March 2017: A Month In Review

I’m not quite sure why, but I have found March tough. As in, the month has seemed long. There have been some nice days, some days spent with family, but on the whole, it seems to have been a tough month for us.

 

One positive, however, is that it is our wedding anniversary today! We are celebrating five years of marriage 🙂 we are off out for a meal tonight to celebrate. Not very frugal, but it is important to celebrate the little (or slightly bigger!) things. Frugal Baby is being babysat and we get to act like actual adults for a change 😉 I’m really looking forward to it. We don’t go out very often, so it’s very much a treat when we do. Here’s to the next five years!

 

My Financial aims for March were:

– Have 20 No Spend Days (NSDs)

– Overpay our mortgage by £50

– Put £1000 into savings

 

I am seriously considering not having NSDs as a monthly target anymore. I just can’t seem to ever meet my aim! For the third month this year, I haven’t managed it. I’m not entirely sure why either? Just little spends I suppose. Even when I have spent something little, that obviously isn’t a NSD! In March, I have managed to have 17 NSDs, which is not my target. Again!

 

I have managed to overpay our mortgage by £69.06 so met this aim. It is nice to see our mortgage debt go down slowly, so will continue to plod along.

 

Finally, after the amazing savings that I managed to do in February, I wasn’t sure how March would fair in comparison. However, due to a mix of side hustle income, I have managed to save £1,033.81 so I’ve met my aim! I’m really pleased with this, as £1,000 a month seems like such a daunting task. However, as I have proved to myself, it is do-able! We are ahead with our savings target for the year at the moment, which is also a great position to be in.

 

My Personal Aims For March were:

– make my first sourdough loaf

– list some items on eBay

– celebrate our wedding anniversary

 

I managed to make my very first sourdough loaf this month! Mind, the process for it takes a long time. It needs a bit of work but tasted nice. I make some roasted sweet potato soup to have with it and it made a very nice dinner for us all. Plus, having bread baking in the oven makes your house smell amazing! I have bought this loaf tin so I can try to make us bread more often, instead of buying more processed bread from the supermarket.

 

I have also managed to sell some things on ebay! Things that we have around the house that I no longer need or use. The majority that I have sold are clothes, but it’s nice to think that someone else will get some use out of them. I still have a couple of things listed on there that end later next week too, so hopefully they will sell as well.

 

Finally, as I mentioned above, we are going out this evening to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. Very much looking forward to it and spending some quality time with Mr FC 🙂

 

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

• How To Save Money On Exercise
• What’s In A Number – The Simple Way To Ensure You Hit Your Savings Goal!
• How To Spring Clean Your Finances

 

How has March been for you? What has been your biggest achievement this month?

 

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