Wrapping Up A Thrifty November

 

November was another very good month for us.  I began the month with $12 in my checking account and only $1 dollar in my wallet.  At the end of October I had more in my checking account though, in fact enough extra to go ahead and pay the power bill that was due in November well ahead of schedule so I went ahead and did that.  Beginning November with not a lot in my checking account but no bills due was a pretty wonderful feeling.

 

I had used just over a quarter tank of gas in my car in October so with no need to fill the tank this month I decided to use my fuel budget to fill up my truck instead.  November is also the month I pay our auto insurance in one lump sum so we don't incur any service charges by breaking it up into payments.  We also get a sizeable discount for paying it all up front.  Two very good reasons why I pay this bill annually.  I put it onto my credit card so I get the rewards point and then paid the card bill in full it was due so I didn't incur any interest.  I used money I saved up throughout the year to cover this bill.  Also, since I paid off my car last spring, my cost to insure my car is much lower this year saving me an extra $200 a year.  Yay!

 

We began the month well stocked with groceries.  I did my first big shop the second Sunday of the month and then I shopped again the following Sunday to pick up a few more items for the girl's birthday dinners as well as our Thanksgiving Day dinner, even some of our December holiday meals.  I just slid in under my regular grocery budget which inluded a few extra items for the prepper pantry too.

 

The most exciting thing I did last month, at least for me anyway, was to purchase some pieces to to add to my set of Christmas china as well as a set of beautiful vintage flatware to go with it.  I will tell you more about this in my post on Thursday, but what I don't talk about and will tell you now is that I had paid for most of these purchases with money earned by selling some items on eBay.  I only had to pay $40 out of pocket which is absolutely amazing to me.  It worked out beautifully and was a super thrifty way to add something special to our holidays.

 

I didn't know I was going to be getting a COVID appreciation bonus from my employer last month so it was a complete surprise.  Normally I will put extra money like that right into savings, however this year I did things a little differently.  I used it to purchase a new set of drills to replace my old ones, bought some gorgeous gold rimmed water goblets to go with my Christmas china and flatware and then use the remainder to purchase a few extra gifts for my girls birthdays and Christmas too.  We all got a little something and I feel it was money well spent.

 

At the end of the month I deposited my Etsy funds and had enough from my greeting card sales, thank you very much to everyone who bought them, to pay the power bill due in December over a week ahead of its due date as well as $60 leftover to put toward my grocery budget.  It was a fantastic way to end an otherwise expensive month for me.