Well February didn't exactly go to plan, and even that statement is probably an understatement. The main issue has been that I got ill two weeks in a row, firstly with a sinus infection and then with an unknown illness where I just felt weak and tired (and which has actually been coming on for a few months now). I've also had to take some time off work to get blood work, etc done to try and work out what has been happening (the conclusion being so far that we don't know) and the weather this month hasn't helped either. To finish it all, my partner was made redundant at the end of February - always good. So what did we actually managed to do in February.
I have managed to make payments into my credit card as I had hoped and some payments into my pension, though not the full amount planned. Deciding to pay £50 a week instead of £200 a month into my pension has made a whole lot of difference though, probably because it seems a lot more manageable. I'm going to try and up the amounts I pay each week in the future until I'm back on track with my totals (I seem to remember this happening last year 😂). I've decided to pay off the last of the credit card with my savings as the interest I get on my savings is less than what I get charged for my credit card. I'm going to keep it as debt though and just pay back into my savings instead.
Not going to lie, it isn't just me earning less this month that's been the problem. We've spent much more on takeaway then we should have done as the 'one takeaway /eating out a week' flew out the window. We've also spent a little more than we should have on just things, though a couple of payments have been on some travelling we're needing to do in March, such as for job interviews. One plus is that I've had to spend less on fuel this month as my work has been closer to home in February. All other expenses have pretty much remained the same as usual. We have had some more wedding spending to do, but thankfully we have savings to cover that.
The lack of income and higher outgoings than there should have been means that we haven't put any money into savings like we were supposed to do. On the savings and sinking funds front, we've decided to move money from our four months emergency fund to fully pay our car repairs and Christmas sinking funds. That way we know we don't have to worry about those anymore, especially as our car is very old now, in case work remains low for the next few months. It also means we now only have one thing to focus on in the future.
As for next month, money is going to be a little bit tight and we are going to have to be very careful with where our money is going. It's pretty unlikely that we'll actually reach our financial goals this quarter, but that's fine - we'll manage. I will try to find some extra hours at work to cover our outgoings and if we need to go on a diet of beans and rice for a bit I'm sure that won't be a problem. I'm also pretty sure my partner will find a new job very soon, he's good at that. My hope is that we don't need to eat into our savings any more than we have already and just work on building it up again once our earnings have gone up again.
No comments:
Post a Comment