My Uber Thrifty Month In Review - November

I ended the month with nearly $100 left in my checking account.  I used part of it to pay our power bill, the lowest one we had all year, super early and then the rest I put toward my debt elimination goal.

Our annual bill for our auto insurance and homeowners coverage came due.  I shopped around and found our current MetLife policy is still the most economical.  I anticipate and plan ahead for this expense each year as it is much less expensive to pay it all at once than in installments.  There are service fees associated with paying in monthly, quarterly or semiannual installments and I don't want to pay those.  Our insurance company also offers an additional discount if you do pay it all at once.

I had the money put aside in my savings account after I got my tax refund in February.  After paying for it over the phone with my credit card (I like to accumulate the rewards points) I moved that amount from savings over to my checking account and then went online and made a payment on my card.

I paid the remainder of our monthly expenses early including our mortgage payment.  I was able to make a triple payment this month on my debt elimination goal.  Whoo hooooo!

I stuck to our grocery budget buying items on sale and with coupons as much as I could, took advantage of some surveys to earn fuel points on my rewards card lowering the amount I paid at the gas pump and grouped errands so I wasn't wasting fuel either.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we went on a weeklong family vacation to Arizona.  I set a budget and we were thrifty with our spending.  As a result we had a very nice time and came home with money left in our pockets.

This year we made it all the away until November 16th before we needed to turn on the main heat for the house.  The weather up until then had been warmer than usual so we only needed the fireplace in the living room occasionally.  Now that the main heat is on, we keep it set low and use the fireplace when we are home for added warmth.

While December is often one of the most expensive months for a lot of people I plan on ours to be one of our thriftiest all year.  We'll see how well I do.  Fingers are crossed and I am hopeful.