advise please

[MoOaNdLiTtLePoPpEt]

Hi

Just wanting some advice.
We are currently living off about $1500 p/f. Our fortnightly budget will be increasing to about $1300 p/f.
This includes - rent-groceries and bub stuff-elec-phone-car maintenance- car loan repayment-rego-insurances-fuel-saving-entertainment. So it includes EVERYTHING.
Do you think having $200 left at the end of the fortnight would be substantial....?? I am just not sure....

i just am really worried about finances and contemplting going back to work, but i really don't want to as bubs is only 5 months old...but...

[MoOaNdLiTtLePoPpEt]

actually we will have $146 left to be exact....:no:

[V8]

We are kinda in the same boat, we need to work out how to live on $800 a fortnight :eek: (this is after our mortgage is paid). So we still got elec, rates, car maintenance, Home and contents insurance, phone, mobiles, petrol, food, blah blah blah! lol

So i am hoping we shall be ok, it's just really hard to budget at the moment cause we don't know how much our expenses are just yet, (we currently board with folks) so haven't had to pay things for ages like groceries and phone bills etc.

Hmmm, wish i had some answers, but when we move we are really going to be limited in what we can and can't do which is a bummer, but it's a sacrifice we'll just have to adjust to.

[Feral]

Hi guys, can I suggest a couple of things?
First write down everything you spend money on, and I mean everything, even loose change, try this for a week or so, now you should be able to see where your money goes, you may see things that are not neccesary or ways you could save money, I've found its the small things that can make a difference, I could give heaps of examples!

If you only have say $200 a f/n left, can you manage to put this money away for a few weeks as 'emergency money' in a seperate account, to be used for emergency car repairs, medical bills, unexpected expences etc, then slowly build this up over time, when you have spare cash.

I have always saved my loose change! stick it in a jar or a kids piggy bank, might sound silly, but you dont miss the money and I head to the bank with $200 of easy saved money over a few months, or occasionally I raid it for $20 for fuel or bread and milk money instead of breaking a $50 note

If you work out a realistic budget and learn to stick with it you will find it easier as time goes by and will bemore concious of where your money goes

Some words of wisdom I heard once:
'Instead of saving what is left after spending try spending whats left after saving'!

Im not sure if this helps? I can offer you heaps of money saving tips if you need them, I have had lots of practice over the years!

[TwoBoysOnly]

Oh yes please bring on the money saving tips :yes:

[Feral]

Ok guys, what area do you find the hardest to budget?
Have you used budgets much?
This is the best way to start then you can see what areas you need tips for.

Its all pretty simple stuff, here are some examples of things that have worked for us
Rule number 1, if you dont spend it you still have it!

1. Do you grocery shopping once a week, or once a fortnight, always write a list, (I walk around, look in cupboards and stand looking in fridge to write my list) when you go shopping only buy what is on the list, and buy enough to last the week etc, do not impulse buy, unless it is something cheap, reduced to clear, or on special (and value for money) always buy plenty of staples eg. rice, pasta, bread (freeze extra) veggies, can tomatoes, frozen beans,peas,corn.
By doing this you stick to budget easier, and shopping less often you dont get trapped into just going in for a couple of things and buying half the store! I freeze plenty of bread and use a bit of long life milk to cook with and when I run out of fresh milk.
I always buy a fair bit of homebrand products to save money, these are value for money, and often made by the name brand companys with a plain label.

2. Depending on where you live, try parking somewhere central and walk to bank, post office etc, saves fuel and frustration finding parking spots, and is good for you.
Always buy fuel where you get a 4c/litre discount.

3. Use your local library, its free to join, its airconditioned, has comfy seats, and free newspapers to read, you can loan cd, dvd, magazines, books even kids games, all for free. (also uses up some time that you would otherwise be spending money, I never buy womens magazines)

4. do you smoke, how much does this cost you, why not give up or grow own!!!!

