January Spending Update
Welcome back to Monday Money my round up of money saving from the previous week and a January spending update. Money featured a lot last week in quite a stressful way. It had made me reflect on how money ebs and flows. After paying off my debt I got myself into a strong positive situation with money. I had savings, buffer money into my bank account. But now I see myself in a position with no buffer, no spare money and a risk that I might end up in debt again.
I promise to share more on this in the future when I can but I had to pay several thousand last week on various bills, including tax, that I hadn’t expected to. It was totally a timing thing, I knew the bills were coming just not quite last week. I paid everything but it was a huge stretch. I had to clear out savings accounts and borrow some money from good friends.
All will be sorted by the end of March, but for the meantime things are tight.
January was a low spend month
Thankfully January was a low spend month. I use credit cards for my regular spending and pay off the balance in full each month. I spent £700 in January, saving £300 compared to a regular month. The main savings here were eating out less and making saving on groceries. I kept a close eye on my spending using my Emma app, this really helped and encouraged me to carry on spending less.
I will continue being as controlled during February and March, keeping a tight control on spending
Chip Savings Balance
My chip savings balance has taken a hit, I had built up £200 by last week which I had intended to save for Christmas. But needs must at the moment so I moved the money back into my current account, it was back in my account within a day.
My Chip savings offer is still valid. Fancy a free £10 for opening up an auto-save Chip app based account. This offer carries on into February for Mrs Mummypenny readers. Its such a great way to build up a stash of money without noticing. Chip auto-transfers savings for you based on how good your spending and balance is that week.
Dinner at Angler
I regularly write pieces for Buyagift and they pay me with a voucher for an experience of my choice. Last week I got to go to Angler restaurant, on the top floor of South Place Hotel in Moorgate, London with my best friend Neil for a 6 course taster menu. Dinner was amazing and it felt like a very lovely free dinner!
The Angler is a fish restaurant so is also very healthy. We had some amazing courses including cod, crab, scallops. Every course was beautifully presented and tasted amazing. The evening started with a cloud cocktail in the roof top bar. A lovely treat to end January and to end dry January slightly early.
Aldi Pink Sparkling wine and gin
My friends at Aldi sent me some drinks to try. Again perfect timing at the end of January! They have a great range of affordable pink drinks perfect for Valentines day, or perfect for any day!
The first drink I tried was the Rose Spumanti, a lovely pink sparkling wine costing £5.79. Being a Spumanti it was sweet in taste and is a great alternative to champagne. Highly recommended.
The second drink I was sent was the Greyson’s pink gin. I tried this at the weekend with slimline tonic and a slice of lime and it was amazing. A really lovely gin with a little fruity taste. Another recommendation from me. This bottle costs £12.99 for 75cl.
Do The Unthinkable Food Plan
I did a review of the ‘Do The Unthinkable’ Weight Loss Eating plan a while back and it has been getting lots of people reading it as directed by Google. But it is a little out of date! The team from Do The Unthinkable have sent over a new box of food for me to try. You literally get everything you need to eat for a whole 5 days, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks.
Watch out for pictures on my Instastories this week where I will be showing everything I am eating. I have tried a few of the snacks so far and can safely say Do The Unthinkable have upped their game, the snacks are all really good, much better than before. Check out the bundle of food that was delivered!
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