A Thrifty July Recap

 

TO BEGIN WITH:  I began the month of July with $223 (amazing!) still left in my checking account, $10 and a large handful of change in my wallet and a full tank of fuel in my car because I went ahead and topped it up right away.  I had great success with grocery shopping last month so we were very blessed again to have full cupboards and the only need right away was for some fresh produce.  I was able to cover all of our monthly expenses with my paycheck on the 6th.  Once I paid the bills I was able to put a good amount into my savings account for the first time since my crazy heart attacks back in April.  Up until now I was only adding to my retirement accounts and the HSA.  Etsy sales covered our out of pocked grocery expenses and some other small items including paying off my tires I bought for the car in March and had them on a six months same as cash offer through Discount Tire.

 

Tires are paid off!

NEXT STEPS:  I am still working part time currently at a about six hours each day.  That seems to be working quite well for me right now as my doctor doesn't want me to go back full time yet.  In fact, likely not until November which will be a full six months of part time hours.  But the reality is right now I have no desire to push her on this.  Under the circumstances I think she is right.  I wear out really easily.  I am not happy about it, but maintaining my health is most important right now.

 

WAYS I SAVED $$:  I challenged myself to keep my grocery shopping pretty minimal and I think I accomplished that with no problem.  Like I said we are very blessed to have plenty in our pantry and freezers, as well as a well stocked prepper pantry too which is for emergencies (like the situation we are currently in).  We shopped at a thrift store to pick up some clothing items for my daughter for school and declared back-to-school shopping officially completed.

 

Vintage cookbooks & handcrafted greeting cards have been hot ticket items!

WAYS I EARNED EXTRA $$:  I earned some more by selling items in my Etsy store and on eBay.  I am so very grateful for those sales and appreciate the extra income so very much.

 

LOOKING BACK:  All in all I think we had a pretty good month and of course I have no complaints.  We've been blessed in many small ways and those have added up to some really big gains.  I am tremendously grateful.

 

Blessed with abundance

LOOKING AHEAD:  My intention is to continue to stay positive and roll with the punches and there have been a few of those this year.  I know that making wise choices with my money, keeping our expenses as low as possible and being careful not to be wasteful is the best thing I can do right now so I will continue to be very mindful with that.  I am blessed beyond measure to have the support of my family and close circle of friends.  The blog and the comments from my readers helps to keep me going each day as well and I cannot thank you all enough.

 

I am quite pleased with how things have gone this month and I am hopeful that August is every bit as successful as July has been.  So far things seem to be going pretty well for us and I thank God and pray every day that it continues to do so.