Do you regularly contribute you your savings???

[Miss_N]

I've been having a play with our budget and can't seem to find a way to ensure we are putting away some savings every fortnight.

This really worries me. I wonder how we will get ahead in life without being able to have some savings behind us.

DF and I have already talked about who will handle the money when we live together next year and I got that job! :D So I want to do a good job of it! :yes:

Anyway...my Q is...

Do you regularly contribute to your savings?

Do you have savings? If you don't...does it worry you?

The budget calculator I used allowed me to budget for EVERYTHING! Car rego, services, doctors, chemist visits, etc. All those little things that arn't weekly or fortnightly expenses but that you need money for! So HOW can I find a way to cut down on our budget to make way for savings?

Any advice/tips/ideas are welcome! :)

[overitand36]

savings at the moment has become a bit of a joke with only one working but when we did save it was done first

money was directly paid into a savings account before we saw it, it was not in our account to be spent

set up an excel spreadsheet and have the first item savings the rest will then just have to sort itself out

maybe change doctors to a bulk billed when you know what you want like a script or have a common cold save the good doctors when you really need to pay for the service

and cut chemists to generic brands they are the same thing just in a cheaper box

savings just need to be moved to a higher priority can't wait until i am working again so i can practice what i am saying but at the moment expenses far out seed income

[Miss_N]

Thanks over it and 36. That is a VERY good idea about the Drs! We have a great free medical centre in our town and while its inconvienient to sit and wait (you can't book an appt there) it is handy for when you get colds/flus etc! :yes:

I also have a great GP that I will keep and see for my PCOS and other issues. :)

We already get generic brands! Maybe I am budgeting too much. I have put asside $50 a fortnight for these things. Maybe I can cut it down to $20 a fortnight? WDYT?

Also how do I set up a budget in excel? Its something I really want to do but don't know how. Is it pretty easy? I'm pretty good with computers. Just not familiar with excel! :no:

Is $300 a fortnight on food/toiletries/cleaning for 2 adults too much?

TIA! :)

[PeppaH]

Savings? Whats that?:laughing:

[Miss_N]

Savings? Whats that?:laughing:

I know! Thats what we have been like all year! The only reason I have savings in from my fat tax return! DF has NO savings! It SCARES me!!!

I HATE worrying about money! We earn GOOD $$$! We have NO children! Yes we have car loans and DF has other debt but we SHOULD be able to save! :yes:

[MsMummy]

We're not saving at the moment as we're just living on my wage (30 hours a week) as my partner quit his part-time job a few months ago to focus on uni.

But when we were both working on average incomes (say, $50k a year) we had a lot of disposable income. My partner saved his, but I spent mine (travel, clothes, books, CDs etc).

Now that our income has severely contracted and I've stopped spending, I look back and realise how much extra I could have saved.

I think it's a matter of being brutal and just not spending.

Our biggest expense is our mortgage. But there's not much I can do about that. And it's an appreciating asset that has already made us money.

Cars are a huge money pit. We just have one 10-year-old car between us. It cost $7000 and gives us no trouble. People waste loads of money on cars. It's just a depreciating asset.

I don't buy many clothes, and when I do, it's stuff on sale or secondhand.

I stopped buying books and CDs (that was the most painful concession). I just borrow them from the library.

We don't eat out much anymore, but still need to make a lot more cuts to our grocery bill.

we put our phone and Internet into a bundle with free calls, and I hardly ever use my mobile phone.

We do have private healthcare (hospitals and extras), but if things got really tight, I'd get rid of the extras (but not the hospital as I'm almost 30 and don't want to pay the lifetime loading).

If you're not saving now and you're on an okay income, then you need to do something. I know it sounds boring, but when you retire, super might not be enough so you really need some other assets.

Or even before that, if you have a baby, it's a rude shock to lose one income. we would have been in trouble if we didn't have some savings.

[Mummy2R&K]

I do :yes:

I was never able to with the ex, he was bad with money and very selfish with his income.

Now I'm on my own, I make sure I put money away every fortnight, and like a PP said, I have a budget spreadsheet, and that is always first behind my rent.

ATM as I'm still getting the baby bonus, I was managing 200-300 pf.....but once that stops, it will be 100 a fortnight.

I love having that safety net there now :goodvibes:

[Miss_N]

We're not saving at the moment as we're just living on my wage (30 hours a week) as my partner quit his part-time job a few months ago to focus on uni.

But when we were both working on average incomes (say, $50k a year) we had a lot of disposable income. My partner saved his, but I spent mine (travel, clothes, books, CDs etc).

Now that our income has severely contracted and I've stopped spending, I look back and realise how much extra I could have saved.

