August Thrifty Wrap Up

August tends to not be a thrifty month for me and this time was no exception.  I ended the month of July with my gas tank on fumes so off to the gas station first thing to fuel up the car.  On pay day I paid all of our monthly expenses and even managed to make some good progress on my savings goals.  Next up was to get both girls registered for school at their respective schools.  Activity cards, yearbooks, a cap and gown for graduation, cheerleader fees, etc.

I ended up doing a lot more driving this month than usual as well.  Lots of activities prior to the start of school with band camp and cheerleader camp meant a lot of drop off and pick up for both girls.  There was also the trip out to Eagle to pick up a certain bunny.  In order to not waste fuel I made sure to combine errands as much as possible.  Even with my best efforts I ended up needing to purchase a second tank of gas before the month was up.  Just how it goes sometimes.

I stocked up on a lot of items for the girls to pack school lunches with.  Drinks, crackers, cookies, pudding cups, gelatin cups, applesauce cups, granola bars, cheese sticks, Pop Tarts, etc.  I also bought instant oatmeal, bagels, english muffins, and bread.  Everything was either purchased on sale or marked down but it still added more to the overall grocery bill than what I usually spend.

Mid month I felt very blessed to find $80 cash in an empty parking lot early on a Saturday morning.  I used $50 of it for groceries and the rest I still have in my wallet.  I've yet to decide what to do with it, but when I do I'm sure it will be well spent.

I used a $10 OFF $30 Purchase coupon at ShopKo to pick up a few Christmas gifts.  I used a couple coupons at Bath & Body Works to pick up a free item and take 20% OFF on another item that was on sale.  I also did some more Christmas shopping at Walmart one morning while I waited for my daughter to complete a test at her high school on a Saturday morning.  After I picked her up from testing we went to the mall and I was able to get her two bras for $25 at JC Penney.  Using my store credit card gave me an additional 20% OFF the sales price making them even more affordable.

I do anticipate the extra expenses in August and plan ahead accordingly.  I've never been one to wait to buy my kid's clothes, shoes and school supplies until back to school time.  I buy their clothes and shoes year round and we do shop second hand quite a bit as well as happily accept hand me downs..  We reuse school supplies whenever we can and I stock up on loss leader items like spiral notebooks, loose leaf paper and folders.  Lunch boxes and backpacks get reused too until they literally fall apart.  I shop clearance sales for replacements and put them aside until they are needed.

So while it may have been a more expensive month than our usual I was pretty well prepared for it and fortunately it all went off without a hitch.  My girls are back in school, well dressed, well fed and well supplied.  You can't ask for much more than that!