January is one of those months that I have a love-hate relationship with. It’s my birthday month so it’s obviously a favourite. On the other hand, it’s a high-spend month and it’s just a very long (and cold) month! Now it’s time to see what happened in my January 2024 in review.
MY 31ST BIRTHDAY
This year, I had a really quiet birthday. I always try to squeeze in some travel and theatre around the day itself to make up for just celebrating with my parents. We went for a pub lunch and a Chinese takeaway for tea. On the actual day, I spent the whole day on the sofa watching the TV!
SIGNING UP TO ODEON LIMITLESS
My treat for the next couple of months is to go to the cinema more. It’s quite expensive per visit so for £17.99, I can see as many films as I like. at Odeon, it’s £10 per visit anyway so in theory, two films a month should do it. However, I want to aim for going once a week as it’s a lovely treat for a couple of hours to really relax!
DAY TRIPS TO MANCHESTER AND LEEDS
As I said earlier, I like to go out of town around my birthday. Mostly, it’s because I like to have a shopping spree and Hull is horrendous for clothes shopping. Manchester is probably my favourite place to shop but Leeds is still better than Hull too. I always tie travel in with a theatre trip so I spend a couple of hours shopping followed by a show. I saw Hamilton in Manchester and Oliver! in Leeds; both were excellent!
TWO PRESS NIGHTS IN HULL
The start of the year means getting to see more shows at my local theatre, Hull New Theatre. I’m very grateful to get to attend press nights for free and love being able to see so many shows. In January, I managed to see The Wizard of Oz and Varna International Ballet’s Swan Lake.
ARSENAL WOMEN MAKING A MOVE
Finally, my girlies are getting their shit together! We’ve got most players back from their ACL injuries, they’re finding their feet again and we now have squad depth. Miedema being back and getting her first goals filled my heart with so much joy. She’s my favourite player, both on and off the pitch, and she deserves it! Here’s to winning the WSL title (a girl can hope)!
STAYING UNDER BUDGET
2024 is the year that I take control of my finances: earning more, saving more, and knowing exactly where every penny is. Because of that, I’m setting myself a budget every month, separated by category so I have an estimate on how much to spend on each. I sit down with my calendar, plan my spend and no-spend days, and set my budget. Weekly, I review my income and outgoings and make any adjustments. My motivation is to rent my own place by the end of the year!
And that’s my January 2024 in review. It’s been a short and sweet post but a very long month. February looks a bit more chilled out, with fewer plans on my calendar so I can work and blog more!
If you enjoyed my January 2024 in review, you can check out my monthly goals and reviews here. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Instagram too.
