January Reality Check

Adding Up the Actual Maths (Not the Magical £20 Maths)

Fliss Falconer | 10 January 2026

This January has been a quiet financial wake‑up call — not a crisis, not a drama, just a very practical, “Fliss, you need to actually add up what you’re spending” moment.

I started the month with a prediction of what my income and outgoings would look like. I thought I had a decent sense of where the money would go. But when I sat down and tracked every single thing I paid for, the picture was… eye‑opening. I’d even started from 22 December, assuming that was the beginning of my “month”. More on that revelation in a moment.

For years, I’ve operated on what I call my magical £20 logic:

If I spend £20 in three different shops, my brain still insists I’ve only spent £20.

It’s delusional. It’s also extremely common. And it’s exactly how small purchases quietly snowball.

So this month, I stopped guessing and started counting.

Every coffee.

Every subscription.

Every gimmick, bill, shop, top‑up, and “it’s only a few pounds” moment.

All of it went into the spreadsheet.

And the truth is: the maths doesn’t lie.

Once I added everything up properly, I could finally see where the money was actually going — not where I imagined it was going. That clarity has been the biggest shift of all.

The spreadsheet itself isn’t new. My Godfather, Steve, taught me how to record everything years ago, complete with colour‑coding to keep me engaged. I’ve kept a spreadsheet since at least 2003. But it has always been a best‑case scenario version of reality — a flexible “budget” that acted more like a neon plaster over a gaping financial wound.

Then came the thunderstruck moment.

I realised that the money arriving on the 22nd wasn’t the start of the next month. It was part of the current month’s calculations. For… years… I’ve been ignoring this. I’ve been chasing my tail even more than I thought. Probably obvious to everyone else, but genuinely NEWS TO ME.

Something had to change.

What surprised me most was that the plans I put in place last year are finally starting to show results. I’ve been slowly working through the financial hangover of the last five years — the Covid years, the new‑baby years, the childcare years, the job‑change years. The MASSIVE PURCHASES OF 2025! All the seasons where survival took priority (and genuine F-it moments) over strategy.

Now, for the first time in a long time, I’m not adding to the problem. I’m reducing it.

Not perfectly. I missed two bills — big ones.

But even that was useful. It showed me how I still began the month in a delusional state:

“This is fine.”

“I need this because…”

“It’s a charity! It’s second‑hand! Think how much it would have cost new!”

In many ways, I’m glad Dave and I cancelled our date night. We’ve got Hamish’s birthday bonanza next weekend, and previously, I would have done a Bruce Almighty “Yes to All” and then kicked myself later. And then have done it again.

(We’ll do our own version at home instead — and Dave’s bought us a lovely home date we’re looking forward to. No, not that type. D&D. Although…)

Anyway. Progress.

At 8am today, I opened my phone to a clean, non‑negotiable Power Hours schedule:

• Boys’ homework

• Check Snoop

• Update finance sheet

• Blog

• Review Wix

• Tutoring

• Log off

It’s not glamorous. It’s not instant. It’s not optional. It’s real.

What’s helped most is the system I’ve built around it: tracking everything, forecasting properly, and being honest about what I actually spend — not what I wish I spent. It’s the same mindset I’m taking into my next Uni finance module: learning the theory while actively applying it to my own life.

Interestingly, this clarity has fed into my professional world too. I’ve been developing ideas for tools that could support the culture and clients in my workplace — tools that make processes clearer, fairer, and easier to navigate. Early days, but exciting. And it reinforces something I’m learning personally: when you build systems that make sense, everything else becomes lighter.

January hasn’t been about perfection. It’s been about small, steady steps — and they genuinely make a difference.

See you in our next chapter 🌸📚🐾🖥️✒️☕🌸