#1- ALL of my bills were paid on time.
#2- I made a double payment to my student loan
#3- I paid off my car loan! Bye bye payment!
#4- I survived 2 birthdays in the family.
#5- My car registration is current for another year.
#6- Did I mention that ALL my bills were paid?!?!
I don't think I saved a single penny all month. I did fill my gas tank on the 1st of the month, once mid-month and then again yesterday for a grand total of $150.48. I think my monthly goal was $150 so I didn't do too bad! I've never kept track of my spending for a whole month and honestly I thought I'd be way under on my gas budget. It makes me wonder how much I used to spend on gas considering I've been carpooling at least once per week to work, haven't left town once on the weekend (except when we went to the pond just north of town) and no "second trips" to Storm Lake after getting home from work. I DID have to drive to SL twice last week for trips to the ER with the kids. One with a possible broken ankle and one with a possible broken hand. Thankfully, neither was broke. I better start budgeting for those bills. :)
My extra bills for the month were as follows:
| snow removal $75 | ||
| bridesmaid dress: $144.72 | ||
| oil changes: 78.32 | ||
| soccer registration: 37.00 | ||
| baseball registration: $70 | ||
| WarriorDash:$78.53 | ||
| comp
charger $28 | ||
I was looking forward to reading your month-end update. You did a great job Nikki. Even though you had a more expensive month than you would have liked, all of those "little purchases" we make all month long really add up. It's a success if you have all of your bills paid up AND your car is paid off. Wooooooohoo! From this month on, I really encourage you to set a budget. I use mint.com. I'm getting ready to do a blog post about budgeting so check back on that but the budget has been the lifesaver when it comes to saving money. Without our budget, we had no idea where our money was going. Now, we tell it where to go and stick to it. We (almost) always know how much we will have left over at the end of the month to save, etc.
ReplyDeleteGreat job for No Spend March. I hope you do it again with us next year! Have a good weekend. Enjoy the beautiful weather this morning. :)
Thanks for the heads up on mint.com Amy!! I checked it out this morning and was impressed! I've got my budget set on there and it's quite interesting to see everything in one spot. What a wonderful tool to automatically track spending from my banking accounts. I did get a good chuckle at some of their recommended budgeting amounts. $19/month for cell phone. Really?? :) So I adjusted them to what I think we will spend and I feel that this last month has really put my spending into perspective and given me a good idea of where my money goes.
ReplyDeleteI did manage to only go to Wal-Mart twice the entire month! wahoo!!! That was a feat in itself. I used to go at least 2-3 times per week. I actually quite enjoy life outside of Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, I do buy some of my groceries there as Fareway and Hy-Vee don't carry certain gluten-free products that WM does. However, if I keep my trips to a minimum and go in with a list (HUGE for me otherwise I spend 4-5x as much) then it shouldn't be a problem.
Thanks for keeping me motivated and for all the wonderful financial advice! I really appreciate it!