November 2015: A Month In Review

Another month over, already! November seems to have passed by in a flash, without too many hiccups along the way. It has been a more expensive month, as it tends to be as we get nearer to Christmas, but I have tried to keep to a budget. I do like buying gifts for others though!

 

Our Financial aims for November were:

– Have 20 No Spend Days (NSDs)

– Overpay our mortgage by something

– Put £500 into savings

– Open a stocks and shares ISA.

 

I seem to have lost the ability to get lots of NSDs in a row recently, as November marks another month where I haven’t met my target! In fact, it’s the worst month for a while, as I have only managed to achieve 14 NSDS, which is far from my target. I think I’ll meet my yearly target, just, but I need to do better in December really; little spends add up fast and without really realising it, so need to get a cap on my spending.

 

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. We have done a bigger overpayment this month for one simple reason; we’ve reduced our mortgage to £100,000 which is a huge milestone! We’ll be in the five figure bracket by the end of the year. So, we overpaid our mortgage by £355.45 this month, which is much more than usual. Really pleased with that though.

 

Savings wise, I’ve also smashed my target for this month. Although it’ll leave us a bit less in the pot for December, I think we’ll be fine so long as I don’t get too carried away with buying things for other people. This month I’ve managed to put away a massive £1,105.04 😀 that’s the best month we’ve had all year, but just shows we can do it if we try. December will be no where near that amount though, but I’ll take it when I can get it!

 

Finally, I have opened a stocks and shares ISA this month – I’ve finally got round to it. It’s been on my to-do list for months and months, but I finally bit the bullet and took the plunge. So, we shall see where that leads. I shall do more research and posts about this as I continue to drip feed money into it; I can’t wait for my first dividend payment!

 

My Personal Aims For November were:

– lose 4lbs

– declutter one bin bag’s worth of stuff

– buy 50% of our Christmas presents

 

I’ve lost 2 lbs in weight this month, so whilst this is going in the right direction, I really must do better. It is tricky when there are mince pies and stollen slices around to tempt me! I have been going to the gym more, so hopefully this will start to pay off. It’s all about finding a balance, though perhaps December isn’t going to be a good month for that either… 😉

 

I’ve managed to sell 4 things on eBay, so I guess that’s a start in decluttering. There are so many things in the house I should sort through; I need to have a good sort out of my clothes and donate some to the charity shop and get rid of others, but it is seemingly difficult to find time when you have a baby. I am determined to do this at some point though.

 

Finally, we’re well on the way to having the majority of our Christmas shopping done; we’re above 50% done so I’ve met this aim. I keep finding little bits and pieces to add to the pile for our son, though it’s mainly clothes for him. I want to get him a wooden toy of some sort, but haven’t found one I like so far. I just need to start wrapping presents now and posting them to various family members, along with writing our Christmas cards. I enjoy doing this, so I don’t mind when the time comes.

 

The top four posts on The Frugal Cottage in November were:

• The Ultimate Dream Fund Update – October 2015
• 4 Easy Ways To Make Money By Christmas
• The Frugal Gift Guide 2015 – For Her
• I’ve Started To Invest – Finally!

 

So, mainly a good month in November for us, and I’m really looking forward to December!

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