TMWM

This week has been an absolute whirlwind!

From being paid my first months salary at my new job, to the realisation I forgot to give them my P45 and was then taxed at the emergency tax rate to then being offered an interview for the promotion I applied for!

My nerves are a wreck lol!

Anxiety is through the roof.

Anyone else feel like this or is it just me? Life is so UP and Down isn’t it?!

The plan was – be paid for the month so I could see what the minimum was I would take home after tax, national insurance and my student loan payments were deducted. When I saw that I’d been paid so little, I checked the tax code that had been applied and BOOM – Emergency tax code – and an extra £300 gone 😦

I then spent the next hour pausing standing orders to our ISA’s and the payments to the sinking funds. Luckily by doing this I have found the £300 needed to make the other payments on my fixed bills like rent, utilities and credit cards.

I’m such an idiot lol.

I have now given my employer my P45 and they have confirmed it will be all sorted for February. I hope I’m given the money back next month so I can make double payments to the ISA’s and sinking funds.

Just before I started typing this blog post tonight, I received the most wonderful news that I have been invited for an interview for a promotion at my new job. I know I’ve only been there for a few months but believe I would do a brilliant job in that role.

If I did get it, it would be a huge payrise and my debt free date could even be brought forward! Ekk exciting!

The worse that can happen is I don’t get it. But at least I will know the interview process and will be better prepared next time.

I’ve been trying to cut our variable expenses down even further and managed to save an extra £124 a year by reducing the number of times I go to the hairdresser over the year. When I go the hairdressers I don’t have anything fancy but like to get my roots done as soon as the grey starts coming through.

• Going every four weeks means I’d go 17 times a year = £31.00 x 17 = £527
• Going every three weeks means I’d go 13 times a years = £31.00 x 13 = £403
• The saving difference = £124!

I know using box dyes would save me even more, but I find they don’t go well with my curly hair, so this is the next cheapest option. I stopped having my eyebrows tinted and waxed and my nails done so am happy to leave the roots to the hairdresser. It makes me feel SO OLD when I have grey hair and unlike others who look trendy and cool when they allow the grey to come through, I look washed out and aged.

No Alcohol Update

I’m 27 days alcohol free! Whoohoo.

I’m not a huge drinker anymore, probably because I hardly go out but if I had a bottle of my favourite from Asda every week it would cost £5.99. This saved over four weeks is £23.96. It’s only a little saving but it all adds up.

Over the year that’s a whopping £311.48

I have no plans to stop drinking for a whole year though. I stopped for a year in 2018/2019 and although I felt great and saved loads of money and calories, I don’t want to do it this year. And hopefully with covid restrictions easing off I can finally get out, see some friends and have some much needed cocktails.

No Spend Month Update

It’s not going too bad, I started the month quite strong (as everyone does) but have become a little more relaxed as the end of the month approaches. It’s always the way isn’t it.

So far I have:

• 15 days No Spend
• 7 days In Budget Spend
• 5 days Out of Budget Spend

The 5th Out of Budget spend was today! But in my defence, it’s a treat for me and my mum. An expensive one lol. Half for her birthday and half for just wanting to do something special with her. She may read this so I’m not going to put anything on here about it until after the event lol!

For February, I am not going to do a No Spend Month, but focus on the number of no spend days and to only use cash. My budget for the next four weeks (until payday) is £50 a week which will cover our food and petrol. My mums birthday will be a separate expense. When I remember to go to the bank this week, I’ll be drawing out £200 in cash and will split it into weekly pots for food and petrol.

Other things I’m going to do to GET BACK TO BASICS are:

• Take my cards out of my purse and phone wallet.
• Meal plan – I’m going to try and do this for the month instead of the week to see if that makes a difference

What I’ve Spent this Week

£11.96 Just Eat, takeaway

£6.99 Car Wash

£15.99 Hello Fresh

£24.15 Morrisons Food Shopping

£18.49 Home Bargain, Cat Food, sinking fund

£31.00 Hair, sinking fund

£10.00 Morrisons Petrol

£42.00 Clarks, daughter school shoes

£2.99 Superdrug, leave in conditioner

Total £163.57

I’ve spent this week on things I wouldn’t usually buy, like a car wash and Hello Fresh. I paid for a car wash just because I ran out of time at the weekend and didn’t get chance to do it. It desperately needed it done as I couldn’t even see the number plate it was that dirty lol! I’m not going to beat myself up about it though. There’s just not enough hours in the day to get everything done is there?!

Hello Fresh was something I tried for the first time as a friend had a voucher to get some money off. I’m really enjoying the different meals we are having but my daughter is not a fan. It’s a nice treat but not in our budget to have every week. Great news though, Hello Fresh give you the recipes so I can cook any favourites anytime I like!

The shoes are from Clarks and are always super expensive. I’ve tried other cheaper brands but they just don’t cut it and I end up replacing them more often. So the cost you originally save, you end up spending anyway on extra pairs. I always think with shoes, buy cheap buy twice but that’s only my view. If you know of any other cheaper brands that don’t fall apart, please let me know as I’d LOVE to save some money on shoes.

Thanks for reading and for all your comments. Have a great week!

H