November Reckoning

This was a pretty expensive month for us and there was no money left over to put into savings, in fact we had to access some savings to get us to the end of the month ! However, this is why we have the savings in the first place and we are still on target to live on our base income for the year !

Expected expenses included renewing the car insurance and having a 5 week month so more money was spent on petrol and food. MasterShoestring also needed some new clothes because he had grown again. He is now into a small man's size which makes it worth buying slightly more expensive stuff as it should do him for a while. Unexpected expenses were repairing the car after it got petrol in it instead of diesel and having to pay for physiotherapy for my back. In the end the physiotherapy is definitely worth it as I am now getting better quicker and can still work, so it kind of pays for itself !

Another unplanned for expense for this month was buying a ferry ticket for next July ! We had various options for next year's holiday but then there was 20% off a very low price for the ferry crossing so that it would be 25% less than we paid this year, last weekend. I investigated travel options on the other side and decided that it made sense to book the ticket and pay for it at the discounted price and then sort everything else out later. There was just enough in the holiday savings account to cover it, but it did add to the overall total.

Food prices have definitely risen but shopping week to week rather than doing one bulk shop at the start and a few top ups seems to be more expensive for us in spite of the good yellow-stickered bargains. So in December it will be back to a bulk shop at the start of the month ! Next month I'll have to look at the total food spend over the past few months and see if I want to raise the total budget overall !

I'm looking forward to making plans for the New Year in December and coming up with the final totals for the year !