My Uber Thrifty Month In Review - February

I am super excited with how nicely things went for me in February.  For one thing my income tax refund arrived and I put it to really good use.

All of my regular monthly bills were paid early again this month and, as you all know, I thoroughly enjoy that feeling I get of being very well on top of things.  Nothing proves to be more stressful for me than to be up against a deadline, especially a financial one.  So to be financially on top of things has the opposite effect and makes me feel content and downright giddy.

The majority of my income tax refund went straight into my savings account which allowed me to make all of my financial savings goals for that account for the entire year!  Love that!  While I focus on other savings goals I still plan to add to this account as well.  From here on everything will be a bonus!  In fact, I had an extra $100 at the end of the month so I put it in there.

I earned two hours of overtime pay last month.  I took that extra money along with a small portion of my refund and added it to my other funds to make a double sized business debt payment.  This has allowed me to shave another month off of the end of my little payment plan.  Yippeeeee!

I kept personal spending fairly low and my various budgets in check.  I found some wonderful bargains on eBay and was able to replace some of the key pieces of my work wardrobe that were worn out.  I also added an extra sweater to my wardrobe so I will have more variety.  In the process I purged a few items for the thrift store box.  The items that are worn out I will not be donating, but I had some tops and a sweater I wasn’t wearing because I didn't really like them.  I replaced those things with items I like much better.

Last month I bought two tanks of gas for the car and one for the truck this month and used my rewards card each time to save an extra 10¢ a gallon.  We did a lot more driving last month than usual with all of the girl's extra -curricular school activities and my truck was on E, which is never good. J

Thankfully gas prices are quite low right now plus I took store surveys after each time I shopped at Fred Meyer to earn extra points on my card and get the fuel discounts.  I truly appreciate how they do that.

In January we didn't do anything for family entertainment that cost money and we didn’t dine out either.  Last month we jumped in the car to go for a leisurely drive and ended up in Idaho City.  We had lunch and walked around a bit before coming home.  It didn't cost much and we had a great time just hanging out.

That pretty much sums it up, no pun intended.  Okay March.  Let's just see what you have in store for me!