August 2020 - A Month In Review - The Frugal Cottage

Well, August is over! I have to say, it’s been a good month. August has seemed the most normal month in ages. Does that make sense? We have had lots of time outdoors, spent time with our family and had fun. What would normally do in the summer months! It has been more expensive than previous months but we have still managed to do well with our budget. Most of our systems are so automatic now that it doesn’t really seem to have an impact 🙂

One of the most exciting things to happen in August is that my budget planner sold out! I was so apprehensive about making my own product. A physical product to post out to people. Now, in hindsight, I wish I had done it ages ago! I’ve got more on order but there’s been a slight delay at the printers 🙁 should be in stock soon though. Don’t forget to favourite my Etsy store so you don’t miss out!

I also had a mini aim about hitting 2,000 subscribers on YouTube by the end of the month. I didn’t know how realistic that would be as it seems to be very slow growth over there most of the time. However, due to being in a couple of national newspapers at the end of July/beginning of August I am now sat at 2,195 at the time of writing. So I’m happy with that 🙂

My Financial aims for August were:

– Have 20 No Spend Days (NSDs)

– Overpay the mortgage by £185

– Put £700 into savings

So, NSDs should be easier to get as I am still not doing as much. However, August is always an expensive month for us and this year has been no exception! I have, including today, managed to get 20 NSDs. Only just! I think that September will be easier in that respect.

Overpayments are back to normal; in fact slightly more than the aim as I just haven’t been spending money in other areas. I have managed to overpay our mortgage by £197.30 which I’m happy about We are over target so far for this which is great!

I have also put £700 into my investments, as per the plan. Plus, as we had some spare at the end of the month due to not spending I have also added £242.48 to our emergency fund so our total savings for August is £942.48 which is great the savings combined with the overpayment is such a big chunk of our combined take home pay. I don’t know if we’ll manage this again any time soon as our childcare costs are going up by £350 tomorrow. If you’re curious about our budget, here’s my September 2020 Budget Setup.

My Personal Aims for August were:

– prepare for my first joint workshop (more on this soon!)

– enjoy some time with my boys

We have decided to postpone the joint workshop until October due to various reasons. So look out for that nearer the time! And I have definitely enjoyed lots of time with my boys; it’ll all change again this week as things go back to normal 🙁 I am going to miss it.

The top 3 posts on The Frugal Cottage during August were:

And over on YouTube, the top 3 videos were:

How has August been for you? What has been the best thing that has happened to you during the month?

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