Yay, the longest month of the year has ended. We get paid before Christmas day in December. That, coupled with January’s 5 weeks, always meant that it was a broke week to ten days at the back-end of the month traditionally.Last year, I had already borrowed money from at least one source by this point. In light of all the depressing news in the world right now, I’ll cling onto this positive. I could have gone on a couple more weeks into February without being paid. Continue reading
Author Archives: luxuriouslythrifty
20 (not-so-frugal) days | #ufm2017 update
I should probably stop saying that I’m taking part in the uber frugal month challenge. Nothing about the last 10 days (since my last update) is particularly frugal. It’s been weeks one and two at my new job so there have been many lunches with colleagues. I’ve also struggled to manage my energy in the afternoons and succumbed to the temptations of a coffee and lemon drizzle pick-me-up at my nearest Benugo.
How sucking at being frugal still trumps being a spendthrift
I’m 15 days into my uber frugal month and I’m going to be honest, I’m failing. I suppose I’m not just failing, as my last update showed, I’m failing hard. I’ve taken Ubers, I’ve bought clothes, I’ve bought lunch and takeaway repeatedly. I bought an awesome pair of yellow sneakers that I totally adore but given that it’s been raining a lot, they might not have been the most practical purchase. Essentially I’m pretty sucky at being frugal.
A third of the way through the uber frugal month challenge | an update
So last time out, I explained how I got into (and stayed in) debt. I’m getting my act together. I tracked my spending. I’ve written out my goals. I crated a budget. And, this month I signed up for The Frugalwoods’ uber frugal month (#ufm2017) with an aim to reset my hedonistic spending and establish an ideal (baseline) for my desired level of frugality. Continue reading
Love and financial independence
Everyone knows I’m a natural spendthrift, I mean even new readers of the blog can tell as much from the title. Two things that might not be as immediately obvious are:
- I’m generous. I give my time and financial resources to those that I consider worthy of them .
- I’m currently in a relationship with Ms T, a veterinary student with a taste for sparkly things
Love love this movie – nothing to do with this post but there’s no Love and FI movie.
2017: the year of the saver
I like introspection and challenges. I can’t seem to give my best unless I have stretch targets. I’m equally scared of failure and not so bothered by it (because anything in the direction of my target is better than where I started). New Year’s is always an extra special time of year in this regard, since everyone knows that the end of the year is meant for reflection and challenging oneself with New Year’s resolutions.
2016 – the year of the spendthrift
So I tracked my spending pretty diligently from mid-August until the end of December (my end of December was the 25th because my months currently start on payday while I try to get a month ahead on my bills). I haven’t shared my findings in a single post yet, mainly because for the first 6 weeks I was tweaking my tracking. The last three months, I’ve been more consistent. Here’s what the last quarter of 2016 looked like.
Righting my debt repayment ship | The Uber Frugal Month Challenge
As anyone reading the last few posts might know, I’ve been fairly rubbish at curbing my spending the last few weeks. When I started tracking my spending in August, I meant to do it for a few weeks (a month really) and use the data to create a realistic budget. At first I was pretty good, I discovered where my leaks were and made some progress plugging them. Then my parents got scammed and I paid their Airbnb charges, I went to Houston and then Edinburgh, and now Christmas.
A wonderfully classy frugal night in
I love Christmas. It’s my second favourite time of year. Mainly because it’s the one time of year that people hang with family (whether by choice or not). London empties out because everyone heads home for the holidays. I got a seat on the Northern line before 9 this morning – Northern line residents will understand how incredible this is north of Balham and south of High Barnet. So, when it came to planning a pre dispersal gathering with my friends, it was easy to settle on a wine and cheese evening in.
Continue reading
Side hustling: not just about the money
I have directorship in a company that my friend set up so that we could take advantage of tax laws and pay less tax. Due to my financial ignorance (and desire to remain stupid) all these years, I had never really done more than ask a few contractor friends here and there about what it was like to work as a contractor. When my friend took the plunge last year, all I bothered to ascertain was that he pays a flat rate 20% corporation tax on the money he earns as opposed to the different tiers, maxing out at 40% for his income bracket. Continue reading
Diary of a reforming spendthrift 