January 2019 - A Month In Review

So, the first month of 2019 is over! I’ll be honest, January seems to have dragged a lot. I don’t know if it’s because we haven’t had much on, or it’s been a month of illness, but it seems to have been a long time. Plus, like everyone I suppose, we got paid earlier than normal in December so January’s payday was a loooong time coming. I like doing my account shuffles!

It has been a strange month; we lost a week between us last week due to a horrible sickness bug which we all got at the same time. Both boys have had colds which never seem to properly go away. And it’s also been a quiet month; we’ve not done a lot. Been to work. Plodded along nicely. Sometimes it’s nice to not have a lot on 🙂 Frugal Toddler went to Center Parcs at the start of the month with his grandparents which is very much enjoyed.

Not much else to report really. Oh! Other than I finally got The Frugal Cottage shop up and running. I only have one digital product in there at the moment – February 2019 Budget Planner – but I have some other things I need to finish and get uploaded. Everything I am putting in there are things I use for our budgeting methods and they have really helped us, so I’m hoping they’ll help you too! Next up should be some No Spend Day trackers, all being well 🙂

My Financial aims for January were:

– Have 18 No Spend Days (NSDs)

– Overpay our mortgage by £185

– Put £670 into savings

I really struggled with NSDs during 2018, but I am determined to get back on track with these. I love them because I truly believe they help our budget run more smoothly. And indeed, I have managed 18 NSDs in January 🙂 so I’m off to a good start! I don’t find that they make me splurge more on the days I do spend, but I’m so used to having them and tracking them so it’s just a habit now.

I have changed our overpayment strategy again in the later part of 2018, after asking advice from my lovely readers. We are definitely going to continue to do slightly bigger overpayments for the whole of 2019, budget permitting. I’ve done the sums and it should work! And, I’m really pleased with the start we’ve made. In January, we have overpaid £302.73 which is an amazing start!

Finally, as a consequence of making our overpayment bigger, our savings rate will go down slightly. Again, only in the short term, I hope! The savings aim for this month, and indeed every month during 2019, is a fairly specific number. I am hoping to save more than this in some months, but again it just depends (doesn’t it always!). However, in January we have managed to put £764 into savings so again we’ve met our aim 🙂

I do think that manually tracking our spending and budget in my budget planner has had such a positive impact on our finances, which is shown by the results this month. The savings and overpayment combined adds up to £1,066.73 which is a significant % of our income, which we have managed to put towards our long term aims. I have already got my February budget planner set up ready to go, as I’m hoping to have another great month. I would really recommend using the same and writing things down.

My Personal Aims For January were:

– lose 6lbs

– to not put too much pressure on myself

– go to bed early!

I think I have lost 5lbs in January which I’m pleased with. The one thing I need to do is not to buy multipacks of things to have in the house; I find them far too tempting and cannot be trusted to eat just one. I know, a grown adult, but it’s true. It’s probably best not to buy them! I am trying not to put too much pressure on myself as I’m juggling a lot of plates at the moment, but it’s tough. And finally, it has been very hit and miss in terms of going to bed early. I started the month off well, but just to fit things in sometimes means a late night. Must do better!

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

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

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