Wrapping Up A Thrifty July

I accomplished so much this month and it feels really, really good.  Especially since I didn't have to go broke in the process.  Yay! Yay! Yay!

I began the month with half a tank of fuel in both my car and my truck.  I got paid on the 5th and was able to get all of our usual monthly bills paid, buy some groceries, top off the gas tanks in both vehicles and make my savings goals.  Because our power bill was the lowest it has been in a year I was able to put even more $$ into my savings account which is wonderful as I still have one more balloon payment due to the orthodontist by the end of the year.  If I can pay that off sooner, all the better!

My next payday was on the 19th.  I paid the mortgage ahead of schedule and added more $$ to my savings accounts.  I paid the last of my daughter's medical bills with the exception of her emergency room visit.  I am currently in the process of negotiating a reduction on that one.  The hospital had me fill out some paperwork and it is currently under review.  We are keeping our fingers crossed.

I worked a lot of overtime this past month and after defrosting and cleaning out our chest freezer in the garage I used some of that money to take advantage of a really great sale going on at the grocery store.  I've got a jumpstart on restocking it for the upcoming winter and that feels pretty darn good, I must say.

I used money from selling eggs to get the chickens a 50# bag of feed.  I also used a $50 gift card I had earned at work plus a $10 OFF $30 Purchase coupon to buy my daughter some new bedding - a comforter on clearance for $39.99, a mattress cover for $19.99 and a waterproof shower caddy for $9.99 for her dorm.  Final cost out of pocket just over $13.  That was pretty much the bulk of any shopping I did.

I helped my daughter with a boatload of repairs to her car which has saved her a ton of money.  She has a very small budget and so far she has only spent about $100 out of the $250 she set aside.  We are being extra careful and working hard to make every dollar count.  We hope to have these projects pretty well buttoned up by the time she leaves for college.

For entertainment I took the girls to breakfast on the 4th Of July to Denny's.  We ordered from their value menu and I used my AARP card for a 15% discount off the final bill.  Total spent including tip was under $15.  I also treated the girls to a couple$1 movie nights.  Total spent at the movies came in at a whopping $5!  I used $15 of my pocket money at Wal-Mart on some inflatable water toys.  We used our state parks pass to go swimming and on a couple picnics so no extra money out of pocket was spent on those adventures.  Lastly, I used what was left from our entertainment budget to pay admission into county fair (next county over).  I used money I had left from our family vacation to buy two $15 wristbands for unlimited rides.  Not too much money spent on summertime entertainment last month, but we still had a lot of fun!

Looking back we had a really great month.  I honestly was dreading going into July with all the extra bills and expenses to worry about and not knowing how things would shake out.  I was extra careful with my spending and put in the extra hours at work to bump up my pay a bit and it really did pay off.  I feel so much better about things right now and ready to take on August and all the back-to-school stuff that goes along with it.