Summary
Welcome to our August spending post! Our total spend for the month was £1,970.
We’ve been eating out more than usual, as Miss Way increases her socialising and introduces Baby Way to family and friends – at a distance. We also had an MOT on the car this month, and bought a lot of house plants! Considering those factors, we’re happy to still come in under £2,000.
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.
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | £1,109 | See below |
| Food | £359 | See below |
| Transport | £109 | See below |
| Entertainment/misc | £393 | See below |
| Total | £1,970 |
We break each of these categories down in the following sections, giving detail for any large expenses.
Housing
The housing category consists of our mortgage payment, overpayments, bills, insurance, DIY costs etc.
Our August spending was fairly standard in the housing category! Mr Way got a bit addicted to house plants and decided to buy a broad selection of plants and pots. This is included as a ‘DIY’ expense, as it was a home improvement expense. Our house looks a lot better for this new hobby!
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage | £415 | |
| Overpayment | £335 | |
| Bills | £113 | Gas, electricity & water. |
| Council Tax | £105 | |
| Internet | £6 | |
| DIY | £135 | Lots of house plants! |
| Total | £1,109 |
We continue to be very happy with our energy supplier, Octopus Energy. This month we received a refreshing email from them saying they would again be reducing the cost of our energy, following cuts in wholesale prices.
Our energy is from 100% renewable sources too which is a great bonus. If you are interested, click through this link and you will get £50 and so will we! It can be hard to find a decent energy company but we really do recommend Octopus.
Food
Our August spending on food was £359. As explained previously, this includes everything on our supermarket shop receipts for the month.
Transport
Transport costs continue to be very low. We had a couple of long journeys this month as well as an MOT so not bad considering.
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | £35 | |
| MOT | £74 | |
| Total | £109 |
Entertainment/Misc
The Entertainment/Misc total for August included a large amount for eating out! Miss Way has managed to get out and about a few times with Baby Way to see friends. Mr Way’s tennis also started up again, leading to some match-related costs. Both very positive things to spend on! Otherwise a fairly standard month.
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Phone Bills | £14 | |
| TV License | £12 | |
| Lottery | £10 | |
| Presents | £45 | |
| Eating Out | £157 | |
| Sports Team Costs | £31 | Match fees, floodlights, equipment etc |
| Clothes | £25 | |
| Power Line Adaptor | £40 | Internet boosting device |
| Baby Related Tablets | £41 | See below |
| Baby Music Classes | £12 | See below |
| Boots | £6 | See below |
| Total | £393 |
Running Totals
There are a few big things going on in our lives at the minute. We wanted to this section to the end of our Monthly Spending posts to keep track of our total spending on both the wedding and Baby Way.
To be honest this is as much for our own interest/records as it is for our readers!
While these aren’t all spending items from this month, we think it’s useful to keep ‘running totals’ for these longer term categories.
Wedding
We’re close to booking a band, but another month has passed with no wedding spending. We’re struggling a bit for motivation because we don’t know how weddings will look by next July!
Total to date:
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 'Save the Date' Cards | £26 | |
| Postage | £22 | |
| Registrar | £100 | Deposit paid. £525 more due before wedding. |
| Photographer | £238 | Deposit paid. More due before wedding depending on package. |
| Total | £386 |
Baby Costs
Our August spending has seen another few small additions to the baby costs table. These are explained below, but overall we’re keeping spending very low.
All of our baby-related spending will appear in Entertainment/Misc for now, but we’ll also track it separately here. We’re convinced we can spend significantly less than our peers so it’ll be interesting to see how we get on!
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pregnancy Vitamin Tablets | £8 | |
| Antenatal Class | £80 | |
| Cot | £80 | |
| Nappies | £100 | Second hand reusable nappies |
| Pram | £0 | Free!! |
| Baby Book | £9 | |
| Baby Scan Photo | £5 | |
| Baby Bath | £5 | |
| Yoga | £21 | |
| Reusable Post-partum Pads | £25 | |
| Baby Bed Sheets | £30 | |
| Second Hand Baby Sleeping Bags | £20 | |
| Yoga/Birthing Ball | £13 | |
| Second Hand Baby Clothes | £18 | |
| Breastfeeding Cream | £8 | |
| Breastfeeding Bras | £3 | |
| Perineal Ice Packs | £19 | |
| Baby/Mum Vitamins | £53 | See below |
| Baby Thank You Cards | £26 | See below |
| Boots | £6 | See below |
| Baby Related Tablets | £41 | See below |
| Baby Music Classes | £12 | See below |
| Total | £582 |
Boots
We bought a thermometer and a car mirror for Baby Way. The majority of the spend was on a voucher we received so minimal cost to us!
Baby Related Tablets
Miss Way has struggled with a few ailments so we had to buy Gaviscon etc.
Baby Music Classes
With us both being musical, there was no avoiding things like this! We signed Miss Way and Baby Way up for a few sessions of a ‘Sing and Sign’ class.
See you next month!
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