5. takeaway food, nice as a treat but very expensive, DP and I couldnt get out of maccas for less than $20, think about what a bottle of coke, 2 frozen pizzas and some extra ham and cheese costs, or burgers with the lot made at home with the kids helping it costs about $2 each and the ingredients make about 10 burgers, I know its not as convenient, but its better for you and your wallet.

6. If you have a credit card, cut it up right now, I mean it, post me when youve done it!

7. Grow your own veggies, you dont need much room for a few pots of tomatoes! if not try to buy from farmers markets or roadside stalls.

8. buy second hand clothes, often they are popular name brand and have hardly been warn and cheap, you dont have to tell your friends where you got your cloths!

9. make your lunch at home to take to work, DP and I used to work together, so we shared our lunch, we'd share the most delicious food cakes, sausage rolls, pizza, leftovers all home made and a 1.25 litre bottle of soft drink which cost $1 while everyone else bought a pie and can of coke, the can cost $1.50, 500ml and the pie $3 plus.
It would be cheaper to buy a 4pk of pies, heat at work and buy a carton of coke on special!
simple things but think of the overall cost if you do this everyday.

7. If DP drinks beer, tell him to brew his own, tastes better and costs about $6 a carton, go figure

8. Do you pay bills by installments or the full amount when its due, work out the difference, you may save up to $100 by paying in full then dont have to worry for a year.

9. What does your bank charge in fees, may be worth looking around for a better one.

10. how often do you use you mobile phone? do you really need the flashiest model, we have a pre~paid

Theres some ideas to get you started, thinking at least, I will post some more soon,

hope this helps, Feral

[MoOaNdLiTtLePoPpEt]

hi.

thankyou....most of those tips we use....but some we had just got lazy on...

we always get the junk mail and go thru them too to find nappies on speical - so this is another tip!

Meal plan for the week- we use to do this at uni....got lazy at doing it...but reverting back as of this week :)

We have done out a budget for the fortnight....taking out every little bit! and going to stick to that and we should be alright!

Thanks for the tips Feral

We have always used a budget basically....but just paid bills when they come in, in full....so we are going to take out extra money for rego, power, phone etc....each fortnight so that when the bill comes in the money is there we don't have to come up with it!

thanks again

[miss ani]

thanks for the budgeting tips!!

i've just stopped working and gone on maternity leave.... i've got 9 paid weeks, but am trying to save as much of it as i can. we haven't had to really strictly budget before, so all the tips i can get help!! :thumbsup:

[Feral]

Its usually the little things that use up our money, the big things like car rego, power, rent etc are kind of the unavoidable, although we can turn of lights etc to save power and use the phone a little less all this helps, but as Ive found its the $2 here and $50 there that makes the difference, its probably a good idea to make a list of what you feel you need and what you would like/want.
examples:1. Nappies, ya gotta have nappies.
2. Going to the cinema~ costs a bit, not necessary, but may like to occasionally? does this fit into your budget? is there a cheaper night out, a way to get a discount, can we hire a movie instead? or can we go without the cinema for a while.
This is just an example of how we spend small amounts of money and probably dont think much about it but if you get in to the habit of spending a few seconds to anylize the things we do that cost money we become more concious of our money and where it goes.
Another quick example is we would prefer to drink beer, but when saving money we buy a cask of wine instead, cheaper, contains more standard drinks, tends to last longer, sacrafice a little to save, we dont need to go without everything or this makes it hard to stick with a tight budget, we need to be disiplined! but allow yourself a little splurge occasionally, youll appreciate that block of chocolate all the more.


We are living of DPs wage at the moment as I am preg and gave up work, so we keep a pretty close eye on our money.

