Well, March is over, and what a month it has been. There have been definite ups and downs, as you’ll see from our aims, but I still feel like we’re doing the best we can. We have spent some time with family at the weekends, plus it has been our wedding anniversary as well, so lots of things to be thankful for. The weather hasn’t been fantastic, so I’m hoping that April brings some sunshine!
March marks the tenth month of blogging and I love it; it feels like this is almost like a journal for me to mark our process along the way. I like reading financial blogs and I’m also enjoying the process of coming up with blog posts and then writing and posting them. I also find that the more I write about living the simple life and how being frugal in our lifestyle choices will help us in the long run, the more I am convinced we are making the right decision and shouldn’t necessary worry about what other people think about it. We still have a long way to go on our journey, but we’ve started the task and that’s the main thing.
Our Financial aims for March were:
– Have 20 No Spend Days (or NSDs)
– Overpay our mortgage by the interest added on only
– Put £700 into savings
Another month where I’ve hit my NSD target; I have managed bang on at 20 NSDs. I have only managed to scrape in this month, so I don’t think I’ll increase my target for April! By being organised and taking lunch to work during the week, the need to spend money is greatly reduced. Halfway through the month, we have changed our plans regarding overpayments. So, we have overpaid £120 this month only. I will do an updated post on why that is and how we’re going to move forward in terms of paying off our mortgage. And lastly, due to our oven breaking and having to buy a new one, we managed to only put in £400.57 into savings this month. Although it’s great that we have managed to put some into savings, I’m a little disappointed it isn’t more. I think that April will have to be very restrained in order to continue with our aims.
My Personal Aims for March were:
– bake something
– eat healthily
– book a haircut
As our oven has broken, I haven’t managed to bake anything this month. The new one should arrive at the beginning of April so maybe I’ll be better at this then. I have so many things on a list of what I want to bake, so maybe I need to start working though them. Healthy eating has been a bit hit and miss this month; I’m really good some of the time, but then not at other times. I am going to work on this though. Finally, I have had my hair cut! A much needed, overdue hair cut which means my hair is looking much better.
How was your March? Have you hit your aims? I would love to hear about it!
P.S are you on twitter? Follow me here!
Getting there with my aims for the year! how did your taking lunch challenge go? did your colleague join in?
The working week challenge goes until the end of April, but it’s going well 🙂 unfortunately, I couldn’t persuade my colleague to join in – I don’t think he realises just how much money he wastes 🙁
Well done on hitting your no spend days target! That is something I might have to start doing…
I had a pretty similar month, although it was our dishwasher that Broke rather than the oven. I also had a haircut!
NSDs make a huge difference to our budget – you should try them 🙂 and it’s rubbish when a house machine breaks 🙁
Well I did end up being able to cut our grocery budget–not by as much as I would have liked, but you have to start somewhere.
I too got a haircut this month! I made my husband do it as I just needed the ends cleaned up. Do you ever opt for a home haircut?
Reducing your grocery budget by anything is a good thing, so well done 🙂 I have long hair so never have had it cut at home – don’t think I’d trust my husband…
The “no spend days” sound like such a great idea. I think I’ll incorporate that this coming month or maybe in May so I can “mentally” prepare myself. Thanks for sharing how your month went!
Thanks for stopping by! NSDs are such a help to our budget – try it and let me know how you get on 🙂