I think it's a matter of being brutal and just not spending.

Our biggest expense is our mortgage. But there's not much I can do about that. And it's an appreciating asset that has already made us money.

Cars are a huge money pit. We just have one 10-year-old car between us. It cost $7000 and gives us no trouble. People waste loads of money on cars. It's just a depreciating asset.

I don't buy many clothes, and when I do, it's stuff on sale or secondhand.

I stopped buying books and CDs (that was the most painful concession). I just borrow them from the library.

We don't eat out much anymore, but still need to make a lot more cuts to our grocery bill.

we put our phone and Internet into a bundle with free calls, and I hardly ever use my mobile phone.

We do have private healthcare (hospitals and extras), but if things got really tight, I'd get rid of the extras (but not the hospital as I'm almost 30 and don't want to pay the lifetime loading).

If you're not saving now and you're on an okay income, then you need to do something. I know it sounds boring, but when you retire, super might not be enough so you really need some other assets.

Or even before that, if you have a baby, it's a rude shock to lose one income. we would have been in trouble if we didn't have some savings.

Wow! Thanks for being so honest! We don't even have a mortgage. Its not something we will be able to do for a while (DF has a Part XI debt agreement) but I want to use this time to save so when we can apply for a loan we have a decent deposit! :yes:

You are right about cars! Ours are our enemy! We both have very nice cars! I spent $40k on my first car! A bit OTT when I look back! But I wanted something nice and got caught up in that! I want to look into down sizing and seeing if I can lower my repayments but not sure if that will be possible!

I agree that we NEED to start saving now! Its not ok to just be spending it all each fortnight! I know its hard atm with us living 3 hours apart! We do spend A LOT on petrol and I know it will be easier to save when we live together but at the same time I am paying BARELY any rent out here so that should make it easier to save! I have actually been putting some money away each fortnight since I got engaged! :yes:


I do :yes:

I was never able to with the ex, he was bad with money and very selfish with his income.

Now I'm on my own, I make sure I put money away every fortnight, and like a PP said, I have a budget spreadsheet, and that is always first behind my rent.

ATM as I'm still getting the baby bonus, I was managing 200-300 pf.....but once that stops, it will be 100 a fortnight.

I love having that safety net there now :goodvibes:

Wow! I admire you! If you can save so can we! We NEED to do this! Like I said we have NO excuse! We have GOOD incomes! NO children!

[overitand36]

if anyone wants an excel spreadsheet PM me your email and I can sent one to you

[Mummy2R&K]

Wow! I admire you! If you can save so can we! We NEED to do this! Like I said we have NO excuse! We have GOOD incomes! NO children!

Thanks. I can tell you it is good....I couldn't even save when I was single before kids. But now the only debt I have is my car and that isn't really much.

I just can't believe how much better I am financially single! lol.

I do work part time, get SPP, FTB and the ex pays decent child support. But once DD starts going to DS more, then I will have to be a bit stricter with my budget as CS will reduce a bit.



if anyone wants an excel spreadsheet PM me your email and I can sent one to you

Can you PM me yours, I would be interested to see how you set yours up. Mine is more like a running bank balance and I've done it until APril next year with all expected incoming & outgoing, just roughly though.

[~Temet Nosce~]

At the moment I think I have about $20 in my awards saver account :laughing: thats it.
I actually only opened it a few months ago after thinking it would be a good idea to start buildling a little nest.
I have been trying to put about $10 or $20 away in it a fortnight, but have found I have needed to take money out of it a couple of times (ok well not always needed to :p)

The best way I have found to save money in it is to not have it linked to a card, so if the bank is closed, or I'm not near one, I have no choice and can't be tempted to get money out of it.

When we start getting the baby bonus installments I'm going to put that away in the account so that should be a good start. Though alot of it may need to be used again next year if we have to move house, the lease ends in june and because it's for sale we don't know if we will be able to stay a 3rd year, I'd really like to though so that I can gather more savings up.

[Miss_N]

The best way I have found to save money in it is to not have it linked to a card, so if the bank is closed, or I'm not near one, I have no choice and can't be tempted to get money out of it.



Yep! I have one of those! They do work well!

I have a Q for those with 2 adults in their homes.

Do you mind sharing an approx of how much elec you pay each quarter? I have NO idea what to budget for that as I don't pay elec atm! :)

[MothersMilk]

I have always been a saver - my minimum goal throughout my working life was to have 6 month worth of wages saved at all times. I found that easy to stick to and usually had more than that put away.
DH was never a saver, until he met me, but he is pretty good now.
Our savings aren't as high with only one income but we have money put away.
We have a little motto - pay ourselves first (everything else gets paid of course but our savings are important so we put towards that first - even if it is only a small amount it all adds up ;)).

