December & Year End Thrifty Wrap Up

2018 is coming to a close and I can hardly believe it.  The holidays are just about over, my girls are already at the halfway point in the school year with my oldest set to graduate high school in May, it just amazes me sometimes.

I began the month by paying all of our monthly expenses well ahead of the due dates and I am really happy that I was able to consistently do this every month this year!  I paid the mortgage payment consistently 3 weeks early and it really made a difference!  My principal steadily went down each month and I pay less and less in interest that way.

Savings goals were met again this month and I was pleased that I was able to do that consistently throughout the year as well.  Sometimes I was able to add a little more and that was a great feeling.  I plan to continue with some new savings goals in the coming year.

With grocery shopping I spent more than was initially budgeted for the year by just under $150.  That may not seem like a lot to most people, especially given that I don't spend much in the first place, but I know I can do better and will be working to improve spending in that area moving forward.

I kept spending in check when it came to clothing, gifts, dining out, entertainment and so forth and I'm really proud of myself for that.  We purchased quite a bit of our clothing this year second hand.  I used gift cards to purchase a few new items that were purchased on sale or clearance and with coupons whenever possible.  I took advantage quite a bit of promotions at Fred Meyer (Friday Freebie), JC Penney ($10 OFF $10 Purchase) and Bath & Body Works (Free Item, no purchase necessary) and was able to get quite a few gifts for little or no cost.  I used a gift card at Dillards to purchase a pair of work pants for myself and a couple bras for the girls that were on clearance.  I plan to continue to do more of that type of shopping in the new year.

The biggest thing we did was to upgrade a major portion of our home.  We tackled a lot of do it yourself home improvement projects and I paid for most of it with gift cards I had been saving.  We updated our kitchen, living room, entry way, dining room, downstairs hallway and the stairs.  It was a lot of work but so worth it as our home looks amazing.  I used a lot of supplies I already had on hand in our garage, trim and wood I'd gleaned from the FREE WOOD bin near where I work and used gift cards and very little cash out of pocket to pay for what we needed.  The largest purchase out of pocket was our carpet tiles I ordered online from Home Depot with free shipping to our door.  I paid for that with my PayPal Credit account and no interest was charged because I paid it off within 6 months.

Lastly, I booked our family vacation to Disneyland coming up at the end of May.  This has been long awaited and much anticipated.  We saved and saved for this and I was ecstatic that I am finally able to make it happen.  I paid for the booking with my credit card in order to accrue a bunch of rewards points I'll be cashing in for more gift cards and then transferred the money from my savings account to pay off the bill before I accrued any interest.

2018 was a great year for us.  A lot happened and we got a lot accomplished.  It feels really good to be ending the year on such a high.  I'm super excited about 2019.  I have new goals to accomplish and lots of changes and adventures ahead for us.  It will be another amazing year, I can feel it.  I know I am tremendously blessed and ever so grateful for all that we have and all that we are able to do.

Happy New Year Everyone!