Pay day was last Monday. A few months ago, the preceding weekend would have been super painful. I’d have been on edge about unplanned expenditure – and all expenditure was unplanned by this point because I’d be running on fumes, would have borrowed money from someone or have pawned something of mine just to get through those few days before pay day. The weekend before last, I was still worried about unplanned spending (e.g. tape for my dodgy ankle) but it was because I was trying to save even more money for the expensive month ahead.

I’ve decided to track ALL my spending on here. It will make it easier to budget eventually and I’ll be held accountable on all my money as my previous public tracking didn’t show that I still have Netflix and Spotify and consider them fixed and immutable expenditure – for now. It also allows transparency on how much debt I pay off monthly and hopefully the more experienced members of the personal finance world can let me know if there’s a better way to do things. All items in bold are covered by a different budget from my “life spending” which I use to decide weekly joy-giving priorities such as socialising or date nights with the person of interest. And things in italics are things that I should possibly avoid spending on but I do anyway because they make me happy.

Monday

1. + Main salary £2941.41
2. + Refund of double charge for skinny jeans from the previous week

• Spotify (£9.99)
• PAYG top up for the phone I use to call my parents and siblings (£5)
• Groceries from Tesco (£5.56)

Tuesday

• First instalment of payday loan (£184.80)
• Personal creditor, final payment of £3300+ (£550)
• Personal creditor, final payment of £1250 (£200)
• Loan to friend 1 (till payday) £30
• Loan to friend 2 (till payday) £20
• PAYG transport – to Croydon and back via work (£11.00)
• Birthday present (£27.75)
• Pizza Express – pizza and beer with Taste card (£6.65)
• Beers – bought one for my mate as she got me an extra one last month (£6.18)

Wednesday

+ Tips from side hustle (£10.45)

• Personal creditor, full payment (£240)
• Personal creditor, full payment (£30)
• Emergency fund payment – leftover amount from last month (£114.99)
• Bagel + peanut butter from canteen (£1)
• Lunch with ex person of interest at Icco (£6)
• PAYG transport (£6.50)
• Fried chicken from chicken shop (£2)

Thursday

• PAYG transport (£6.50)
• Lunch with colleagues at Busaba following dreary news at the office (£9.37)

Friday

1. + Repayment by loan to cousin to round up payment
2. Side hustle salary £294.74
3. Repayment by friend 1 (£30)
4. Repayment by friend 2 (£20)
5. Repayment by brother (£50)

• PAYG transport (£6.50)

Saturday

• Bank overdraft charges – totally unplanned for but the slush fund was big enough to absorb this (£23.93)
• Current account fees (benefits of mobile & travel insurance) – £9.95
• Household bills (£85)
• Taking mum & daddy to lunch (£40)
• Travel fund (£300)

Sunday

• PAYG transport (£6.50) – I’d really hoped for a no-spend day. If not for that pesky zone 5 extension to Croydon on Tuesday, I’d have got it.

Summary

What I did well: I saved a lot more than I was planning too. People I’d loaned money to repaid me as promised. And I got tips I didn’t expect. I also set up a Moneybox account to save even more money through investments (oh my days! I can’t believe I’m investing). My favourite thing I did was that I gave something to my parents for the first time in ages. I haven’t had the right focus for so long that it was nice to finally do something like this.

What I could do better: There was far too much eating out. Why you don’t see there, because I didn’t pay for it, is that the person of interest also took me to Nando’s one day and spent £24.99. This really needs to stop so that I don’t lose my desire to eat 85 – 90% of my meals at home.

Wash up: I like that I’m looking at the big picture. As some of you may know, it’s my goal to pay off all the individuals I owe first (11 of 20 down) but what you might not know is that I’ve brought in that target from June 2017 to December 2018. I’ve got some side hustles and a higher income job that should help me reach that goal.