Mumof2's Personal Finance Blog

Well my budget is done and ready to go, I have gone back to cash for my groceries and gas....easier to keep track of, I have started menu planning again this week which makes it easier to do the grocery shopping. 

My nephew has his licence test this saturday...my hubby is suppose to be taking him out to practice (he has been teaching him) but doesn't want him to be nervous....but hubby ended up in the hospital yesterday...they thought stroke..but it wasn't but he has a narrowing in the artery to the brain that they found in the cat scan....they tried 4 times to do mri yesterday and he couldn't handle it...if he lays flat he gets major reflux...so they are going to sedate him somehow today and try get it done...haven't heard yet...so we will see what they find and what happens next!!

our houseis all tidy everything put away (christmas stuff)..we had a few days around 100 so didn't do much as was to hot..have another couple coming up new years day...so won't do much for that either...but the house has been spring cleaned (including some cupboards and windows) and now we just need to take everything back to storage...and start tidying up the shed so it is usable again...always something to do.

...probably won't be on here before then...so Hope every has a safe and happy new years!!🍾

It is christmas eve here and I am taking a break from all the meal prep/sa;ads etc that we are making today ready for tomorrow...yes most sa it is weird but we are in summer here so a cold lunch is always better for us and so much easier...it's going to be a small christmas with about 8 people but that is enough...christmas gifts are wrapped and under the tree (including the animals), we have given gifts out to our vat/chemist/doctors and local hospital ER (we do this every year)...and we are ready eat to much and be merry and have fun catching up with everyone...and hopefully have some fun with our lucky dip game.

Someone in our street threw on  the kerbside an old outdoor swing seat...it is still very sturdy and it has no cushions..so my daughter and I bought it home..will paint it and add a cushion and it will be good to go...will leave on our front porch and just look at the ocean...can't wait...and not much cost to fix it up.

I am really looking forward to the new year and all that it brings...especially our budget...feeling positive

So I want to wish you all a merry christmas and a prosperous new years ...stay safe and enjoy yourself whatever your plans may look like

Well I have tweaked our 2023 budget and it is looking good, it looks like we will be getting a couple increases in our US payments that might be around $300pm (not sure it takes awhile for us to get paperwork) so we will put that into savings...I have increased some payments but not food for next year...or gas...I can change them will have the money to but I want to get back to menu planning have been very slack the last couple months so need to do that again makes it so much easier and also will make us go to the markets more..and it's cheaper just not convinient.

All bills have been paid for the month, only have to get cash out for a couple gifts and christmas food...will be doing this thursday and then all is done for christmas...our grandaughter's birthday is on new years day but I have already done her gift so don't have to worry about that...I have a couple goals for 2023 which are:

1. To stick to my budget as much as possible

2. To have more of a routine

3. To lose some weight and get healthier

obviously they are year long goals I will have smaller monthly ones but won't put those on here...feeling positive for 2023...just need my nephew to get his licence, my daughters iui to work and to get my mom a rental then life will be good..

Wow christmas is just over a week away..is it me or did this year just fly by??

I have all christmas shopping done other than $ but can do that anytime..so will do next week when I take money out to finish up the christmas food...we do it different over here because it is summer we mainly do salads, with ham/chicken etc...so not a hot lunch...it is usually to hot here for that....I am hoping to go to the markets next week to get all our fruit/vegies and fish/prawns (yes they have a fish shop there and they fish daily and bring them to the shop/market...it is also much cheaper..just not real convinient.

My nephew is still working on his licence hours, my DD is waiting to see if her insemination worked, hubby got through his day surgery and is finally feeling a little better, the dog has its stitches out and is healing great, the car didn't need a service just needed to be reset so they did that and didn't charge us anything and we got a new lining on the car roof as it was starting to sag so that set us back $350...other than that not much has been happening here just regular appointments and staying busy...finally starting to get some sunny weather so things are starting to grow in the garden but don't think we are going to get much this year...only time will tell.

