My Uber Thrifty Month In Review - September

I had a really great month financially in September.  I was so blessed to be able to easily pay my monthly bills well before their due dates and my mortgage payment was made two weeks ahead of time.  Simply by making that mortgage payment just two weeks early is seriously impacting my principal balance and will save me considerably on interest payments.

I made progress on my debt payoff goals as well as adding some to savings.  I received my annual statement on one of my retirement accounts and was very happy to see the growth it has made.  I continue to add the maximum I can contribute to my 401(k) twice a month.  I also got a cost of living raise at work.

I focused a lot of attention to some home improvement projects.  In order to stay on track with my financial goals I knew that any projects would have to be completed on a very tight budget or not at all.  I was very fortunate to accomplish several.

By using what I already had, shopping around and checking out a home improvement thrift store I was actually able to accomplish more than I had originally planned.  We have two Habitat For Humanity thrift stores in town and I was able to locate several items on my list at one of those which ended up saving me quite a bit of money.  In fact, I found a Kohler brand porcelain sink to replace our worn out one in our upstairs bathroom for only $15.  This find allowed me to complete an extra project that was unplanned but definitely needed.  And for a fraction of the cost I had anticipated.  The same sink at Home Depot would have cost me $69.

Christmas gifts took a little bit of a back seat in lieu of all of the other projects on the docket, but I did manage to acquire a few inexpensive items for my girl's upcoming birthdays.  So not a total loss in the gift giving department.  I'll have to pull double duty next month to make up for my lack of progress and get myself caught up.

The other thing I worked on was getting our pantry and freezer loaded up for winter so my grocery budget flew right out the window.  I got some fantastic buys which allowed me to accomplish this task without going bankrupt.  The upside is I won't have to do much in the way of shopping in the next few months which is the ultimate goal.  With careful menu planning and use of leftovers all of this food should last quite a long time.

I managed to make my last tank of gas last five days longer than the month prior which was nice.  When I filled up my tank this time I used my rewards points to save an extra 10¢ a gallon and prices were down too so I saved quite a bit.

Yes, I am truly pleased with how last month went.  Now on to kicking butt in October.