Savings 2009 Update

It really amazes me how much money we have been able to save in such a short time. I do not even miss it from my bank account! Which leads me to why the !@$%@% were we not doing this before?

So far since January we have saved, drumroll please, $622.19! We only have $878 to go to our goal! That is not counting the change we save, which is adding up now that we do not have to use our quarters for the laundry. We plan on using that for a vacation fund. Plus I find more and more that there is more money staying in my checking account as well.

Even with a week long trip to AL, moving and buying stuff that normally I would make, and buying a washer and dryer, we have managed to keep our expenses low enough that we can still put money in our savings, and within a pay check or so of the big expenses our bank account has been right back to where it should be!

We are starting to get our bills for our new place too and so far they have been pleasantly low. Our water bill was a little higher than normal because of the activation fee but even with all the clothes we wash and all the times I refill the bathub (Yeah I know I am working on my bathtub addiction, it is not very green of me to waste water like that.) it would have only been $20 without the other fee. I am hoping that we can continue to keep our bills so low, that way we can have more wiggle room in our budget to do the things we want too.

I guess the biggest thing for me though is the fact that I do not feel like I am deprived by not eating out, or not buying new clothes every season etc. We have a happy, healthy family that enjoys spending time together. What more do you really need?

Are you making any more lifestyle changes with the ongoing problems with the economy?