What brilliant weather we’ve had this month! And as usual I’ve been super busy packing in a hen party, going to see Michael McIntyre and a holiday to the Black Forest in Germany (more on that in a later post!).
Expenses weren’t too bad this month with only the hen party being quite expensive. Our trip to the Black Forest was right at the end of the month and I always use a special credit card for foreign travel which will be paid off in full in June. I use the Halifax Clarity credit card but there are alternatives – Martin Lewis has a great feature on moneysavingexpert.com
This gave me an effective exchange rate of 1.136 compared to the best rate to buy travel money of 1.127, which on our spend saved £11. Not a huge saving but better in my pocket and it saves us carrying large amounts of cash which I don’t find practical or safe.
Another win for money saving this month was avoiding the cost of hotels twice! We had tickets to see Michael McIntyre in Leeds and had planned to stay in a hotel overnight but after some research showed how expensive even an out of the way Air BnB was we decided to drive instead paying £10 for parking instead of £100+ for accommodation. This month I was also researching accommodation for a wedding we’re attending in June. Again I couldn’t find anything reasonable close by so we’ve booked a campsite instead paying £48 for the whole weekend instead of £150+.
So onto the net worth figures for the month – my assets have increased to £323k and liabilities have stayed at £173k giving me a net worth of £150k – an increase of 2.8% and a lovely round number! I’m actually due some rent from one of my tenants which would push that increase to more than 3%. He’s an elderly chap and has been struggling to set up a standing order, not helped by choosing to switch to TSB recently who promptly had a melt down as they tried to update their systems. So he has been paying cash to my parents when they get chance to visit (as they live closer than me) causing a delay further exacerbated whilst either they or I get a chance to deposit it in the bank. He’s an otherwise brilliant tenant who has taken it upon himself to renovate the garden so I’m giving him some flexibility while he sorts his banking out.
Looking forward to June, I’ll be writing up our trip to the Black Forest, exploring additional income opportunities and I hope to get round to reading The Intelligent Investor! I’ve also joined a challenge to keep my food shopping bill to less than £200 for the month of June so I will report back on if I make it.
How has your month been? What are your plans for June?
The Saving Journey 