Blimey, March passed in a blink didn’t it? I’ve had a busy month, but even so, I seem to now be living in an alternate space/time continuum where my life is flashing before my eyes. Or perhaps I am simply living in cat years.

I’m also a little late getting this post up – being on holiday last week and then a crazy few days at work have meant that I’m a bit behind on everything.

So the focus for March was on money, and getting my finances in order. I didn’t get quite as far as I’d have liked on this, but I did make some progress. I’ve done a review of where I am, looked more closely at my outgoings and applied for a new bank account.

I also took the opportunity to review my regular outgoings – cancelling subscriptions I no longer use and pointless insurances will save me about £300 per year, which isn’t bad at all.

My book of the month was “The Secrets of Saving and Investing with Alvin Hall: Simple Strategies to Make Your Money Go Further” by Alvin Hall (obviously). I use the term book quite loosely as it was really more of a pamphlet, and literally took me less than 10 mins to read (which was actually kinda a relief, as it’s generally not the most exciting topic ever). There were some general tips in there, but the most useful part were the templates for financial goals – again not rocket science, but saves re-inventing the wheel and will be something we can use to get a bit of structure around our plans.

April is going to be a bit more light hearted, with a focus on family and fun. Both the girls have their birthdays this month, and there is the big party to organise! I’ve done quite a lot on that already, but still some bits and pieces to get sorted (not to mention the cake…). As this is Poppy’s last birthday before she starts school, I’ve taken the day off and we’re going for a day out in London. She wants to go on an underground train and have lunch which I think I can manage! We’ll do a day out on Daisy’s birthday too, which falls on a Sunday this year.

Paul and I also have a night way in the middle of April. It’s a belated birthday present – a cocktail making class at the Bombay Sapphire distillery and dinner and a stay at a nearby B&B. Really looking forward to it! I also have a cocktail making class as part of a work event next week, so I should be an expert by the end of the month!

In amongst all that, I do have an assignment to submit, but I am cracking on and making progress, hopefully I can get that in next week so I can enjoy the festivities without worrying.

And hopefully by the time the month is over, spring will be here properly and it’ll be time to hang up the winter coat finally….