<prompt> Human: I was asked to follow up on this post by utechnicolormotorhome so I will see what I can share that may be of interest. The most interest in my post seemed to be about the electric bill and, holy moley, do I feel like an idiot. We made some minor changes and we are now saving 100month from what we were spending. Im talking minor changes like turning off lights, shutting down my computer, etc. Wow. I hate to think about all the money I have thrown away because I was too lazy to flip light switches and somehow felt safer with lights burning in places I couldnt see them. I was a dumbass, but Im a reformed dumbass now. We held off as long as we could stand it before turning on our air conditioners and our last bill was only 175 for both the upstairs and the downstairs. Shocking. We can still do better and are continuing to work on our bad habits. Thanks rpersonalfinance! I have decided to keep the truck for now. The fear of being unable to get another car loan was too much for me at this time. I also like the security of having a four wheel drive vehicle. I was able to get to work last winter when others couldnt get out of their driveways. Unless it becomes an unbearable burden, I hope to keep it for a long time. Maybe in 10 years time 20 years is not an unheard of lifespan for a Nissan truck I can afford a nice Tesla or whatever electric car is the best value then. The financial advantage of this is that I can keep that 1000 I set aside for the ac repair in the car just in case I have a necessary repair. Things at work are still up and down, but they have been more up than down lately. I was able to get a fair amount of overtime last month which has honestly made me a little too comfortable and I havent been as on point with making some of the other changes that I had discussed with you fine folks. We still have to work something out with our cable company and we still have to sell that darn Gremlin. My husband is having a difficult time locating the title. My husband has not yet located a source of extra income, but he has been very focused on some big home projects and with the overtime Ive been getting, I havent been pushing it. I do keep my eye out and make suggestions when I see things that might help us out. Its hard for me to exert a lot of force in this direction when the burden of toddler care and household chores is mostly on his shoulders. I know how hard it is to get things done with a toddler demanding your attention. Its not easy. When I work overtime, his burden is increased. He also hasnt called about his loans. After getting the overtime, I was unable to apply for the energy assistance. I need to wait until I have two checks in a row without overtime to apply so I meet the income requirements. Some other budget changes I have made or am going to make... 1 At one users suggestion, I am cutting down on the Christmas budgeting, but not as much as suggested. Starting in July, I will half the amount I set aside to 25. That will give us 450 to spend on Christmas this year. I check yard sales throughout the year to look for appropriate gifts. Last year my dads gift, which was perfect for him, was only 5. 2 I made a catagory for future medical bills to try to keep myself out of debt to doctors and hospitals. When I work overtime, it should allow me to set a bit aside in that area. 3 When the time comes and changes are allowed, Im going to cancel my vision insurance. I did the math. When we only get eye exams every 2 years or less and order glasses from Zenni like we have been doing, the 12 a month doesnt mean savings. 4 I stopped by my bank to close my savings account that was costing me 5month for no good reason. They changed my account to one with no fees and no minimum balance and refunded me 4 months worth of the fees. That was worth the 10 minutes I spent in the bank. 5 I got a prescription for one of my over-the-counter meds. With insurance, it is slightly cheaper. Overtime brought my June income to 3900. It makes such an enormous difference. I go from fretting and struggling and trying to find extra money to trying to figure out where to put the extra money. I used the extra money to buy new glasses, pay off a rather largish medical bill that I had been waiting for the billing department to correct, rent a dumpster to make progress on our lead removal, stock up on household goods with some Target couponing and sales Im talking paper towels, toilet paper, and dog food... stuff we actually use, I dont have collections of soap and shampoo that I need to buy shelving units for. August is a three paycheck month, so I will have quite a bit of extra money that month. I plan on throwing most of it in the Medical and Buffer categories. Any suggestions, personalfinancers? I hope this is what you were looking for. I am very grateful for all the suggestions I received from the rpersonalfinance community. You guys are an amazing resource and I appreciate every single one of you that contributed a suggestion to my original post. I truly feel that our long term financial outlook is good, as long as we continue on this path. I should get a small raise in the coming months. In two years, the truck will be paid off, hopefully giving us two old, but reliable vehicles. In 10 years, well be relieved of the burden of my student loan and the bankruptcy will no longer affect our credit. Things have gotten better and they will continue to improve. Just using YNAB has eliminated so much of my money stress. Well get there.  <response>: Thats some progress all right! There are still a lot of areas where the extra money could go. Number 1 would be to get a healthy savings account. That money canshould be used in months when income is low, or for financial emergencies repairs, health care bill, etc. Number 2 would be paying off debts quicker than at the minimum rate, I think. Start with the debt with the highest interest rate, and work your way down from there. But I guess number 1 is most important right now. Once youve got a buffer of 2 - 3 months of expenses, I asume youll feel way more secure. Which should NOT be a reason to start overspending of course!!. Well done so far, keep at it, and good luck! 