A Thrifty April Recap

 

TO BEGIN WITH:  I ended the month of March and headed into April with $91 in my checking account, $2 plus a handful of change in my wallet and a half tank of fuel in my car.  As in the previous months I was blessed again to have my cupboards full and no immediate needs or wants.  I know I am very blessed and fortunate, to be sure.

 

NEXT STEPS:  I used what was left in the checking account to purchase some fresh produce and a few pantry items as well as top up the gas tank on my car.  I figure with gas prices on the rise it would make less of an impact to my overall household budget if I top off each month rather than wait until I am closer to E like I did last year.

 

Once again I had no bills due on the 5th so I pushed the majority of that first paycheck right into savings, HSA and retirement.  I paid the small amount I owed for state taxes this year and a couple bills that weren't due yet.  The next payday I paid the rest of our monthly bills that were due and our May mortgage plus some extra.  I also left some extra in my checking account to pay  the power bill that isn't due until May .  It feels really good to be able to pay bills ahead like that.  I funded the rest of our $100 grocerybudget, our $25 non food budget, my pocket money and then scooted a good amount into savings, HSA and retirement.  All of my savings goal were met, bills paid and groceries were bought.

 

As you know by now I ended up back in the ER and then was hospitalized for fourdays with heart issues.  No doubt the bills for this will be outrageous, but fortunately I have insurance, my HSA account was fully funded to cover my deductible amount at the beginning of the year and we have an emergency fund.  The hospital also offers a one year interest free payment plan.  At this time I am comfortable that we have enough resources to handle this without backsliding and ending up back in debt.  Once again I feel very thankful for 2020.

 

WAYS I SAVED $$:  I shopped carefully and made wise choices so I didn't overspend.  I also concentrated a lot on using what we already had and replacing items as we used them up.

 

WAYS I EARNED EXTRA $$:  I sold some more items from my Etsy shop and on eBay.  I put some more items up for sale on both sites too.

 

LOOKING BACK:  It was definitely a very different month than what I had thought it would be heading into it.  You just never know what life will throw your way.

 

LOOKING AHEAD:  My goal moving forward is to heal and get better, continue to eat healthy and build my energy and stamina back up.  Along with my physical healthy I plan to continue to take care of my financial well being too.  By doing that it will help me to be stressed and that is very important for my emotion health.

 

In spite of everything I am really happy with how things have gone this past month.  May is going to be great.  I'm determined to see that it is.