Summary
Welcome to our June spending post! Our total spend for the month was £-408.
This came about because we received another generous donation towards our wedding costs from parents. We wanted to include this in our spending post for full transparency. Despite various balances being due this month, we still didn’t manage to cancel it all out, meaning we end with a negative spend. However, we’ve spent over our average the last few months so this simply averages those out.
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 | £896 | See below |
| Food | £463 | See below |
| Transport | £95 | See below |
| Entertainment/misc | £-1,862 | See below |
| Total | £-408 |
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 June spending was a bit lower than normal in the housing category because we had no council tax to pay this month.
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage | £415 | |
| Overpayment | £335 | |
| Bills | £115 | Gas, electricity & water. |
| Internet | £31 | |
| Total | £896 |
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 June spending on food was £463. As explained previously, this includes everything on our supermarket shop receipts for the month.
Transport
A few long journeys this month. Hopefully our transport costs can return to zero soon!
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | £88 | |
| Parking | £7 | |
| Total | £95 |
Entertainment/Misc
This is where things get a bit weird. We had to pay a lot of balances for various things for the wedding this month. You’ll notice that the final total is negative though….
We’ve been very lucky to receive help towards the wedding from our parents. Our June spending includes a contribution as below. Our total help from both sides is £12,000. We’re aware this is incredibly lucky and generous. It also makes our spending look a bit silly but we thought this was the best way to document it!
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Phone Bills | £10 | |
| TV License | £13 | |
| Lottery | £8 | |
| Eating Out | £76 | |
| Presents | £168 | |
| Hair Cuts | £25 | |
| Holiday Deposit | £25 | |
| Shoes | £16 | |
| Wedding Photographer | £713 | See below |
| Wedding Band | £600 | See below |
| Wedding Clothes | £698 | See below |
| Wedding Food | £1,406 | See below |
| Wedding Rings | £519 | See below |
| Wedding Spotify | £10 | See below |
| Wedding Van Hire | £222 | See below |
| Wedding Registrar | £525 | See below |
| Wedding Decoration | £29 | See below |
| Wedding Parental Help | £-7,000 | See below |
| Baby Sling | £65 | See below |
| Baby Classes | £10 | See below |
| Total | £-1,862 |
Running Totals
There are a few big things going on in our lives at the minute. We wanted to add 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
It’s going ahead! We finally know that restrictions are being lifted on the Monday of our wedding week. We’ve had a lot of balances due this month so we’re racking up quite a total now!
| 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. |
| Band | £100 | Deposit paid. £700 more due before wedding. |
| Cards | £10 | |
| Evening Food | £246 | Deposit paid. £983 more due before wedding. |
| Dress | £350 | Deposit paid. £388 more due before wedding. |
| Food | £52 | Deposit paid. £154 more due before wedding. |
| Returns Postage | £14 | |
| Shoes | £84 | |
| Clothes | £68 | |
| Bridesmaid Dress | £12 | |
| Crockery | £535 | |
| Clothes | £161 | |
| Table Cloths | £150 | |
| Clothes | £21 | |
| Marriage License | £70 | |
| Venue | £5,370 | |
| Crockery Boxes | £40 | |
| Van Hire | £154 | |
| Photographer | £713 | See below |
| Band | £600 | See below |
| Clothes | £698 | See below |
| Food | £1,406 | See below |
| Rings | £519 | See below |
| Spotify | £10 | See below |
| Van Hire | £222 | See below |
| Registrar | £525 | See below |
| Decoration | £29 | See below |
| Total to Date | £12,545 | |
| Parental Help | £12,000 | |
| Total Cost to Us | £545 |
Photographer
Balance paid, £950 total.
Band
Balance paid, £700 total.
Clothes
More paid including the wedding dress balance, Baby Way’s clothes, Mr Way’s jacket etc.
Food
We paid the balance for our evening meal (Mexican food truck) as well as buying more supplies for our afternoon tea.
Rings
We finally got our rings sorted! Miss Way is having a simple, 18 carat gold band to match her engagement ring. Mr Way originally intended to get a cheap ~£30 ring but instead ended up with a more expensive one from the same shop!
Spotify
We paid for 3 months of premium so we can use it for our playlists on the day between performances.
Van Hire
Booked our van for the weekend – we need to transport a LOT of stuff to the venue and back, before hopefully selling it on!
Registrar
We paid the balance for the registrar. Very expensive, they’d better be good!
Decoration
Various bits and bobs to make the place look more ‘us’.
Baby Costs
We’re nearly 12 months in!
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! We’re currently 10 months in!
| 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 | |
| Baby Thank You Cards | £26 | |
| Boots | £6 | |
| Baby Related Tablets | £41 | |
| Classes/Groups | £288 | |
| Birth Certificates | £22 | |
| Baby Carrier | £11 | |
| Baby Clothes | £7 | |
| Baby Book | £11 | |
| Breastfeeding Cream | £9 | |
| Wean in 15 Book | £7 | |
| Baby Cups | £14 | |
| Finger Puppets | £9 | |
| Cheeky Wipes | £15 | |
| Weaning Bibs | £32 | |
| Nappies | £16 | |
| Baby Carrying Sling | £35 | |
| Cream/Tablets | £15 | |
| Stair Gates | £27 | |
| Running Buggy | £150 | |
| Clothes | £17 | |
| Sling | £65 | See below |
| Classes | £10 | See below |
| Total | £1,330 |
Sling
We bought another second hand baby carrier now that he’s a bit heavier! It’s a popular make so should have good re-sale value.
Classes
Now that more baby classes are allowed, Miss Way has been taking part in a few!
That’s All for Now, Folks!
See you next month!