Can we build a great family life for £2,500 a month?
August spending: £5,776
£3,276 over our £2,500 target
That is obviously a long way above our £2,500-a-month challenge, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.
August was another big spending month for us, but this time there’s a very good reason: we finally booked our flights for our Southeast Asia adventure.
Our biggest expense by far was £2,801 on flights for our Southeast Asia trip. We also booked some of the first accommodation for the trip, meaning a significant chunk of August’s spending was really money being spent on our 2027 adventure.
Take those travel costs away and August would have looked much more like a normal month.
The other good news? Our food spending finally came back down after a couple of months over £900.
Here’s where the money went, and why we’re actually pretty comfortable with some of the decisions behind it.
August at a glance
| July 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Our target | £2,500 |
| Actual spending | £5,776 |
| Over/under target | £3,276 |
Where did the money go?
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Housing | £486 |
| Food | £737 |
| Transport | £510 |
| Fun & everything else | £4,043 |
| Total | £5,776 |
We spent more than double our target again…..
But this is exactly why we track our spending rather than simply trying to hit an arbitrary number every month. Sometimes spending more is a conscious decision that makes sense for our family.
And this time it’s down to booking a significant, life-changing trip!
Housing – £486
Our housing spending was pretty unremarkable this month.
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gas & Electric | £121 |
| Water | £70 |
| Council Tax | £207 |
| Internet | £30 |
| Climbing Wall | £58 |
| Total | £486 |
The only unusual item was another small amount towards our climbing wall project.
We also continue to be very happy with Octopus Energy. Our energy comes from 100% renewable sources, which is a great bonus.
[Octopus referral link] – if you decide to switch, we both get £50.
Food – £737
We spent £737 on food in August, including everything from our supermarket shopping receipts.
We’re particularly pleased with this one.
After spending more than £900 in each of the previous couple of months, getting back down to £737 feels like a decent step in the right direction.
Food is one of the areas where our spending reflects our priorities. We want to eat well and buy good-quality food, but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep an eye on the total.
Hopefully we can keep this lower figure going into September.
Transport – £510
Transport was higher than usual this month, mainly because of a couple of extra train bookings and our annual car tax.
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Fuel | £121 |
| Train | £189 |
| Car Tax | £200 |
| Total | £510 |
Nothing particularly exciting here – just a combination of regular transport costs and a couple of annual/one-off expenses.
Fun & everything else – £4,043
And here’s where the August story really is.
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Phone Bills | £16 |
| Eating Out | £186 |
| Presents | £29 |
| Activities | £436 |
| Clothes & Shoes | £130 |
| Dental | £46 |
| Headphones | £36 |
| Ear Plugs | £35 |
| Plant Pots | £43 |
| Passport Photo | £10 |
| Passport Renewal | £72 |
| Bug Spray | £26 |
| Flights – Southeast Asia | £2,801 |
| Premier Inn – Pre-Flight | £63 |
| Lake Stay – Southeast Asia | £114 |
| Total | £4,043 |
The £2,801 flights completely dominate the category.
It’s a huge amount of money, but it’s also money we’re very happy to have spent. Our Southeast Asia trip is getting real now!
We also recently switched our mobile network to Lebara. Our SIM-only deals are really cheap and the service has been great.
[Lebara referral link] if you’d like to give them a try.
So… how did we do?
Were the £2,801 flights worth it? Absolutely.
Well, ask us again after six weeks travelling around Southeast Asia with two children!
But this is exactly the sort of spending that makes tracking our money interesting.
Our aim with FIRE has never been simply to spend as little money as possible. We want to build enough financial freedom to give our family more options and more time together.
That means some months will involve spending considerably more than £2,500.
The important thing is knowing why we’re spending it.
In this case, we’re spending thousands of pounds to make a family adventure happen – and that’s a trade-off we’re very comfortable making.
The good
A big spending month isn’t necessarily a bad month
£5,776 looks pretty alarming compared with our £2,500 target.
But the detail matters. A huge chunk of that money was spent on something we’d planned and genuinely value.
Our normal spending was much more reasonable
Once the Southeast Asia costs are removed, August looks much closer to an ordinary month.
That’s one of the reasons we track individual categories rather than just looking at the final total.
Food spending can come back down
After a couple of expensive months, getting food spending down to £737 was encouraging.
FIRE doesn’t mean saying no to everything
We’re still trying to reduce our spending and reach financial independence, but we’re also prepared to spend money on experiences that matter to us.
The trick is making those choices deliberately rather than simply letting spending happen.
The not-so-good
We were £3,276 over our £2,500 target.
There’s no avoiding that! But as we’ve discussed, it was all for very good reason.
The £2,500 Challenge
Our long-term aim remains the same:
Can we build a great family life for £2,500 a month?
But we’re currently a long way off!
Despite the huge total, we don’t mind because we’re committed to booking our big trip and getting the most out of it! We’re still frugal at heart, so we’ll be reducing costs wherever possible. But a six week trip to the other side of the world is never going to be cheap!
What we’ll be watching next month
Nothing dramatic.
August’s high total was largely caused by planned travel spending, rather than a sudden change in our normal lifestyle.
We’ll keep an eye on food spending and continue trying to keep our everyday costs under control.
And, of course, there will probably be a few more Southeast Asia expenses appearing over the coming months as the trip gets closer!