My Uber Thrifty Month In Review - September

September was a very good and thrifty month for us.  All the monthly bills were paid in advance of their due dates including our mortgage which was paid weeks ahead.  It is amazing to see the principal dwindle down as you head toward the end.  I still have a little ways to go, but it is quite encouraging.

We ran our A/C units as little as possible the first two weeks of the month until the temperatures dropped dramatically and the rain started to fall.  We pulled the A/C units the day before the anticipated weather change and got them stowed away for winter.  I usually get about a month before we need to use any heat around here, but not this year.  Cold, wet, damp and chilly was the forecast for a week.  However, we managed just fine with our electric fireplace in the living room.  Then it warmed up to the mid to late 70s and we didn't need it for the remainder of the month.

This month I focused my grocery dollars on stocking up the freezer for winter.  A trip to Franz bakery and their discount racks allowed me to stock up on bread and buns.  Albertson's had a great sale and I was able to stock up on pot roasts and pork ribs.  I found some good markdowns for ground meats as well and added those to the stash.  As it sits our freezer is full and we are very well stocked up.

Other than groceries I didn't do much in the way of other shopping.  I did go to the mall and use a couple coupons at Bath & Body Works to pick up a free item and get an additional 20% off two tubes of body cream that were on sale.  I did not shop for any home improvement supplies, but I did pick up a water saver pressure nozzle for our hose to clean up the exterior of our home.  That was money ($9) well spent.

I did not buy any clothing or shoes, no trips to the salon or go to the movies.  The truth of the matter is we didn't need anything and we were busy with so much other stuff we didn't really have time to shop or go out much.  

One thing I did do was to take each one of my girls out to lunch, separately, for a date with mom.  Since it was my birthday month I had a lot of free meal offers so it was very inexpensive, which made it much more fun.

I did manage a few projects around the house, but used supplies I already had on hand so no new purchases were required.  That was not only thrifty but really convenient.  I love when I don't have to start out a project with a list of supplies I need to go and get first.

Lastly, I made a significant payment, actually two payments, on my next financial goal.  What?!  Stay tuned until tomorrow to find out what my new goal is.  You just knew there had to be one, right?