Wrapping Up A Thrifty March

I ended the month with our car on fumes, three quarters of a tank in the truck and $300 left in the checking account.  Financially, March was a stellar month for us.  All of us.  I began the month with next to nothing in the checking account and a pitiful paycheck as is often the case when February only has 28 days in it so you end up minus a couple days of pay on your check.  We also got hit with a hefty power bill due at the beginning of the month as last month was colder than January.  Not to worry, though.  I managed to get the monthly bills paid and filled up the tank on the car.  I even managed my savings goal with that check, which actually kind of surprised me.

A few days later my Federal income tax refund arrived and I was feeling really good about that.  I dumped pretty much all of that into my savings account replacing what I took out to give my oldest daughter for her car purchase and my youngest daughter's orthodontist bill I paid at the beginning of the year.  With our emergency fund and my savings account back in order I trudged on.  That same week my new boss pulled me into his office to tell me I was getting a bonus check this month and the amount nearly knocked me out of my chair.  When the check arrived I hustled down to the bank and deposited it into my savings account.  I left with my deposit slip in hand and don't think I felt my feet touch the ground once heading out to my car.

Mid month I used my paycheck to pay our mortgage two weeks ahead of schedule and made my savings goal.  I have set amounts I like to add to my savings account each pay day.  This time I doubled it as I'd worked some overtime and it was a full check to boot.  I also received my state income tax refund and used that to purchase some extra groceries and a couple other items on my want list.

One thing I absolutely did not do was go crazy and blow through a bunch of money.  I was extremely mindful of what to do with all of the money I acquired and made really good choices.  I didn't buy a bunch of crap we didn't need and put most of it into savings and paid my bills.  I bought groceries still using sales and coupons too.  When it came to purchasing the handful of other items I picked up I took my time and really evaluated each purchase.  I was super pleased with how the month turned out.

On a side note I need to brag about my girls a little bit because I'm super proud of them as well.  As you know my oldest bought a car and since then she has worked every shift she can to earn as much as she can.  Her goal is to get the money spent on the car, including licensing it, back into her savings account as quickly as possible.  So far she has put back a third of that amount and she has a plan to have the rest of it back in about a month.  I'm just thrilled that she is even thinking along those lines, let alone acting on it.  She is also setting aside money for future maintenance so she is prepared for those expenses when the time comes.  My youngest daughter baby sat and put every bit of what she earned into savings too.  They just amaze me sometimes.

Now while April won't see the windfall of cash like March did I know it is still going to be a fabulous month.  I'm feeling really good about where we are and I'm confident we're going to make good progress on our financial goals.