Two great purchases

March has been a good month.

I am now the proud owner of a new car. I have wheels and I can go places. It's nice to be on the road in a reliable vehicle.

As well as that, I am also the happy, happy owner of a new drink bottle and I have to say I'm very proud of it.

The car was not one of my goals for this year but it had become a necessity. I was not happy initially because I was all geared up to make a decent dent in my mortgage this year. Getting a car meant I had to divert some of that money, as well as incur a new debt.  Eventually, I had to give in and be practical rather than idealistic.

On the plus side, I was able to manage it financially. That does not mean I simply took the spare change out of my purse. It just means that things I've put in place before now, made it easier to organise. I have managed to build up my emergency savings and non-planned savings over the years, chiefly by not going shopping "just for fun", spending sparingly and sticking to a budget.

I didn't tell the car sales people that one of the most important things I was looking for was a cup holder. The other most important thing was a good radio. I am tickled pink to have both!

On the negative side my friend's husband was upset. He works for a local car plant and was not impressed that I had bought a "foreign" car. Aside from the fact that I didn't have a lot of time to do research (it takes me ages to understand technical talk), my instincts knew this was the car for me. It's small and economical and I really love having it. I know buying "local" is a priority but I also know to follow my instincts.

My other great purchase was a water bottle. It looks good. It works. I still have it. 

This is my fourth bottle in about two years. I lost a good one. The next one I bought was too hard to use when I was out and about and the third one leaked. That's why I'm so happy to have one that works. It's made it so much easier to drink more water each day which means I'm looking after my body better. Being healthy is one of my main goals for this year,so I feel like I'm finally ticking some boxes on my goal list.

I do try to buy ethically. I noticed  many people buy the steel bottles but I really want to see what's in the bottle. I got plastic but I did try to buy "good" plastic!

I have had to accept that what I planned for in my budget this year had to change. It's been another reminder to embrace what is, as is. Fortunately, what started out to be an annoyance is turning into a challenge I want to conquer! I don't like debt so I am determined to look out for ways to save money and reduce that figure as much as possible. In the meantime, I hope to enjoy these two great purchases.