$60K Savings Challenge MAY Totals...Getting Traction on Saving!

I have posted my MAY End of Month 60K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I am once again able to say that we finished up MAY in THE BLACK!
Hoo-rah! It's not anywhere near my $5000.00 monthly target but it's all good. Every dime saved is a dime NOT SPENT!

While 1 month's of savings may not look like much when you are putting those dimes away, when you get some months of putting them away under your belt, and look back, it adds up quickly!

$11K can accomplish alot if needed....a new roof(which we need), a "new-to-us" replacement car for commuting(hubby's car has 'issues'), a repair of the ceiling in the kitchen or the walls in the bathroom(which we can also use), or almost enough to pay for a full year's college tuition at a state school. That's our list of how to spent the Savings, I am sure you have a similar list. The "To Spend" items may be different but it's filled with needs that are no less important to you.

The MasterCard bill(which is paid off each month-NO BALANCE EVER!)was just over $800 this month. This is delightful but with some big unusual purchases like the CAR RENTAL(while my van was in the shop due to daughter's accident), the purchase from the local nursery for the garden and a few other things like #1 son needing all new jeans & pants(that boy is so compact that I haven't bought him clothes in 1.5 yrs!) added to the usual gas station fill-ups and hubby's online purchases, etc., June's bill is looking 'big scary'. bleh....

We had a bit of rolled coins as usual, but you will notice there is NO eBay income again for May. eBay is still not worth the effort/expense. Financially it is more advantageous for me to either sell the stuff at a garage sale or donate it & take the tax write-off. That may change in the fall, so I'll be holding off doing eBay until I can re-evaluate the situation at that time.

The only 'other' income I've been able to realize since stopping eBay selling is any rebate money that comes in during the month. The Staples rebates on all that printer paper helped boost the Rebate total this month.

A big Annual Vet Visit Bill for the 3 doggies & a $441 car repair for hubby's vehicle brought the NON-Credit Card, out of the ordinary expenses for May to $900.

On the recurring utlities front, we saw a $76 reduction in the cost of the electric bill since the heat has been turned off & no A/C is needed yet. The water bill went up by $21, as hubby has been dealing with opening the pool, meaning the use of more water for that. Gas purchases went up, as the price of gas at the pump rose.

The Food Budget costs for May are in another post, which is located Here. Those are still high but I am determined to bring them down in June. No or little stockpiling is necessary this month and if I can keep out of the grocery store, I should be successful in reducing the Food bill.

Five Months into this Challenge, & so far we have a Savings Total of $11,206.16 for the year.

Now is the PERFECT time to start saving money if you aren't already. Get started today!
Just doing 1 thing will get the ball rolling.
I'll be putting up a post concerning practical ways to save money later this week. Check back for that about Friday. I'll put a LINK to it in this post when it's up.

Check out Money Saving Mom's Blog May Financial Update Post to see how others are saving money and living more frugally Here. (Looks like Money Saving Mom's Financial Check-Up Post isn't up yet....give her a few days and then check the link.)

Sluggy