[SuperGranny]

hello, I have set myself an amountof savings each week. It doesnt matter what the amount is, but what matters is you put it into the savings account. Make sure the savings account is not accessible by your card, and that it earns some interest. If you cant get at the savings without prior notice, it stops impulse spending. I write down my expenses each week, and adjust whatever I can so that the saving amount is not going to be used. The savings balance does go up and down, but it is still a positve step and I have control over where my money is going. Marie.

[BigRedV]

Yes, we do save.

We put money aside into an online saver account every week but it is also important for us to have a fair bit of money in our offset account as it lowers the interest on our mortgage.

We own both our cars, they are not fancy, DF has a little runabout, about 10 years old and my car is 2003 model.

We also have a savings account for DD. It's not much but it will help her out one day.

[Miss_N]

I have always been a saver - my minimum goal throughout my working life was to have 6 month worth of wages saved at all times. I found that easy to stick to and usually had more than that put away.
DH was never a saver, until he met me, but he is pretty good now.
Our savings aren't as high with only one income but we have money put away.
We have a little motto - pay ourselves first (everything else gets paid of course but our savings are important so we put towards that first - even if it is only a small amount it all adds up ;)).

Wow! I did just the sums and if we had six months of savings in the bank that would be a DREAM come true! What % of your wage did you put away to get that? Or did you just keep building until you had that much? :)


hello, I have set myself an amountof savings each week. It doesnt matter what the amount is, but what matters is you put it into the savings account. Make sure the savings account is not accessible by your card, and that it earns some interest. If you cant get at the savings without prior notice, it stops impulse spending. I write down my expenses each week, and adjust whatever I can so that the saving amount is not going to be used. The savings balance does go up and down, but it is still a positve step and I have control over where my money is going. Marie.

Thanks Marie! Thats very helpful! And some of those things I do already - like having the high interest savings account that is inaccesable with my atm card. But other things - like the impulse spendings - we need to work on! :yes:

Anyone care to share their elec expenses? Im still not sure what to budget per fornight for that! It will be just DF and I in the house! :D

[Miss_N]

Yes, we do save.

We put money aside into an online saver account every week but it is also important for us to have a fair bit of money in our offset account as it lowers the interest on our mortgage.

We own both our cars, they are not fancy, DF has a little runabout, about 10 years old and my car is 2003 model.

We also have a savings account for DD. It's not much but it will help her out one day.

Thanks Lozzaaa! This is where I want us to be when we have a baby! Cars paid off! Savings in the bank! And for that to happen we NEED to get into better habits with our $! :yes:

[SuperGranny]

hi, We have only the two of us in the house, and I have a direct debit set up. $76 per fortnight, goes into my electricity account, I get a statement each ninety days, but I dont have to 'pay'. We have an all electric house, and we have a swimming pool that is on the cheapest rate for the pool filter. I think everyone is paying too much for the electricity, because it was not much more expensive when the whole family of six adults were living here. My electricity supplier is AGL, maybe you can get cheaper ?? Marie.

[Miss_N]

hi, We have only the two of us in the house, and I have a direct debit set up. $76 per fortnight, goes into my electricity account, I get a statement each ninety days, but I dont have to 'pay'. We have an all electric house, and we have a swimming pool that is on the cheapest rate for the pool filter. I think everyone is paying too much for the electricity, because it was not much more expensive when the whole family of six adults were living here. My electricity supplier is AGL, maybe you can get cheaper ?? Marie.

Thanks Marie! Maybe I'm not budgeting enought then. I didnt think the bill would be more that $300 a quarter. :confused:

[Kimnus]

DH contributes $250 to our savings account every Fortnight. But saying that the private health insurance comes out of there every month, but we still come a head in the long run :D

[fox_girl]

Dp and I managed to save $14k in 12 months when building g
his house, paying a car loan, him paying rent to his parents and me to my sister. I had a personal loan and credit card I was paying. Plus shopping and chd care for dd. We weren't on huge wages but were living apart got pps and ftb which covered my rent and food etc at my sisters.

Since he moved in he saved for his air conditioner and yard. But since I've been living here we seem worse off. I don't get any benefits now and dd costs more with kindy fees. But we manage.

We do have a bit saved but not as much as i'd like. Between us we earn $76k but with holdens cut backs we are on $66k, so it's hit us a bit.

We are lucky now to only have a mortgage and credit card. Oh and dps tv on interest free.

You can do it miss n. Just draw up a budget and stick to it.

