Summary
Welcome to our February spending post! Our total spend for the month was £6,052.
What would have been a successful month was derailed by a failed boiler. We’ve been desperate to have a cheap month, but there always seems to be something we need to spend! Unfortunately, this month was a significant outlay on a full replacement boiler. We also added a couple of new radiators while the plumber was here.
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 | £4,294 | See below |
| Food | £666 | See below |
| Transport | £184 | See below |
| Entertainment/misc | £908 | See below |
| Total | £6,052 |
We break each of these categories down in the following sections, giving detail for any large expenses.
Housing
Our February spending on housing includes a new boiler and a couple of new radiators. Unfortunately, our old boiler gave up and we needed to rapidly install a replacement – it obviously happened on one of the coldest weekends of the year! Otherwise a very normal month here.
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gas & Electric | £121 | See below |
| Water | £54 | |
| Council Tax | £188 | |
| Internet | £29 | |
| Boiler | £3,292 | |
| Radiators | £592 | |
| DIY | £18 | |
| Total | £4,294 |
We continue to be very happy with our energy supplier, Octopus Energy. 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 February spending on food was £666. This includes everything on our supermarket shop receipts for the month.
Transport
Our February spending on transport is encouraging. Mr Way’s new bike/train commute has significantly reduced our fuel consumption. Obviously the trains add up, but they’re a significantly nicer way to commute than driving up the A1!
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | £73 | |
| Train | £106 | |
| Cycling Gear | £5 | |
| Total | £184 |
Entertainment/Misc
Our February spending on misc items is OK, but still a bit higher than we would like. We both bought some new shoes this month, as well as our TV license being up for renewal. We booked hotel & parking for our flight to Lanzarote in April too.
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Phone Bills | £13 | |
| Eating Out | £126 | |
| Activities | £104 | |
| Clothes & Shoes | £209 | |
| Dental | £42 | |
| TV License | £170 | |
| Plants | £7 | |
| Haircut | £10 | |
| Holiday Hotel & Parking | £122 | |
| Picture Frames | £23 | |
| Website Hosting | £37 | |
| Postage | £9 | |
| Music Book | £13 | |
| Race Entry | £23 | |
| Total | £908 |
That’s All for Now, Folks!
We’re looking to reduce our spending in pretty much every area as we settle down to life back in the UK. It will be interesting to see how low we can get our costs! We bought our house mortgage free, so we thankfully won’t have to worry about mortgage rates etc.
Considering the average UK household spend is £2,700 we’re aiming to get down below that level – probably more like £2,000-2,250. We initially thought we would be able to go even lower, but have been surprised by the increase in just about everything since we came back!
See you next month!
Previous Posts
Monthly Spending – January 2025