I have a note book in which I write the following:
1st column DP income and the date of the pay day.
2nd column I write what we spent in that week eg. food $97, fuel $60, rent $740(we pay by the month, easier, less trips to town)also any bills or small amounts eg. $10 homebrew ingredients
3rd column the total in our savings account after that weeks expenses. this keeps you up to date on how your savings are going.
This only takes a few minutes, and is part of good budgeting, it also makes you feel a bit naughty if you splurge on new shoes etc when you know you shouldnt have, you still have to write it down! LOL
Again its all part of what I keep saying about being consious of your money, this is one of the main things to be succesful in managing money and living on less, I just hope it makes some cents!
You have to excuse my preg brain and spelling when Im trying to explain things!

[DQ]

There is just no hope for me & DH...... none :no:

[Feral]

There is just no hope for me & DH...... none :no:


What do you mean?????????

[mysonroger]

great tips feral.

i hate to be a dampener on things but the thing that gets me and my DH is the presents. think about it - birhtday presents, mothers' day, fathers' day, nieces, grandparents, parents....xmas.....it all adds up. we add it all up and average it out over the year and add that to our monthly budget. so we know its covered.

i forgot to put that in last years budget and because it averaged out so high over each month (because i come from a big family), i couldn't work out why my budget was failing me dismally. i changed the budget and now i'm back on top again and saving as well.

thats an area a lot of people overlook,

[DQ]

What do you mean?????????

DH is self-employed therefore doesn't have a regular income or the same amount regularly. Budgets don't work cause everything else is too unpredictable.

Just living day to day...:fingerscrossed:

Sorry....this thread isn't about me :o

[Feral]

DH is self-employed therefore doesn't have a regular income or the same amount regularly. Budgets don't work cause everything else is too unpredictable.

Just living day to day...:fingerscrossed:

Sorry....this thread isn't about me :o

Is it possible for you to save a bit when DH has income and then spead this as evenly as possible until he gets more income?
Always keeping some emergency money helps too if your not sure about regular income and different amounts, my DP and I travelled with no income finding fruit picking work where we could, (then eating as much of that fruit as we could get for free) so I know where your coming from, its tricky but not a lost cause, hang in there.

[cwsmum]

DH is self-employed therefore doesn't have a regular income or the same amount regularly. Budgets don't work cause everything else is too unpredictable.

Just living day to day...:fingerscrossed:

Sorry....this thread isn't about me :o
We are the same. DH has just taken 4 days off coz the truck broke and we were waiting on parts, but that's 4 days that he doesn't get paid.
I have a basic idea of what we have to pay each week (rent, car, insurance, bills, daycare fees, etc) so when DH gives me his pay I take that ammount off straight away. After that I work out what is left and see how much I have for groceries, I try to put a little aside each week for when one of use needs new clothes/shoes, then after that if there's anything left DH gets smokes & a carton of rum.
We seem to be doing ok, most of the time anyway :) I make sure if DH has a really good week that I fill the pantry and freezer, and always make sure there is plenty of things like washing powder and loo paper too.

[Feral]

Mysonroger~ yep I totally agree thats something I overlook, mainly cause Im too much of a tight*** when it comes to pressies, DPs family are not big on pressies, and all our family live interstate so we dont worry too much, last year I told them all we were saving to buy a block of land so couldnt afford pressies! they seemed to understand, now we own 2 blocks of land. I know it would be hard to budget for pressies cause people often expect you to spend a certain amount.

[*Chels*]

With the pressie thing-if Its like Xmas we just tell inlaws that we dont want anything,and dont buy for them.It just gets ridiculous buying for the sake of buying.Its not about the presents at the end of the day.If we do buy presents I like doing homemade things that dont cost much.Ie I just made a photo collage for my brother for his bday.I repainted an old frame I had lying around and printed some pics at Big W.It was like $7.

[TwoBoysOnly]

All such good ideas. I need lots more. We have a budget which I stick to but I spend heaps of unnecessary money on unnecessary incidentals. How can I stop this????? We really want to save for a deposit for a house. Any more tips????

