Looking Back At What Happened!

Well 2012 is coming to an end and what a year it has been - my trip to Venice with the kids, the big trip to China to cross off a goal on my bucket list and then there was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the summer Olympics and Paralympics, the end of the world and spending the first two nights of Hanukkah with my god-kids.
But what of my finance plans and goals for the year? I think I have broken most of my goals - if even only by a little bit, they were as follows:

 Goals for 2012

1.  Stay debt free.
2. Save £7,000 in my building fund.
3. Fully fund my Cash ISA by the end of the Tax year in April and then start my second.
4. Add £2,500 to my NZ account.
5. Keep to a tight budget with all my trips.
6. 200 No Spending Days in 2012.

 Did I stay debt free for the year - not really as I increased my overdraft while I was in China (and used it ).  I haven't saved as I had planned at the start of the year nor was I as frugal with my trips as I should have been, I lost count of my spend less days, so that idea went by the wayside.
All this is a perfect example of why my planning goals is not a great idea because I can have a brain wave, as I did in February this year and then totally change what I plan to do for the year.  So all the goals I made for the year, I probably could have achieved if I hadn't gone to China.

Am I sorry I went? Never!!

So my financial goals for the year didn't really happen but it's the 30th of December 2012 - I am debt free and I have one more pay cheque for the year - so if nothing else I will at least have covered my budget for the month.

As Time Flies By.....

 I have been updating my NetworthHQ site but not my blog - it's very lazy of me!

Roll back to October and I ended the month with an over-spend of £14.61. 

November ends with a credit balance of £29.03, this sounds good, however I have reduced my savings for the month by £300.00, this is because of birthday gifts and Christmas gifts that I have purchased (for the most part!).

December has an extra week which will be lost as I am planning a long weekend off in the middle of the month to spend some time with my godkids. That will mean spending lots of money!!! 

Budget for December:

Spending        £150
Expenses        £250
Savings       £1,150  

Looking at my goals for the year and I am not going to achieve any of them. I think this is partly because of my trip to China (overspend on that one) and also not putting monies aside for my July Taxes. Since I got back I have been very good about putting money weekly into a high interest account and will have it pretty much covered for the end of January, which is my next due payment.