And that win is to finally finish completely paying into our four months' emergency savings. This now means that we are now covered if any big changes happen in the future and we can be a little bit more relaxed about it. It does make me feel more secure and gives us a bit more flexibility when it comes to the decisions we make in the future. We also had a little bit of money left over to then put some into our holiday sinking fund. If we keep doing as well as we are now then we should be able to book our holiday by the end of the year. It's a really big thing for us to look forward to and a reward for all our hard work.
We did spend a little bit more than we should have on our eating-out budget by about £20. However, we underspent on our groceries by £70 so I'm not too worried about it as, overall, we actually made a saving on our spending on food. Our fuel bill has gone up a little bit as well as we took a trip to the coast to do some surfing. But that is an extra expense we're happy to accommodate as we enjoy it.
We've also both been good and underspent on our personal spending. Not spending on things and really asking if we really want or need something just seems to have become a good habit for both of us now, and that's probably a big reason why we've been able to put so much into our savings this year. We have spent a little bit more on days out, but one of the spends is to do with us booking stuff for our holiday we'll be taking soon in Pembrokeshire (a break my husband in particular really deserves right now). There is also the surfboard hire, but that's coming out of the sinking fund we still have for surfing. We have about five more times we can rent boards using this sinking fund, but it is only £20 a go for both of us so I think that's an expense we can accommodate.
It's still taking a little while for me to organise my pension payment through my wage at my new job, but when I finally get it finalised it will mean that we will have less coming in from my wage. This will probably be around £200, which does mean there will be less going into our sinking funds. However, this is less of an issue seeing as we have now completed our big long-term goal when it comes to our finances. In fact, it's coincided with our saving success pretty well.
All in all, it's been a pretty good month and the habitats we have formed over the last year have definitely helped us get to the point where we can put money towards our security and have experiences that really mean something to us. From now on we can actually be a little bit more relaxed about what we spend our money on, and get a few more experiences under our belt. However, I never want to go back to the spending I did before. It wasn't helpful, nor did it make me happy, and now not doing it means I can have experiences that are more meaningful and that I've always wanted to have.
