Mumof2's Personal Finance Blog

Been a couple weeks since I blogged, have been really unwell then doing okay, not sure what we have done but I have had no meds in 5 days and feeling around 80% which is great but weird, I am just waiting for the crash to hit me, I even managed to grocery shop with my hubby yesterday....not complaining but trying to work out what happened for the change...but I am going to enjoy it while I can...have done so much last few days and it feels great. I do have 4 specialist/doctor appointments this month and going to stick with them in case I take a turn for the worse again...

November is going to be an expensive month for us with all the specialists and I want to pay off my laptop we got a few weeks ago so we can be debt free again, so savings will be way down but if we have savings at end of month then I will be happy.

On a good note my hubby has sold his boat (to my brother) so that will give him some extra savings for his hobbies, not finalised yet as my brother works out of town but will be done in next few weeks.

I have been working on my moms budget all year as she is almost 80, had some debt doesn't do internet banking etc so I have been doing it for her for last 18 months and she will be debt free in next 2 weeks, we just ordered her a new bed and mattress for her great grandson that lives with her he just turned 13 and is to tall for a single bed....and she paid cash so she is happy...she is coming to visit this month so will finish up her christmas shopping and next year she will start doing her own budget again as I have it all written out...she is really happy right now as with me doing it has taken all the pressure off of her etc.

I have our budget written up for next year so that is ready to go, so i am finishing up my christmas shopping this month and then that will be us done for the year have most done just have a few stocking stuffers to get and some gift vouchers people have asked for but will get closer to christmas.

I can't believe that all the christmas decorations are already up and the stores are filled with christmas everything...I really get sick of christmas before it gets here I really don't think that it should be allowed up until a month before christmas...

I am really looking forward to achieving all my goals this month..big expenses and all

The kids are home and we can tell with how much busier the house is, the food budget has gone up and the house is messier...but I love having them home.

Didn't reach my financial goal for the month but was only $300 off so I'm okay with that we can play catch up next month (hopefully)...but we have money in our ice account and savings account so I am happy with that.

No more paydays this month so I can update our savings info on here, and I also need to save to buy my friend a plane ticket from the States to Australia next year...she is coming to visit for 3 months and I can't wait.

has been a busy week for us all but so far not an expensive one....unless your our DD...her cat got out of her area and into next door yard and got attacked by their husky...all I heard was blood curdling screams from my daughter and I went running just in time to see her cat jump over our fence and hear their dog bash into the fence...so lots of vet bills..luckily she only had a few not to serious puncture wounds...lots of bruising but no broken bones...but was expensive for her....also her cat obviously freaked out attacked the other cat which freaked out and attacked my other DD small dog so it was a hellish few minutes trying to get everything calmed down but they are all doing pretty good now.

We have 1 DD away on holiday and 1 house sitting so the house is very clean, quiet and we aren't spending much on food or anything...so that is great.

I have finally been able to make appointments with a neurologist, my ENT specialist (again) and a opthamologist they sent me to the hospital and when I rang they said it was a 2-3 year wait list and I asked if they knew any private ones and she gave me a number and I get in november....yes it will cost me more...a lot more but not waiting on my sight for 2-3 years could be blind by then....so until those appointments it is living day to day and hoping someone gets some answers.

So going to rejig the budget and hopefully be able to cover them all and not use up all our savings...

has been a busy week for us all but so far not an expensive one....unless your our DD...her cat got out of her area and into next door yard and got attacked by their husky...all I heard was blood curdling screams from my daughter and I went running just in time to see her cat jump over our fence and hear their dog bash into the fence...so lots of vet bills..luckily she only had a few not to serious puncture wounds...lots of bruising but no broken bones...but was expensive for her....also her cat obviously freaked out attacked the other cat which freaked out and attacked my other DD small dog so it was a hellish few minutes trying to get everything calmed down but they are all doing pretty good now.

We have 1 DD away on holiday and 1 house sitting so the house is very clean, quiet and we aren't spending much on food or anything...so that is great.

I have finally been able to make appointments with a neurologist, my ENT specialist (again) and a opthamologist they sent me to the hospital and when I rang they said it was a 2-3 year wait list and I asked if they knew any private ones and she gave me a number and I get in november....yes it will cost me more...a lot more but not waiting on my sight for 2-3 years could be blind by then....so until those appointments it is living day to day and hoping someone gets some answers.