Electricity approx $300 a qtr here but we have gas too

[Beckybug]

I don't but I need to with us TTC. I want to try and pay off my $6000 credit card and the rest of my loan, about $3500 within the next 6 months, so I don't know if I'll manage to save much.

[Miss_N]

I don't but I need to with us TTC. I want to try and pay off my $6000 credit card and the rest of my loan, about $3500 within the next 6 months, so I don't know if I'll manage to save much.

This is how I feel. I know now is the time to set ourselves up with a decent savings so that we can have babies as soon as we are married (about 14 months time).

I HATE not having anything to fall back on! If I think about it too much it actually keeps me up at night! We don't have credit cards for "just in case" and I don't ever want to get one! :no:

[FullMoon]

Does anyone have a link to a good budget calculator..??

I remember one on here ages ago for a government budget calculator!

[Miss_N]

Full Moon - I just googled and found quite a few great ones! But overitand36's excel budget calculator is GREAT because you can save it and keep going over it! Do you want me to email it to you? Just PM me! :)

[MothersMilk]

Wow! I did just the sums and if we had six months of savings in the bank that would be a DREAM come true! What % of your wage did you put away to get that? Or did you just keep building until you had that much? :)




When i was young and single it was very easy for me to save heaps. My rent was cheap, i walked everywhere - i was within walking distance to work and the shops and the post office etc so i never needed to buy a car or pay transport costs, my bills were never high because it was just me and didn't use much, my food budget was strict and i walked to the markets every Sunday and got cheap produce, i didn't waste money. So i saved about 50% of my wage - of course it is all relative to circumstance. I could never save that much now :no: but i always save something no matter what :yes:
I have found it easy to save though - i like seeing money grow and the more it grows the more compelled i am to save.
It also reduces stress - i have always had enough to get by any emergencies. My savings have been a saving grace many times over and then i just get back to building it up again :D
We put as much as we can afford into savings and then don't touch it - that is the key! Just put whatever you can away and forget it is there until you really need it. Once it is in the savings account consider it gone.
From little things big things grow ;)

[Mummy2R&K]

Full Moon - I just googled and found quite a few great ones! But overitand36's excel budget calculator is GREAT because you can save it and keep going over it! Do you want me to email it to you? Just PM me! :)

Do you think you could email to me?? I think there is an option to send an email when you click my name.

Thanks Miss N, I would like to compare what I do, as I would like a better one :yes:

[MsMummy]

It's really good that you're thinking about reforming your ways.

I was a bit of a spendthrift but I was lucky enough to have my partner to sort me out (he is the most incredible saver I have ever met - his tip - just don't buy anything...:D).

Between your $40,000 first car (on finance, I presume...) and your partner's Part IX (at 21 years), it sounds like you both need some sorting out (I mean that in the nicest possible way...:laughing:). I almost fell off my chair.:D

You both need to avoid putting anything on credit card, higher purchase, store cards, finance arrangement, anything like that. If you don't have the money for it, don't buy it.

My BIL and his partner (now in their mid 30s) are living the consequences of buying too many things on finance in their 20s. They still have some of those debts, and just can't seem to get ahead. And, 10 years later, they have nothing to show for it.

I would save hard, and buy a house (nothing fancy) as that's sort of forced savings (obviously it would have to be a house within your means).

I wouldn't rush into having a baby until you have a bit of extra money either. I found having a baby incredibly financially stressful, and we fell back on our savings and the fact we had a low mortgage. You don't want to be forced back into work earlier than you planned.

Bloody money. It's the bane of our existence. I'll let you know if I find the money tree I've been looking for.:D

[MothersMilk]

Oh and no more buying anything on credit :no:
Really there is no need for it - if you don't have the cash up front you can't afford it. This the attitude you need to adopt - it will save you bucket loads :yes:
Getting rid of your debt should be your first aim, then start saving like crazy.

[fox_girl]

Can you email me acopy of the budget thing please

[Miss_N]

Do you think you could email to me?? I think there is an option to send an email when you click my name.

Thanks Miss N, I would like to compare what I do, as I would like a better one

Will go and do that now! Will PM you if I need your actual email addy.


It's really good that you're thinking about reforming your ways.

I was a bit of a spendthrift but I was lucky enough to have my partner to sort me out (he is the most incredible saver I have ever met - his tip - just don't buy anything...).

Between your $40,000 first car (on finance, I presume...) and your partner's Part IX (at 21 years), it sounds like you both need some sorting out (I mean that in the nicest possible way...). I almost fell off my chair.

You both need to avoid putting anything on credit card, higher purchase, store cards, finance arrangement, anything like that. If you don't have the money for it, don't buy it.

