April is over and what a month is has been! Time seems to be going more quickly as of late, so April seems to have flown by in a blur of work and relaxation time. The weather has been better as well, the days are longer and warmer which has been lovely. We also got a new oven in April, so I have been getting used to that, as it’s definitely hotter than our old oven. I’m looking forward to seeing what May brings us!
April marks the eleventh 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 April were:
– Have 20 No Spend Days (or NSDs)
– Overpay our mortgage by £120
– Put £700 into savings
Again, April marks another month where I’ve hit my NSD target for the month; I have managed 21 NSDs in April. I keep thinking I should try and stretch myself and aim for a higher number, so I think I will in May. Perhaps 23? I have mentioned previously that our overpayments are reduced for the time being, so just £120 sent over as an overpayment for April. Finally, as we have bought a new car, we have not put a single penny into savings. I suspected this might be the case and the money has gone to something we needed, but it is a bit disheartening to write a zero figure in our spreadsheet for savings this month. Oh well, onwards and upwards!
Our Personal Aims for April were:
– bake something
– eat healthily
– get a new carpet for the spare room
I have managed to bake something in the new oven – it took longer than I thought but it’s just a case of getting used to the new temperatures. I made a grapefruit sponge cake, using all store cupboard ingredients. It was tasty, though I think next time I’ll put in peach or pear instead of grapefruit, as the grapefruit was a bit too sour against the cake. But, I baked something! I have been better at eating healthily, in terms of eating more fruit and vegetables. Growing another person means I need to make sure the both of us get the nutrition we need! Lastly, as we didn’t have any spare money this month due to the car expense, we haven’t even been to look at carpets, never mind decide on one. Think this will be one of May’s aim!
How was your April? Have you hit your aims? I would love to hear about it!
It sounds like you did pretty well in April! We had an $1100 car expense that was unexpected and paid $500 for driving school for the 15 year old. Needless to say, April wasn’t a great month financially;0)
Ouch, that’s a lot of expense! Here’s to May being better 🙂
I think you did pretty well in April. Good luck with your May goals. I haven’t set any yet with being sick.
Thank you! I hope you are feeling better soon 🙂