Mumof2's Personal Finance Blog

Have updated my march budget and I should be able to get my $2,000 back into my ice account and pay off 1/2 of the CC ( rest should be paid off in april)....I will then be able to save around $1,000 a month...hopefully more but I am keeping it there for now....see how we go....but that is the plan.

I am researching our car/contents insurance as well as our phone plans to see if we can save money in those areas....we are looking at moving in october when the lease is up as if my daughter is pregnant this house won't fit us and we would really like one that has a big shed so we don't have to pay rent and storage fees...it is expensive....but we will see what is available when the time comes....may be nothing that would suit us and won't just move if it doesn't benefit us.

Can't wait till march, our daughter will be home..although in isolation to make sure she doesn't have covid...the budget is looking good and I think things are looking up...fingers crossed...can't believe march is only a week away...this year is going fast

Happy valentines day...although we never celebrate it, my hubby has a tradition since our girls were born that each year he buys them a rose for valentines day...so we went to our youngest daughters house today and gave her hers...but our oldest daughter is in the US so we will wait to she gets back...but we talked to her and wish her a happy valentines day...I love this tradition for them...hope those who celebrate had a nice day as well...for those who don't I hope you had a nice day as well!!

Today was a bad day (and just so people know these guys live 5.5 hrs away from us)...my mom ended up in the er 2 days ago due to a massive migraine and pain in her head she went by ambulance which took an hour to get there and sat at the hospital for 8 hours without any meds or seeing a doctor....there was no doctor at the hospital..so she left and my sister stayed with her that night...she has been trying to see a doctor in that town but can't get in...so she called me today and said she wants to come down and see her doc...that was at 9am...she wants to get things checked out so we were trying to figure out how to get her here...I ended up getting her on a flight that only takes 50 mins...hoping that her head would be okay, she had called her doc down here in the city and got an appt to see him tomorrow so hopefully we can get things sorted...she made it fine..took lots of meds before leaving and is now at my sister house until her appointment....so after getting her sorted this morning we get a call from my step son...he has some sort of brain injury but they are not sure what has caused it but for the most part he is okay as long as he is on his meds...if he doesn't have his meds he gets really bad in the head, can't think, process, his body starts to shut down etc... well he to lives in this town as well he had a doc appointment at 12..never seen this doc as they just moved there a month ago...he has had no meds for 4 days so is in bad shape he hasn't been able to see a do yet...so he does to his appointment and the doc has closed up shop and not told anyone...so he can't get his meds, hes getting bad and calls us as he can't process what he needs to do...so I call the hospital, they say there isn't any doc at the hospital so he won't be able to get the meds for hours...so I call the doc down here where we go and he use to go explain the situation and see if the doc will write a script and send it to a chemist (drug store) down where he lives so he can get his meds...the lady said she would email the doc and see what he wants to do..the doc calls him and does a phone consult, mad that he hasn't had his meds for 4 days...and gets a script sent down to the chemist for 21 days worth and also send one in the mail that will last him a couple of months...so he was able to get his meds within a couple hours of me calling him, I also called other doc surgeries and managd to get him in to see another doc down there, she read through his history and wants some more tests done as well...once he took his meds he started feeling better...will take a couple days to get better but he is doing much better...all I could think is I love modern technology...2 family members who needed medical attention and couldn't get it and us living that far away we were still able to get them what they needed...so thankful for technology

Hubby and i are adjusting having just the 2 of us here but I have to say I am missing the extra mess and washing etc that our daughter brings to the house as I just have very little to do now...I wash like once a week and it's weird...this is the longest we have lived alone in 30.5 years...yes it has only been 12 days...but we have always had one of our kids around...and it is so quiet....but we are enjoying it as well...miss our eldest can't wait till she comes home...she is having an awesome time...living on a ranch for the month with her friend and other family....I talk to her everyday and she is loving it...hating the cold weather but loving the experiences and meeting new people...

