Monthly Spending – August 2024

Summary 

Welcome to our August spending post! Our total spend for the month was £2,415

It’s another month above our target! This month we had to pay our vehicle tax for the year. We also had a significant spend on eating out, due to a camping trip.  

As well as the above, we’re starting to spend more on ‘activities’. Our eldest is starting Reception this September, which means he is now old enough for various sports/activities. We try to favour free stuff, but things like swimming always come at a cost.  

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Monthly Spending – July 2024

Summary 

Welcome to our July spending post! Our total spend for the month was £2,665

During July we introduced the newest member of our family! We’re now a 4! 

It was quite an expensive month for various reasons, the baby actually not really being a big factor at all! 

Most of the cost for our MOT & service for the car went out this month, as well as a new freezer. We also both started private dental treatment. We’ve been unable to find an NHS dentist since returning to the UK last year and finally gave in. The up-front cost was pretty high because we had to have check-ups before joining a monthly plan. Unfortunately, dental cover is going to be a recurring cost which we hadn’t previously considered.  

The other major expense was an electronic drum kit!! This was Mr Way’s Birthday present to himself. He hasn’t played for around 15 years and has always wanted to get back into it. Luckily an electronic kit is quiter than an acoustic one! We’re excited about this purchase and hope the little ones can both use it too! 

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Monthly Spending – June 2024

Summary 

Welcome to our June spending post! Our total spend for the month was £1,772

It was quite a boring month thankfully! We still ideally want to reduce our spending average further, but we’re still getting set up in our new house, preparing for a new baby and generally adjusting to life back in the UK. Hopefully the average spend will continue to fall as life becomes more normal again!  

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Monthly Spending – March 2024 

Summary 

Welcome to our March spending post! Our total spend for the month was £2,677

Not as high as February, but another month above our ideal spending level! As we continue to settle back into UK life, we’re finding various things we want to buy to improve our quality of life. Most of these can be found in the Entertainment/misc section below!  

It’s frustrating, but we really want to kit ourselves out with good quality ‘stuff’ which lasts, so we can fully enjoy our new life back in the UK. We expect our spending to settle down very soon and hopefully find a level below £2,000. 

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Monthly Spending – February 2024

Summary 

Welcome to our February spending post! Our total spend for the month was £3,729

This is a huge jump from our new ‘normal’, because we booked a holiday! We’re in need of a break so excited to be going to Portugal at Easter time. We booked all inclusive to make the trip as relaxing as possible, as it will be our last break before baby 2 arrives in July! 

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Annual Spending – 2023

Summary 

Welcome to our annual spending post! Our total spend for the year of 2023 was £55,350. For context, this is for 2 adults plus a two-year-old, living in the Caribbean until August, then home again to the UK! 

If you’ve been following our monthly spending posts, you’ll know the story. Living costs in Turks and Caicos were insane and our spending went through the roof. Since returning to the UK in late August, we’ve also spent a lot of money on rent initially, then kitting out our new home. We also bought a car on our return to the UK! 

All in all, a very expensive year – but thankfully cheaper than last year

We purchased our new home in November. We managed to buy the house outright, so this should have a significant impact on our living costs going forward. Here’s to a much cheaper 2024!! 

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