It’s the end of March already – how can that be?! This year is absolutely flying by so far. I can’t believe that we’re almost at the start of the fourth month already. Frugal Baby is nearly 16 weeks (!) old and thriving. Frugal Toddler is changing and growing each week as he learns more and more about the world we live in.
March has been quiet for us really, which has been nice. I mentioned in February about not feeling so positive about our finances but March has definitely changed my feelings about that. Thankfully, even with the car needing something fixing in the middle of the month, nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Let’s hope it continues this way!
The only major thing that happened was that we were lucky enough to be featured in the Sunday Times Money section, in an article all to do with early retirement. I still get a lot of questions asked about this and people, quite disbelieving, question whether we’ll do it. Well, what’s the harm in trying? It’s part of the process, after all 🙂
Also, for the whole of April, my Reduce Your Food Course is 50% off – making it £7.50! Just enter the code HALFOFFAPR at the checkout 🙂
My Financial aims for March were:
– Have 18 No Spend Days (NSDs)
– Overpay our mortgage by £85
– Put £600 into savings
NSDs! They seem to be my personal nemesis at the moment; I cannot seem to reach my target. In March I managed 17 NSDs. Yes, I know that’s only one away but still, it’s not my aim. It’s incredibly frustrating to not hit this, month after month. I will manage one of these days.
I changed my overpayment target for 2018, as it had been sitting on the back burner and not really thought of at all. But, as being mortgage free is definitely a part of our early retirement plans, it needs to be in focus somewhat. In March, I have managed to overpay our mortgage by £182.63 which I’m really pleased about. We haven’t overpaid by that much in a long time! Not entirely sure why we have either, but it’s a great step in the right direction 🙂
Finally, our savings target will be lower in the coming months whilst I’m on maternity pay. If we manage this consistently every month until I return to work, I shall be very proud of myself. However, I’m not sure what has happened in March, other than we have spent very little in our budget overall. I know this because we have managed to save £1,097.64 in March. We have not saved four figures in a long time. I am over the moon with this!
My Personal Aims For March were:
– lose 4lbs
– finish reading The No Spend Year
– don’t eat any chocolate or crisps
I have struggled with my eating this month. I definitely eat when stressed or tired, which has been quite a bit this month. I’ve lost 1lb this month, which is better than nothing but not particularly great at the same time. I’m hoping to get back on track with this in April.
I’ve nearly finished The No Spend Year and have really enjoyed it. Yes, most of the things she talks about in the book we do already to some extent. But, it is an interesting read and makes you think about what you do spend month on and is it worth it. One of the things she does in the book is cycle everywhere, to reduce travel costs to zero. Now, in our current stage of life with two children, this wouldn’t be achievable for us. But, can I cut down on petrol use by walking more places where applicable? Probably.
Finally, I have done quite well with this! I haven’t had any chocolate, bar two hot chocolates which don’t count. I haven’t had any Easter chocolate which is amazing for me – I love mini eggs and creme eggs! I’m very proud of myself for this. That’s not to say I’m not looking forward to eating some chocolate tomorrow – I very much am. Crisps I didn’t manage as well with, but not focusing in that 😉
The top 3 posts on The Frugal Cottage during March were:
How has March been for you? I hope it’s been a good month!
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Well done on achieving so much