Weather is cooling down here this week which is nice...nothing to report on the financial side, all bills are paid...really don't need to purchase anything...so we haven't....although my youngest is moving in with her bf end of march...so she wants to pay me to clean her townhouse when she moves...as I am great at cleaning houses and she knows it and would rather pay me than someone else...and thats okay...I would do it for free and she said no...she is waiting to move out after her sister comes back from the US as she will stay in her house when she gets back until she knows that she doesn't have covid...then she will come home and our youngest will get everything moved and then give up the place end of march....love that they work together like that

Hope everyone has a great week and if it starts like mine hope it gets better...

So I called the IRS today as they said call if they hadn;t heard from them in a month and I hadn't so I did...it frustrates me as I can never talk to the same person...so the guy today who I am guessing is between 70-80 years old ( he said he has been married 56 years) said that my case has been closed...I'm like but nothing has been finalised...and he said was reading through the notes that the last 8 people have written and said that they can't pay us twice...I said yes we know but once would be nice he could understand what was going on and arguing about the paperwork being different than what we have...he said they don't change anyone paperwork...so he has sent me transcripts of all that has been done on our account for 2020 taxes and then if we need to change anything we have to call them first...but since we haven't been paid our taxes yet it will be an ongoing saga...just wish it was over...can see it being a long saga yet....wish we could do it online like everyone else....if it was a few hundred dollars I would just say forget it but we are talking a few thousand so I'm going to fight it...wish me luck it is hard to do this from the other side of the world!!

Yesterday we made an extra $65...so that will be going into the bank, next time we go.

We made it by selling 2 small cabinets 1 for $10, 1 for $20..and $35 on taking cans back...in our state we get 10c for every soda can/bottle etc that we take back...so a little extra money...I'll take it

I have been trying new things with our budget and trying ways to save money...so I have had many accounts that cover things like car/medical/pom/ice/daily etc...so I have closed 5 of them and will just have our daily acct/ice/grocery/gas/house deposit...hoping this makes things easier...also going to look at ways to cut our grocery budget..even though food prices have gone up...so we will see...gas prices have been sky rocketing as well ($1.89 right now)...but bonus with our daughter away for a month we won't be using much of that money this month...I will also be look at insurances, utilities and cell phones to see if we can get better deals...and hopefully in october we can can find a house that has a shed so we can save on storage fees...so will be a busy couple months adjusting and researching to the changes and hope that they work.

Hopefully we can start getting back to the markets as the fruit and vege is cheaper and better quality and would prefer to buy locally not from grocery store...we buy from a local butcher and their meat can be a little expensive but its worth it...I am putting up for sale some of the things we no longer use or need...so can bank that money...

My plan is to try and save $50,000 in 2 years...I know it may not be a lot to some of you but it is for us considering I can't work...but it gives me a goal to work towards...I will break it down into achievable smaller goals to help me stay motivated...wish me luck!!

First off travelling has not been a thing in australia for a long time....now that people can travel overseas thought it would be good...my daughter had such a hard time getting out of australia...she booked her tickets online and everything was good but then on her way home (in a month) they delayed her flight in hawaii by 24 hours today...which means the 2 connecting flights in australia would have to be changed...because they just let her know like 3 hours before she left they made her buy a new expensive ticket as she had to have a return ticket before she left the country...and their offices weren't open...she was so stressed...the ticket was twice as much...they wouldn't let her just change the last 2 flights which were in australia and then they said that it would take 3 months to refund her money...we are not happy...so she bought the new ticket...and is on her way to hawaii..then to la..etc...she said she would contact them once she got to where she staying in nebraska as she just wanted to relax and enjoy the trip there...but glad she is on her way...and hope she has a great holiday...even if it is winter there.

Now just wondering if people could suggest what they do in the next few questions

1. do you focus just on getting rid of debt and then save or do you do both at the same time?

2. what do you do or use to track you budget (if you have one) and do you attach it to your bank account etc (seen a couple of these)?

3. What are the best sites/books etc to learn how to invest?

4. do you think buying or renting is better?

Thankyou I am looking at doing things a bit differently and just wondered what others have done that has worked for them

Can't believe it is february already...looks like this year is going to fly by as well.

