August’s highlights:
- I went on holiday to London and Denmark
- I booked another holiday, for October
- I have big news regarding my living situation
- I made a big purchase
Spending
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Entertainment | £37.97 | TV licence, Spotify, two lottery tickets (no wins), competitions magazine, a couple of bets on the football (no wins), and a few drinks when out. |
| Groceries | £128.13 | Budget of £40/week = £200 for the month. |
| Health | £73.35 | CrossFit (2 x week membership) £40 and PureGym (unlimited) £20.99. I got a scale and polish at the dentist for £12.36. |
| Holidays | £797.91 | £573.99 was spent on my trip to Denmark via London. My brother lives in London so I stayed with him, getting free accommodation. I bought food, drinks, some travel-sized toiletries, and used public transport. En route to and from Denmark, I bought food and drinks. While in Denmark we (family members) stayed in a summer house. £223.92 was spent on my next trip to Budapest in October. This covers flights, my half of the Airbnb (50:50 with my partner), travel insurance and airport parking. |
| Housing | £652.23 | Mortgage, gas and electric, broadband, council tax. |
| Mobile phone | £6.90 | SIM only deal with Lebara. |
| Personal | £16 | Haircut. |
| Presents | £20 | My brother and I chipped in £20 each to get a nice bottle of whisky for my step-mum’s dad for his birthday. |
| Technology | £898.79 | £898 was for a MacBook Air (M1 model – not the latest). I used my Totum student card to take advantage of Apple’s education discount and also received a £120 gift card. I’m going to be moving in with my partner and since she lives in a small one-bedroom flat, I’ll be getting rid of my desktop computer, which I built myself in February 2016. The MacBook Air takes up much less space and is portable. I could have waited until I’d sold my house to buy it but I wanted to take advantage of the back to school/college/uni offer that’s running. 79p was spent on Google One cloud storage. |
| Transport | £336.79 | £154.18 was spent on fuel – I didn’t actually use nearly that much but needed to fill the tank just before the end of the month. I’m not one for putting in £10-20 to keep me going until the start of the next month for the sake of a spreadsheet, which would mean spending more of my time going back and forth to the petrol station. £181.61 on car insurance. Last year I paid £206.15 for the year, so I’m pleased that I managed to reduce it, especially when I was involved in an accident. The accident wasn’t my fault and my dash cam proved it, but some insurance companies increase your premium anyway. I could have gotten an even cheaper policy but they would have charged an admin fee to change my address – I’ve gone with an insurer that allows you to change your address for free; I’ve done this with selling my house in mind. £1 on parking. |
| Total | £2968.07 |
Premium Bonds
I won £25 this month. Hurrah!
Savings Rate
| Savings rate excluding pension | -6.19% |
| Savings rate including pension | 3.28% |
In negative territory when my pension contribution is excluded. I’m OK with this because it included paying for a budgeted holiday, paying my annual car insurance premium, and buying a new computer that I expect to last for many years.
Net Worth
| Month | Including Pension and Primary Residence | Including Pension, Excluding Primary Residence | Excluding Pension, Including Primary Residence | Excluding Pension and Primary Residence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | £626,103.58 | £517,231.54 | £337,731.83 (-£5181.81) | £228,859.79 (-£5518.84) |
| Feb | £626,450.46 (+£346.88) | £517,150.95 (-£80.59) | £336,149.46 (-£1582.37) | £226,849.95 (-£2,009.84) |
| Mar | £635,806.88 (+£9,356.42) | £526,117.29 (£+8,966.34) | £343,576.63 (+£7,427.17) | £233,887.04 (+£7,037.09) |
| Apr | £634,569.78 (-£1,237.10) | £524,494.33 (-£1,622.96) | £340,410.28 (-£3,166.35) | £230,334.83 (-£3,552.21) |
| May | £637,067.24 (+£2,497.46) | £526,603.17 (+£2,108.84) | £340,978.24 (+£567.96) | £230,514.17 (+£179.34) |
| Jun | £632,859.07 (-£4,208.17) | £522,012.77 (-£4,590.40) | £334,840.82 (-£6,137.42) | £223,994.52 (-£6,519.65) |
| Jul | £645,969.55 (+£13,110.48) | £534,738.20 (+£12,725.43) | £346,021.80 (+£11,180.98) | £223,994.52 (-£6,519.65) |
| Aug | £649,251.07 (+£3,281.52) | £537,638.33 (+£2,900.13) | £347,373.82 (+£1,352.02) | £235,761.08 (+£970.63) |
This month was a good example of ‘lumpy’, or uneven, spending where I had a big purchase (a laptop) that I rarely make. It’s been over six and a half years since I built my desktop computer and if I weren’t planning on moving in with my partner, I wouldn’t have bought the MacBook Air; I like to buy things and use them for a long time. I also had my one-off annual payment for my car insurance – it’s cheaper to pay for it for the year rather than monthly.
Overall, an increase in net worth despite an expensive month again, mainly driven by my Vanguard account increasing by nearly £2500, so I’m happy with the progress.
