Now I don’t know about you, but where is the year going? It’s April, which means it’s time to look back at March and how much I spent over the past four weeks. And where I spent my money. Now as you’ll know if you’ve read my January or February spending diaries. I’m trying really hard to save at the moment. I’m still working from home, and have been for the past year now. So with my month outgoings considerably less than usual. It seemed like the perfect time to take those savings and actually save them. Rather than spend them! So how did I do last month? Here is my March spending diary.
Week one 1st – 7th March £2,325.61
Now as per usual the first week of the month is a spendy one. Mainly because all my bills and direct debits come out. So I spent £753.08 on the mortgage, TV licence, mortgage insurance, Netflix and electricity. £28 on Gousto. £14.53 on food in M&S. £1,050 into savings. £350 to pay off my credit card. And £130 in a new Lifetime ISA that I’ve set up.
Week two 8th – 14th March £366.36
This week thankfully was a lot less spendy. I spent £34.99 on Gousto for the week. Another £20 went into my LISA. I spent £34.20 at Tesco. £36.17 at M&S on food and then £7 on cleaning bits at Wilko. I also spent £234 with a leasing company who are sorting out my new car.
Week three 15th – 21st March £518
Not quite as quiet as last week. £27.99 went to BT for the internet. Another £20 into my LISA. £11.11 to Tailwind, £18.98 to Dominoes. £7.99 for Amazon Prime, £52.24 to Tesco. £269 at John Lewis for my new watch, £7.67 to renew a domain with my hosting company. And £103.02 on new cushions at Dusk.
Week four 22nd – 28th March £135.20
Things are starting to slow down as I’m hitting the end of the month. £8.30 at M&S. £20 to my LISA. £5 for NowTV. £14.21 to Flodesk, £15.99 to my hosting company and £9.99 for Spotify. And food wise, £38.29 at Tesco and £23.42 at M&S.
Week five 29th – 31st March £1,090.52
So the end of the month turned out to be more expensive than planned. Thanks to my bi-annually maintenance payment on the flat being due. That was £903.44. I also spent £54.94 at La Redoute on more cushion covers. £45 at M&S on a suede bike jacket. £41.50 on a family birthday present at John Lewis. £15.17 on my phone bill. Another £20 for my LISA and £10.47 on a curry.
Which brings the grand total of my March spending diary to £4,435.69. £1050 of which was direct savings. Plus £200 of which went into my newly formed Lifetime ISA. So while it has been a spendy month. It’s also been a good month for saving. This month was also a great month for additional income from blogging and coaching, which is why the figure is way more than my take home salary.
My learnings for April are just to slow down with the spending. I’m still working from home, so can save a lot more than usual. So if anything, I’d like to save more in April if I can. What are your financial goals for April? Have you ever tracked your spending like this?