My BIL and his partner (now in their mid 30s) are living the consequences of buying too many things on finance in their 20s. They still have some of those debts, and just can't seem to get ahead. And, 10 years later, they have nothing to show for it.

I would save hard, and buy a house (nothing fancy) as that's sort of forced savings (obviously it would have to be a house within your means).

I wouldn't rush into having a baby until you have a bit of extra money either. I found having a baby incredibly financially stressful, and we fell back on our savings and the fact we had a low mortgage. You don't want to be forced back into work earlier than you planned.

Bloody money. It's the bane of our existence. I'll let you know if I find the money tree I've been looking for.

Thanks MsMummy! You are right! And I completely agree with EVERYTHING you said! We don't have ANY credit or store cards anymore. I have NEVER had any and NEVER want any after seeing the sort of trouble my DF got into with them! We are very similar personality wise (as you would expect) and I know I would just spend, spend, spend! :no:

I DID NOT want to hear the not having a baby thing though! :( We want to start trying in about 18 months. I'm worried with my PCOS it will take a while and don't want to wait too long.

But your right...I don't want to put my 12 week old baby in CC and be forced back into work! And thats why I want to SAVE SAVE SAVE now! :)

P.S - I believe educating our chidlren about debt and budgeting and CC's is ESSENTIAL!!! DF had his first CC before his 18th bday! He then got 2 more! Maxed them all out, got a personal loan to consolidate them and then maxed them all out again! :no: As much as he was a responsible adult (or at least considered one by the banks) I really wonder why his parents just sat by and watched! My parents would KILL me if I got a CC now! Even at 23! :D


Oh and no more buying anything on credit
Really there is no need for it - if you don't have the cash up front you can't afford it. This the attitude you need to adopt - it will save you bucket loads
Getting rid of your debt should be your first aim, then start saving like crazy.

Promise! No more buying things we can't afford! We really can't anyway! Like I said we have no CC's and I WILL not be getting one!


Can you email me acopy of the budget thing please

Will do that now! :yes:

[mum_I'm_hungry]

We don't have a mortgage, so have always been very conscious that we have to save. It's the first thing that comes out of the fortnightly pay -- savings. And then the rest leftover is up for grabs :D Though, sadly, mostly by Origin, Vodafone, rent etc. :laughing:

Doing the direct debit made a huge difference. If you don't see it, that money doesn't really exist, if that makes any sense.

Another thing that made a big difference for us was swapping from a credit card to a Visa debit. Those things are great. Painful, but great. You simply can't spend what you don't have in the first place.

Probably not all that helpful, really, sorry, but those two things made a huge difference for us. We earn a lot of money between us, but you do find that the more you earn, the more you spend, I'm afraid :o

[MsMummy]

18 months is a fair bit of time anyway, then there's an extra 9 months while you're pregnant. You can save a lot in 2 years.

Sorry to be so blunt. It's come from hearing years of wacky stories from clients. I've become progressively blunter.:D

[Miss_N]

18 months is a fair bit of time anyway, then there's an extra 9 months while you're pregnant. You can save a lot in 2 years.

Sorry to be so blunt. It's come from hearing years of wacky stories from clients. I've become progressively blunter.:D

Thats ok! Blunt is good! Espesh when I have already come to the conclusion that everything you said is what we NEED to do!

If we were still in our happy fairy land where CC's are free money cards then perhaps I would of been a bit taken back! But I know you are right! :yes:

[Miss_N]

We don't have a mortgage, so have always been very conscious that we have to save. It's the first thing that comes out of the fortnightly pay -- savings. And then the rest leftover is up for grabs :D Though, sadly, mostly by Origin, Vodafone, rent etc. :laughing:

Doing the direct debit made a huge difference. If you don't see it, that money doesn't really exist, if that makes any sense.

Another thing that made a big difference for us was swapping from a credit card to a Visa debit. Those things are great. Painful, but great. You simply can't spend what you don't have in the first place.

Probably not all that helpful, really, sorry, but those two things made a huge difference for us. We earn a lot of money between us, but you do find that the more you earn, the more you spend, I'm afraid :o

Thanks for the advice! We both have visa debts now! They are great!

I completely agree with the more you earn the more you spend! Last year I was a Uni student wo got by on about $100-$200 a week depending on what I worked. Now I earn WAAAAAAY more than that but don't feel as though I do! I guess I just have more expenses! :)

[OJandMe]

Yep, we have savings :)

If you can't make room for savings in your budget... then decrease your income. :yes:

Say you earn $45,000 and that's the amount you've put into your budget... take it down... say you earn $42,500 instead. .. and then you've automatically saved $2500.

