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March was not a great month for savings; definitely disappointing after February. I had to take care of some car repairs, new tires for my husband's car, and put a large chunk of money towards taxes (ah, the joys of being self-employed).
Extra money this month
- Craigslist sales $10
- Money skimmed from regular budget items $3
- Budget items saved for annual bills $20
- Trimmed expenses (i.e. internet/cellphone) $0- We had to pay a higher bill this month to account for the pro-rated transition period.
- Total saved: $33
Where is the money going?
- Regular checking
- School
Running totals
- Emergency fund-$500
- School- $320
- Car replacement- This fund went back down to zero due to needing the money for the car repairs.
Grand total of savings in 2015: $731.26
A couple things to save money
I did condense my cell phone bills (work and personal) which will save a lot of money over the upcoming months. Unfortunately, I will not start to see any savings until April's bill shows up in May.
Also, as Jeremy was taking care of some issues which came up in switching internet providers, he was told if we bundled our internet and cell phone bills together we would be able to save $5/month. Why, yes please! Now he just needs to make another phone call to combine the two bills.
Can you get a discount by combining your cell phone and your internet bill by paying them together? It is worth checking into to see if it is possible. $5 x 12=$60 is not a lot per year, but why pay it if you do not have to?
I am not planning to decrease the overall total of my budget due to the trimmed expenses, but I will make a point to transfer the extra money into savings. I follow a zero-based budget, assigning every dollar a name before the month begins, so if the extra amount does not have a name, it will get assigned to another purpose.
One semester down!
With the money in the school savings, I will have enough to pay for Jeremy's summer class at the community college. Just in time too, since the tuition is due in late April. One semester down! Two more semesters to save for during the rest of the year.
On a side note, even though my husband is technically at the university, he checks every semester to see if there are any classes available at the community college. He has been able to take quite a few upper level classes at the college instead of at ASU, which saves us a lot of money in tuition and book fees.
If you are at a university taking classes, you may want to check to see if a community college offers any of the lower and upper level classes you need. The possible classes available at the college changes each semester and are just as good as what you would take from the university.
Taking my own advice
While it has been helpful to find ways to trim costs on my budget and incorporating the extra money into savings, I need to look at the list I wrote about ways to give yourself a raise and put a couple of the suggestions into practice.
My default way to give myself a raise is picking up more free-lance jobs in the evenings and on Saturdays, which I have started doing again. While working so many hours is not always fun, it is a very effective way to bring in more income. It helps to remember why I am working so hard.
[Tweet "A side benefit to working overtime: no time to shop! Thus you save even more money."]
I need to devote some time to continue cleaning out my apartment and selling unwanted items on Craigslist or other sites. Another option readily available is to spend some more time and purpose to set up income streams from my blog.
How did you save money this month?
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Hi! I’m Charissa. I’m on a mission to help hardworking women overcome money struggles and gain financial peace with a Biblical perspective so they can have the freedom to impact their families and communities. Ready to make some changes that will impact your finances in 2020? Click here to get a free worksheet to help you make it happen!
Glad you were able to cut back on your phone bill and I had to get new tires too in March. It was a huge expense but I saved up so spending the money didn’t feel so draining but now my car savings fund is back down to 0 too.
I’m excited to see how much I will be saving over a year with cutting back on the phone and internet. What is it about March and tires? My car fund has been like a revolving door lately, I am spending the money on repairs as fast as I can save it.
Nice job saving! All the little savings do add up! I have some car maintenance I need to get done in the next few months and I am dreading it. It’s never fun to spend money on car stuff!
Thank you! I have to look at the big picture and how much I am saving instead of individual monthly amounts. You are so right, I hate spending money on car repairs. However, if you have the money in savings, car repairs become just a little annoyance.
AHHHH holy smokes this is amazing!! i love love LOVE finding ways to save money. So great you are sharing your experiences and gives me hope that i can be completely debt free some day. 🙂
Well, hello there Erica! Welcome and I am so glad you stopped by. Feel free to look around the site, I share lots of ways to live well on a budget, save money, and get out of debt. You can totally get out of debt with plan and some hard work. I believe in you! Let me know how I can help you on your way to becoming debt free.
I’m impressed you’re working so hard to save money!!! That’s really the biggest step is realizing and looking for ways to save! Thanks for the tips… I’m off to see what I can cut back on!
Thank you Kassi. It is amazing to me how much we spend without realizing it and once I found I can cut back in one area makes me want to examine every line item in my budget. Stop back and tell me where you are able to make cuts. Thanks for stopping by!
Good job, Charissa! Larry Burkett used to always say, “The cheapest car you can drive is the one you already own.” And it’s true, very rarely does it make financial sense to buy a newer car rather than fix the one you already have.
Thanks for the tip on taking community college classes while at the university. We are in a season of having children in college (1 has graduated, 1 is full time at the community college, 1 is taking early classes at the community college, and our other 2 will start early classes in 1 year and 3 years) and I didn’t realize that you could take community college classes while enrolled in a four year university. We have both in our city so that is good to know.
You are welcome. If you have the degree plan and know what classes your children need to take, then you can check with the community college each semester (including summer) to see what they offer. If there are any questions, talk to your advisor. You will have to pay for a transcript to be sent to the university after each semester, which here is only about $5. I have been pleasantly surprised at how many classes have opened up for Jeremy to take over the years at the college.
I will be driving my car until I can save up and pay cash for another one, probably about 2-2 1/2 years out. I am starting to get into the territory of more expensive repairs coming up on a regular basis. It does promote humility though:-)