A Thrifty May Recap

 

TO BEGIN WITH:  I began the month of May with $63 still left in my checking account, $2 plus a handful of change in my wallet and, not surprisingly since I didn't work much in April, two thirds of a tank of fuel in my car.  We were still very blessed once again to have full cupboards and no immediate needs or wants.

 

NEXT STEPS:  With a much more limited income for the time being (literally half right now) I tried to be very wise with the money I was earning so I did not need to dip into our savings or emergency fund.  In April I used $400 from our Emergency Fund to bridge the gap putting $100 of that back at month end.  I put the remaining $300 back on my first payday so it is now fully funded once again and ready in case we need it.  In the meantime we have cut our expenses to the bare bones.

 

WAYS I SAVED $$:  We got very creative with our grocery shopping.  We used up a gob of store Monopoly game winnings to bring home seven bags of FREE groceries!  That was a huge boost for us.  I used proceeds earned from selling items on eBay to pay for the remainder of our grocery purchases.

 

WAYS I EARNED EXTRA $$:  I filled a new prescription at my pharmacy and was eligible for another $25 grocery gift card at Albertson's.  I also redeemed my credit card rewards points and purchased a $25 gift card to Albertsons for groceries.  That adds $50 to my grocery store gift card stash.  I sold some things I had listed on eBay as well as from my Etsy store which provided exactly what we needed to fund our grocery expenses this month.  That was very fortunate.

 

LOOKING BACK:  In spite of everything, amazingly, I am still debt free.  I am so incredibly grateful to be able to say that too because I was more than a little bit worried about that.  With a very large hospital bill, a ton of doctor visits and additional testing I wasn’t sure how it would all play out, but I had saved ahead into my HSA to cover my insurance deductible amount and then some so that was HUGE for me.  It made all the difference in the world!

 

LOOKING AHEAD:  Even though my income will be much lower for a little while longer I have continued with and met my retirement savings goals this month and will do so next month too (fingers crossed).  I will continue to make the same monthly deposits into my HSA as well as that is obviously very important and I want to build that back up.  I will continue to do my best to sell things on eBay and in my Etsy store to help supplement my income for the smaller monthly expenses we incur, such as gas and groceries, and maybe have a little more to add to savings.  We shall see.

 

I am really happy and more than a little relieved with how things have gone this month.  I am very hopeful that June is going to be just as great.  Once again I'm determined to see that it is and will try to do everything that is within my power to make it happen.