June 2016: A Month In Review

June has passed in a blink of an eye, through lots of miserable weather and gloomy days. It has been quite a cool month, and it certainly doesn’t feel like summer is on the way. I’m still dressing in big jumpers and keeping cosy at nights with a blanket on the sofa; it feels more autumnal this month than it should do! June has been a quite month for us for the main part; we have had a family holiday away in the Lakes which was lovely, but we managed to keep costs fairly low.

 

In terms of finances, June has been a much better month. I knew it would be better than May, as we’ve getting used to having two incomes again, rather than just the one plus maternity pay. Although our household income is less than it used to be, we are finding a new balance that suits our household. Even going away hasn’t really caused any major issues in terms of spending. The only thing that’s had a bit impact this month is the UK’s decision to leave the EU, which has meant my shares have taken a bit of a hit. But, there’ll be more on that in my Ultimate Dream Fund update post which goes up next week.

 

My Financial aims for June were:

– Have 18 No Spend Days (NSDs)

– Overpay our mortgage by something

– Put £500 into savings

 

Just when I think I’m getting back on track with my NSDs and managing to meet my aims, another month comes along and proves just the opposite. I have joined Slimming World which means I pay for a group every Monday, which has made it slightly more difficult to get so many during the week, but that alone shouldn’t have meant I failed with this aim. Little spends are forever creeping in; I’m thinking about a No Spend month for July just to see if I can reign back those little spends. In the end, I have managed to have 16 NSDs for June, which is two away from my target.

 

Overpayments have taken a back seat for quite a few months now, as I have focused more on trying to save money and invest it, rather than trying to pay off our mortgage. I keep swinging between not thinking that overpaying should be a priority to thinking it should be a big priority! I guess the unknown to do with interest rates isn’t helping. The target here is deliberately vague but as I have only managed to overpay our mortgage by £0.75 (really!) this month, I think I should aim for something more concrete in July.

 

Lastly, finally a month where I have hit my savings target! Saving money has become increasingly difficult for some unknown reason, so I’m especially pleased to have hit this aim. It is less than we need to be saving each month, but I’m working on increasing this from now on, though I may have to be more creative in earning more money from side hustles to ensure this happens! But, in June, I am pleased to say that I have managed to transfer £667.96 which has absolutely smashed my target!

 

My Personal Aims For June were:

– lose 6lbs

– continue to declutter things from our home

– finish decorating the hall and staircase.

 

I can’t believe I’m typing this, but I have managed to lose 7.5lbs in June! So, another target smashed 🙂 I joined Slimming World two weeks ago and have managed to get into the plan straight away and have been loving it. Plus, it works as I have lost 7.5lbs in those two weeks, and I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself at all. It has made me feel much more motivated about my weight loss in general, and I do feel like I’m going to be able to lose the 30lbs before thirty which is one of my big aims this year.

 

I’ve been slowly collecting things to do a car boot sale later on in the summer, when the weather is hopefully warmer. The items I’m collecting are smaller items which wouldn’t really sell on ebay. We seem to have an awful lot of DVDs and CDs in our house which are no longer watched, plus I have a lot of books that I could get rid of. We could also sell some of the baby things we no longer need or use, just to free up some space! So, continuing to declutter but waiting for a better time to sell the items on.

 

The hall and staircase are no further on 🙁 not much to say about that one really..

 

One final note, the top three posts on The Frugal Cottage during June were:

1. What To Do When You Are Disillusioned By The Journey
2. This One Simple Trick Will Save You Over £100 A Month! 
3. The Frugal Cottage Turns 2!

 

So, June is over, and what a month it has turned out to be. I’m looking forward to seeing what July brings!

 

How was your June? Have you hit your aims? I’d love to hear about it!

 

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