I ordered a new bottom think for our yard edger..it is a tough one as the one we have always runs out of twine stuff when I use it...so I'm hoping this one works better...I ordered one for our neighbor as well as he has always mowed and edged our yard since we first moved in..without asking or anything...we just come home or hear something out the front and here he is doing our yard...they are such nice people..so I bake them banana bread..bought them big  bags of candy for halloween and have also ordered a family game for them for christmas...

Also got our aldi fone plans in today so setting them up and that will save us $612 a year..have been waiting for them to have the sale again only have it a few times a year here....feeling positive and know that next year will be a better year for us...especially financially...and it's on 17 days till 2023😬

Well I have just updated our 2023 budget...and it is looking pretty good...again I have based it on our lowest income so if anything comes up we should still be able to cover it...obviously we will update and tweak it as the year progresses...

some things I am getting back to is menu planning (been real slack this last month) and cooking more we usually cook 98% of what we eat...but last couple weeks we have been having more take away...which is not like us...but we will be doing it more again!!

Aldi finally has their new plan out...we have been waiting for them for a few months now, it is a yearly amount that you pay not monthly and our mobile phone service was breached...and have been not so great...so we just bought our new plans and when they come in we will get rid of the service we have....and bonus we will be saving around $612 a year just on this...although I am expecting prices of things to keep rising this year...so might not be a real savings...as i always tell people "it's only a savings if it is in the bank...if you buy something on sale etc...it's only a good deal unless you put what you would have saved into the bank"

Have the car in for service this week, hubby has day surgery thurs...hopefully we will get some answers...hubby also has doctors, my daughter and I have the hairdressers, then we have a xmas party and a baby shower on sunday so going to be a busy week

December is looking expensive and not because of christmas...we have to get our car serviced and also the lining on the rof of our car needs to be replaced as it is starting to droop...I have put away $1000 for service and $400 for the roof....not sure if it will cost more or less will just see have the car booked in for service on 6th but need to book the roof in now and hopefully before christmas.

Christmas shopping is done waiting on 1 gift to come in and then just need to get money out for some people then only have food...shouldn't cost to much as will only be around 8 of us at most.

My daughter had her 4th iui today so hopefully it works and we find out she is pregnant just in time for christmas..that would be so great..fingers and toes crossed.

My nephew has finished his school year (we live in aust) so we can finally get his driving hours up...so many rules over here to get your licence.

Other than that we are paying bills this week and just chilling...finally getting some nicer weather so able to get some much needed yard work done...and then can finally spring clean the windows and such...

Just got a letter in from US social security the other day requesting updated information, this one came from the US which is weird as everything we do we have to go through the phillipines...so we moved 1.8 years ago and have send 3 change of address to social security and loand behold the one we got went to our last address...it was redirected to us thankgod we received it as we have 45 days to respond or no longer get paid....I really wish the irs and social security would have access to online for those living overseas, it would make things so much easier....we have no access online due to not having a US address...they really need to get stuff caught up and updated...almost 11 months and nothing on taxes...and now almost 2 years and still haven't changed our address and we were lucky that we got the mail...such a frustrating process...so we sent it in and I requested that it be signed for...my hubby said they won't sign for it..but that way I know whether or not they get it...I still can't get through to the IRS...so when I do next years taxes will send in this years again and do the same thing so I know that they actually get them...if they don't sign for them then at least we will get them back.

Well this year has been pretty much a bust on our budget so much has gone on and health wise not so great so I just didn't stick to it like I should have and we will end the year with no savings and owing on the CC (which was hacked, so sorting it out), but we did use it and owe on it...so I have done our 2023 budget and I'm going to stick to it no matter what...

Our CC is the only debt we have but it is big (big for me anyways) I hate CC but keep it as we are retired we can no longer get loans, but that is okay I don't like owing anyways. I monthly bills are always paid early or on time and we have great credit history. 

So as it stands our

CC will be paid off in feb

ice Acct will have $2000 in it march (we will then $100 a month to it to build it up)

We will be putting $100 a month away for christmas

any extra money we have will be put into our savings account to buy a house..only done budget till July next year but as it stands we should have $13,500 saved...about 1/5 of what we need for a deposit but we will be getting there slowly but surely.

