Wrapping Up A Thrifty March

I am so extremely excited with how last month turned out.  February was fabulous too and I went into March with a really good feeling I was going to do just as well, if not better.  It was better!!  I ended February with my low fuel indicator light on in the car and $41 left in my checkbook so I decided on that last day of the month I'd fill up and start March with the needle on F.  Good decision too because the next day fuel prices jumped 10¢ a gallon all across town.

On payday I paid all of our monthly expenses, hit all of my savings goals, set aside a small amount for groceries and then put everything I had left toward my car.  That was a nice big payment, more than I was expecting to be able to make too.  Yay!  Mid month I received my annual bonus and it was enough to PAY OFF the remaining balance on my car with money left over.  I went ahead and paid it off in full and pushed the rest toward my emergency fund goal.  Then on the 20th I paid the mortgage payment, hit my savings goals again, made a nice sized payment toward our medical debt and set aside a little more for groceries.  In spite of everything going on in the world around me I feel like I am making some serious progress!

Staying under budget on groceries turned out to be much easier than I thought it would be.  With everything going on in the world and the panic over COVID-19 people cleared the shelves so I decided not to be a part of it.  We managed quite nicely with what we already had on hand and I only needed to make a couple quick runs for dairy, produce and cat food.  We didn't need to do any other type of shopping either, thankfully.  Until things calm down and we move past this I've put all other non essential tasks on hold.  We can wait to go to the dentist, get the oil changed on the car and pick up supplies for home projects.  Fortunately I have nothing dire requiring any immediate attention.  Instead I will focus my attention on other things I can take care of from home and use up items I already have on hand.

Financially and emotionally I am moving into April with optimism.  As far as everything else goes it is up in the air.  I'll just need to roll with it and pray for the best.  I'm not going to track the plummeting stock market and my 401(k) right now as I know it will rebound and I have plenty of time to wait for it to do so.  I'm confident we will get through this and come out on the other end just fine.  For now I will just take things one day at a time.