We always knew that August 2015 would be a momentous month for our household; it is the month when our family grows and we become parents for the first time. The first 6 days of the month were relatively quiet and not a lot happened, but from August 7th onwards, our lives have not been the same. I can honestly say that our son is the best thing that has ever happened to us. Yes, the last three weeks have been hard work – lack of sleep and the unknown of a newborn has been a challenge – but worth it a million times over. He is beautiful and I am so proud to be his Mummy.
Right, back to normal!
Our Financial aims for August were:
– Have 18 No Spend Days (or NSDs)
– Overpay our mortgage by something
– Put £400 into savings
As I haven’t really left our house since our son was born, gaining NSDs has been surprisingly easy. As I did some batch cooking for the freezer beforehand, we’ve been living off our stockpile for the most part. Various family members have also visited with meals cooked which has been very gratefully received. We’ve eaten some lovely meals over the past week and people also keep bringing cake, which I’m not complaining about! So, in August, I have had 24 NSDs, which is the highest number I’ve managed all year! I think as we settle more into a routine, that the next few months won’t be as high, but I’m really pleased with that number.
As I didn’t know what our finances would look like this month, I didn’t put a specific number target for our overpayment. However, I have managed to overpay our mortgage by £108.04 which I’m really pleased about. This is the least amount we’ve overpaid all year, but I’m not too worried at this stage. We’re still going in the right direction and as part ofour long term plan is to be totally mortgage free, this needs to continue as long as we can manage it.
Lastly, I have managed to put £435.01 into savings this month, which again I’m pleased about. Although this is far off what we need to save every month in terms of reaching our long term goals, we also need to be careful with transferring too much money to savings and not leaving enough for us to live off whilst I’m off work and our household income is reduced. Although it’l make it harder to catch up to get back on track, we knew this would be the case once the baby arrived. I will need to work much harder later on the pull it back!
Our Personal Aims for August were:
– baby.
I really struggled to write any personal aims for August, as all of my thoughts at the time were focused around our baby, and that has been the case for the entire month. I don’t want to keep going on about our son, but he’s here and we’re adjusting to our new life. That’s all that matters; it’s amazing how your perspective changes, as things that I thought mattered beforehand really don’t anymore.
August has been amazing for us, I don’t know what else will top this for us, ever.
How was your August? Have you hit your aims? I would love to hear about it!
Congrats on the forward progress even in the first month with a baby! Well done! And as for what will ever top this month… It will keep getting topped as he grows and smiles as you, says mama, etc. What a joy!
What a lovely thought – that the best is yet to come 🙂 and thank you, I am pleased with how our aims turned out this month, as our lives have been turned upside down!
Wow – I’d say that having a baby (and still meeting all of your goals!) is a hard one to top! My August was really quiet, and I think that I did well on my savings goals (still have to check the numbers), although unfortunately I think the market volatility meant that my overall net worth is probably down quite a bit. Oh well!
Thank you; I am pleased with how August turned out! Well done on your savings goals 🙂 and I think lots of people have suffered losses with the market this week.
hi Nicola, congrats on the birth of your baby boy 🙂 Friends of mine had a little girl in August – she’s gorgeous and they are over the moon. So lovely to see!