February is the shortest month of the year, so that should technically mean we all spend a little less, right?
We did! This month we found ourselves a lot closer to our preferred savings rate. After our terrible January, we were quite relieved!
Our groceries were much more under control at $573. While we used to spend between $450-$500, I think closer to $600 is becoming our new norm. Now that we are back to eating meat, the cost per month is higher. We are okay with this (though it has taken a while to get to that place) and still believe our meals at home are better for our health and our bottom line.
We had a small car issue this month which cost us a little bit of money. I drove up to my work parking structure, wound down my window to swipe in, drove through the boom gate and then… could not wind my window back up. That weekend, Poopsie took my door apart and ascertained the issue but he was unable to repair it without ordering a $100 part. Once it arrived, he repaired it nicely and I’ve had a fully functioning window ever since. Considering the online quote to repair the window was between $300 and $400, I am pretty glad Poopsie was able to do it himself!
We also discovered that driving to my brother’s house and back hit us with $31 in tolls! We were so shocked. From now on, we will take the non-toll route. The extra 15 minutes it adds to the drive will be completely worth it!
I had a small tax bill to pay and will have a much larger one to pay next month. These are both the cost of our investments doing well last financial year, so it’s definitely a good problem to have.
We had a few Household expenses this month as well, which does add up quickly. Our landlord refused to provide us with a second garage remote. We decided that for the convenience of parking both cars in the garage, it was worth the cost to us so we purchased a second remote. This could only be purchased by the manufacturer of the garage door and cost us $100. We were quite unimpressed the landlord would not supply us with a second remote and even more unimpressed we couldn’t program a normal remote to work with our door.
Our kettle broke. I’d had that kettle for about eight years, so it had a very good run. We had some leftover gift vouchers from Christmas so only paid $24 for a great quality stainless steel kettle that should last us another eight years. We drink a lot of tea, so this was really a non-negotiable expense for us.
We went to the Tomato Festival in February. A free, annual event held in Sydney’s Botanical Gardens, it was a great day out. Poopsie signed up to The Diggers Club, something he’d wanted to join for a couple of years. By signing up at the festival, he saved over $150 and got a few free seed packets as well.
For us, February was a much better month for spending. We did have a couple of bills, but were still able to achieve a fairly decent savings rate.
Our savings rate for February:
We hope to keep spending to a similar level in March. We have my parents visiting for a week and I also have a large tax bill to pay, but hopefully our expenses will remain under control.
How was your February spending rate? Share in the comments below!
Well done! We were thinking to sign up for the diggers club again this year. We signed up a few years ago but didn’t really make use of it (to be honest, we weren’t ready nor that serious about gardening then, so that comes as no surprise). Now that we are serious, I’m considering joining it again!