Hi-de-hi Peeps!
April brings the start of the new financial year in England. So Mr.B and I had a good old chat and did some calculating yesterday.
The thing with the annual bills (like council tax and water, which have recently arrived) is that the monthly payments are never quite equal… you have to watch out for an odd amount on either the first or last month. For example, our council tax this month was £6 higher than it will be every other month, (why they can’t add 50p to each month and make them all the same, I don’t know) but the water is actually a few pence cheaper this month than the rest of the year… just be aware/keep an eye on it, because if (like us) you have 2 or 3 bills that are odd this month it soon mounts up. We’re about £15 out on our usual budget and we’d notice if that disappeared from our account!
The good news is that next month we actually save some money! Some things have gone down and some things are ending that don’t need renewing. 🙂 If you want to save a few quid on your budget, Jenny at “This Tiny Blue House” has a great post on cutting down, you can view it by clicking here.
I like this time with my hubby, not just because I’m a nerd who actually likes maths, 😉 but because we spend time together chatting about our goals and plans. I think it’s just as good for marriage as it is for the finances.
Ultimately our goal is to up our savings as much as possible to buffer us from the annoyances in life (like car repairs and household things) and enable us to give more to others; not necessarily cash (although we sometimes do) but to offer food or a useful gift or petrol to take someone somewhere.
The keys to saving are 1) know where it’s coming from; there is no point putting £50 in savings only to draw it out again when your food money runs out. 2) have small goals along the way: We have key points in our savings, for example, the next £250 would mean we could pay the excess on both the car and pet insurances (if something happened) without touching our current money.
If you would like some more ideas on overhauling your finances, visit my Budgeting page. There’s everything from Budgeting Basics to How To Pocket Extra Cash.
Happy Calculating!
Anna x
A Peace of Life 
3 thoughts on “Financial Check-Up”