So going to rejig the budget and hopefully be able to cover them all and not use up all our savings...

had some big expenses yesterday the car was serviced and needed some new parts we thought it might (its a 2005) so getting old so it end up costing us $880 and then hubby went and got me a laptop once he finishes transfering all the data then we will sell my desk top and hopefully recoup a few dollars.

hopefully no more big expenses and I can at least be over the $2000 mark by end of month

It was time to renew our contract for gas/elec and we have been with the same people for years (they are competitive priced) and managed to get our elec savings rate from 18% to 21% (paid on time) so more savings there...and yes we always pay our bills on time..they are budgeted for...also paid another years worth of contents insurance budgeted $800 but it was only $640 so can keep the rest in our bills account which means adding a little less next year.

Haven't needed much for groceries but hubby had grocery money left over so we stockpiled a few things that were on sale and we are doing okay this week so should hopefully have some left over.

Haven't really spent much money this month other than 2 dvds (with my illness I spend a lot of time in bed so I have dvds...lots of them) and we are getting the car serviced tomorrow but other than that not much else we do need to work on the car a bit my mom literally broke the passenger handle off the door...so need to get that fixed.

next week one child is off on a 2 week holiday with friends and the other is house sitting so hubby and I will have the house to ourselves....will be so nice...don't get that very often.

It was time to renew our contract for gas/elec and we have been with the same people for years (they are competitive priced) and managed to get our elec savings rate from 18% to 21% (paid on time) so more savings there...and yes we always pay our bills on time..they are budgeted for...also paid another years worth of contents insurance budgeted $800 but it was only $640 so can keep the rest in our bills account which means adding a little less next year.

Haven't needed much for groceries but hubby had grocery money left over so we stockpiled a few things that were on sale and we are doing okay this week so should hopefully have some left over.

Haven't really spent much money this month other than 2 dvds (with my illness I spend a lot of time in bed so I have dvds...lots of them) and we are getting the car serviced tomorrow but other than that not much else we do need to work on the car a bit my mom literally broke the passenger handle off the door...so need to get that fixed.

next week one child is off on a 2 week holiday with friends and the other is house sitting so hubby and I will have the house to ourselves....will be so nice...don't get that very often.

Well payday came and went and I was hoping to have between $2000- 2500 in savings by end of month but we have managed to already get to $3,611.56...so we are thrilled...yes we have to use some of that for a service on the car but we are $1000 over what I thought we could get and we also have another smaller payday so can add some more in a few weeks...October is looking good

Who doesn't love pay week...I do!!

I can't wait till pay our regular bills and add the rest to savings, hoping by end of month to have between $2000 - $2500...we currently sit at $611.56, I have a visual board that I have drawn up so I can mark off how well our savings is...so each day we walk past and it encourages us to save what we can for our house deposit.

Also made $30 from selling some stuff online this weekend, have more to put up just haven't got around to it yet...not sure what I am doing with it yet so sitting in the safe till I decide.

I had ordered something online that was back ordered so emailed to ask when it would be sent (as I forgot) they said shipment was late and sent me $20 for waiting a bit longer so that we back into savings...no hurry it is for christmas.

Feeling good but I know we have to spend some money on the garden vegies we just haven't got that far yet....but hopefully this week

Some nice weather so hopefully can get the shed sorted a bit more and post some more things for sale.

So I have been going over our barefoot investor book (I love his advice) and looking at where we can save more money again...have been a bit off this year due to specialists (have a couple more to go) but we are wanting to buy a house in a couple years and we are looking at 15-20% deposit.

so I am going to look at butchers that have bulk buys in our area, we have a couple insurances that are coming up in nov so will look around and see if we can get a better deal from the one we are with or another one...looking at trying to save money on food as we spend a lot but we don't go over...still have some work to do and some research to see what else we can do, going to try make our own jam this year and still on track to grow, dry and/or freeze our vegies...WANT to bring our spending down and our savings up more...cutting back on christmas next year...not that we go overboard but think we can do better.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

The last couple of months have been brutal when it comes to savings and I am completely off track so October I am going to get back on track hopefully won't have many or any medicines or specialists that we have to pay for...my goal is to get our savings back to at least $2000.

