First and foremost, Happy New Year to you all! Hopefully 2022 brings you health, happiness and prosperity. It’s time for my 2021 Personal Review – so much has happened this year!
Unfortunately, the blog has taken a back seat because we’ve had so much going on in our lives. Fingers crossed we’ll have more free time to spend on the blog soon, because of the decisions we’ve taken throughout 2020 – keep reading to see what I’m referring to!
Continue reading “2021 Personal Review – Mr Way”We have previously written about ‘Life Design’ and our approach to creating a life we are happy to live. As with everything, our ideas have begun to evolve and develop. For me, this has been strongly influenced by personal and world events of 2020.
I was originally going to write a review of 2020 from my perspective. After thinking about it I have decided to write a forward-thinking post instead. I want to consider how living through 2020 has affected my/our aims for the future.
Continue reading “Life Design for 2021”Well, what a year! It’s finally time for my 2020 Personal Review, and boy has it been a crazy one.
Nobody saw the global pandemic coming, but there have been so many other things going on in my life too! It has been pretty manic at times and hard to process everything that has happened. Hopefully my ramblings below make some sense as I attempt to put 2020 into some sort of order!
Continue reading “2020 Personal Review – Mr Way”Here’s our July spending – our first month as a 3! In early July, we welcomed Baby Way to the world. Fingers crossed our spending for 3 won’t be significantly higher than it was for 2. We’re using reusable nappies, wipes etc so that should really help minimise the cost on disposable items as well as being so much better for the environment. We do expect our energy bill to increase though – the washing machine hasn’t stopped!
Another big help here is the fact we’re now receiving Child Benefit. As he’s our first child, Baby Way will earn us £21.05 per week. This is a pretty big help and we expect it will go a long way to covering all of his costs!
Our total spend for the month was £1,886. Obviously Baby Way has not yet had a big impact on our spending. Long may it continue!!
Continue reading “Monthly Spending – July 2020”And there it is – our June spending – our final month on our own! Baby Way is now over-due and will be with us before the next monthly spending post. We’re really excited and looking forward to showing that it doesn’t have to be a crippling financial decision, as most of our peers seem to insist!
Our total spend for the month was £1,928. We’re pretty happy to come in under our £2,000 target again despite a few big expenses this month.
Continue reading “Monthly Spending – June 2020”As lockdown continues, our May spending has been significantly impacted. We love seeing those zeros in the Transport category!
Our total spend for the month was £1,700. This is well within our £2,000 target again.
We break our main expenses down into broad categories starting with the big 3; housing, food and transport. Everything else falls into the entertainment category, with any large inclusions explained in detail.
Continue reading “Monthly Spending – May 2020”The Coronavirus outbreak will doubtless have a devastating impact on many companies and individuals. But I’m remaining positive on the longer term outlook!
There are many reasons to be positive amongst the gloom. Hopefully this post can instil a bit of hope that things will be OK!
Our first full month of lockdown has had a huge impact on our April spending.
Our total spend for the month was £1,559. This is well within our £2,000 target. It’s actually our second lowest month since we started tracking. Beaten only by August 2019 when we were in Africa and most of our accommodation and food was pre-paid!!
We break our main expenses down into broad categories starting with the big 3; housing, food and transport. Everything else falls into the entertainment category, with any large inclusions explained in detail.
Continue reading “Monthly Spending – April 2020”There has never been a better time to begin simulating The Good Life and ‘grow your own’!
The current Coronavirus lockdown has given us all the opportunity to spend more time in our gardens. We’re using this time to rediscover our green fingers!
With many supermarkets low on lots of fruit and veg, having your own supply has become more important than ever.
All you need is some decent compost that is not at an exorbitant price! We found B&Q particularly useful as they’re offering a very efficient collection service, with social distancing thrown in!
Continue reading “Frugal Food – Grow Your Own”As we discussed in Our Coronavirus Journey – Part 1, we’ve been gradually adjusting to the changes in or lives since the Coronavirus outbreak started. While many of the implications are negative, we’re seeing opportunity in the adversity.
It would be easy to become overwhelmed and give up in such challenging circumstances. But there will always be new avenues to explore in unprecedented times.
Continue reading “Seeing Opportunity in Adversity”