We have several accounts

everyday

both have our own mad money accts

ins

car

christmas

savings (house)

POM

ice

We think that is enough accounts for us....it should work out and then if anything comes up we should be able to cover it....I have underestimated our income so we could potentially save more but I don't do it to the penny as some of our income is in US $ and that will depend on the exchange rate which also affects our income over here...also doesn't include any tax returns etc...just our base income...I also try to inflate our bills as they keep going up. 

If there is anything you think I may have missed then let me know...and no we don't do a retirement fund like you guys do...we do if we are working...but it is different here.

Not sure if anyone knows but we have had some pretty bad hacks(by russians) into a couple of systems over here that they have released many peoples private information...we were in 1 group but not another...not sure how much of our info has been hacked or sold...no-one does but we were able to put a hold on our credit information...so if anyone tries to open things or buy things under our names and whoever they are trying to go through tries to access our credit info it will block them out..so if they can't get the info they won't give the person what they want...and we don't get masses of debt in our name...we have a code so we can unlock anytime we want to but we can also keep it on there as long as we want to and its free (for now)...so that is what we are doing..hoping it works...and hoping that someone really starts messing with russia just like they are doing with the rest of the world....teach them a few lessons....anyway here's hoping we don't have any more hacks over here

We don't have any kids in our family right now...just adults..we do with extended family but we don't spend the holidays with that side of the family as we don't really get along with a few of them...and it becomes really hard to buy things for adults who basically work and buy what they want anyways...so this year they are getting a gift each (their choosing) and then I got a bunch of silly gifts for us to play lucky dip with...its just a fun way to spend the day with family and have some laughs...does anyone else do things like this??

So we are coming up to summer here and yet we have only had like 3 days of spring weather..I think the highest warm day we have had is aroumd 66 degrees...but it has been way colder than that...so cold and wet and our vegies are not growing very well at all as they don't get enough sun and the winds and rain have been horrendous and we live near the beach which doesn't help....so in 9 days it will be summer and I'm just wondering if we will get our spring weather or whether it will be hot...which I'm hoping not as everything in the bush has grown so much which means if it gets hot then we will be in for some bad bushfires this season...but I am just wanting some warmer weather...and some sun...glad I had 3 months of taking 100,000mg of vit D this spring as I would be completely depleted as I am always so low in vit D....hope you guys are enjoying your weather...other than that I am finally getting some of my christmas shopping done

That is how long it has been since we sent in our taxes....304 days 😧 we haven't been able to get through to them as they are so busy, so we don't even know if they have received them or if that info is just fallen into the wrong hands in the US...thats what I hate...the not knowing...they could be using our info to get loans etc and we would never know as we don't live there...just wish they had a better system in place for people living overseas...maybe we just won't do them anymore...I mean who cares right it would just us missing out on money not them and it really isn't worth the time and effort for $1000 is it?? Well I am over it and the whole IRS system...they are so incompetent!!

Maybe beause it has been a bad week for us both hubby and I are down sick, can't find my mom housing, the dog has surgery today...plus a few other things and I'm just over it

Hope everyone has has a good weekend...we have yet more thinderstorms. lightening and flooding to deal with!!