The book 'The Richest Man in Babylon' says to save 10%.... to automatically deduct it, before anything else... and put it into savings (for a purpose... house deposit, new car, baby, travel, whatever....)

So if you earn $700 a week.... save $70 of that FIRST... tell yourself that instead of earning $700... you earn $630... take the $70 out, put it somewhere youo've dedicated for savings (or put it into a separate account) and leave it there.

It's amazing what you can live on.

We budget everything.. EVERYTHING... and we save :) in the last 5 months we've saved about $2500.. and we have 4 kids, 2 cars, rent, kindy and an income of about $600pw

It can be done... shop somewhere else, drive shorter distances, cook cheaper meals, buy veges at the markets, buy bulk meats, make your own coffee rather than going out.

You can do it. :)

And personally... I say have a baby before buying a house. Or make sure that if you buy a house, you can survive on living on your DH's wage... including mortgage payments. If you can do that... then you can basically save your enitre wage until you decide to have a bubs... and it won't shock you when you leave work, because you'll aready be living on one income... (you'll just have a huge savings account too!!)

If you can learn to live on one wage now you'll be set.... because that's what you're going to need to do when a bubs comes along.

[Mummy2R&K]

Damn BH ate my post again :banghead:

Anyways, PM me your email addy if you would like what I use....and I'll explain how I use it, I use mine more like a running bank balance.

[Miss_N]

Yep, we have savings

If you can't make room for savings in your budget... then decrease your income. :yes:

Say you earn $45,000 and that's the amount you've put into your budget... take it down... say you earn $42,500 instead. .. and then you've automatically saved $2500.

The book 'The Richest Man in Babylon' says to save 10%.... to automatically deduct it, before anything else... and put it into savings (for a purpose... house deposit, new car, baby, travel, whatever....)

So if you earn $700 a week.... save $70 of that FIRST... tell yourself that instead of earning $700... you earn $630... take the $70 out, put it somewhere youo've dedicated for savings (or put it into a separate account) and leave it there.

It's amazing what you can live on.

We budget everything.. EVERYTHING... and we save :) in the last 5 months we've saved about $2500.. and we have 4 kids, 2 cars, rent, kindy and an income of about $600pw

It can be done... shop somewhere else, drive shorter distances, cook cheaper meals, buy veges at the markets, buy bulk meats, make your own coffee rather than going out.

You can do it. :)

And personally... I say have a baby before buying a house. Or make sure that if you buy a house, you can survive on living on your DH's wage... including mortgage payments. If you can do that... then you can basically save your enitre wage until you decide to have a bubs... and it won't shock you when you leave work, because you'll aready be living on one income... (you'll just have a huge savings account too!!)

If you can learn to live on one wage now you'll be set.... because that's what you're going to need to do when a bubs comes along.

Wow! I admire you too! :yes: I don't know how we would survive on one income now that you mention it! :o I mean I guess baby bonus and any parenting payment or FTB we get will help. But really have NO idea about those things or how much we might get per F/N. I guess thats a reason to build up our savings! So that MY expense (my car) could be paid for out of that and then the govt assistance could substitute the rent/household expenses.

Is that a reasonable thing to do or not?

I do think we will have a baby before we buy a house! Unless we buy a Unit in which case the repayments will be very similar to renting a house! :yes:

[fox_girl]

Thanks I got your email.

[MsMummy]

Wow! I admire you too! :yes: I don't know how we would survive on one income now that you mention it! :o I mean I guess baby bonus and any parenting payment or FTB we get will help. But really have NO idea about those things or how much we might get per F/N. I guess thats a reason to build up our savings! So that MY expense (my car) could be paid for out of that and then the govt assistance could substitute the rent/household expenses.

Is that a reasonable thing to do or not?

I do think we will have a baby before we buy a house! Unless we buy a Unit in which case the repayments will be very similar to renting a house! :yes:

If your partner earns an average wage, then you won't get any parenting payment.

On current rates, if your partner earns about $55k pa, then you would get about $5k a year in FTB (parts A and B) plus the $5k baby bonus. So, if you took a year off work, that would give you $10k (net) for that first year (so, $200 per week).

ETA: And I believe you might get rent assistance. We don't get it so I'm not sure how much it is. If you go to the Centrelink web site and search for "estimator" you can work out your prospective entitlements.

[Miss_N]

If your partner earns an average wage, then you won't get any parenting payment.

On current rates, if your partner earns about $55k pa, then you would get about $5k a year in FTB (parts A and B) plus the $5k baby bonus. So, if you took a year off work, that would give you $10k (net) for that first year (so, $200 per week).

