September Thrifty Wrap Up

Last month was much nicer financially than August was.  I began the month with an extra day of wages on my paycheck, just how the days happened to fall, plus a little bit of overtime.  Nice check!  Our gas tank on the car was nearly full too since I had just filled it the week before.  I got all of our monthly bills paid ahead of their due dates, paid off my JC Penney card from bra shopping with my oldest last month (no interest accrued) and slugged some cash toward my savings goal as well as into my retirement account.  Mid month I paid October's mortgage payment and put more cash toward my savings goal and into the retirement account.  Then I topped off the gas tank in my car using my Fred Meyer rewards points to shave 20¢ off each gallon.  Thank you very much.

I stuck to my $20 a week grocery challenge fairly well shopping the sales, using coupons and digital coupons to lower the cost of certain items I bought.  I was over by less than $5, but still happy with the end result.  I cooked a lot of meals this month using items I already had on hand, particularly leftover items I had squirreled away in the kitchen freezer.  I had quite a bit of stuff that we were able to use up and not let anything go to waste.  We also enjoyed tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, beets, green onions and zucchini from our little garden patch in the backyard.  It isn't very big, but we've managed to add quite a bit of produce to our meals nonetheless.  And Daisy has enjoyed quite a few carrots as well.

I made the face cloths using items I already had on hand and
picked up the shower gel for FREE using a coupon I got in the mail

I did quite a bit of birthday and Christmas shopping, once again by shopping sales and using coupons.  I acquired several small items spending very little money.  Additionally, I used more items I already had in my garage and sewing stash to make some gifts.  Along with that I made several decorative items for our home, finishing up a few projects I had started last winter and some new ones as well.  I made a couple stops at dollar tree and a stop into Walmart for craft items paying for those purchases with some of the money I had found in that empty parking lot in August.  That was a crazy lucky find.  I also used some extra cash I had to pay for another shopping trip to the dollar store for a few more craft items, cleaning supplies and some greeting cards.

We spruced up our front porch

We've been preparing for winter as well by making sure our freezers and pantry remain filled and stocking up on cat food.  In August we stocked up on scratch grains for the hens and bunny supplies.  In October I'll be stocking up on chicken feed.

We'll be "firing" this up soon enough

We can tell that fall has arrived here.  It is pretty chilly in the mornings and once the sun goes down in the evenings the temperatures begin to drop.  Our daylight hours are much shorter now as well.  Our goal each year is to make it through September and not have to turn on the heat until October.  So far we've managed that very well by wearing our winter pajamas, adding a blanket to our beds, wearing sweaters, socks or slippers and using our throws in the evenings.  With our days still sunny and warm we haven't felt the need to turn on any heat sources yet and our lovely home remains quite comfortable.

This pretty much sums up how I feel on a daily basis

October usually sees a lot of changes outdoors and in our weather.  I'm planning for another creative, resourceful and thrifty month ahead.