Summary
Welcome to our October spending post! Our total spend for the month was £3,248.
The large expenses this month were some repairs to our roof and a holiday to Center Parcs in January. Everything else is quite low, but those large items make it an expensive month!
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 | £1,558 | See below |
| Food | £555 | See below |
| Transport | £136 | See below |
| Entertainment/misc | £999 | See below |
| Total | £3,248 |
We break each of these categories down in the following sections, giving detail for any large expenses.
Housing
Our October spending on housing is increased by a large repair bill for our roof! We had been having water coming in for a while and finally decided to get the problem areas repaired.
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gas & Electric | £187 | See below |
| Water | £54 | |
| Council Tax | £188 | |
| Internet | £29 | |
| Roof | £1,100 | |
| Total | £1,558 |
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 October spending on food was £555. This includes everything on our supermarket shop receipts for the month.
We signed up for a fruit & veg box from Riverford Organics. So far, the produce seems very high quality and is generally sourced very locally. We’re really happy with the service, which offers various different types/sizes of box, as well as meat boxes and various other products. If you want to give it a go like us, try this link and we’ll get £15 off each! That’s a pretty significant saving.
Transport
Our October spending on transport is standard for us.
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | £122 | |
| Bus | £2 | |
| Parking | £12 | |
| Total | £136 |
Entertainment/Misc
Our October spending on misc items is above average due to booking a holiday! We decided to go to Center Parcs in January for a break. It’s after schools go back so wasn’t stupidly expensive! We’re planning to spend the week biking, swimming and generally chilling in nature.
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Phone Bills | £13 | |
| Eating Out | £70 | |
| Presents | £19 | |
| Activities | £159 | |
| Clothes & Shoes | £72 | |
| Dental | £44 | |
| Christmas Cards | £39 | |
| School Photos | £31 | |
| Exercise Programme | £33 | |
| Post Office | £7 | |
| Passport | £58 | For Baby |
| Holiday | £399 | Center Parcs |
| Rake | £15 | |
| Books | £5 | |
| Baby Sling | £25 | |
| Haircut | £10 | |
| Total | £999 |
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 – September 2024