Wrapping Up A Thrifty November

I swear November zoomed right by and I'm amazed it is even time to write this post let alone that it's December already!  Oh my gosh!  Well, November may have zipped right by, but I still managed to keep it thrifty, even though we hosted Thanksgiving and had company for several days.  I'm pretty pleased with how that all worked out.

I spent $13.99 to repair my old laptop for my daughter to use

At the beginning of the month I was able to pay all of our monthly expenses and do the majority of the grocery shopping using my first paycheck.  I also made all of my savings goals and added quite a bit to my savings and retirement accounts.  I topped up the gas tank in my car and managed to make it last all month long.  By the end of the month though the low fuel light was flashing, but I made it!

Mid month I paid the mortgage early as I always do and added more money to my savings and retirement accounts.  I bought a couple birthday gifts for my girls and did a little bit of grocery shopping, mainly to get a few last minute items for Thanksgiving.  We already had a turkey breast in the freezer, however one of my co-worker's has a husband who is a meat broker and he gifted us with a 20# turkey.  It was an amazing and totally unexpected blessing.  It had been a very long time since I'd cooked a whole bird for Thanksgiving and we were thrilled, especially my girls, although they would have been very happy with just the breast I originally planned to cook.

I was able to turn this mess into a really nice space for no $$ out of pocket

I was able to use our regular household budget to outfit our downstairs bedroom with new bedding and a set of curtains.  Because of that we did not dine out or go to any movies last month.  I did have the luxury of attending my daughter's orchestra concert one evening, which was free, and we popped popcorn a couple times and had our own movie nights at home.  I even borrowed a DVD from one of my co-workers.  So no hardship was felt there.

New violin strings

I purchased two items (gently used) from Amazon to give my youngest daughter for Christmas.  I did not do any other shopping for Christmas as we are keeping it very simple and low budget this year.  I went through my pantry and spice cupboards to make sure I have everything I need for holiday baking and meal preparations and I pretty much have the bulk of what we need on hand.  I'm hoping to keep our grocery spending pretty minimal this month.

My sewing area has been restored

December is shaping up to be a little tight financially for us to I'll be trying to mind our pennies.  My car registration is due at the end of the month and my youngest daughter is having oral surgery, God bless her, so I'll have some expense there.  I am hoping and praying this is the last of it for her.  She has been through a lot with her mouth due to having been born with a cleft palate.  This surgery is to remove her heavily impacted wisdom teeth and should be the last step before her final cleft closure surgery.

We are extremely blessed with abundance

We managed November pretty well and undoubtedly have so much to be thankful for.  While money matters can be stressful and even upsetting at times I try to focus on all that we have been blessed with.  I can look around and see I've got a lot to be grateful for.