Layout:
Home > Archive: January, 2019

Archive for January, 2019

I have been bad

January 30th, 2019 at 01:10 am

This last week has seen me with bad shopping habits...I really hate shopping but the last week I have ordered quite a bit of stuff...yes we need it and will use it but it has really left us behind where I want to be...I am really annoyed at myself but I do this on occassion...but have the budget back out today so I can see how far off track we are and get myself back on track with our goals...

Also no more spending other than my mad money..no matter what...I have told my hubby not to let me spend...his reply "you never buy yourself anything so when you do I am happy...so buy what you want"..its usually true but hate weeks like this...how do you stop yourself from doing this

price envy or is it?

January 28th, 2019 at 12:55 am

I love to see what others spend on things like groceries, home decorations etc...and yes sometimes it makes me so envious...you have so many choices to buy in the US and prices for groceries are quite a bit cheaper than over here (aust) same with movie tickets we pay the cheapest $11 a ticket (on special deals) for one person...buying a econd hand car over here starts at $10,000 for a half way decent one...but then I think of our healthcare where we don't pay for surgeries (or we don't pay a lot) or scans etc...which is great when you have chronic illnesses and see doctors at least every couple of weeks...and our wages are much higher..my daughter worked in a grocery store while studying she was on $22ph...plus had sick days and annual leave paid for. so although I am envious of some of the things that you have I am also envious of some of the things we have and think of how much better some of you would be financially if you had our health system over there....I know if we were healthy and lived over there we woud have a much better life, we would have our own house, newer car and a lot more savings...but since I'm not healthy I would rather stay here...what do you think about the differences?

mom broke her arm

January 27th, 2019 at 03:37 am

Well my mom lives 5.5 hrs away from us but is moving to the same city as us to be nearer to the services she needs (she is 80) she is also raising a 13 year old (great grandson) so better schooling for him...well she has been trying to do everything herself and she tripped over a piece of wood from her bed that had been taken apart and hurt her arm...when I called her she told me that she had fallen and hurt her arm I finally convinced her to go to the hospital...which she did and now it is plastered but so hard for her to keep packing and cleaning readu=y for her move...since I can't travel we are lucky that a couple of myy neices were able to go help her out...but not what she needs and she is hating it...she is so independant still and hates asking for help...hopefully we can get her moved this weekend and get her arm checked again by a city doctor..heres hoping nothing else happens as the kids starts school again next week (just finishing up summer break)...and just want her to be able to move and relax...will be easier to help her when she is down here in the same city

bought a cabinet

January 26th, 2019 at 11:14 am

Really had to get a new cabinet for our dvds so went to my favorite shop only to find that they are retiring and closing down...they make really good heavy furniture so bought a cabinet instead...spent most of our savings but worth it I think and it will last for my lifetime...other than that no spending!

bday pizza and payday

January 25th, 2019 at 06:35 am

So yesterday was my birthday so decided that we would have pizza...thankgod as it was 113 here yesterday the hottest day in recorded history and just hot to do anything but sit in front of the air con...but it was nice...and cheap.

it was also payday yesterday so was able to add to my ice account (will update at end of month) so getting that heading back in the right direction I usually have $2000 but want to try and get it closer to $5000 but that will take time but that what I want it to get to...when we buy a house I would love it to be around 6 months worth of bills but that is a few years away.

Ordered a couple things online today but they are for my health/body so hopefully it works.

accounts all have money

January 23rd, 2019 at 10:29 am

I know it's only the first month of the year but it's nice to see all of our accounts have money in them. It's a great to see that our goals are starting off...I know our savings will drop when we bought the tickets for our friend to come over to visit us...but everything else is looking good.

The weather here has been horrendous so have had the aircons and fans on a lot...its 113 here tomorrow...such a hot day its my b-day so just having pizza with a few family members but we are buying it not making it...its a splurge day but way to hot to cook or do anything else...but will hopefully get a good deal.

Ordered 4 blankets for winter...know its summer here but they are so thick and I know it will save us money in winter as we wont need the heaters as much and will last us a few years.

other than that we haven't been spending any money....feeling positive about this month...and the rest of the year

Top money saving tips

January 21st, 2019 at 04:03 am

These are what I do try and save money

1. Have a written yearly budget, use what you know your base income is, also allow you to know best times to plan holidays etc

2. put money away in seperate accounts for annual bills, car, bills etc

3. always revise insurances etc before they become due for better deals

4. set an amount for groceries and gas and use cash each week - use only that amount, whatever is left over put in an envelope so you can buy things on sale etc.

5. menu plan and stick to the grocery list, this includes, dinas, breakfast, lunch and snacks.

6. Always turn electronics off at the wall when not in use.

7. if it cost over $100 use the 24hr think and then buy or forget about.

8. keep up with car/equipment maintenance to stay ahead of costly repairs.

