Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Thinking back on the month of April..........

Financially it was a flipping expensive month what with a new car, and a new driveway, plus nearly $1,400 spent on car repair bills, plus we had to fill up the furnace oil tank.


I am hoping May is a cheap month for us, mind you I am touching wood as I write that!!!   A couple of good things money wise, I did manage to stay under budget with my grocery totals for the month of April.  I spent $298.99 for the month with $78.12 in savings.  There is a good deal on until Thursday for free milk at some of the Loblaws chain of stores.  Milk is on for $1 a carton and here is a link for a $1 off coupon, making it free.  I am in for $300 total again in groceries, paper products, cleaning products and personal products for the month of May.


I achieved another mini goal with Swagbucks.  I cashed in enough points for $25 in Amazon e-cards, and have enough swagbucks as of the end of April for six $5 Amazon e-cards.  As of the end of April I have enough swagbucks for 6 $5 Amazon e-cards, but can only cash in 5 per month.  I am stocking up on Swagbucks so that when I get too busy I will still have enough to cash in for 5 $5 e-cards per month.


I was able to order my soil for the garden using the money I had saved up in my loonie and toonie pot.  Still putting money into our sealed pot, can't wait until December to see how much we managed to save.


I managed to get some more gardening and grass cutting down on Monday before it started raining.  We have a couple of Willow Trees in the garden and they are so messy always dropping their branches.  So I had to clear all those before I could cut more grass.  The end result though looks not too bad:


I am hoping to get some more weeding done this morning, weather permitting.


How are you getting on with your garden?

9 comments:

JohnD said...

Despite the outgoings I think you've done quite well.

Positives - New car, oil fuel for winter and stayed under budget with shopping - all good outcomes.

Well done!

Debby said...

Ouch, April was a budget buster for you for sure! Your yard looks so nice, I have given up on picking the sticks up until this crazy weather changes, I just run them over with the mower and hope for the best. I am thinking it's sorta like home made mulch right?

Jane and Chris said...

Too many things to do and not enough time to do them!
Jane x
PS Great grass!

Shammickite said...

April was tough for my budget too.... a trip to England (see my blog for pictures!) and having to bay a HUGE amount to the income tax people.... DAMN!

Colleen said...

I just hate months like that when EVERYTHING goes wrong (or breaks down) and you don't have any choice but to replace it.

I had one of those month's too, but not quite as expensive as yours...thank goodness :)

First, my crockpot quit after 14 years (LOL), then my hair dryer, then I broke the shower head and cracked the arm it screws into, then my sweeper quit. I hope that's it for a while :)

DeniseinVA said...

We've had an expensive time too. We had a new roof put on the house after several leaks, lots of repair bills in other areas, and they all seemed to come at once. All the joys of owning your own home I guess.

Rose said...

Always interesting to see how much you save...and it is raining cats and dogs here today...I cannot get a break to run to the store for bread or anything. Just don't feel like getting soaked...

Iris said...

You always have a full day and manage to get a lot of things done. I don't think that anybody can beat you at finding good savings.

This year it's the first time that we have our own yard, and I would like to make it look like an English cottage garden. Errr .. I'm completely inexperienced, though, and even gardening requires money. Since we are such beginners, we just started out with some cucumber seeds.

Jane said...

Your lawn looks lovely - I just can't believe we're into the mowing season already though!It was just snowing a few days ago! I am so enjoying all the green around me though - it's so wonderful to have more colours around other than grey!

{{{SIGH}}}

Tuesday was a mixed bag type of day. Had the appliance repair guy come again to install another circuit board in the fridge.  When hubby got...