My doctor tells me to cut as much stress out of my life as I possibly can...that doesn't happen in this house especially with a teen living here right now....my nephew just turned 17...a  year ago my mom left to live in another area becuase of the high cost of rent she couldn't afford to live here anymore, so nephew who she has raised from birth went to live with my sister...she always had extra people living in the house, would cook or anything so even thouh they were paying for food they would hardly eat as there was nothing to eat...he sometimes slept in a bed, then the couch and eventually the floor...there was constantly yelling in the house....and he maybe went to school 1 day a week if he was lucky...my mum was stressed to the max as she didn't live there and he didn't tell her what was going on as he didn't want to worry here...she came down and he was so skinny and sick looking and she was so upset and the stress put her in the hospital....so she talked to me about it and I said he was going to move in with us that weekend and told him he didn't have a choice...and he did...he has missed 3 days of school in 3 months due to illness, he has a room to himself so he is sleeping well...he has plenty to eat (forgot how much teens eat) and he needed it as he looked like a POw with the sunken in face etc.....he has gained 20lbs since living here and is feeling much better and has so much energy now..he was so lethargic thats why he wasn't going to school...he busted his butt and did all the worked he missed out on when he wasn't at school...and he is doing great now and really back into his school work...he loved school...no here comes the drama...the vice principle of the school who is new (about 8 months) decided that he didn't like him and has told him that he will never complete the work and that he should just quit and get a job as he is making the school look bad, he also took him out of the english class he was in and moved him to his class. My nephew handed in all the work a few weeks ago and now that he has proved the teacher worng by getting all the work completed he won't mark it and said that he will fail his class, he can alway get the other english class to mark his work but he won't, so my nephew left class nad called me so angry...so I told him to sign himself out of school and come home..which he did. I called the school and told them I wanted to talk to the principle but they said I needed to talk to the coordinator first...well they didn't say who it was..but it turned out to be the teacher in question...I told her that I wasn't going in to talk about the class and theacher with the teacher involved running the meeting that would be a complete waste of time...but I have decided that I will meet with him today as well as my nephew and my mom so we can get this sorted as we need it to be (our school year is over in 4 weeks), he also called me yesterday and was telling me his side of the story and it is different as usual, he was telling me what was said in the meeting...he was only there 5 mins and left and I was at the meeting and called him out on it saying he never said that...so he does lie to cover his butt...but I'm not one to stand back and do nothing, I have given the principle 5 days to respond to my email with a positive outcome or the education dept will step in and help resove the issue, I also think that he is racist..my nephew is aboriginal as is his friend and he picks on them constantly and not just them ...so we will see in a couple of hours what will happen a few other things he has done are

used the N word in class 3 times

suspended his friend from school for haing the wrong shorts on but a kid that has been inappropriately touching girls at school and is accused of raping a couple of girls (not at school and police are involved) and he brought mace and a hammer to school got no punishment

continually tells my nephew to quit school as he makes the school look bad

gives them extra work that no-one else has to do

So hopefully today this issue will be done and finished...sorry so long but this is just a caption of what this guy is like..so very frustrating and trying to keep my nephew calm and telling him not to give up on school as that what the guy wants so he can say I told you so has been hard...he is so frustrated....I have also talked to quite a few teachers there that don't like him either.

But on a good note I put $400 on the CC...I have more to put on but our dog has grooming and surgery next week and I'm not sure what it will cost so will wait till that is done and near end of month put more onto the CC until it is paid off...all bills are paid for the month..except food and gas...which we take out every 2 weeks (pay cycle) so things are looking up financially a bit...not like many of you but to be debt free soon and saving again with be a big win for us!!

OMG we finally have a sunny day...seriously it has been spring for over 2 months and we have had 4 sunny days...so over this cold wet windy weather...have a few days of it so going to enjoy before the rain is back next week.

Have all the bills paid and had a little extra since the US$ is down here, that will com in handy since our dog need to get his teeth cleaned and have 2 lumps removed..so will book that in for mid month, will cost around $1000, he also needs to be groomed again which is around $70. Have been stocking our shelves a bit lately since I hate shopping and moreso around christmas....which we havent even thought of yet..need to start the shopping for that.

As for our garden...our vegies are growing so slowly...not sure we will get much from them this year as it has been so cold and wet and no sun that they just can't grow well...but we have a few sunny days so hopefully that will help.

grocery prices have gone up so much lately, but we are managing to do okay food budget has gone way up but we just adjust our budget, we don't eat take out much just cook at home.

As for the CC, we are plugging away at that slowly...figured would save what we can all month and 3rd week into the month we will put everything we can on it until it is paid off....should take a couple months but that is okay...its the only debt we have...other than that not much happening...starting to spring clean and declutter a little..I'm 2 months late but it has been like winter and just haven't felt like doing it.

