May felt like a high spend month, yet when I look at my figures, it really wasn’t. Sure, you’ll see that I overspent in some categories, but was also under budget signifcantly in quite a few. It does help that I had to cancel my Sheffield trip after I accidentally sold my ticket to see James Morrison the morning of the show. Luckily, I managed to amend my hotel, so I only lost out on my train fares. Anyway, without further adieu, let’s get into my May 2026 spending diaries.
CLOTHING
BUDGET = £200.00, ACTUAL = £72.00
In theory, none of my spending is actually clothing; it’s underwear. For £72.00, I managed to get 5 bras and six pairs of knickers, which I think is pretty good value. I got cashback or M&S Sparks vouchers on all of my spending, so I think I made about £5 on these purchases.
COFFEE SHOPS
BUDGET = £100.00, ACTUAL = £46.92
I’m surprised that this is as low as it is, but I have used up a few freebies this month, as well as remaining balances on multiple gift cards. I hate it when you have a couple of quid remaining on a card, so I’ve started part-paying with the gift card and the rest in coins. At least I’m not wasting the balance now!
EATING OUT
BUDGET = £80.00, ACTUAL = £0.00
This category is at nil because I didn’t go on the trips I had planned. Although I did nip to Greggs a couple of times, I included that in my coffee shop budget. I reserve this category for sit-down meals!
LOCAL TRANSPORT
BUDGET = £200.00, ACTUAL = £122.60
I always give myself a generous budget in this category, because my work train tickets can vary from £5-£10 per day. I’m going to reduce it slightly in June, even though I’ll be doing some overtime.
GROCERIES
BUDGET = £20.00, ACTUAL = £25.00
A £5 overspend is something I can live with, especially when it comes to snacks. These are my random visits to M&S when I’m at work, and I mostly do just buy unhealthy food. It’s a bad habit, but it’s not exactly breaking the bank either.
BOOKS
BUDGET = £0.00, ACTUAL = £106.78
This is where everything goes tits up in my May budget. It mostly stems from Amazon taking the Off Campus books off Kindle Unlimited. That’s when I decided to buy them off TikTok shop (and I’m still waiting for 4 out the 5 to be delivered). It spurred me to collate a list of my favourite authors in a bid to get their physical books. This does cover 23 books, which I think is pretty good value for money. Thank god for The Works and my TGJones staff discount!
BEAUTY APPOINTMENTS
BUDGET = £32.00, ACTUAL = £32.00
A nail appointment every 3-4 weeks is a necessity for me. This time, I stuck with the red and gold themed nails to celebrate Arsenal men winning the Premier League
HEALTH + BEAUTY
BUDGET = £70.00, ACTUAL = £40.89
I’m really proud of myself for being under-budget in health and beauty, because it’s usually one of my biggest vices. In fact, this was all spent on the first day of the month, as I needed a few bits, and I didn’t spend anything else for the rest of the month!
THEATRE TICKETS
BUDGET = £30.00, ACTUAL = £0.00
As well as seeing James Morrison, I was meant to go to Manchester for the day to see Waitress. However, I forgot to book my train tickets and didn’t want to spend £80 on them! Normally, I’m on it with booking stuff in advance, so I need to get back into that habit!
TRAINS
BUDGET = £200.00, ACTUAL = £38.80
I think I was planning on buying all my train tickets for the next couple of months, but decided against it. This covers my Sheffield and Halifax overnight trips in June, and the latter is for two people. Bargain!
AMAZON
BUDGET = £0.00, ACTUAL = £4.99
I treated myself to an Arsenal scrunchie on Amazon early in the month, because Prime delivery = free. I’ve been wearing it nearly every day, so the cost per wear is pretty good!
CONCERT TICKETS
BUDGET = £0.00, ACTUAL = £70.25
You can never plan for this category, unless someone announces a tour at the end of the month and tickets go on sale early in the following month. However, I couldn’t miss out on seeing Kacey Musgraves next year, so I managed to grab myself a ticket! However, they’re so expensive these days that I plan on only seeing my absolute favourites from now on, mostly because I have to book overnight stays.
BUSINESS ONE-OFFS
BUDGET = £14.99, ACTUAL = £14.99
This was for renewing my blog domain via Lyrical Host for the next twelve months. I also use their hosting that I pay for monthly, and I cannot fault them!
TOTAL BUDGET = £946.99, ACTUAL SPENT = £575.22
£371.77 UNDER BUDGET
I cannot tell you how happy this makes me to see my May 2026 spending diaries significantly under budget! It proves that my ‘treat yourself’ motto can be on occasion, rather than all the time! June will be a high-spend month as I have a couple of overnight trips. However, I’m going to try my best to spend as little as possible around those.
If you enjoyed this blog post of my May 2026 spending diaries, you can find my other money content right here. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok too. I’m determined to start posting on social media more!
