(Almost) One month down!

I can't believe we're closing in on the end of September already!  This has been an amazing month, one filled with challenges but great accomplishments as well.  I am very proud of my family and myself for the amazing job we've done this month in getting ourselves together.  On Sunday, I'll post our budget and our check book register (or is it registry?  I've never figured this out) so you can all see what we did. 

All of our bills for the month of September have been paid, with the exception of a medical bill I will send off in the mail today.  We have some money left over at the end of our month (instead of month left over at the end of our money), which is amazing!  We don't have enough to pay our mortgage by the October 1st due date, but we will on October 4th, which is a great improvement from previous months where we've had to wait for my second paycheck to come in!  Small victories! 

In total, we spent an extra $622 catching up on bills from previous months, including daycare, utilities, Internet, student loans, and our gas bill.  Pen has only worked one week of overtime this month, so we were able to catch up on those bills with money we already had coming in, not because Pen was getting overtime!

From last month, we saved $404 by limiting the amount of times we ate out (which will be one time in 30 days).  We've saved $80 from not buying pizza alone!  We've saved $65 in fuel for our cars by sticking close to home (that's an entire tank of gas for the van!).  We've saved $112 by not buying snacks and fountain sodas at the gas station after the kiddos are in bed.  I'm also 8 pounds down, and that doesn't suck!

Next month will be exciting.  I'm starting the 31 Days Challenge which will include how we're saving and spending for Christmas, as well as how we're decorating for fall/Halloween, throwing a birthday party and a Halloween party on a budget, and making the Piglets' costumes.  I'm also looking forward to seeing a little more money left over at the end of every week!  We'll be paying off the couch and hopefully there will be enough money to buy a new dishwasher to replace the one that's been broken the entire month of September.  I see ourselves making better money decisions, and hopefully not being so hard on ourselves when we slip up. 

What changes have you made this month, or are you inspired to make next month?  Anyone else doing the 31 Days Challenge?