Summary
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!!
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 | £1,042 | See below |
| Food | £302 | See below |
| Transport | £0 | See below |
| Entertainment/misc | £542 | See below |
| Total | £1,886 |
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 July spending was fairly standard in the housing category!
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage | £415 | |
| Overpayment | £335 | |
| Bills | £113 | Gas, electricity & water. |
| Council Tax | £105 | |
| Internet | £6 | |
| DIY | £68 | New light fittings |
| Total | £1,042 |
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 July spending on food was £302. As explained previously, this includes everything on our supermarket shop receipts for the month.
Transport
Another no fuel month thanks to lockdown!
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | £0 | |
| Total | £0 |
Entertainment/Misc
The Entertainment/Misc total for July was slightly higher due to Mr Way’s 30th and booking our wedding photographer!
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Phone Bills | £14 | |
| TV License | £13 | |
| Lottery | £8 | |
| Presents | £117 | |
| Contact Lenses | £12 | |
| Eating Out | £16 | |
| Charity | £30 | |
| Stool | £15 | |
| Baby Thank You Cards | £26 | See below |
| Baby/Mum Vitamins | £53 | See below |
| Wedding Photographer Deposit | £238 | We finally made some progress! See below |
| Total | £542 |
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 finally got round to some extra wedding planning! We’ve booked a photographer and been in contact with lots of bands. Amazing how being busy breeds productivity!
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
Baby Way has arrived!! We’ve had to buy a couple of extra things but we’re keeping our overall spending very low. Friends and family have been incredibly generous to help with this.
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 |
| Total | £523 |
Baby/Mum Vitamins
There are vitamins which it’s recommended that newborns take while breastfeeding and likewise for new mums. They’re bloomin’ expensive but we thought it was worthwhile!
Baby Thank You Cards
Our friends and family have been incredibly generous with gifts and advice etc. We wanted to show our thanks by writing thank you cards with pictures of the little man on!
See you next month!