My nephew has a 2 hr driving lesson tomorrow morning..its from 7.30-9.30am..hes not happy getting up that early on a sat but he has to...there is literally hardly any spaces for people to do driving lessons..everyone is booked out will cost around $180 for the 2 hours...then we will do another test in a few weeks and then he should be ready for his vort test and the same guy can do it...then he will have his licence and then he has to get a job if he wants a car so he can pay for his gas/rego & insurance

Can you believe that christmas is only 60 days away....can't believe how fast this year has gone...usually I have done all my christmas presents done by september at the latest...but this year I have done nothing yet...so thinking beginning of november I am going to get my butt into gear and start getting things done so between then and now I need to get a list made....it never really feels like christmas because we have no kids around and to me that is what christmas is about...I'm just not feeling it.

How is everyone doing with christmas preperations...one thing I will be working on will be food..prices have gone up so will make sure we add extra to the budget...is anyone else not feeling christmas this year or is it just me...I think it has just crept up on me this year

Does anyone ever feel like they have no time for themselves?? This year was suppose to be about me and my health...but I have had to help do all the move stuff for my step son (his brain doesn't work right since he had a stroke like episode), had to move my mom back to the city and organise it all...had my nephew move in and fix up all the stuff at school that was going on, helping my DD through her fertility process which  haven't worked yet and this last one she postponed..as she wasn't feeling confident enough in her gut that it would be successful, finally get my hubby through his second bout of cancer only fo rthe side affects to be worse and he is now in the hospital....so it is november, the year is almost over and I am yet to work on myself like I should be...I haven't even thought about christmas this year and it's only 62 days away and I am usually done by now...I am getting physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted and hoping that next year will be the year that I can focus on myself and my needs.

Although I haven't been buying things which I normally do when I feel like that so that is a bonus...and I am working on the CC and getting it paid off...so that is a positive...but I do have to do my budget as food and gas prics have gone up so much lately...but that is another day

Our lotto over here this week is $100 million dollars could you imagine having money like that...I just can't fathom money like that...but if I did I would set up my family with homes, and I would love to buy a hotel and give it a charity I support for the homeless and 2 other charities I support would get a great boost as well as all their money goes to the kids that they help.....what would you do if you had money like this??

Can't believe we only have 69 days till christmas..and I haven't even thought about it yet. 

My nephew is turning 17 tomorrow so will do pizza and icecream cake (he chose that) as last  year my siste did nothing for his bday and it kind of bummed him out considering she did stuff for his brother and sister...so not doing a lot he had a party with his friends on the weekend but do want to celebrate it with him...also invited my mom over but he doesn't know that yet....be a surprise....still trying to get his hours up so he can get his licence..then will see what my mom says about a car...it will be a runabout car to start with and I told him he needs a job to pay for his gas, rego and insurance.

Finally got my wand in and I really think it is helping my hubby and myself with some of our issues..was skeptical but have tried many other things that havent worked...so only time will tell...so far we can see a difference...and its only been a few days.

We have so many floods over here that food prices are soaring...and gas is back to $2 per litre..everything is going up and we feel it in our budget...we also have 2 extra house guests for 3 days this week so that will add more cost to the food budget....

Other than that not much else going in hopefully DD will be doing her IUI this month..missed the window last month it went between the blood tests...so hopefully this next cycle...and we have 2 days of sun/cloudy weather then back to another week of rain...really over the rain this year

I know it is autumn over there but spring here un australia...well it is suppose to be 6 weeks in we are still having so much rain and wet weather..I just wish we had some nicer weather to be outside more...had 2 nice days..today is cloudy and windy the tonight and for next few days back to rain...kind of over it..and if we end up with a hot summer it will make bushfire season so much worse than it could be..as everything is growing so much.

My vegies are starting to grow..can almost pick radishes..hubby eats them I don't and I am trying to grow potatoes this year so we will see how that turns out...hopefully in a few weeks we can start eating some of our own food...we also have our fruit tress flowering so will need to cover them the best we can to keep the birds from eating al the fruit...we have heaps of birds in our yard.

