Goals 2021 Update 1

There is something a little bit odd about only having one goal to focus on this year, but I have to admit it's also been really nice knowing that this is where I can put all my energy.  Obviously, moving into a flat had a big financial impact in February and part of March, but I still think it's been a pretty good first quarter.  

Firstly, I've managed to keep a hold of my emergency fund throughout this quarter and it is sitting happily in a savings accounts right now hopefully making a little bit of money.  There is something quite reassuring about knowing that it's there in case I really need it.

I've also managed to get rid of that credit card debt I had at the beginning of the year and, whilst I still use it when buying things online, I now don't get anything with it I don't already have the money for and can't pay back straight away.

We did have to take some money out of the six months savings account to cover the deposit etc for the flat in February, but we still have a nice little nest egg growing and are on track for reaching our goal of saving up four months worth of outgoings by the end of 2021.  I've put this goal at a guesstimate of £4000 for now, but am going to use March and April to give me a more realistic idea about what the actual amount should be.  Once we've reached that we can decide if we want to carry on saving for this or if we feel that that's an amount we are comfortable with.

The Christmas and car repairs sinking funds have both been put into every month so far and we're on track to reach these goals with no problems.

You might have seen in my last budget post that I wasn't able to put  £200 into my pension in February as we were needing to spend so money on flat related items, but I have managed it for January and March.  I hope to make up for this little dip throughout the rest of the year, but we'll see how it goes.

So, so far it's been pretty good.  Now that we have bills to pay things are going to be a little tighter than they were before and we were very lucky to have that time living with my parents to help start us off on a good footing.  However, I still think that reaching the goals I've set for 2021 is going to be possible, I'm just going to have to be a little stricter with the spending. Especially on food.  What is it with us and food?

As for skateboarding, I haven't had as much practise on it as I would like.  Admittedly the weather recently hasn't helped and being aware that if I hurt myself doing this it will have a real impact on my earning ability has also been a factor.  However, I am determined to be comfortable on one by the end of the year.  We'll just have to watch this space.