May has been AMAZING weather wise – sunny and warm, beautiful blue skies and suddenly every single plant in Copenhagen has sprung into stunning lush greenness. We’ve been swimming in the sea a few times (ok, it’s still freezing but it’s refreshing and the sand is warm and it’s totally worth it). Getting into the last months at this rented house and doing a lot of decluttering, and winding down to the end of the school year. So a busy month, and one which feels a bit more positive – change is a’coming.

Budget wise, it’s been better than last month but still not amazing. My daughter’s birthday is in May, and whilst I bought most of her gifts in April I paid for her party this month. Last year we did a COVID-friendly budget party at home but this year I am so crazy with work and getting ready to move that I figured I would just throw money at the problem. She had a wonderful party, and I didn’t have to clean up afterward, so it was worth it!

Item	Monthly Budget	Spend May	% of monthly budget
Childcare costs	£           1,100.00	£       872.71	75
Car (insurance, tax, petrol)	£              125.00	£                –	0
Charity	£                 66.67	£          14.88	22
Eating out	£              120.00	£       241.96	202
Entertainment – subscription	£                 50.00	£          79.37	159
Entertainment	£              100.00	£       156.19	156
Kids – extra curricular	£              250.00	£                –	0
Family	£                 50.00	£          22.37	45
Groceries	£              400.00	£       855.33	214
Holidays	£              300.00	£       489.59	116
Insurance	£              200.00	£                –	0
Personal care	£                 30.00	£       185.30	618
Shopping – general	£                 25.00	£          45.58	182
Shopping – gifts incl birthdays	£                 58.33	£       951.72	1632
Shopping – clothes	£                 29.17	£          72.15	247
Rent and Bills	£           1,500.00	£       1000	0
Transport	£                 41.67	£       138.92	333
Utilities	£              200.00	£    1,559.59	780
TOTALS	£       4,645.83	£    5,886.65	130

So, once again I overspent my budget BUT by much less than last month. I spent £5,886 against a budget of £4,645:

• I realise that I have radically under-estimated gifts, parties and what not for my children’s birthdays. In my mind, I am a super frugal righteous parent, but that’s not who I am in real life. There are definitely elements of making up for the lack of family in there – they don’t get gifts from their dad or his family, and only from my mum and brother. So there’s a lot to make up for. I only get them things they will really love / use, so even though there is an element of guilt, it doesn’t feel wasteful.
• Grocery spend continues to be way over. I need to properly focus on this, but will do so when we move to the new house and I get a bit of head-space. Currently we’re just getting by – I’ll get to it.
• Utility bills were insane this month and will probably be terrible next month as I tie up everything we owe for this place. I had huge bills on water – where the company asked me to pay for the whole year up front even though I said I would be moving out in July, um no thanks – and also on heating. I hope the new house has cheaper bills than here, but if not, it will be worth putting some time into fixing whatever the issues are.
• I spent again on personal care including visits to osteopath. This is something I should be able to claim back, but for now I will leave it here and balance it at the end of the quarter.
• Finally I spent a bit more on transport due to bike issues, but I love my bike and get a huge amount of value out of it, so I will live with this.

	Monthly saving plan	May	% of plan
Mortgage (UK house)	£                500	£              500	100
Mortgage Overpayment	£                500	£              500	100
Emergency Fund	£                  100	£               100	100
ISA	£               1,250	£               500	40
Kids savings	£                   248	£               248	100
SIPP	£                   300	£               300	100
	£   2,898.00	£ 2,348.00	87

So what did I save? Again I focused on getting the last of the money together for our house move in July, so I have just been putting extra into my current account to make sure the money is there for whatever comes up. No great savings news then, but at least I carried on with the usual basics which is still savings (or paying toward capital) of £ 2,348.

So this month, a very unimpressive savings rate of 20% compared to spending 80%. July will also likely be odd due to the move but in August I am going to revise the budget and properly commit to it.

How was your May? Would love to hear from you!