July Thrifty Wrap Up

I had enough money left in my checking account to cover our power bill that is due the first part of July so I decided to go ahead and pay it in the last week of June.  Three weeks ahead of time, yay!  I started the month of July with over two thirds of a tank of fuel in the car (holy cow!), a quarter tank still left in the truck (not too shabby), $40 in my checking account and a paycheck with a boatload of overtime pay on it only five days away.  Not bad at all!  Plus!  I was minus a power bill that would've been due on the 10th.

On payday I paid the remaining monthly expenses, topped off the truck's fuel tank this time and slugged the rest toward my savings goals.  Then mid month I paid the mortgage, two weeks ahead, and slugged the rest once again toward my savings goals.  Yippeeeee!

I put myself on a much stricter grocery budget last month and challenged myself to keep my food expenses at just $20 a week or less.  I did it too!  I stuck to it and was able to supplement what we had on hand just fine and even added to the pantry a few items we were low on.  It worked out so well I decided to give it a try again in August.

We had a ton of home improvement projects going on in July.  I managed to keep our expenses low by scrounging around in the garage for items we already had on hand and picking up some trim from the FREE WOOD bin at a business near where I work.  I scored some really good pieces the last two times I stopped including new brick mold to replace the warped stuff on our backdoor.  Yep, another project has been added to the list.  I used gift cards I'd earned and been given to pay for all of the supplies we picked up at Home Depot.

The biggest chunk of our latest projects was our floor covering the living room and hallway.  I decided to go ahead and put it on my PayPal account which gives me six months to pay it off interest free.  I'll be incorporating the pay off amounts into my monthly budget to make sure it is paid off within that timeframe so I don't accrue any interest to pay.  To speed up the process I plan to work any overtime that is offered at my job.  Every little bit helps.

It was a very busy and intense July for me with working full time and taking on a long list of home improvements, but since I love doing this stuff I was in hog heaven.  Being able to do it well on a thrifty budget makes it all the more enjoyable.  I'm looking forward to seeing what all I can accomplish in August.