We did it, we completed the low-spend February and now that we are on the other side of it, I wanted to reflect upon what we learned as a family through this experience.
We saved a total of $285.00. That’s it. Why? Because we figured out this month that we truly are Seriously Frugal. If you look at this recent post, you’ll see that we are pretty hard core about saving money in all aspects of our lives. There is only one area of our spending where we could cut back, and that would be groceries. But, we eat at home almost almost 100 percent of the time and, with 4 teens, food goes fast. Plus, living with chronic illnesses, many of the less expensive foods, like grains or packaged foods with lots of additives or preservatives, I simply cannot eat.
How did we save $285? We went NOWHERE extra and drove only when we had to. We also had a gas card that saved us $60, so without that card, we would have only saved $225.00. That is it. I realize this is nothing to sneeze at but it was not what I was expecting, I thought we would be able to save a lot more money.
Thinking back on the past month, I have the following thoughts:
- I didn’t really enjoy this month. We turned the heat down to 61 degrees F, and after a week we were all so cold and miserable, I turned the thermostate back up to 63 degrees so we could thaw out. Who knew that going from 62 to 61 degrees could make such a difference, but let me tell you it did! As Mr. Frugal Source said, a drop of water going from 33 to 32 understands the huge difference a single degree can make.
- We signed up for a free month of Hulu and have enjoyed it. What I didn’t enjoy was all the commercials. Going forward, we will either cancel it or pay for the ad-free service.
- I missed taking my kids out for the occasional little treat. We have lived frugally our entire married life. We have had very few vacations and have done very little. There are a lot of reasons behind this, but this month made me realize that I enjoy spending a little money on my kids once in a while.
- We did a really good job eating out of the pantry; despite this, our grocery bill remained the same. This is because we always make sure to minimize food waste and do our best to eat out of our panty and freezer on a regular basis.
- It’s not nearly as easy to find free stuff to do during the winter months as it is other times of the year.
- Something is always going to happen. Period. On the way to sell more stuff, we had two tires blown out by hitting a pothole. We also had some unexpected medical bills. The clear moral of the story is that you must have an emergency fund because, again, something is always going to happen.
- I am blessed with amazing kids. They never complain, they go without a lot of stuff they want and they are always appreciative of everything we do for them.
- We need to budget money to go out and have fun, create more memories and celebrate our family.
So, what are we going to do with the extra $285? We are all heading out to celebrate a job well done and create some more family memories.