Ah well, it's only 6th June. Sorry I'm more than a little late.
I actually did my May wrap-up of finances on Sunday but I didn't get a blog post written. These lazy long days are doing me no good at all in the getting-things-done stakes!
My food expenditure remains high and I think there are several factors at work. Firstly I am not eating out at all. I always have "eating out" as a separate category from "food". I have been having an occasional takeaway (to support a local business) which I have counted as groceries but from June I shall call it eating out. I am having a few treats to compensate for the things I can't do. Other people are shopping for me so I can't shop around for the best deals. So, all in all, the grocery bill has been too high
I am managing to save during the lock-down, largely because I am no longer meeting friends for coffee. no longer having pensioners' pub lunches, and driving much less. Because I'm not going out I'm not buying any clothes, not even tights - I spent £265 on clothes in 2019, much of which was on tights and underwear. My craft group is no longer meeting and although that was only £8 per month I often decided I had to have something to make me a better crafter. The stash is being used instead. That will save money around Christmas.
I'm spending quite a lot on paid help because my gardener is coming every week at the moment and I am still paying my cleaner half wages. However, I think this is all money well spent.
I have been doing as many surveys as I can but I am usually paid in Amazon vouchers so this doesn't appear as income although usually it does reduce expenditure. I'm also being paid to be a participant on a year-long survey concerning corona virus. Again I am paid in Amazon vouchers so I have decided to save up for something special.
Quite apart from that, I am still managing to salt away a little money each month, in fact slightly more than usual so I am still a happy bunny. I wonder how all of our finances will look when we get to the other side of the corona crisis?
