We got last years taxes back...so irs checks in a week...one was unexpected but so glad the taxes are done...I just don't understand why they ask for your bank details and then send you a check in the mail...which we then have to put in the bank and wait 4-6 weeks for it to clear...but so nice to finally start to get finished up and completed...the money is not much but will go into our house deposit account...every bit counts...can't believe that it took so long to process...just have this years to have processed then will be done

Anyone who lives on a fixed income knows how frustrating it is and can be...I haven't been able to work in 8 years and I hate it...hubby is retired and had a stroke and 17 tias and just finshed cancer treatment a couple months ago and I have spent thousands on specialists which haven't really done much I am getting better but not a lot...we are wanting to buy a home...which is so hard here with all the fees you have to pay up front...and our oldest daughter also has a chronic illness and will live with us for the rest of our lives...which is fine for all of us..she will be having a child next year (getting pregnant this year) and yes she will be doing it on her own (her choice)...she has her own income and helps pay bills etc....it seems like everytime we get a bit ahead something else always comes up...my issue is...with me and my daughter not being able to work (right now hopefully in the future) and with my hubbys age it will be hard to buy a house in the long run (I'm hoping in 17 months) or we just won't be able to due to lending guidelines and they have become stricter since the pandemic and people struggled....sorry I'm just rambling probably but I will show you some figures and see what your thoughts are

home loan will be around $500,000 (aust $ and no that isn't a great big house either)

so for a low deposit (3%) you need $15,000 deposit

on top of that you need to pay $29,526 in fees 

so that equals $44,526 deposit to begin with....

That is where the hard part is saving $15000 isn't to bad its the fees that are hard to save but you have to pay up front....so do we just keep renting and just hope we can save and buy or just rent for the rest of our lives...although we hate that idea...

Also looking into how to make extra money from home but not that much opportunity here in aust that I can see

I used the credit card first time in 13 months and it was for a bed $3000 (including bedding), yes it is a lot and I hated buying it..I have a dark wood queen bed that I love and a matress that is so comfy...however about 3 years ago my hubby has some serious health issue and now has to sleep half sitting up and have his legs raised when he sleeps...so we got him one of those motorised beds that moves the head and tail of the bed...I hate them but I hate not sleeping with my hubby more so finally decided that I would get the same one so it will be like 1 bed same size and all...so worth it in the end and I do like to use the CC once a year if I remember just so they don't close it...so now will work that into my budget could pay off all at once but then savings would be low...so will pay off over a couple months

other than that we did well with the grocery and gas budget...menu planning has been helping out big time..and although the weather has been horrible and I have been sick there are others to pick up the slack and do the cooking etc...so I am hoping to try and cut back on our groceries but the prices have sure gone up and we only get our meat from a butcher which costs more...but you get better meat

We received a stimulus check in the mail today from the US treasury...very unexpected...didn't think we qualified but also they haven't done our last 2 years of taxes either but they did send it to our last address  so they have updated that...so that was a nice surprise...however we have to deposit it into the bank and then they send it back to the US and wait for it to clear (usually 6 weeks) so who knows how long it is going to take for it to actually clear...but its extra money that we didn't expect.

So far in Australia we only have the pfizer and astrazeneca AZ as we call it)...unfortunately the az causes blood clots so many people won't use it and it's the only one that is available to over 50's, the pfizer one is available to under 50's so me and my hubby have decided not to get it...as we don't trust the AZ one...now they have said that they have ordered the moderna one from the US and it should be here sometime this year...so maybe we will get that one...I know there has been so much more vaccines given in the US so wondering what others have thought about the moderna one..we haven't heard about much of it...it's so funny we are a country of 26 million people and have ordered 195 million vaccines...guessing they will be sending the AZ one to some 3rd worl country as they won't want them....let me know what you think of the vaccine please.