We spent almost $200 yesterday on meat for the freezer as it was getting low...can't wait it is almost bbq season...lots of salads and outdoor time...can't wait...our tomatoes are starting to grow as are all our herbs and blueberries...garlic is doing well and we will probably harvest in nov and get some new ones in... we still have to get in some other vegies but just haven't been able to yet with being sick..but we will soon...we have a strawberry farm about a half hour drive from us where you can pick your own so we are hoping to go there and pick strawberries and make our own jam (never done this but have wanted to) so that will save some money over the year.

so today is tweaking our budget to try reach our savings goal and to finish up my mums budget for next year...busy day but I love it

Well we have had a bad winter with a chesty cough and sickness which we have had for 7 weeks..not good for my hubby who has copd...had to spend money on medication and a vapouriser but we had no choice...hopefully it will start working...haven't really been buying a lot of groceries but we have had some chilli and chicken noodle soup in the freezer which has helped us a lot when we need to eat but don't feel like cooking much...

Finally got our dishwasher fixed, it didn't cost anything as it was under warranty.

My doc doesn't know what else to do for me so is waiting to see what my 2 specialist say when I see them...1 in nov and still waiting for an appt for the other one...then we will see what happens...if anything.

The weather is warming up a little so have been outside a bit more...hoping we can start feeling healthier and finish up planting our spring vegies...we have some in but not a lot...and nothing better than fresh vegies from the garden.

Savings has taken a bit of a beating in last week so way off our target but hopefully will get there next month

I have been reading a few posts that have mentioned a $20 challenge and I'm just wondering what it is? can anyone help with some info...I like challenges!!

I am a sucker when it comes to charity..I have always helped out to charity but since I have been unable to do anything physically for the last couple of years I do things more financial...I do budget for it for the most part but the charity that I have been supporting for the last few years who supply backpacks to foster/dv children have expanded to also supplying starter kits for families of dv...its a fairly new program and this charity ALL money and donations go to the kids/families...so they started these kits as they noticed that people who had left dv situations could never have enough money to replace even some of the basic household items that they needed so that's what they have started to provide to assist them...I love this idea and with postage I just spend over $600 to help them out...yes it is a lot of money, yes I took it from savings but I believe in helping those less fortunate than us...we may not have everything we want or need but we have a lot more than most...so feeling good about it.

On the upside sold some stuff on gumtree and made $50..

So over the last couple of months we have spend a couple thousand dollars on specialists to try find out what is going on with my health. The first one said it was vestibular migraines...so my ENT sent me for the balance tests...they are saying there is no vestibular issues...I have an appointment with a neurologist in nov not sure what they think they will find as there is nothing showing up on the MRI...so looks like all that I have done in the last couple months has resulted in zero info...a bit annoyed as I have never been this sick in my life and nothing is showing up or they just aren't finding anything...all docs agree something is wrong just by looking at me but they just don't know what...so do I keep paying for tests or just save the money...such a hard choice right now...but I try to remain positive and figure even though they haven't figured out what is wrong yet...they have ruled something else out...what else can you do?

So going to talk to my doc in a couple weeks and see what she says whether or not to continue paying out money on tests or just deal with this till it passes or kills me!!

Well being sick on top of a chronic illness has been extremely boring...to sick to do anything..so glad we have netflix...but on the upside still not spending other than groceries...which my hubby usually does.

I have our savings up over $1000 but only updating my blog at end of month as it changes all the time..so feeling good about that...set it up that I have $100 a month going directly into my retirement fund (super as we call it) every bit helps. only have a couple more christmas gifts to get and then I'm done other than stocking and food...so can mark that off my to do list..still need to finish up the shed and get some things put up for sale online and make a few dollars (hopefully)...even thinking about a garage sale just not sure yet and hubby is thinking of selling his boat as well...but we will see.

so far sticking to our budget now just need to get my moms budget for next year done

Well have been sick all week so haven't been anywhere except the doctors and since we are on free scripts for the rest of the year this one doesn't cost us..so haven't spent money on anything but groceries...except today when I just ordered my daughter a christmas present (although that is from our present account)

Finally have my ICE account back to $2000 so now going to work on our savings for a home deposit and hopefully nothing else comes up that is to expensive. Still working on putting stuff into storage and sorting out the shed but the weather has been cold, wet and miserable and being sick it can just wait..hopefully will get some warmer weather and feel better soon so can get it done

Well have been sick all week so haven't been anywhere except the doctors and since we are on free scripts for the rest of the year this one doesn't cost us..so haven't spent money on anything but groceries...except today when I just ordered my daughter a christmas present (although that is from our present account)

Finally have my ICE account back to $2000 so now going to work on our savings for a home deposit and hopefully nothing else comes up that is to expensive. Still working on putting stuff into storage and sorting out the shed but the weather has been cold, wet and miserable and being sick it can just wait..hopefully will get some warmer weather and feel better soon so can get it done

Well I have just completed 2019 budget for us and it is looking pretty good, all going well we should almost be at the $30,000 deposit that we need for the house deposit so happy about that. I am glad that I have next years out of the way now just need to work on my moms budget for next year then will be done with those. We are probably not going to buy a house for another 2 years but we will have what we need just have to see how we feel about it at the time and what is available in this area, in our price range.

