May 2023 Budget

May was a slightly unusual month in the fact that there were five weeks instead of four, at least in the way our financial weeks goes work at the moment.  This meant that we did spend a little bit more money than we would have done on other months.  It was also the first month in a while where we both got a wage and that was a nice feeling.

As I had hoped at the start of May, we've actually done pretty well this month when it comes to our spending.  Our food bills, both when it comes to groceries and eating out/ take-away, have come within budget (slightly over in groceries but the same amount under in eating out).  I know that we could save a little bit more if we reduced or stopped the eating out, but it is something that we enjoy having as a treat on the days we do actually get to spend time together so I really don't see us stopping this unless we really have to.  One thing that I have noticed has gotten quite high now is my mobile phone bill, but I've put some work into that this month, looking at different plans etc, to reduce this in the long run and that should come into affect over the next couple of months.  It's not huge amount monthly but the accumulation over the year should make a tidy amount.

We have been a little over on our personal spending.  A few of weeks on my spending does seem high, but one was some craft items that I had already put money aside for and so actually didn't come out of this month's earnings.  The others were because I had to buy a number of items for work, which of course all deteriorated at the same time so the cost couldn't be spread out, and we'd decided to stay away the first weekend in June, which was another £99 off.  When these are taken into account we both managed to underspend when it cames to just buying random things, which is a good change in our behaviour.  We just need to now be more organised when it comes to saving up for trips, etc.

One thing that has become higher than before has been the fuel.  The actual price of fuel is a lot cheaper here than in Devon, but we've had to do a lot more driving now as neither of us can get to work through walking or public transport.  My husband's shift work also means that there are quite a few weeks where the car is being driven seven days a week.  This change in expense is something we can't really do anything about so we're just going to have to accept that our budget on fuel costs will need to go up to £300.  Thankfully, our budget can take this increase so it's not something I'm going to worry about.  There's not going to be anything in the pension sections this month (or for the next few months) as this is now something that gets paid straight out of my wage by my employer.  I am going to increase the amount that comes out of my wage though to the 12.5% I had planned for this year.  In all likeliness I'll get this money back at the end of my contract and I'll just put all of that straight into my own pension.

We did manage to put money into our four months savings as well, which makes me very happy.  It's nice seeing a good chunk going in and now that all the other sinking funds have been completed we can just concentrate on that for the rest of the year.  I'm hoping that, as most of the other months are four weeks long, we should be able to put even more in over the coming months and possibly even surpass this years goal.

So not a bad month and the plan is to carry on with the improvements for the rest of the year.  There will be a couple of months which will be a bit of a blip as we do want to do some touristy things and it is important that we balance being sensible with getting to have experiences.  However, I think we are going to do pretty well when it comes to our financial goals this year and that is a good feeling to have.