I missed publishing my spending diary last Monday as I was on holiday, so I thought I would double down this week and share two weeks worth of spending. And its been a high spending time with exceptional expenses!
There have been lots of one off purchases, a holiday and a ton of bills as its the beginning of the month.
Starting with my Savings – Pension
Its approaching the end of the quarter so it time to move some money into my pension. I moved £1500 over to PensionBee where I am closing in on 6 figures finally sitting in my pension! Likely I will move some more over to my pension at the end of June to tae my year to date contributions to £6k.
I have committed in my mind to putting 1k every month into my pension, this will help me reach my financial independence goal by the age of 60. Its a big ask to save £1000 each month, but I managed it in 2020 and should be fine in 2021 too!
ISA and Cash Savings
I also transferred £100 into my Vanguard Stocks and Shares ISA. This is money set aside for the medium term, 5 + years but it can be accessed at a last resort. I chose to put far less into my ISA than my pension due to huge tax savings I make with pension contributions (they reduce my company tax bill). Also my S&S ISA contributions have to come from the income I draw from my company, where I pay dividend/income tax on.
£73 was auto-transferred off to my Plum Savings, this account is now sat at a balance of £1,146. And I am using some of this money to pay for the holiday expenses incurred recently.
Holiday Costs
As mentioned we went on holiday to Norfolk. We didn’t do anything too expensive but we did lots of eating out. We spent £250 whilst there on food and other bits, hmm that feels like a lot for three days! There was lots of nice food in pubs and many ice creams, along with the essential arcade trip to win a million tickets to exchange for 10p of tat.
We had the most amazing holiday. I highly recommend Bacton in North Norfolk as a place to visit. It was so quiet and the beach was beautiful. We walked for miles along the long beach and I recharged being back at the sea.
Dishwasher
I paid for my new dishwasher, £360, although I am yet to have it delivered, after many issues this past week including two failed deliveries. SUCH a hassle. When it finally arrives I can get the serial number and enter the Hi-Sense Euros competition. There are loads of big prizes and not many will enter according to Super Lucky Di as you need to buy a big ticket item to qualify so fingers crossed for a brand new fancy TV. Or even a fancy Euros football for Dylan.
Mortgage and Bills
All my big bills hit in the past two weeks so this was £1236 on the mortgage then another £740 on bills including energy, water, council tax, mobile, insurance, TV subscriptions etc.
I had to upgrade my phone last week, my Samsung S9 finally died, although hung on just long enough to pass the health checks at EE and qualify for a huge trade in value of £500, plus an extra £100 cash back is on its way to me in a couple of weeks. The big trade in value meant that I could go a very low priced monthly contract of £32ish per month (after my 30% ex staff discount). So I’ve got a brand new S21 and am only paying an extra £15 per month than my old SIMO contract.
If you live near Hitchin, I highly recommend visiting Sanita and team at the EE shop to check out the deal available, the Samsung one at the moment is really good! Not an ad, a genuine recommendation of great service.
Family Spends/Children Costs
It was an expensive couple of weeks for buying extra stuff for the boys. There was £70 on a train ticket to get to school this half term for my eldest. Plus £61 at Halfords on a new bike helmet and repairs to gear system on my eldest’s bike. And £48 on swimming shorts and sliders from Next. It was half term so we also had a visit to a trampoline park. This lots of £200
Food Spend
Grocery Spend was £170, not too bad for two weeks. And there was one dinner out in London at Blacklock with my friend Neil, we spent £73 each on food and drinks afterwards. It was SO nice to site on a table outside a bar in Shoreditch watching the trendy world go by!
Clothes Spend
I gave up on squeezing into my old bras after recent weight gain and went to see Clare at The Fitting Room to get refitted and bought three new bras and 6 pairs of most comfy, non roll down knickers. I needed to go up from a 32 back to a 34, so its not too bad. £155 spent at The Fitting Room , but well worth it for bras that fit. We have to invest in decent underwear right ladies. The knickers were an indulgence, they were £10 a pair I think, but they are very good. Comfy, no lines, big knickers.
There was also £60 of business expenses and £50 spent on matching gel nails on fingers and toes. A luxury that I love and refuse to get rid of.
So there you have it, how to spend £5k in two weeks.
I also released two episodes of Mrs Mummypenny Talks with Ridley Writes
Body Image Episode 9, I also shared this image on Instagram. I hugely struggle with body image. Well worth a listen
Mental Health Episode 8
And I filmed for a BBC TV Show, to be aired around September time, more details coming soon! And did a photo shoot for a new article coming soon in The Sun, hopefully this week. Its been a busy couple of weeks!
Thanks for reading as ever!!
Just a reminder that all the content on my website is 100% free, if you want to save money and generate me some income there are refer a friend deals you can sign up to.
Top Cashback, save on ALL online purchases via Top Cashback. You get a £5 loaded card and I get between £7.50 and £25 depending on when you sign up!
Octopus Energy, brilliant value energy, my energy provider for three years! We both get £50 credit to our bills
Do you need to re-mortgage and get a better deal? Try out independent brokers Trussle. If you sign up we both get £100 in Amazon vouchers.
For Independent and expert advice on life insurance and income protection insurance speak to Life Search. Between £25 and £50 cashback available for you and a similar amount to me.
And of course PensionBee, the pension company I am ambassador for. Consolidate your pensions or open a new account from scratch. We both get £50 added to out pension pots.
