My Uber Thrifty Month In Review - October

I am really happy with my thrifty endeavors last month.  I worked really hard to minimize expenses and make wise purchases.  Our month was super busy and very hectic, but I managed to remain focused and it all worked out quite well.

I paid all of our monthly bills and the mortgage ahead of their due dates as I try to do every month.  I feel really good when I can do that, especially with the mortgage as I can see how much it directly impacts the amount that goes to the principal each time I make that payment.  You wouldn't think that it would, but it really does.  And the closer you get to the end the more dramatic the effect.  So cool!

I shared with you my goal to "pay off" Laverne and I am plucking right along on that endeavor.  I was able to make two hefty "payments" on that goal and make quite a good sized dent.  Always feels good when I can do that!

I made some serious thrifty progress and preparing for some upcoming birthdays as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I used a $10 OFF $10 Purchase coupon to buy my oldest daughter a gift for only $4 out of pocket!  I used another coupon for a free item at Bath & Body Works to give to my youngest.

I set aside $25 to purchase craft supplies to make several gifts for friends, family, teachers and co-workers.  We were really careful about where we shopped and selective with what we bought and managed to stay in budget quite nicely.  We'll even have extra stuff leftover for next year.  Bonus!

Because our printer is old and I'm having trouble finding ink toner cartridges for it I made the decision to buy a box of Christmas cards at Dollar Tree this year rather than to make our own like I had originally planned.  I plan to replace the printer next year.

I picked up a turkey breast on sale for Thanksgiving.  I also bought most of what we'll need for that meal by picking up items a little each week.  We also have a huge head start on our Christmas meals and baking by doing the same thing.  I shouldn't have any big outlays of cash to buy extra groceries in the coming months.

Unfortunately with all of the busyness around here lately something had to give and I chose tracking the grocery budget.  Early on I had misplaced one of my receipts and couldn't find it and rather than make myself crazy over it I decided to just let it go.  And so I did.  I do plan to pick it up again this month so you should see a grocery budget post for November near the end of the month.  Even without tracking every penny I was super careful again with spending and kept those purchase fairly minimal each week.  I used coupons and mostly bought sales items.  The last two weeks my totals were under $25!  I was quite pleased with that.

Now onward into November.  Let's see how Uber Thrifty I end up being!