It doesn’t feel two minutes since I was writing my November aims, and yet here we are at the end of the month. I’m not entirely sure how that happened?!
Anyway, November. It’s been another strange month; as I type both boys have got yet another cold, with Frugal Toddler coughing away. He’s very unhappy with it, plus he’s having to miss nursery as he really isn’t well, which he’s not happy at all with. But, he’s tired and not his usual energetic self so some quiet time at home has been needed for him.
Also, Frugal Baby finally has his first tooth! It’s a front one and it seems to have taken ages to break through but it has. And looks very cute 🙂 finally getting that toothy smile that babies can give. The one next to it is also lurking, so I think that’ll be through any time now too.
We haven’t done that much during November, but I still seem to have spent quite a bit of money, as you’ll see when I go through my aims. We have bought quite a few Christmas presents and some birthday presents too. It all impacts, and I’ll be totally honest, I have found November tough in terms of spending.
My Financial aims for November were:
– Have 18 No Spend Days (NSDs)
– Overpay our mortgage by £185
– Put £500 into savings
I have managed to hit my NSDs aim for the previous two months so I thought I’d keep it the same for November. Well, no surprise, I have totally failed on this one! I am noticing a pattern with my spending – I almost always spend on the days I’m not at work. And as I now work three days as oppose to five, that means I’m spending more often. I am aware of this and it’s something I need to address. It can’t continue! I have only managed 14 NSDs during November, which I am disappointed with.
I have changed our overpayment strategy again this month; I have going back and forth about this for a while so I posted about it asking for advice. Quite a few people answered and then we made a decision about it so our overpayments will be bigger going forward. At least in the short term anyway. So, my overpayment this month is £104.50 which is less than my aim. Not great going this month!
Finally, as a consequence of making our overpayment bigger, our savings rate will go down slightly. Again, only in the short term, I hope! I am looking at ways of making our side income more consistent so hopefully this won’t have too much of an impact but we shall see. Where the impact of my spending really shows this month is in our savings; this is the lowest number all year. I’m so disappointed in myself 🙁 I have only put £163.76 into savings this month 🙁
My Personal Aims For November were:
– find some time just for me.
– use my budget planner throughout the month
– start Christmas shopping!
I really struggle to find time just for me, if I’m honest. I mean, I’m sat typing this sat on the sofa as both boys are now asleep, but does that count? I miss having some time just to do nothing, you know? It can be so hard to find some time by myself without feeling like I should be doing something else. I have continued to use my budget planner for tracking NSDs, though filling in expenses has fallen by the wayside a bit. And I definitely have started Christmas shopping 🙂
The top 3 posts on The Frugal Cottage during November were:
How has November been for you? What has the best thing that has happened to you during the month?
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I know exactly what you mean about ‘just do nothing’ time. It’s hard to find. My best chances when the kids were very small was carving out a bath at 9pm and then reading in bed.. worked for me. If it was now I’d probably also try and use my bullet journal as a prompt.. helps me remember what I planned for the month and to keep an eye on my goals. Provides a discipline if you like. Walks are also good but hard to go by yourself I know!
Anyhow.. it does get easier to get time. Honest.. just keep plodding on 🙂