It looks like we will need to up our food budget by quite a bit everything has gone up..and I only have so much energy to be able to cook, we hardly have take away...its not worth the money and honestly I ike our food better..we also have a teen boy in the house..so he eats quite a bit...but he is healthier now so I don't mind...made banana bread today got 3 loaves so will cut some up for nephew to take to school, 1/2 for my mom to take home, 1 for us and 1 for my neighbor...he also cuts our lawn without us asking so when we bake we always give them some...they are good neighbors.

We have been doing good with the budget and not spending on anything we don't need, I am slowly chipping away at the CC so hopefully it will be paid off in a few months....I thought I might start thinking about christmas...usually I am done by now...but this year I am just not feeling it...have been to unwell and having to many "episodes" right now to worry about it...pay week this week so hopefully we can pay some extra on the cc 

Well my brother that has a rental has asked my mom if she wants to move in there in april (he currently has tenants) 2023...so we have agreed that she will live with her friend for the next 6 months and split costs and my nephew will live with us till then and then move in with her in april...not that I wanted him to be here that long but I guess it is what it is...and she can stay in that house until she dies...so no more moving for her..which is what she wanted. 

My nephew is learning how to drive (hubby is teaching him) he can sit for his test late november...so mom is looking at a cheap car for him...will see how we go with that...Our oldest DD is doing her iui again this month so hopefully that will be successful...it is her 4th iui so fingers crossed it works.

I have paid all my bills for the month, bought most of our meat, done a fairly good shop at the grocery store for the month we want to go to costco but not during the weekend or school holidays...so we will probably wait a couple weeks and then go...but I did manage to pay $500 into our ice acct and $800 onto our CC...looks like things are hopefully getting back on track.

Also ordered a terahertz frequency wand which will hopefully help with our illnesses...fingers crossed everyone I have spoken to that has used it has said that it is great and really helped them....so we will see have tried plenty of things that haven't worked...so hopefully this will.

Well we sent our taxes on the 17th january this year..yes via snail mail as it's the only way we can do it without it costing us over $300 plus to get them done.....it is now 25th sept and we haven't even heard if they have them..nothing is logged into their computer when we check online...I'm not going to chase it up..the last lot from 2019 & 2020 were just completed this year and was a nightmare...so we will wait and see what happens will see if they eventually get to them...I usually send them where they have to sign for them as it is very personal information and we don't live there and if someone gets a hold of the info then they could use it and we would never know....but still haven't heard from them!! the IRS has got to be one of the most incompetent places we have dealt with since covid started

My mom has now moved to the city and living with a friend until we find her a house to move into...it is so hard at the moment but her lease was up and her doctor wanted her closer. My nephew has not been at school much this year which has affected him...he was to lethargic to go and just started not caring about school...which was sad because he loved school, is so bright and was a great student..well he has been here a month now and we had a meeting at the school on friday as he has decided he wants to get back into his schooling so he can graduate next year (his final year at school), the school is happy, this month he has missed 2 days and that is because he was at the hospital and spent the next day recovering and they have written up a plan for him and he is determined to do everything they need him to do...They still have a couple things to get put in place...but we are so happy that he is putting in the work and getting back on track...

This is the last week before school holidays, we do it a little different here, we have 10 week terms and then have 2 weeks off between terms, except in summer when we have 6 weeks off...I like it this way...gives everyone a break...my nephew says he will spend those 2 weeks catching up on his school work...but the good thing is it is spring here so I can so more yard work and all our vegies are starting to grow...I planted pototoes in bags today...have never grown them so will be interesting to see if they grow or not...going to try and grow sweet potatos as well. 

I know it's not what people want to hear but the US$ has been dropping over here which means the money we make in the US converts to more here so will be able to add extra money to our ice and CC...