The weather here has been horrible for a couple days and I have been unwell so we haven't really done anything but stay warm and rest up...not feeling to bad today but have a headache from wearing my glasses...its part of what they are trying to figure out what is going on..need my glasses to read (eyes have gotten real bad last 9 months) but they give me a headache and dizzy...optometrist can't find anything wrong with my eyes so have to see a neuro opthamologist but there is only 1 in this area so can take a while to get in to see them.

have 2/3rds of my christmas shopping done only a few more to get and then stocking fillers so should be done soon and can tick that off my list...but will continue with the charity one till december when they ask for them for the foster kids...will have quite a few this year which will be great.

Bought some vegetable plants so we know have our tomatoes in, have to plant our spring onions and next month will get our lettuces, cucumbers etc planted and we still have plenty of herbs, garlic and bell peppers (capsicums) growing as well...so looking forward to spring and summer.

I was just wondering what the average number of accounts people have, I know it varies with different countries but just curious.

we currently have 6 all with its own purpose

daily account - where all our money goes into

splurge (x2) - this is where we have our own spending money on things we want or need..its a set amount each month.

annual account - this is where we put money each month for our annual bills that come in every 3, 3 or 12 months (insurances, car rego,etc, we also add things like car tyres in so we can replace every couple years etc, we have just updated a lot of our big household items such as fridges/freezers/dryer etc so know they won't need updating for at least 5 years so we decide how much we need to save each month over the next 5 years and add that in as well)

ice account - (in case of emergency) this is our money to fall back on when something happens so we don't need the CC usually sits at $2000

savings - this is where we put our savings (right now it is savings for a house)

So do others do similar things? just curious this works for us and we use a cash budget as well...but I know a lot of different ways to do things so open to suggestions.

W have 2 grown daughters that live with us and it is difficult to live in such a small house with 4 adults but we get a great rate on rent since the home owners love us as tenants. We looked around and nothing fit us even looked at house that were an extra $100 a week...nothing...so I decided that we would put most of their stuff and stuff that we weren't using right now into storage...gives us all more much needed room and space to relax. W are still moving things and we decided to pay up front for a year which was $1920 so wiped out a lot of our savings that we had in our ice account, but worth it and much cheaper than paying more rent and having moving expenses. With one child with a chronic illness and the other at college they just couldn't move out if they tried.

Still have a few more docs/specialists but that is going to have to wait till we get our savings back up as not going to have no money in the bank...my plan is sept to get my ice acct back to $2000 and then start on the house savings again..although hubby and I are deciding whether or not to buy a house and then travel australia for a year (in a yr or 2) and our oldest could live in our house while we are gone...something we are contemplating..but that is a something to think on and something my hubby has always wanted to do.
So this week our accounts are looking dismal but everything is paid, grocery shopping is done...so all good there...just need to get back on track and stay on track...hope everyone is having a great weekend...we finally have a couple of sunny days...so nice..just need it to warm up a bit now

had another ER visit last night had uncontrollable shaking starting at 11pm and didn't stop till after 3am...doctors couldn't figure out why it was happening..so got sent home again with no answers...don't know why we bother going sometimes but I'm hoping one day to get some answers. Lucky we have social medicine over here.

I have 3 appointments this week so will be an expensive week so not sure if we will reach our goal this month...but savings is savings and if it is growing each month then I am happy with that.

Lets hope this week is better and we don't spend all our savings

I am one of those people that believes that it's a parents job to teach their children about budgeting, shopping, cooking etc...life skills everyone should know growing up.

I understand people are busier these days (I have issues with this as well) so many eat out and just live week by week...do others think that it is up to the parents/families to do this or should they incorporate a budgeting class or life skills into schools?

I know that my hubby and I went without a lot when our kids were born so that one of us could always be home with them, be at their school events etc...they loved that we could be there for them...but this is a choice we made...I know not everyone has that choice but we taught them from a young age to budget (we use to tax their pocket money and take out sick leave etc), from the age of 2 they had chores and helped cook...

I'm just wondering what others thoughts are on this topic...do you think if more people learnt how to budget from a young age less people would be in debt??

