Saving achievements and setbacks

From the beginning of the month i had planned to save some money as last month i had literally found the bottom of my savings.

This has not been easy but i have still not lost hope; with 17days left for the end of the month the goal is to save €140.00 which would be double of what i was able to save last month.

There have been quite a few demanding challenges to overcome this month and i have been trying to tackle them one by one with these few steps: 

Lower the Bills:

We all know that they are coming and they can not be stopped. The bills will end up at our door step no matter what we do! Nevertheless this does not mean that we can not do our part in lowering the amounts. By taking caution of the electricity use at home i was able to lower our electricity from the usual €90.00 to € 63.00. :)

• I was able to do so by making sure to remember to use the full potential of daylight and not switch on lights during the day. Also remembering to turn the lights off when leaving a room. 

• I reduced our loads of washing to once or twice a week rather than the usual three times a week. Bonus! i don't have a bunch of folding to do so often :) 

Second Hand:

Preparing for a new baby one of the first items on our must have list was a Stroller and car seat. After searching online for a while; we were able to find a good quality stroller (Graco Evo pushchair stroller with car-seat) second hand in great condition and for the fraction of the price of a brand new stroller. I'm not saying it was easy! we had to go through a lot of rejects as many adds would say good condition but in reality they were quite worn away, used and abused. Nevertheless we finally got lucky and i am super happy with our purchase of €95.00!
So i recommend having a little bit of patients to search and check out what is out there second hand.

Creative Gifts:
This month happens to be high wedding season here in Cyprus. Meaning... we have to not only attend but provide wedding gifts for many couples to who's wedding we have been invited to. For a special friend who i wanted to give something nice to i ended up making her a hand crafted, 3D-bridal duplicate of herself made from POLYMER CLAY which i had at home. She thought this was very special and ended up loving it. So, i was able to give her a gift that i was proud of without having to spend extra.

Catalogue Shopping:

Besides making a list of all the things we needed from the supermarket and keeping to the list. I was able to find the Specials Catalogue of some of our local supermarkets online. I made sure to get the items that were on my shopping list according to the Specials and Offers that were advertised on the catalogue. Yes, this might mean that you would have to sacrifice your favorite shampoo brand for an alternative one that happens to be on special. But surprisingly enough i have discovered brands that i like even more with this tactic; brands that i would probably not have tried if not for this new shopping system.

I must admit that i was not all good this month...
On the days where i felt to tired and to pregnant to even think of cooking i fell in to the temptation and easy solution of ordering in or eating out.

Also ended up buying a few things that i had not planned on purchasing this month. That is what happens when you get the idea of just taking "a walk" in the mall!

Also indulged in a night at the movies which came up to about € 32.00 for 4 people.

I estimate that my setbacks have a total of € 132.00

So, with 17 days left i am hoping to have saved €140.00. It would be great if next moth i could double that amount but lets see how this month goes first!...