ETA: And I believe you might get rent assistance. We don't get it so I'm not sure how much it is. If you go to the Centrelink web site and search for "estimator" you can work out your prospective entitlements.

Geez, thanks for the info MsMummy. For some reason I thought there was more financial support. This shows me that we really need to get our finances in order before we start TTC.

How do people afford to stay home for so long? Espesh when they have a mortgage and car loans :confused:

[MothersMilk]

Geez, thanks for the info MsMummy. For some reason I thought there was more financial support. This shows me that we really need to get our finances in order before we start TTC.

How do people afford to stay home for so long? Espesh when they have a mortgage and car loans :confused:

We can afford for me to stay home with a mortgage and a car loan (DH's - not mine. i am anti car loans :laughing:) because we purchased a house we could afford with one wage - it is small and humble but a great start and we love it. We are slowly renovating it. It took over a year to find a decent house in our price range (in a reasonable suburb) but it was worth it.
The car loan is nearly paid off and once it is we will a lot more cash :yelclap:

[meggie09]

:wave: we have always had savings, except we spent them all on a car. Then the car broke down and had to get fixed last week - that cost $3100. Anyway this week we are putting our first lot in the bank. Dh work has picked up to 5 days a week which means we will be able to put $750 away each week + $240 FTB each fn. We basically cut out all luxuries and buy basics. We grow fruit and veges etc...and we stay out of debt. We only have a little bit left on our old car loan and will have it paid out by xmas. Sometimes the only way to get ahead for the future is to go without now. Good luck.

[MsMummy]

Geez, thanks for the info MsMummy. For some reason I thought there was more financial support. This shows me that we really need to get our finances in order before we start TTC.

How do people afford to stay home for so long? Espesh when they have a mortgage and car loans :confused:

Dunno. We couldn't live on one wage for an extended period of time. I can't wait til my partner finishes uni and gets a bloody job. We want to renovate the house and we like to travel. (so much for all my saving lectures...:laughing:)

I guess they either budget really well, or the wage-earner earns really well, or they have very low housing costs (paid off house early on or cheap rent etc...).

But, yeah, I wouldn't rely on money from Centrelink. I mean, it's helpful but it's nothing like a wage. We don't get our FTB paid fortnightly. We find the lump sum is a sort of forced saving as well.

[Nat the Cat]

As I read this I have mixed feelings of dread and anger :confused:

dread at the fact that what if I am in the same boat at some point and can't get on top of my savigs. And anger that I haven't saved enough already when I have been living at home.

I really really have to get on top of my budget, once I do there are some good deals at the moment. Check out http://mozo.com.au/savings-accounts there is a Ubank account at 5.21% which is amazing, ING isn't to bad at 5.00% but I guess I have to stop spending first :yes:

[jaq]

Nat and Amy - one thing to keep in mind - you are both still young, and if you are thinking about this NOW, you will get ahead. Set up a direct debit for your savings, make it for as much as you possibly can, and then ignore it! If you must save for something in particular, have two accounts - a holiday fund and a "life" fund for example.

I've always had good jobs and earnt too much money, and have no discipline. Luckily, my husband is great with money, and I am more careful with "our" money than I ever was with mine.

That said, I've never owned a car I couldn't buy in cash, and my credit card was always paid out in full. First rule of money - STAY OUT OF DEBT!!!!!

We have a mortgage, but its smaller than many people's rent because we made money on our property in the UK. I can afford to stay home because my husband earns a good living, and we have no other debt.

We actually keep our savings in our mortgage account to whittle that down quicker. So we have $40k to draw on, should we need it, but we are also paying interest on 40K less of mortgage. It's a great way of doing things BUT you have to be very disciplined with money.

But you are learning! You WILL get there :thumbsup:

[Ardentwhispers]

:yes: We do.

We've finally in the last few months gotten on top of our $ and stuck to a budget :yelclap:

Now we have $1,100 in the bank after 2 months, after depleting $600 for emergencies (vet bill, and other unforseen costs).

We do the 70/20/10 thing. 70% of our income goes to living expenses, 20% goes to debt, and 10% goes to savings. The savings goes in first...10% of whatever income we get (it fluctuates a little) + enough to cover annual + quarterly expenses, then I pay our bills & debt, then take out cash that we put into different jars lol.

The fortnightly jars are:
$300 groceries/other (meds etc)
$80 for kiddo (for weekend activities/excursions, book orders, etc. oh and his $5 weekly allowance comes out of this)
$100 for petrol
$80 for takeaway (we have 1 takeaway night a week)
and then $225 each for me and OH.

Once the money is gone, it's gone..and you have to wait until next fortnight or pinch from another jar for small things (ie: take petrol money to buy bread).

