Summary
Welcome to our November spending post! Our total spend for the month was £1,818.
There weren’t any big expenses this month, just a few Christmas presents etc. Steady away! That’s what national lockdown does for you. See below for the full details!
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 | £974 | See below |
| Food | £331 | See below |
| Transport | £29 | See below |
| Entertainment/misc | £484 | See below |
| Total | £1,818 |
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 November 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 | |
| Total | £974 |
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 November spending on food was £331. As explained previously, this includes everything on our supermarket shop receipts for the month.
Transport
Another month with only a single tank of fuel! This will be more than covered by a long work trip for Mr Way which will be on expenses.
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | £29 | |
| Total | £29 |
Entertainment/Misc
A slightly higher total this month due to Christmas shopping. We also booked a baby singing and sign language class for Baby Way. We managed to sneak in a rare takeaway this month for the cost of £6.50! Using the Uber Eats introductory offer, we saved £15 on our pizzas!
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Phone Bills | £14 | |
| TV License | £13 | |
| Lottery | £10 | |
| Eating Out | £55 | |
| Glasses | £42 | New glasses for Miss Way - 2 pairs |
| Presents | £231 | Christmas and some Birthdays! |
| Hair Scissors | £8 | Perfecting the lockdown haircuts! |
| Wedding Cards | £10 | See below |
| Wean in 15 Book | £7 | See below |
| Baby Cups | £9 | See below |
| Sing & Sign Music Class | £80 | See below |
| Total | £484 |
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
A small expense this month on some cards but we’ve made good progress with our invitations and also got some catering quotes. It’s looking a little more likely that our wedding will be able to go ahead now so we’re cracking on with the planning! Miss Way even ordered some wedding dresses online – watch this space!
| 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. |
| Wedding Cards | £10 | See below |
| Total | £496 |
Wedding Cards
We bought some cards to send to our nieces/nephews inviting them to be flower girls and page boys!
Baby Costs
This month has seen another few small additions to the baby costs table. These are explained below, but overall we’re keeping spending very low. We have £21.05 per week rolling in in child benefit, so Baby Way is probably making us money right now!
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 | |
| Baby Thank You Cards | £26 | |
| Boots | £6 | |
| Baby Related Tablets | £41 | |
| Music Classes | £12 | |
| Birth Certificates | £22 | |
| Baby Carrier | £11 | |
| Baby Clothes | £7 | |
| Baby Book | £11 | |
| Music Classes | £24 | |
| Breastfeeding Cream | £9 | |
| Wean in 15 Book | £7 | See below |
| Baby Cups | £14 | See below |
| Sing & Sign Music Class | £80 | See below |
| Total | £758 |
Wean in 15 Book
This is the book by Joe Wicks about weaning. As Baby Way will be starting to eat proper food around Christmas time, we wanted to do some research. Bought second hand of course!
Baby Cups
So far, Baby Way won’t take milk from a bottle. We bought a few different types of cups to try and encourage him to drink up. We really hope this works, because it would allow Mr Way to take some of the burden, especially while Miss Way is working.
Sing & Sign Music Class
This is our first attempt at attending an in person class! It’s a music class, but also teaches baby sign language which is really cool. Miss Way is planning to attend the 10 week course. If she doesn’t like it, she can have a partial refund and still attend online!
See you next month!
Previous Posts
Monthly Spending – October 2020