I wrote up a post but it looks like it has disappeared...so a small catch up my nephew is doing great here had a couple days off school as he was sick and ended up in the ER, he took himself as he was on his way to school when he almost collapsed...did everything himself, he ended up having a sinus infection and he clenches his jaw so much that his whole jaw was in pain and was having headaches...also took him to the dentist as they thought the jaw ain could h ave been his wisdom teeth coming through...it wasn't (it was the clenching jaw) and we found out he needed several fillings...so we booked him in for his first lot, they say they need 2 more appts and it should only cost my mom $106 out of pocket...so that was nice, over here the govt will pay $1026per child per year to go to the dentist...so that helped a lot...we asked why he had so many fillings he brushes twice a day and doesn't eat  a lot of junk food and they said it was probably his lack of eating/diet....one of the reasons he moved in with us was he wasn't being fed. But he is doing great now, eating a lot, putting on some weight, has more energy, going to school everyday (except when sick) and is much happier.

My mom came down earlier in the week for a couple days...she is so much more relaxed seeing how he is going and looking now so she is finally relaxed enough to focus on herself and her move...she will move tuesday back down to the city and stay with a friend until we find a place for her to live..hopefully won't be long.

We are spending more on food with a teen in the house but that is okay, all bills are paid and even managed to put $400 on the CC...will take a few months to get it paid off again but we will eventually...I'm not going to stress about it...working on that and getting my ice acct back up.

Well nephew has been here 2 weeks and is doing well...eating well, I forgot how much teenage boys eat..but he is putting on some weight and feeling much better, he is sleeping well and hasn't missed a day of school in 2 weeks..he is much happier within himself and my mom is feeling so much better and not as stressed, she will be down tomorrow for a couple days then back home to finish packing then move down to the city next tuesday...just need to organise storage this week and it will all be done. Hopefully we will find her a house in th next few weeks.

Have had a couple of warm days before the rain hit again so was able to plant some of our seedlings into one of our garden beds will do the rest this week...they have grown so well...in a couple more weeks we will plant some more seeds so we have them going all spring/summer...our back grass really needs to be mowed but we have  huge tree that blooms with flowers for about 4-6 weeks...it attracts hundreds of bees everyday...they are in the tree and also as the flowers fall they go onto the ground so we will wait till the flowers disappear and then do it...don't want to hurt any of them.

All bills have been paid for the month, we will just need to keep extra for some groceries and gas ( will do that this week) and then start adding some to our ice acct and CC debt...

Not much else going on...hope everyone has a great week

Cant believe we have a week till spring so over these cold dreary days..everything is starting to flower and bloom, we are startingour seedlings...have tried a new pot thing this year to start them from seeds s hopefully it works if not we will buy from the store and get it started...my daughter puts her seeds from her bell peppers in a plastic ziploc bag with water and paper towel so they will grow...we have the first lot done and they are in a pot growing...there were a lot and not sure how well they would grow so as they get bigger we will seperate them into different pots...so excited that we will be finally able to spend some time outside.

my mom is moving down here in a month not sure where to yet as we can't find her a house/unit...so we are working on that daily and this sunday my nephew (who was living with my mom one reason she is moving back so they can live together again) is moving in....he currently lives with my sister and is not doing well...he is 16 almost 17...living in a 3 bedroom home with 8 plus people...she has cut off the internet and even though they are paid to buy groceries she doesn't feed them...it is really stressing my mom out to the point she is having panic attacks (not good as she is 84) and he is having stress seizures...he ilso so lethergic he is missing school..so he is moving in with us so my mom knows that he feed, taken care of can do his homework as we have the internet...and that will relieve a lot of their stress...my hubby is also teaching him how to drive so he can do that more consistantly and get his p's hopefully november.

Other than that not much else is going onfinancially not doing any better (no savings) but not doing any worse either...hopefully things will improve soon....

We have decided not to move right now..just the time and money it would take just really isn't worth it and we don't really have the energy ourselves to look at houses do paperwork and then pack and move...and they are sending someone to come fix the doors at least. With our daughter not long out of hospital from stress seizures, hubby still rehabing from his cancer and my dizziness and chronic fatigue...just not worth the hassle right now.

We have paid all our bills for the month, and things are doing ok there, not to much to report...food still going up but we are coping with that...has been much easier now that I have gone back to menu planning, makes it easier on all of us and I am doing a monthly one and I am back to cutting up fruit and vege for the fridge so we can snack on that instead of crap food like cookies etc.