This week went pretty well...stayed on track with the budget/groceries/gas etc...although a friend of mine who lives in florida has had major surgery and I hate the we can't be there so I did spend around $200 (aust) on flowers/cookies etc as gifts to her while she is in hospital..I am hoping she gets them okay...so that will come out of my mad money...other than no spending.

Today is the family meeting day, it's where we discuss anything that people have issues with or need help with etc, put our menu together and sinc our calendars up, just so we all stay on track with each other.

The weather here has been cold so not able to do a lot outside but did manage to finish up the cat cage outside and this coming week I will get the back rooms done which are my daughters jewellery business, she has another couple orders to get out and the othe one is storage...so thats this weeks tasks.

Well we spent quite a bit this week...shouldn't have but oh well...thats life!

Hubby wanted a new blender combo so we got one and my mom wanted a new blender so he bought her one for mothers day...she is really happy!

We also bought a fire pit for the yard...hubby has wanted one for a bit but the last house there wasn't enough space...now we do...we also left our compost bin at the last house so we needed to get a new one...and now we have one of those as well....so are pretty set for what we needed to get!

I have started menu planning again so hopefully the grocery budget will come down a bit but only time will tell...we want to incorporate more seafood into our diet again...so that may be a bit pricey.

Other than that the rest of the budget is on track, the move has been finalised, we finally got all our bond back...starting this week going to start my new daily schedule and healthy habits

I have a couple questions, now i live in australia so different from you guys and I'm wondering if you can tell me the difference between Roth, IRA an 401k acct (did I miss any?) are they mandatory or are they like savings accounts? I read all about them but don't understand them...Thanks

It was pay week this week and I am happy to say that our budget is looking good and our accounts are looking fuller...still waiting for our bond to be refunded which will be in next week or so they said then all the moving money side is dealt with, paid our daughter back yesterday, have some savings, finally back on track.

Our grocery budget might be a bit over this month since we need to replenish our food stores..we had nothing in fridge/freezer etc...but hopefully next week will have our weekly menu going and will be able to just shop once or twice a week, we also will get back to the markets ( where we get our seafood) so things are looking good.

we have our first month of rent in the bank covered, our regular bills that you would normally have like internet, gas/elec, you can't pay them until you actually get a bill in so that money has been put in our POM acct for when they arrive, so finally I think we can actually start saving for our house..hopefully our house deposit thing on here climbs every month...fingers crossed.

I have 3 appts this week..2 specialists and then my regular doctor...although I'm pretty sure we will be getting our flu shots this week at the docs...if they have come in!

I have to get my eyes checked by a specialist today and then see my neuro-physio...it's a new one again so will see how I feel about seeing them..it's my 3rd one at this clinic, they keep changing...so will be an expensive week have some money saved for medical but the eye specialist wasn't put into that tally so may have to transfer some money from savings...will see...will do an update as we find out..hopefully nothing to worry about

Have started back on our budget for may...feels good to be kind of back on track, I know we might spend a little more on groceries this month than normal as we have had to replenish everything in our fridge/freezer etc...but going to try to stick to our $1000 month amount the best we can. 

Bill wise it can be a little hard as we haven't had bills in for thing like internet etc so will put what we normally pay into my POM acct until we do...I am hoping to save between $2-3000pm towards our house deposit so in 18 months we can buy...only time will tell how much we can save each month..see how are budget goes over the next few monthswhen things settle down...have paid all our moving expenses except our daughter who we will pay back this week, we are still waiting for our bond to be returned which should be in the next week or so so can put that into savings...

Feeling positive now we are getting back on track...once everything has been put away etc then we can start menu planning which will help with the grocery budget as well (hopefully) prices here have gone up, we do buy our meat from a butcher and vegetables etc from the markets so can be a little more expensive but so worth it to help the farmers and have much better food

Yesterday was my dads b-day it's the first one without him, he passed in sept...it was a nice day and had a beautiful sunset..which reminded me of the calm peaceful person he was..