October 2015: A Month In Review

Is it just me who can’t believe that October is over already and we’re getting ever closer to the end of 2015? Surely it’s only three years since 1999? Where does the time go?! Anyway, back to October. I’ll be honest, I seem to have lost my way a bit this month. I suppose in some ways I have fallen off the frugal band wagon. I haven’t been tracking our spending, I haven’t been particularly careful and I have spent/bought more things this month than I normally would have. I don’t know about anyone else, but I always seem to spend that little bit more when it’s dark and gloomy outside. It’s a pattern every year, so I don’t know why I’m surprised.

 

Our Financial aims for October were:

– Have 20 No Spend Days (NSDs)

– Overpay our mortgage by something

– Put £500 into savings

 

October sees another month where I haven’t met the NSD target I set 🙁 I’ve gained 15 NSDs this month, which is far from the 20 I was aiming for. Again, I’ve been doing more during the week, seeing friends and family whilst being off work, but it does have an impact on our finances. A coffee here and there isn’t much, but it impacts on overall spending. In fact, I don’t think I’m going to meet my target for the year now, unless a miracle happens! Not something I’m pleased about to be honest; must do better.

 

Overpaying our mortgage by something is a little vague, but purposely so. I didn’t want to put any pressure on making big overpayments on reduced income, so I left it open to interpretation. After last month’s bumper overpayment, this month is decidedly smaller at just £50.30. Still not bad, and takes us in the direction of paying the mortgage off, though this is the smallest overpayment we’ve done all year.

 

Finally, our savings have increased by £507.53 so I have managed to hit my target for this month, just! Again, as the little spends have crept up, combined with reduced income means that savings this month have been lower than previous months. Still, not too bad I suppose. It still needs to improve over the long term, if we want to achieve early retirement.

 

Our Personal Aims For October were:

– lose 4lbs

– declutter one bin bag’s worth of stuff

– buy one Christmas present for someone

 

So when I said I’d lost my way a bit in October, it’s in all areas of life so it seems. I haven’t lost any weight this month, despite trying to go swimming three times a week. It’s the snacking I end up doing when I’m sat at home with the baby and watching tv that doesn’t help. Not that it should be an excuse! I’ve done some tidying up and sorting out at home but haven’t actually parted with any items. I haven’t even put anything on eBay this month, so haven’t used up my free 20 listings. Maybe I should try and fit that in today? Lastly, does it count if I’ve bought our son some clothes for his Christmas present? As he’ll only be 4 months old we’re not going to buy him any presents really, as he won’t have a clue what is going on, but I’ve bought him some clothes in the next size so I have something to give him 🙂 we’ve told various people (such as grandparents) that either clothes or money would be more than enough for Christmas, if anything at all, for him. The money could go into the bank account we’ve opened for him and he’s always going to need clothes 🙂

 

The top three posts on The Frugal Cottage for October were:

•  8 Frugal Halloween Activities
• Meal Plan Monday #1
• 5 Easy Ways To Spend Less

 

So, definitely a mixed bag for October. I need to get back on track in November, big time!

 

How was your October? Have you hit your aims? I’d love to hear about it!