I've spent the last little while becoming increasingly obsessed with spreadsheets, and using them to track everything. Which is something of a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it gives me a load of data, most of which is nicely reassuring. On the other hand, it has left me somewhat concerned - for the last six months or so we have consistently spent more than has been coming in, with the obvious effect on our savings. (Of course, that's what savings are for, so even that's not a huge issue.)
The biggest problem right now is the cars, which have been horribly expensive of late. My current car has just always been unlucky, with one thing after another and the latest pair of problems being things that just don't want to stay fixed. Meanwhile, LCs car had a recent issue that does, at least, seem to now be resolved.
Ultimately, if it wasn't for those expenses, we'd have been doing pretty well. As it is, the hope is that this next batch of repairs will be the last for a while and then we can get a couple of 'good' years out of them. But if not, we may need to bite the bullet on one or more replacements rather sooner than might be hoped.
(The other thing that has been quite noticeable is that while headline inflation is down, this year has seen a nasty spike in the Tesco shopping bill, and also a significant hike in both the gas/electric bill and council tax. It's almost like the supposed end of the cost of living crisis (which hasn't actually ended of course) was taken as license to pile on some more misery.)
I'm not really going anywhere with this, of course. And it's important to note that we're in a much better position than many others. It's just a reflection of how things are at the moment.
#14: "Mary: or, the Birth of Frankenstein", by Anne Eekhout (the new frontrunner for book of the year)
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