[scorpio83]

You should be able to get a card from the car rego place that allows you to pay the rego off, they do have a minimum amount you have to pay, but then you don't have a huge bill when rego is due.

As for presents, try opening a christmas club or similar account. Get the bank to direct debit a small sum each pay to save. You won't notice $10 or $20 but it adds up. Layby is also a good option.

Also, get things like electricity and gas direct debited at $20 or so every pay. That way when the bill comes due it'll either be paid or much smaller.

[clarebear1983]

You should be able to get a card from the car rego place that allows you to pay the rego off, they do have a minimum amount you have to pay, but then you don't have a huge bill when rego is due.
.

I wish they did this in WA but apparently it can only be done in certain states. Its kinda annoying lol!

[MCNmummyof2]

Does anyone know whether that rego thing can be done in NSW?

[madreader]

In regards to buying so many pressies etc, why dont you try buying little things a week at a time or if they have bargain trolleys or the like have a look in there for some cheap pressies. You might be surprised with what you find in there.:thumbsup:

[Feral]

Twoboysonly~
Like I said in a previous post, save first then spend whats left, if you want to stop buying unnessecary things, try:
1. dont have a credit card
2. dont have money in your wallet unless you need to pay for food or bills, leave it in the bank, then you are not as tempted to spend it.
3. open an account that you can save money into for your deposit, there are so many different types, dedicate yourself to saving for your house by making a deposit or organise direct debit each payday, so you are regularly saving, have an account that is difficult to withdraw from.
We borrowed $10,000 for a block of land and were able to pay it back in 2 months on pretty low wages, every week, the night before pay day we transfered any money left in our savings account into repay the loan, knowing that next day there would be a full pay, this would be used to pay bills, food etc, then we do the same thing again.
We also usually have an account that pays some interest eg 6.5% that we can put money across to so it is out of reach.
DP and I usually shop together so we keep each others spending under control, and theres always honesty about what moneys been spent, we have joint accounts and when I worked both our pays went into the same account.
It all depends what your spending habits are and where you live, its easy for me cause we live out of town, we go shopping once a week and drive further to a city about every 3-4 weeks where theres a Kmart etc, maybe every 3-6 months we go to Cairns for the day, so Im not really tempted to buy stuff all the time, I have learned to window shop.
We have always had a rule we stick by 'if we cant afford it or dont have the cash then we dont need it' if we still want it when we have the cash then we buy it, but we never use credit, hire purchase, credit card, layby etc. sometimes you realise you dont really want it later and it would have been an impulse buy, so youve saved your self some money.
4. Set your self a limit when you go shopping,
take notice of what individual grocery items cost, try cheaper brands (my trolly usually contains nearly all coles brand!) try to always buy things on sale like clothes.
5. Buy gift vouchers as presents this way you know how much you are spending on a person, I always ask for vouchers as presents then I can use it to buy something practical.
6. before you buy something ask your self: is it likely to just break or cease to work soon after purchase, will I still be using it in a few months/years, will it be out of fashion by next week! do I really need it right now this minute, is there a cheaper one, or should I wait and buy a better quality one that will last longer.

Thats all I can think of for now, need a preggy nap.

[cwsmum]

I wish they did this in WA but apparently it can only be done in certain states. Its kinda annoying lol!


Does anyone know whether that rego thing can be done in NSW?

Try asking at the post office :yes: I paid my rego a day late last time and the lady in there told me that they have a card so you can pay rego off. You just pay when you can (min of $20 each time I think) and keep your reciepts (just in case) then when rego is due you go in with your card and pay whatever is left owing. The money you pay doesn't come straight off your rego, it's kinda like the post office saving it for you.

[TwoBoysOnly]

Thanks so much Feral....I think I need to discipline myself more cause we are both on good wages and so should be able to save HEAPS....:fingerscrossed:

[mumo5]

As for presents, try opening a christmas club or similar account. Get the bank to direct debit a small sum each pay to save. You won't notice $10 or $20 but it adds up. Layby is also a good option.
.