Well I am happy to see our savings grow so much this week, I know we have some specialists coming out of it but hopefully won't put to big a dent in it. We have 1 more payday before the end of the month so I' hoping it stays around the $2000 mark by end of month.

I have ordered 3 christmas presents so halfway done there so that takes some stress off I am a very organised person but being sick this year I have fallen behind on most things so being able to see myself achieving anything is a big boost for me...

Hubby and I are going to write up a shopping list today so he can do the shopping, going to try a new butcher this week the ones around here have gone way down in quality so will try another one...don't need a lot for groceries but want to stock up a bit more on meat for the freezer.

Hopefully I get some energy and we get some nice weather soon and I can spring clean and declutter the house and shed and make a few dollars with unwanted items.

Well our house savings has jumped from $7.80 to $560.25 in a matter of days...so happy to see how it is growing...we have 3 pays to add to it this month. I am hoping to save between $2000 - $3000 this month, but I do have specialist appointments this month and we will have to use some of our savings just not sure of the amounts just yet...so we are 1/4 way to our savings and feeling pretty good.

I have always done what I could for charity throughout my life and although my health isn't great I still do what I can for my 2 best charities.
The first is for a charity that provides meal/water/clothes/showers/clothes washing etc for the homeless...you can pay a certain amount for a day and it provides meals for the homeless...so I do this for my birthday instead of a party...nothing I want or need and my hubby and kids get to spend 3 hours each with me and they plan what we do (its interesting)..

The second is providing items for backpacks for foster children and children that have run from dv situations..its hard to get things down to them as its an hour drive (one way) and I can't travel so I have been buying gifts all year for their christmas gifts...its all I can do for now.

All these are budgeted for and it doesn't come out of our gift budget and I get to hit sales all year...does anyone else put things like this in their budget?

I have been tweaking our budget for this month and I am hoping to save between $2000 -$3000 this month for our house deposit. I do have a couple of specialist appointments so not sure how much we will have to pay out of pocket that's why it's between $2-3000...maybe if we are lucky we can save more...can't wait to update as this month goes along...feeling excited!!

I have learnt to budget when our circumstances changed dramatically and we had to adjust...it took a long time but we are doing well I have taught both our daughters about budgeting as well one does better than the other, but they both do well with it.
My mom who is 80 this year had a few things break down over a year and she didn't have the cash to buy them so she did a rent to buy and her budget went out the window...so for the last 15 months I have been doing her budget, I tell her how much money she needs to take out of her bank for food etc and I deal with the rest, she will have no debt again by nov...she loves it as she has no hassles anymore and just takes her cash and does what she needs to with it (she is also raising a 12 year old that she has had since birth - long story) so she still has school related expenses etc.
Today my step son is coming over so I can help him write up his budget and help him menu plan as he is pretty bad at it (his words) so can get him back on track (he is getting a divorce and is raising their daughter)....I love budgets and helping others with them...I do think its important to show them how to work out debts and a budgets so they don't get back into bad habits, if I do it all then they won't learn or do the hard work. I do my moms as I pay her bills via my computer but we sit down and hash it out together so she is doing it as well.
Does anyone else teach their kids/spouses/partners etc how to budget or sit down and work it out together??...my budgets are written out annually so by sept/oct next years budget will be hashed out and written out ready to go

I am just wondering after reading many posts on here (and I'm not judging just curious) as to why some people have so many CC? I have one and it has a limit of $5000 and that bugs me that if it was maxed out that I would pay so much interest.

I just think in Australia it isn't easy to get a CC so I don't know many people who have more than 1 so I'm just wondering why some people have several? if you have 1 can't you increase the limit if you need it? if you have several and max them out why would you get more? Is it easy to get credit in America?

As I said I am just curious to why people have several, I'm not judging at all...it just seems credit is so much easier to get in America than most places I wish our home loans were as easy to get as yours, that would make life over here so much easier

Well it is payday today, which I love (who doesn't right) and even though we had a medical expense come out of our house savings and we also filled out 4 jerry cans of gas while it is around 30c cheaper than it normally is...our savings dipped to just $36...but it's payday and it now up to $371 although not a lot it will grow steadily and it's better than not having any at all...

Have not been well last last week so menu planning and next years budget has gone out the window but will get to it in next few weeks...hubby has his cash for groceries and gas so don't need to worry about that for a couple of weeks...I love a cash budget makes everything so easy.

Does anyone use cash for their everyday expenses such as groceries, gas etc?