After a very busy and productive August I began this month
with $7 in my checking account a little more than that in my wallet and three
quarters of a tank of gas in my car. Not
complaining about that one bit! Anytime
you have a little jingle left in your pocket and fuel in your car it's a win in
my book.
On pay day I paid all of our monthly expenses well ahead of
their due dates and decided since I still had so much fuel left in the car I'd
use my gas money to top off the truck this time. The truck still had over a quarter tank of
gas so I decided to use the rest of my gas money and top up the car as
well. Two vehicles with full tanks is always
a good feeling.
I added money to my retirement and savings accounts as
planned too. In addition to the payment
I made in August I made another payment to my PayPal account meaning I'd made
two payments on my carpet purchase before the first payment was even due. Yay!
Once all was said I even had enough money left in my
checking account to make another
PayPal payment. Mid month when I got
paid again I was able to pay the mortgage well ahead of schedule and add to my
savings and retirement accounts. Then I
made a third payment to PayPal. That
carpet will be paid off in no time.
Each week I checked the grocery ads and made my shopping
list based off of what was on sale. I
downloaded digital coupons as well as other offers that either gave me extra
rewards points or $$ OFF on certain purchases.
I also redeemed some of my rewards points to use toward a planned meat
purchase that gave me $7 OFF. I was able
to purchase quite a bit of food, especially items to stock our freezer, without
spending too much.
The only clothing items I purchased was a three pack of
black dress socks for myself to wear to work.
I did stop into a couple of thrift stores and purchased a new bowl for
the kitties and a cat door which I plan to install very soon. I used two $10 OFF coupons and made two trips
to the feed store to stock up on chicken feed, bunny food and supplies and dry
cat food for winter. I put those
purchases on my credit card and will pay that amount off when the bill comes
due.
I redeemed credit card points that I'd been saving up for
over a year and received a $100 Home Depot gift card as well as a $25 Bath
& Body Works gift card. I used the
Home Depot card to stock up on paint as they were having a special $10 per
gallon rebate. I then went online and requested
my rebate so I'll be receiving another gift card from Home Depot in the mail,
probably next month.
I have been working on our home improvement projects as time
has allowed now that school is back in session.
I was able to purchase and install all three doors we needed upstairs and received a $50 instant rebate in the
process if I opened a Home Depot account.
While I really didn't want to open a Home Depot account I was hard
pressed to turn down $50. As soon as the
bill arrived I took it into the store and paid it off before it was due and no
interest accrued.
The best news of all however, was to get a letter in the
mail from the hospital last week letting me know they had decided to write off
the patient portion due of my youngest daughter's emergency room visit last
spring. It was a huge load off of my
mind and shoulders and once that load was lifted I realized just how much it
had been weighing on me these past few months.
Not having to come up with an extra $2800 to pay that off meant all that
extra overtime pay I've accrued so far could be used elsewhere. Wow!
What a huge blessing for our little family.
This month was not only a good one for us financially, even
with the start of the school year and one kid off to college, but a very
productive one as well. Our home is
well supplied for winter and we are on our way to getting things buttoned up
around here in preparation of chillier weather. I'm eager to see what all we can accomplish
now in October!
You are an inspiration :-). I am so glad that you got the ER payment written off too. I have to say, much as I despair about the state of our NHS and find myself having to pay more and more of our health costs privately just to GET care needed.... Five emergency rooms trips over the last four months with my daughter make me intensely grateful that the NHS does still exist, no matter how starved of funds!
ReplyDeleteI really can't complain, especially as we get the care we need and there is always a way to afford it one way or another. I feel very fortunate and grateful that they did this for us.
DeleteI am sooooo glad to hear about the hospital writeoff! I thought, based on your modest income and family size, that would be a real possibility. Our income is modest, too -- and we just got the final bill for Husband's two emergency room visits this summer. More than $14,000 -- with insurance and writeoffs, down to $850! You've been so careful about staying within budget and not wasting your money; consider this a "God-thing" that reflects that. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you Cindy. Such a weight has been lifted and now I don't have to feel guilty about buy groceries and stocking up the cupboards. Silly, I know.
DeleteThe hospital write-off is a blessing and I am glad you got it. You deserve a good break!
ReplyDeleteAfter sitting and reading all you accomplished this month I am impressed. Here is a question, answer honestly because I need help. No secrets! How do you keep motivated? I am sitting on the couch making my grocery, coupon, sale to-do list for running errands today and it seems to be overwhelming. It isn't, I just feel that way. How do you come home from work and still work????
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
I am actually going to be writing a post about that exact thing to put up in about a week. Sometimes I'm not motivated and I do get really overwhelmed so I'm going to break it down and let you know how I keep going. So watch for that post. I think you will find it helpful.
DeleteI just told a friend who's mom has a 5200.00 Hospital bill to go and see if she could fill out hardship paperwork. Her mom is in her 70's and has some money but not a lot to throw around. I was reduced to 1800.00. She was very happy with that. Nevada is super high for medical costs. Glad you were able to have this bill written off. Around here it is common practice if you put in the paperwork to at least lower the bill. Take care.
ReplyDeleteMedical care shouldn't cost your life savings, but it can. I'm glad she was able to get her bill reduced. :)
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