Just realised how much I’d spent over Xmas bloody heck, time to be sensible now !

[PhoenixRisingHigher]

Anyone else spend way more then they thought they had

guess we’ve done a lot of socialising and eatting out etc too

Yes, me 😳 not so much on presents, which I bought through the year, but we hosted a vair nice NYE dinner for 8, 5 different people stayed with us over the course of the hols, had a ‘little’ Christmas party…food alone was about triple what we normally spend! This week I’m running down what’s in the fridge / freezer, we’re only doing free or v low cost trips with the kids, and I am being extra vigilant with a) returning things we don’t need and b) tracking the refunds!

It’s awful isn’t it. I’m the same. I’m just trying to think of it as a one off and plan to put the wheel back on in Jan and Feb. No eating out, no nights out, no beauty treatments. And I’m still searching for my side hustle.

Dont be too hard on yourself.

Yep! Food and drink shopping was extreme and add in a couple of meals out and take aways plus presents. Ouch!

A quiet and frugal couple of months now.

Nope, i don’t go crazy just because its xmas and new year. We budget what we can afford and I always buy presents before december. I also don’t drink anymore so that saves us a lot of money.

Christmas was pretty much on budget for me this year, which is a good job because I’m looking at a potentially very expensive car repair… so January will be tight anyway.