Visiting family.

I have had a couple of people asking about No Spend Days - I generally don't take any money to work with me during the week, so I don't spend then. I do most of our shopping at the weekend, so if there's something I want, I'll buy it at the weekend :)

 

This week has been spent visiting family down South. It's been lovely to see them and to get away again - we're trying to make the most of the break and see people and get out in the countryside whilst the weather is still fine. It's been cold, but dry which is the main thing.

 

We've been to Gloucester and the surrounding villages, where we've been for some walks.

 

 

We also went to look round the cathedral, which was very impressive. The choir was practising whilst we were there too, so it was lovely to sit and listen to the choral members sing.

 



What a lovely way to spend some time. We've been for a walk in the Forest of Dean today, but I didn't get any photos - I forgot! Oh well.

Monthly aims: April 2013

A new month always makes me want to review finances, and to see if we're on track. April is a relatively quite month for us, so I'm hoping that that will equate low spends! We shall see.

My aims for April are:

- lose 4lbs

- Overpay £600

- Get the Emergency Fund up to 25%

- Have 17 No Spend Days

- Have a date with DH

Again, my aims are similar to last month's but then I suppose they always will be. I'm hoping to continue to lose weight. I want to overpay by £600 but we shall see. I am determined to get the Emergency Fund up to 25% this month. 

We got a £20 Pizza Hut voucher given to us last week, so I'm going to make DH go on a date with me this month and we'll go there. 

Here's to April! 

A month in review: March 2013

This is slightly late, but never mind. I can't believe another month is over - how fast is 2013 going!? 

March has been up and down - it's been a very busy month for one reason or another, and money has slipped slightly. 

My aims for March were:

- lose 4lbs

- Overpay £600

- Put £300 in the Emergency Fund

- Have 18 No Spend Days

- Buy a new coat!

I've lost 3lbs, which is good going for me. I'm going to continue to try and eat healthy, though this past weekend is not a good indication of that...!

I've OP'ed the mortgage by £605.48 so I'm pleased with that. I don't know if we can continue with the big numbers for much longer, but it'll be good as long as we can sustain it.

Now, I've put nothing into the emergency fund this month. Nothing at all. Bad. 

I've had 17 NSDs this month, so one short of target. I'm pretty pleased with that. 

And, finally, I've bought a new coat! I shall post about it, but it's very nice and I am glad I took the plunge and bought a new one - I think it was 7 years ago since I bought a new coat. Oops!

So, overall, finance wise March has been okay. Not great, but okay. 

Our anniversary weekend away.

Yesterday was our first wedding anniversary. It seems mad that our wedding was a year ago already. How time flies!

We went up to Bamburgh in Northumberland for the long weekend. We stayed at the Victoria Hotel, where we had a beautiful room complete with a four poster bed. The hotel itself is luxurious and modern, and a short walk away from Bamburgh castle. The breakfast there was very good - a big selection of cereal, porridge, fruit, yogurt and various pasties, followed by cooked food, such as a full English breakfast, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, smoked haddock with an egg and things like egg on toast, egg with soldiers and other lighter options. All very nice and very filling. 

We did lots of walking around, lots of time spent on the beach taking in the scenery. We purposely didn't worry about money this weekend, eating out every night in different places, and buying things to eat for lunch. 

Just a few pictures:

A view of Bamburgh castle from the beach

The beach in Bamburgh - less than a 5 minute walk from the hotel

This is at Alnmouth, where the river meets the sea. 

Me walking on yet another beach

It was a lovely weekend away and I now want to live up there! A perfect first anniversary weekend. 

Simple things and daft cats.

Well, another week is done. There are 4 working days til the Easter holidays. 8 days until our first wedding anniversary (where did that go?!). 

We've not had any snow this week, though it has been bitterly cold and very windy. We've had to turn the heating up again as our house has been very cold, so I hope that doesn't mean our DD will need to go up. 

You know I posted a bit ago about not getting a new coat? I've changed my mind. I've ordered one, and it should be here during the week. I shall post about it when it arrives. 

Tonight me and the husband are going out for a meal, followed by a concert in a church, with local singers performing. It should be a lovely evening, and I'm looking forward to spending some time just the two of us. I can't decide what to wear though - do I go for comfort or glam? I'm sure comfort will win out this evening, as it's so cold outside. We shall see!

And talking of daft cats, this sight greeted me earlier:

Django is guarding a pair of my socks - as in, he wouldn't let them go! I'd put them out on the bed, and the next moment, he'd got hold of them and was guarding them. The way he was looking just seemed as if he was saying "Go on, I dare you to try and get them!" Luna then decided to go to his side, so both of them were just sat watching me, with the socks. They are daft, and cute. 

Happy Saturday everyone x 

Comfort and ease.

I like nothing better than coming home from work and relaxing. I don't want to spend lots of time doing stuff when I get home; home time is for relaxing, spending time with family and winding down after a hectic day. 

And that includes food and cooking. I love cooking, but the last thing I want to do after a long day at work is slave away for ages over a meal - I want something nice, simple and easy. 

This is what we had for tea tonight:

The potatoes, onion and peas were things we had in already. That's a pork shoulder steak on the plate too, which cost 75p and we needed apple sauce too. But, a very tasty meal which doesn't cost much and little effort in cooking is the best one in my book. 

Happy Monday. 

My 100th post.

When I first started this blog, I didn't really know what I wanted from it. I wanted to write about our lives, but not really sure about what I would actually write about. Our lives are not that exciting, we're just a young couple trying to do our best. 

But, I do enjoy it. It's nice to look back over posts and see what was going on. I love reading other people's blogs, getting glimpses into other lives, all around the world. I love looking at photographs that capture little moments in time, sometimes happy and sometimes not. 

I just want to say thank you if you ever read my blog, or if you comment. I love reading comments from people who can offer advice when I need it, or encouragement when things aren't going well. 

The blogging community is amazing.