I’m back in the country for the weekend!
Some weeks seem to drag on and drag while others seem to fly by before I’m even sure what happened. This week was a flyer. It’s probably because last weekend was a long weekend here, so I didn’t get back to work until Tuesday. And now I’m back in my hometown for the weekend, putting a day in at the main office today and spending the weekend with family and friends.
This week marks the eighth week of writing my wins and losses blog post on Fridays, which means I’ve been successfully getting up and writing at 6am for eight weeks. I had a few setbacks, particularly when I was back in my hometown for work a few weeks ago, but overall the habit has stuck.
But I’m not going to keep posting my wins and losses on the blog forever. Within the next month or so, I’m going to move this weekly post to my newsletter and reserve My Alternate Life exclusively for writing about my money. The wins and losses will still be there, but it’ll be delivered directly to your inbox (if you sign-up in the sidebar) and it’ll be a lot more intimate.
But for now, here are my wins and losses of the week:
Big Wins of the Week
I got my windfall money! Every year I apply for the New Brunswick Tuition Rebate and every year I take the proceeds and do something useful with them. The first few times I put the money towards debt. Last year I used it to boost my emergency fund. This year I’m using it to add to my house down payment fund. The total amount I received was $3,000, which means my house down payment fund sits at $6,361.
If you read my recent goal check-in, you know that I had a goal to put away $5,000 for a house down payment fund. So I’ve effectively smoked that goal less than halfway into the year. (Woot!) But, you also know if you read my post about making saving fun, that I have revised that goal to saving $8,000 for a down payment. So I’m going to keep depositing money into this account over the rest of the year.
I’ll write a full recap of this money and how it affects my finances on Monday.
Big Losses This Week
My husband and I had a very fun long weekend, with a whole mess of family and friends coming to visit. It was expensive though since we ate out a lot and went to a bunch of bars to celebrate the beautiful weather. In short, we overspent, which means belt tightening for the rest of the month.
I’m ok with it though because it’ll give us a chance to sharpen our frugal skills.
Content I Loved This Week
I’m a big fan of side hustling, in fact so far this year I’ve made $3,500 at my own side hustle. I think it’s a great way to reach your goals sooner. That’s why I loved this post from ThePennyHoarder.com: 29 Smart Ways to Make Money in 2015. Check it out, you might find something you could do to earn a little extra cash!
I love the Frugalwoods blog, so I was excited to find out that Mrs. Frugalwoods is pregnant, and sad to hear just how long the whole process took for them. If you want to up your frugality game, you’ve got to read this blog.