Goals 2021: Update #4

I wanted this to be the last blog of 2021 as what I've learnt from attempting to achieve it this year will help me plan for my goals in the next.  To say that my 2021 goals didn't exactly go to plan is probably a bit of an understatement, but I did still manage to achieve some of them and I've decided to see it all as a learning curve.  As this is all about finances and not achieving my goals I thought I'd disperse it with nice pictures, mainly for my benefit.

1) Keep my emergency fund

Thankfully I've managed to do this one and my emergency fund is still intact.  There's something very reassuring about knowing that you have a backup if you need it and I know that I've been very lucky to have been able to save this up and keep it during this pandemic.

2) Paying off my credit card

I did manage to pay this off at the start of the year, but then life took over and I had to buy a few things before I had originally thought I would need to, which meant not getting to save for them.  One of these was my mobile, which I had thought I had a year to prepare for.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and my old phone decided that functioning properly was no longer a requirement.  As the phone I wanted to get, a Fairphone,  isn't supplied through my service provider I had to buy it outright.  That added around £500 to my credit card.  Then there were my work wellies that suddenly stopped carrying out a pair of wellies primary function and had to be replaced.  I have to admit that I did also buy something that wasn't necessarily required but was on sale and that I have wanted for a long time to help with the hair side of having PCOS - an IPL hair removal system.  So whilst I did pay it off, goal achieved, I then manage to put money back onto it.

3) Save up four months worth of emergency fund

This one ended up being a bit more difficult.  Though we did manage to save around £2400 the goal was £5200, making us £2800 short.  This was quite an ambitious goal, but it probably would have been achievable if we'd been a little bit more careful with our money.

4) Put around £2000 towards my student loan

I'm not going to lie, this one didn't happen at all.  It just wasn't on the front of my mind this year and it's difficult to priorities it when I know I'll get more from saving the money than paying off this loan.  At least at the moment.

5) Be ready for Christmas 2021

Now let's get onto a good one.  The amount we wanted to put aside for the sinking fund was £700 and we achieved this before December.  This meant that we were able to buy and send all the presents we wanted to, and get it all organised pretty early on.  Obviously, this will be a yearly sinking fund and any money we didn't spend this year will go towards starting the 2022 Christmas sinking fund.  £700 was a good amount so we're going to keep this for next year.

6) Build a car repair sinking fund

This one we set as £500 based on the amount the car has cost us already.  We managed to achieve this as well but ended up having to use up £100 of it during the cars last MOT.  We'll need to add that back at the beginning of 2022, but it does mean that this sinking fund is pretty much covered now, ready for when we will probably.......definitely need it.

7) Put £200 a month into my pension

This one I got very close to achieving, managing to get 10 months out of the 12 covered.  Obviously, it would have been good to achieve the full £2400, but when it comes to pensions every little pay in counts and I'm happy that I've a least managed to put some money in.  

So, though I didn't achieve everything I had planned, I did still manage to get a few of them done and tracking our budget throughout the months has taught me a few things.  Firstly, whilst we're not frivolous with our money there are still a few things that we do spend our money on which we could probably do without.  And by probably I mean definitely.  Secondly, food and drink are where most of our money goes.  We love our food and drink, and whilst we're pretty good about how much we spend on our weekly groceries shop, it's the take-aways, treats, and snacks that we go a bit nuts on.  More recently we have been eating out or getting a takeaway around two to three times a week, and we've been getting fizzy juice, crisps, and chocolates practically every day.  All of this adds up and can lose us up to an additional £200 a week.  Definitely, something for us to think about next year.  I'm not disappointed I didn't achieve everything I had planned this year, but I will be disappointed if I don't learn from this and do better next year.