I figured it all out on a spreadsheet what 70% of our expenses were and then figured out how much we generally spend on things, which is how I decided how much each jar gets. It keeps us from being impulsive! We don't always stick to it 100% :laughing:but we try.

Some fortnights we save more than 10% which is nice :)

I think it also makes us think more about where our money is going...which helps us not to spend it too frivoulosly.

[TacoFest]

I love saving! I hate to see my bank account dip under a certain ammount. I think DP and I are doing very well financially, considering our ages and the fact that our baby was unplanned. DP is an electrician who has recently started working for himself and is making quite good money (but works very hard!) We live in our own house (have a mortgage) and have a car payment, but manage to still save money. I am also very lucky that I don't have to go back to work.

We save 150 a week into our joint account, then we each put 50 a week into our own seperate accounts.

This means that in our joint account we aim to save 7800 a year (usually end up saving about 6500ish) and about 2500 in our seperate accounts. (We are not married yet, when we are we will combine everything, but we had this system when we lived seperately and it worked well.) We also put 20 a week into an account for our daughter. We plan to do this every week for her until she is 18, then give her the account.

I agree with the previous posters who said put the money away without even thinking about it. We try to put away about 300ish every week, so we dont even think about that money to use for anything else.

Good luck Amy!

[Kayangel]

I dont have any savings but really should budget in a way that i start saving but my main focus is my son and saving for his future, he does have a very large savings account, i put $50 a week into his account have since he was born, i also put a large part of his baby bonus in his account and all the gorument bonuses us single mums have recieved.

[neeky]

we have become rather slack with our general savings lately. But this is what we have.

My DP (much to my protesting at the time that we couldn't afford it) set up a managed fund that you didn't need a chunk of money to start but you HAVE to put in $80 a month, every month that you have that managed fund. He started this when we were struggling on just his income. It comes out as a direct debit on the 20th of each month. This is our serious savings because it would take a week to get the money out, its more for like a house deposit or something big like that!
As soon as i went back to work he put it up to $200 a month. When i stop working again when we have this 2nd child we will put it back to the $80 a month.
We now have a decent chunk in there and when the market went down our 200 a month was buying a lot more shares so when everything is fully recovered its worth more! I have to say as much as i HATED the idea and protested that we couldn't afford it, it really was a BRILLIANT idea!

Miss_N we are in a 3brm house, 2 adults and 1 child. Our last electricity bill was a little under $270 for the quarter.(thats including the ambulance allowance in qld). I make sure that i put money on it each week (even if i can only spare $10) so that when the bill comes we dont have it as a huge bill.

We have gotten very slack with our savings lately. We really struggled for awhile when we had our DS (especially because we moved and i couldn't transfer with work so i stopped working at like 5-6mths preg). So now when we are making enough money we are enjoying the freedom of spending and spoiling our son. Although i know we should be getting strict again so that we have everything paid ahead b4 i finish up for work again, i'm sure i will get to it soon :rolleyes:

You are a much wiser person than i was the first time around. I didn't think much about getting the nest egg there so we had that to fall back on when we were struggling. Would have come in very handy when our car was breaking down every other week. This time around i'm thinking ahead a bit more. Now i just have to curb the spending.

One trick i found did help us see where all the money was going was to write down in a book every single cent we spent and what on for a couple of pays (a bout a month). When we looked at it we were horrified at the money we were wasting on buying things like food and drinks when out. All the little things added up to A LOT!

[aliasmel]

I have $1100 saving but am saving for a second hand horse float as I need to borrow peoples all the time or hire one and its costs like $100 a day to hire one....

But I need about $2500 to buy a decent one

[MummaBear03]

I had savings when I was working, because I had $500 in my account each week from wages, $241 each fortnight in FTB and around $20 a fortnight in parenting payment. Now that I'm on just centrelink payments, my income is a gross amount of $406 a week, and I'm paying back a debt, paying tax, and paying off a fine so get quite a bit less than $400 a week to work with. Direct debits come out weekly for the house, car, and fortnightly installments on basic bills, leaving me with $50 a week to use for fuel, food, and medical expenses. No, not only am I not contributing to savings, I'm living partially off savings for the time being.

[MumtoD]

Yes we save every month and have continued to do so while I am on maternity leave (albeit a reduced amount). It is really important to have some savings behind you because you just dont know when the fridge/washing machine etc will break or something else happens that you need money for asap.

[HollyHotLips]

we dont have any savings, any spare money that does come our way is overpaid off the mortgage... doesnt make sense to have savings earning pitiful interest when you're paying debts and owing big time interest. The over payments can be borrowed back if need be but we have a credit card which would be our emergency back up.