I was bored the other day and looked up some psychics online...don't trust a lot of them but I have seen them before...funny things is they all said the same things so that was weird...would be nice if what they said was going to happen did...but it was a fun thing to do.

other than that just doing some yard work today the only sunny day we have...next 9 days are rain...i am really over the rain this year it has been non stop...can't wait for spring and summer...especially since the beach is at the end of the road....

They are renewing our lease (if we want to) but they are upping the rent, its not a lot but we would be paying an extra $520 a year, we wouldn't mind so much if they would do some repairs around the house but they haven't, our hot water system costs so much to run and we literally can only have 1 person shower every day before we run out of hot water... so frustrating...some of the doors stick so much...but at the same time rents are high here and I think many will rise since interest rates have gone up...and the hassle of moving is just not something we really want to so right now (financial wise)...to use movers it would cost around $4,000- 5,000 just to move from 1 suburb to another, and then we have to pack and unpack the house...and before all of that we have to look at houses and we have a lot of covid cases right now so don't really want to be out and about in that...so we are still thinking about it...have about a month to decide so will see what is out there and do a pro/con list....can't wait till we can buy a house ourselves

We have hit that time of year where we have hit our threshhold for prescritions and they are free except for one of mine which I have to pay $20 for....it saves us so much money every year, thankgod the govt has that incentive. 

I have been looking at new phone/internet plans haven't decided on anything yet...but looking, I am going to change our contents policy...we don't need to have it so high...to replace everything if we needed to..so going to lover it and save round $150 plus a year....have been menu planning so this week will do a menu plan for next month and do a big shop in the beginning of the month and then just what we need weekly...so far this week has been working out well..only time will tell in the long run.

I have started decluttering which is hard as I don't have a lot of stuff but my hubby and daughter do....but I will get it paired down more each month....and I have started spring cleaning a little...I know its not spring for another 5 weeks but cleaning makes me feel better.

New budget starts next month, will be tight but workable each other month should get better...and hopefully get more savings and money back into our ice acct

We sent our taxes in mid jan this year and yet they still haven't put up that they have received them and they definately haven't been done...wish the irs would get their act together...I have decided that we are not chasing them anymore for their incompetence....it costs us so much money each time I have managed to get through it has been 2 hours plus on a cell phone across the world and so not worth the expenses....we never get any paperwork from them in regards to taxes...so guess if not done in the next year or so we will follow up...I just can't be bothered anymore...not worth the hassle!!

So I decided earlier this month that I would start a new budget..back to basics, redo everything and start over and get back on track...not only have we gone off the rails we have flipped several times and ended up god knows where with everything that has been going on...so today went back to basics.

for the rest of this year I will concentrate getting $2000 back  into our ice acct and paying off the dreaded CC these are my main 2 goals to achieve this year once that is done we will start saving. Once we reach the $2000 in ice acct we will continue to add $100 a month to boost it up.

I have also divided up and opened up accts for different things such as car/pom/ins so I can keep them seperate...wasn't working to well having them all in the same acct...so those amounts will start going into those accts in august.

Come december I will open up a xmas acct and put $100 a month in it for christmas for the family & charities...usually I just budget in for december but thought this might make it easier on the budget.

I am back to menu planning and have that written up and then we will start shopping with only what is on our menu anyone wanting treats can use their own mad money for that...hoping this way we can save some money on groceries. We currently spend $1000 plus on groceries...but food is expensive our milk alone is $6 for 2 litres..but some things we won't compromise on.

All going well the CC should be paid off oct 2022, the ice acct should be at $2000 by sept...and starting oct we should be able to start saving something each month...that amount will vary each month..but any savings is good.

The CC is the only debt we have so once it is gone we will be debt free again. feeling positive about the new budget, will just need to figure out the best places to do our grocery shopping between stores and markets (fresh fish/fruit/vege..all locally grown)...but we will discuss that at our family meeting later today. 

Next thing to focus on is our health and that will take more research but can focus on that now the budget is done for not only 2022 but also 2023...if anyone has any suggestions then please leave them below for consideration..thanks