Well that is my first month of budgeting done and I can hand on heart say it could have gone so much better, in fact I could have actually got started with it as from the pay period between February and March nothing really seemed to go to plan. I had such high hopes of getting off to a great start with this however the budget more or less went straight out of the window and I have been left with even less money than usual in fact I have been left with much less than I ever have been in a very long time. One of the main reasons for this is due to us purchasing a puppy and between us it has hit our bank accounts a bit harder than we imagined with us paying for the dog itself and all the items he needed to have him settled and for the future. Then we had both the nephews birthday and mothers day gifts to pay for which again add up and took a nice chunk of money out of my budget as I always tend to go overboard. I even managed to make a few unintended purchase for my Spring wardrobe, I didn't need to rush and get them like I did but I couldn't resist and to be honest no doubt if I waited to make the purchase I would never find the items again. As usual though the big chunk of money that was spent outside my budget was on food, I really do need to stop being so lazy and ordering in all the time as it isn't good for my health or my bank account and by cutting back I could really see plenty of savings start to take place which is exactly what I need. Luckily for me though there are no big purchases during this next pay period or at least none have been planned so fingers crossed I can actually start to rebuild my savings and get to the point where I can get jobs done and get those items I really want purchased to help me with the projects I am working on as they have been on the back burner lately and I really want to get things up and running. 

I am determined though that this next pay period between March 23rd and April 22nd I really want to stick to this budget the best I can rather than spending far too much and not being able to increase my savings. The big aim is to not go overboard with my spending and only buy things I 100% need rather than spending money for the sake of it which is still a big problem for me and I really need to change this. I also have two more birthdays to celebrate within this period so I have set a limit for the gifts and this time I will be sticking to it, the two people have told me they don't want anything so I am struggling for ideas but hopefully this means I can really limit my spending whilst still treating them. I will be sticking to only using cash as much as possible too, granted I can't do this at the football as that is now cashless however, for anything else I pay for I will be making sure I use the money in my cash stuffed envelopes in the hopes of really making me think about a purchase as I can see the money physically leaving. It should really help me make better choices and also show me just how much I can make my money last if I do this rather than taking advantage of contactless payments where I really do go over board. I am really hoping that I can also cut right back on takeaways & the daily Tesco meal deals as they are really starting to add up now and there is no need for it, I can just add a few more bits to our weekly shop and make some nice healthy lunches for the week and I could simply cook more to stop me going onto JustEat at any given opportunity. If I do cut back on the takeaways & meal deals I will definitely see a big difference in my bank account.

By the end of the month I want to be able to add £50 into my projects savings account as I really want to start purchasing the equipment I need for the ideas I have had since the start of last year lately but keep putting off due to the cost of equipment, if I could add more than the £50 that would be great however, £50 is certainly a good start. I also want to add a minimum of £150 into my home & car savings too just to get that building up nicely ready for the gym work to start and so we can also get saving up for other jobs we want to get done around the house this year. Who knows if all goes to plan I might be able to add more than the £150 but that is definitely the minimum amount I would be happy with.  

Now it is time to really get cracking on with those savings and see those savings accounts grow as I set out to do at the start of the year. There is so much we want to get done and 3 months have flown by, we need to get those jobs started soon or the house is going to take even longer than we wanted.