A Thrifty June Recap

 

TO BEGIN WITH:  I began the month of June with $43 still left in my checking account, a handful of change in my wallet and just under half a tank of fuel in my car.  I didn't drive very much in May.  Because I had great fortune with grocery shopping last month we were very blessed once again to have full cupboards and no immediate needs or wants.  I was able to cover all of our monthly expenses with my paycheck on the 5th.  Once I paid the bills I topped up my gas tank.

 

NEXT STEPS:  I am still working part time and increasing my hours on a day to day basis.  I am currently at a minimum of six hours each day.  That seems to be working quite well for me right now.

 

WAYS I SAVED $$:  I challenged myself to minimal grocery shopping and I think I did rather well with that.  We are very blessed to have plenty in our pantry and freezers.  I used coupons, rewards points and gift cards to get us all shoes this month.  We shopped the clearance sales to get my daughter some jeans for next fall.  We also shopped at thrift stores to pick up some clothing items we wanted.  I also made two Christmas gifts using items I already had on hand.

 

WAYS I EARNED EXTRA $$:  Along with the increased hours at work I was able to take care of our grocery and gas expenses using money I earned by selling items in my Etsy store and on eBay.  That allowed me the opportunity to add most of my second paycheck to savings.  I shopped a couple thrift stores for additional inventory, vintage cookbooks, for my Etsy store.

 

LOOKING BACK:  While I find myself impatient in my recovery and find the chronic fatigue frustrating I am still pretty happy with all that I was able to accomplish as well as how much I was able to do with a smaller income.

 

LOOKING AHEAD:  My intention is to continue to do well and stay the course.  I know that making wise choices with my money, keeping our expenses low and being careful not to be wasteful is the best thing I can do right now.

 

I am really happy with how things have gone this month and I am very hopeful that July is every bit as successful as June has been.