon.  I've decided that this will be my last year of actively panning as I don't intend on getting any more makeup, other than mascara, concealer, liner, and lipstick (maybe) when I run out.

This year's project pan will be a very small one but will take quite a while to get through as they are mostly powder products.  In fact, there are only three items in total and they are.....

The NYX blush in Taupe.  I've had this for a while and got it because someone recommended it as a good contour colour.  It is a nice product, but I don't really see myself doing such in-depth makeup application anytime in the future so it would be good to get rid of.  I'll also be using it for eyeshadow and eyeliner, which should hopefully help move it along nicely.

Then there's the Balm highlighter in Mary-Lou Manizer.  This is a very beautiful highlighter, though it is cracking a little - probably from all travelling it's had to put up with recently, but again this is probably more than I need for the type of makeup I'll be wearing in the future.

The last product is the Cien (Lidl) eyeliner pen in Black.  I got this as part of a pack when I was buying mascara.  It's a perfectly nice liner and very creamy, but I want to go for something a bit more natural in the future if I have a liner at all.  This is starting at 3.1cm.

And that's it, just three this time.  It is going to be quite a slow-moving process and probably difficult to get these done by the end of the year as I'll only be wearing makeup on the weekends (if I remember).  So we'll see how it goes.

Goals for 2021

 

Last year I had a few goals and, despite the year we had, I unexpectedly managed to get quite a few of them done.  However, the one thing I did realize was that having a number of goals on the go at the same time meant that I wasn't able to really concentrate on the important ones.  Due to this year, I've decided to just go with one goal, and that is to become financially fit.  The reason I've chosen this and not something like healthy eating is because having financial stability would put me in a much better position to follow some other very long term goals I have.

I've dabbled in this over the years.  However, I never really concentrated on it properly or been able to keep it moving forward, always going back into credit card debt (a little bit, nothing major) and I always end up eating into my emergency fund for things that aren't really emergencies.  So I've decided that this year is going to be the start of a full-on run into financial stability, no matter what income I have coming in.

So, this is where I am at the moment.  I have some debt on my credit card from having to buy the car - about £750, and there is the student loan I still have, but which I am probably going to ignore a little as most British financial advisors tell you not to worry about it too much.  I do want to get it down though, once I'm a little more financially stable.  I have managed to build my emergency fund back up to £1000 again, but I don't have any sinking funds going.  I have a little money in my pension, but not nearly enough to give me a comfortable retirement.

The long term goal is to still have my emergency fund, 6 months savings to cover rent and amenities if needed, no debt (including getting rid of my student loan - though that's very far away I think), have sinking funds for Christmas presents, birthday presents, and car repairs (between £500 to £1000), and me putting a good size amount into my pension on a monthly basis.  There's also the very long term goal of saving up for a deposit to buy a home.  I figure this will probably take five years to complete, but I think a big bulk could be done in the first couple of years.

My plan for 2021 is:

1. To keep my emergency fund
2. Be rid of my credit card debt
3. Have 4 months of the 6 months savings in place
4. Have around £2000 towards my student loan 
5. Be ready for Christmas 2021 with my, not surprisingly, Christmas sinking funds
6. As well as having my car repairs fund at least halfway (I feel we're going to need it for this car).  
7. Put £200 a month into my pension

That's a lot of money that I have to find, about £9400, out of what might not be a particularly high earning pot, depending on whether or not I get the apprenticeship.  I won't be doing it alone of course, but it is still going to be a bit of a push.

On a lighter note, I do have one small additional goal.  To learn to skateboard.  I'll leave it at that for now.