December is always a low spend month, and this year I had no crafts needing finishing for Christmas, nothing in the garden, our part of the refit sorted everything, just £5 spent on a pack of bulbs and £7.49 on plastic eyes. So a very low spend month.
No clothes purchased this month, nothing required, I am hoping for a good low spend next year, as I replaced loads this year.
The cost of the garden refit came from our savings, we will need to start to replace some of the funds. Our upstairs bathroom window was sticking, so we had a new handle fitted and after checking our bedroom, we had that handle done as well.
We had very little to get for Christmas this month, most of what we purchased locally was paid for from hubby's ex-company who always send him a £50 gift voucher.
Now the figures for the year, I'm very pleased, I have used so much from my stash, only purchasing what I need, rather than what I like, I hope to do the same next year, our garden will always have a cost, £110 was spend on one off purchases, structures for plants and netting ect.
Clothes included 2 good quality winter warm coats, gym clothes and 3 pairs of shoes, under £43 per month, so again I'm happy with my spend. Christmas consumables came in under £40 for the year, we got half price cards last January, which we have loads left over, I did get 2 lovely candles in ceramic trees.
As queen of spread sheets, I thought I would show you this, I started recording my spending back in 2015, this is my monthly spend in the last 6 years, I have not included the garden refit in these figures, as that was a separate spend. I do find it interesting to check in different ways. 2019 was the most expensive year, I finished working that year, as in the previous year I collected many useful items for the garden, swapping from bedding plants to shrubs. October was my expensive month in 2023, half the cost was for bulbs in my new bed.
This final chart shows my spending by craft and garden each year, it shows me how I use my funds, and confirms which crafts I am enjoying, the only difference is cross stitch, my stash is so huge I can do many projects before I need to spend. The garden always is the most expensive, but the joy we both get makes it worth while.
A very indulgent post for me.
You certainly are the Queen of spreadsheets! But what a good idea to keep track of it all. I need to replenish our savings too, moving house is a very expensive business. We're not getting fitted carpets for the bedrooms and a vertical blind for the kitchen until the savings have been topped up again.
ReplyDeleteIt's very satisfying to see where it all goes.
ReplyDeleteWell done you for tracking your spending so rigorously. I track our food, household, home/garden, gifts and my personal spending, but I don't break my personal spending down into quite so specific categories. It might be useful to do that going forward, as I have spent quite a lot in this category in the past year and do need to get it a bit more under control.
ReplyDeletewow, well done. I try to keep track of my spending but sometimes it just goes astray!! The only spending I'm absolutely on top of is my dollshouses, and only out of interest, it's my hobby, it gives me a lot of pleasure, and it's a spend over many years.
ReplyDeleteI started doing list for interest, just to see what craft my spending was being use for, these days it's still for fun.
DeleteYou do a very good job of keeping track of everything :)
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
You really don't spend much in December do you! x
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