I'm really bad at the banking thing but we found an alternative. DON'T LAUGH... But we joined the 'punters club' at our local pub. It's only $10 each a week and every so many weeks we get to have a $50 bet each. So that's $20 for the both of us a week. We don't have to both be in it but I like to have the go at betting aswell as my partner so we both pay $10 each. And at the end of the year.. if it hasn't been a good winning year (like last year) my dp and I got $490 EACH back. And considering the punters club only goes from end of jan till the end of nov... we made $50 each ontop of the $10 a week each we put in. And believe me.. It really helps with getting those christmas laybys and bills paid that seem to always come together.

[brookeme]

GOOO feral, thanks for all the info. Am I allowed to tell you about another website about savings and great ideas about budgeting???? Anyway I just googled "simple savings" and discovered a cool website so go check it out!:thumbsup:
Budgeting is so hard to stick to. It works out wonderfully on paper, but putting it into practice is impossible for us,:confused: it just never works out.

[Feral]

Thanks Brookeme, Ill check it out

I agree, it is hard but Ive found in the past we have had hard times, unemployment etc so we've had to stick to a budget, if you can stick it out for a while it gets easier and when on 2 incomes its not that hard to live off one and save the other, DP and I have done this the past few years, so now that Im preg and we're living on one income we are able to save some of that also (to buy baby stuff!!)

I think a really important part of budgeting and saving is to set your self a goal, the most common one is saving a deposit for a house, but sometimes its a small goal like saving $1000, my DP and I used to always say its the first $1000 thats the hardest, but once you achive that you feel good and can see the money grow from there.

A friend of mine set a goal to save enough for an inground pool, is the only thing that stopped her quiting a hard job some days, was thoughts of a dip in her pool on hot days after work, it took a while but she got her pool! (and quit her job!)

We set a goal to save $10,000 and put it in a term deposit, we did this, then conveniently forgot about it and set about saving the next $10,000, when we got this together we put that into a managed fund, this money was secure and out of our reach until recently we used it to buy 2 blocks of land, our 3 year goal being to own land.
Also we never spend our tax return money, we treat it as a bonus and add it to our savings.

[mumo5]

feral... you are really an inspiration. You make it seem possible.my only problem is my dp. He used to be really good at saving.. but since him and his business partner split and they got left with a large tax bill (don't how it happened :mad: but it did and we have to deal with it now) he just spends any spare cash cause so much is going to bills and debts that he won't save. sounds stupid I know.. but you can't talk sense to a crazy man! (crazy cause he won't listen to reason) :confused: My FTB pays the housekeeping (food, elec, ph, internet, school, clothes, my own personal loan, b'day xmas and easter presents etc) so the only money I have left if nothing else comes up is $30 a fortnight. So I may use your advice and put that money into a savings and you never know.. It's only $15 a week but it's something. It's just hard to leave myself with nothing. I need milk and bread money in my bank... just in case I run out. I have a chest freezer so I buy heaps of bread etc.. but sometimes I run out!!!!!!!!!??????? one of those things I suppose. But you have inspired me and I want to get ahead in life instead of living fortnight to fortnight. And all of your ideas are practical.. it's just getting into the habit of putting them to practice

[Feral]

Mumof5, thanks, and good on you, can I suggest something, maybe try paying off the personal loan, as soon as you can,as well as saving a bit of emergency money, cause unless you can save a bit and get good interest on the savings you will not really get ahead because of the interest that they charge on your loan, does this make sense? Its something financial planners always advise you - pay off all debt first.

Also remember $15 is $15 put enough of them toether and you have $100 then $1000, just set yourself a goal, and give yourself a pat on the back, ( raising 5 kids as well!) you are willing to try, its all about mind power, and a bit of disipline and chosing to get ahead ,as Ive said in most of my posts

Feral