November Thrifty Wrap Up

November is a crazy month for me, both personally and financially.  Both of my daughters have birthdays and in between is when Thanksgiving Day usually falls.  Sometimes my youngest's birthday is on Thanksgiving, as was the case last year.  Along with that our annual car insurance bill comes due.  In order to avoid extra service fees I pay it all in one lump sum.  I plan ahead and will put aside the money each year when I receive my income tax refund.  I used my credit card to pay the bill by phone and earn the rewards points for using my card, then transfer the funds from my savings to my checking account and pay the bill off just before it comes due.  No interest accrues and I get to redeem those credit card points for gift cards to use with other expenses such as dining out, clothing and home repairs or upgrades.  I did the same thing when I booked our Disneyland vacation.

I began this month with a whopping $16 left in the checking account and half a tank of gas in the car.  Once payday arrived I topped off the fuel tank in the car and the truck, paid all of our monthly expenses ahead of their due dates, met my savings goals and bought groceries.  About two weeks later I paid the mortgage early, added more to my savings goals and bought more groceries.

I took the girls to Olive Garden to celebrate their birthdays.  It was one of our more expensive dining experiences we've had in a long while, but definitely worth it.  I used up my entire dining/entertainment budget that evening.  We had a fabulous waiter who made sure our night out was very enjoyable and not only had a great meal, with leftovers to enjoy the next day, but also a really nice time together.

I bought a lot of groceries last month!  The sales were good and I was really able to get a lot for my dollars spent.  I was able to stock up on a ton of things for the holidays, prepare two special birthday dinners, fix up a big Thanksgiving Day feast, and invite guests over several times.  I also sent a big bag of grocery items to the high school for their student food pantry and we participated in feeding two families, one for a Thanksgiving food basket and another one for a Christmas food basket.  Along with that we ended the month with both freezers still full and the pantry as well.  We are heading into our coldest months and the Christmas and New Years holidays very well stocked.

I did a little bit of Christmas shopping last month.  I didn't have a lot of extra money to spend but managed to scrape up enough to get a few things on my list.  I wrapped up all of the gifts with supplies I already had on hand.  I bought stamps at the post office, printed out our annual letter on leftover stationery from several years ago, got out the Christmas cards I'd made last winter and got them all ready to send out in the next week or so.  We are not going to have an elaborate Christmas this year, not that we ever do, but it will be a very nice one.

We finished up our hallway upgrade project by painting and finishing the carpet.  Everything we needed to complete this task we already had out in the garage.  I was super happy to be able to finally get this part done.  I still have some trim work to complete and plan to tackle that in the spring once the weather warms back up.  All the trim I need is also in the garage waiting for me once I am ready.

Last month I splurged on a couple pieces of fabric at JoAnn's that were on sale for 70% OFF and picked up a giant spool of white thread on sale for 40% OFF as I'd run out.  I used one of the yards of Christmas fabric ($3.50) to make a couple envelope pillow covers for two pillows I already had.  They are decorating my living room and look so pretty.  I'd never made these pillow covers before and was surprised at how easy they are to put together and how nice they look.  I dug out some flannel scraps and ruffled trim from my stash to make the girls new pillowcases for their travel size pillows.  They are really happy with them.  The other yard of fabric ($2.05) I bought was used to make part of a Christmas gift and a table matte for our dining room table.  While at JoAnn's I also picked up a bottle of their $1 hand soap in a Christmas themed peppermint scent for our downstairs bathroom along with another one to take to work.

I feel pretty good about going into this month well prepared to enjoy the holidays and not feel financially stressed at all.  I am very much looking forward to the Christmas festivities and the New Year up ahead.