April Savings: How Many Pennies Did I Pinch (You May Be Surprised!)

Ohmygosh, you guys. I'm beyond excited to share with you what the total was for my April Savings Challenge. If you remember, I was putting away any extra money that I could find, just to see how much I'd come up with at the end of the month. I didn't tell my husband what I was doing so that I could surprise him at our monthly budget meeting.

Well, this Saturday we sat down to go over our finances for the month. (I should note that we try to do this monthly but it doesn't always happen.) This month was a little depressing because we had to send in tax money to the IRS and our state tax department. We also had some leftover vacation costs to pay for. So I was even happier when, at the end of our chat, I got to dump out an envelope full of cash. 

Because we use hybrid-cash system, there are certain categories (childcare, entertainment, household expenses and pocket money) that we take out in cash. So each time I was able to pick my son up after school instead of his daycare provider doing it, I got to keep a little of that money. Baking bread, borrowing supplies I needed for a project from my mom instead of buying them new, riding my bike to run errands instead of taking the car--all of these things added up.

At the end of the month I had collected everything from $20 bills to pennies to fill up the envelope. Mid-month I thought we might end up with about $100 or so. As we sat and counted it soon became obvious that it was more than that. How much more?

Extremely high-tech saving method

The grand total saved in the month of April was (insert drum roll here): $260.77!

I know this isn't big money, but for me it was eye-opening. This was basically free cash that was available because of some very minor adjustments and a little elbow grease on my part.

I'm putting all of it toward early-mortgage payoff. I can't wait to add it to my little chart and to start saving again in May. Will I beat that figure or was it a fluke?

Want to join me? It's simple: just track your extra savings and weigh in at the end of May. Keep a little written list of where you're saving money (you can do this with paper or an app). Then, get ready to add a little--or a lot--to your next financial goal.