9. have madmoney that is not accountable to anyone but yourself...you can spend on anything you like

10. use whatever rewards and coupons you can to save what you can

11. remind people that when you buy something cheap your not saving money unless you put the extra savings in the bank..its just a good deal

what do you do when your debt free

January 17th, 2019 at 03:18 am

Just wondering what people do when they become debt free? I think there are different areas that people see as debt free from what I have seen some see that being consumer debt free (CC loans etc) but they still ahve a morg and then there is totally debt free where you have no debt at all. People may argue with this but it is just an observation.

We are debt free but are saving to buy a house and whe that happens we will pay it off asap to be debt free again....i'm just wondering what others have done when they have become debt free...

Boredom buying

January 14th, 2019 at 03:50 am

I hate shopping...I mean really hate it...if I need to get something then I am get in get it and get out...but I have to admit I do occassionally online shop when I am bored...I don't just buy anything but I do buy what I am looking for...so yesterday I bought a dog stroller...I know what you are thinking...a freaking dog stroller...WHY!!!

Well my daughters dog has spent the last 13 months at home with me all day everyday...he gets seperation anxiety when I leave the house for to long...but he also loves walks...now that I am able to walk a little more I want to be able to take him when I go but he has little legs and gets tired easily so I can't take him...so I decided that he could walk and when he gets tired he can rest in the stroller (and yes it is made for dogs) then walk again and I can walk further and he can come with me...might sound silly to others but when you have chronic illness you do what you can to make life easier for yourself...but it was only $62 (includes sipping) and I come out of my madmoney so not out of our budget...so spent money but not to much....but I don't like to spend money either

bonus money

January 10th, 2019 at 03:45 am

Got a surprise when I opened up our account today an extra $565...not a lot but every bit helps especially when it is unexpected. About 18 months ago there was a class action suit against neurofen (something I use often) about the way they mislead their consumers...I put my name on it...didn't hear back thought nothing more of it as it had been so long and then today it was sitting in my bank...so a nice chunk of change that I put into my ice account to get it back to where we want it to be...

got my money back

January 9th, 2019 at 09:29 am

In december I paid our water bill to the wrong company...the house we are renting was sold and we got new owners and when we transferred all data from my old computer to the new one the information came with it...so money went to the old company...I called them monday and the lady who does their accounting was rushed to hospital with for surgery but one of the ladies called me and got my bank info and put the money back into our account so that mistake has now been settled and was easy to get done...just a couple phone calls...so that went straight into savings again...so no more mistakes this year like this!!

coupons

January 8th, 2019 at 06:19 am

I look at our grocery budget and we usually cook fairly healthy rarely eat take out (maybe once a month) and I was thinking that if I lived in places like the US that had coupons we could save so much more than what we do here...food is expensive here but damn I wish we could get coupons like other countries...what do others think..do you think coupons are worth it? I wouldn't go to extreme nad have a basement full of stuff or buy what we didn't really use much of...but I hink we would save I do love watching these shows on tv

milestone

January 8th, 2019 at 06:13 am

last year was hard as we had a lot of medical tests that we had to pay for and I hardly ever left the house due to dizziness and I needed a babysitter 24/7...I hated it...I use to walk 50-60 miles a week which was impressive for me as I cfs and fibro...when I got this illness I couldn't walk to the end of the street.

although still dizzy I am improving and today I walked to the store and back to post a letter (around 2.5 miles) and I did it by myself..no help or anything...so feeling really positive about this year

I have also made our first car payment into our car account, first payment into our annual account but I do need to work on our ice account as it is low right now...but will get it where to we usually have it and hopefully can add to it this year as well.
I am going to update at the end of each month so hopefully they will all grow each month and by the end of the year will have some savings in them all

today only spent $6 (yes postage is expensive over here) but no other spending...although yesterday I did buy a tin to put my christmas money in for the year as I take it out monthly and hold seperately to buy gifts during the year..

ufmc

January 5th, 2019 at 03:20 am

Hi...just wondering what the ufmc is that people are doing?

tickets are expensive

January 3rd, 2019 at 08:27 am

My friend is coming over from the US in feb for a 3 month visit...to say I am excited is beyond belief...and we are paying for the tickets...but they are getting so expensive due to the exchange rates...but worth the price...I am trying to stay on budget while she is here so we will see what happens so far everything with the budget is going well and all bills are paid and savings have started...can't wait till our next payday....

Australia and savings

January 1st, 2019 at 11:42 pm

One thing I have noticed on this website is that in Australia it is hard to be able to get any sort of credit unless you have a great income...if you don't work yu will never get a loan for a car/house or even a personal loan or CC....Our banks never offer any incentives to stay with them at all...so in a way I think it is a little easier to save and stay out of debt over here as we know we won't get all the credit you get in America....but in saying that it is so hard to save for a house over here as you need a minimum 3% so for a $300,000 home (which is a very basic home) you need $30,000 ($20,000 of which is fees) so that really sucks but I find it interesting the differences...what are your thoughts