Our daughter flew out today she is on her way to spend a month in nebraska...she is excited to be spending time with her friends...so hopefully it goes well...so many of her flights keep changing so a bit frustrating but she is a good traveller...hopefully will have smooth flights...People can't believe she took 2 small backpacks as she doesn't like to book in luggage so just takes it on the flight with her and she doesn't have to go to baggage etc...she finds it easier and so much quicker....

budgeting has been going well and this month we shouldn't need to spend much on groceries as we have done a big shop before our daughter left so will only need things like bread/milk and fresh fruit/vege...if it looks good lately it hasn't been looking to good any of the fruit and vege...not sure what is happening with it....will still put the money away for groceries but probably won't use it all.

This is going to be the first time in 30.5 years that hubby and I will spend more than 2 weeks alone together since our kids were born...they have always lived with us (our oldest has chronic fatigue) and will live with us for the rest of our lives...so it will be fun and we have so much that we want to get done.

My hubby, my mom and I all got our booster shots on sat all did well with them...sore arm but not much else

We have decided to move in october...this house just isn't working for us and the yard is just to big for us to maintain...it is a nice yard but we don't have the energy to keep it up....so hopefully will find something that suits us better.

On a more positive note hubby got a great psa test where his cancer is non-detectible again (2nd time) so no more hormone shots as they really mess him up...they said if it comes back again then they will try something else as hormone shots aren't good for him..so we will see what the future holds...fingers crossed he stays cancer free for a bit...so for now we are taking the great news...

Still working on the budget and tweaking it to see what works better for us...trying some new things so we will see how it goes

Our schooling is completely different than the US...our kids have 9-10 weeks then 2 weeks off until summer when they have 6 weeks off...and even though our kids don't go to school it has been weird to see them start the kids off at different times...kids in years rec/1..7/8 & 12 all start 2 weeks earlier...than the rest...but my thought is why bother if kids at school are going to get covid they will...they still play sport, work etc so whats the difference if they start school at the same time...I don't understand it...but honestly if I did have kids I would home school them anyways....but am I wrong in thinking this is strange??

Put grocery order in today and pick up toorrow after my hairdresser appt...my daughter will go to the butchers while I'm at my appt and get gas while we are out then we should be good for whie she is away except bread/milk

The govt here as changed their boosters to 3 months now instead of 4 so next sat we have my hubby and mom getting them...hubby was booked in for feb but makes it easier to have while our daughter is still home...so happy about that.

CC is officially paid off again today as I checked the account...weird we never use it for so long then we do...but now it will be for emergencies only...well have to get the dog to the vet so had better get going...it's a hot one here today (the last few days) so hopefully he will be on time 

I was playing games on the computer the other day and I won $5500...yep so I took it out and it was deposited into my account last night....was really amazed things like that don't usually happen to me...so I paid off my CC...this extra money has put us about 3-4 months ahead of where we would be as we put it in the budget to pay off the CC and now we don't need to...so excited...so it means we are debt free again....and now I get to go and play with the budget and put the money into ice and savings...I am one happy chappy this week....and bonus it's pay week but going to do a major shop since our daughter is going away for 4 weeks to the US and then to her sisters for a week to isolate (just in case)....something positive for this month....I'm liking 2022 so much better than last year

Also my mom is coming down to for a few days as her grandson who was living with her is starting school and needs to get uniforms etc...she was suppose to come down this week but he got covid last week so is waiting...she will stay with us so she can go to the hair dressers and then get her booster shot on sat then will go to my sisters...she has teens living with her who go out so I don't want my mom to go back and forth between houses with our health...and she is good with that.

Now I need to go write a list of groceries that we will need for the next 5 weeks...wish me luck

After helping my step son pack up his house and move my body went into melt down...have been so sick...didn't help that we had a few days over 100 degrees...slowly starting to feel better....I am hoping I feel better by saturday as I am suppose to have my booster shot...my daughter had hers last week and had a bit of all over body pain and tiredness this time...so hopefully I won't be any worse...our hospitals are not coping with all the new covid cases...they weren't coping before covid...so don't need to be sick or end up in the ER...we had a child here that poured hot tea over them and they waited 57 mins for an ambulance and another person fell unconscious and they had to wait 4 hrs for an ambulance because they are ramped...same with people having strokes/heart attacks...they are trying to keep them alive in the back of ambulances while they are waiting to be seen....it's horrible. 

Our oldest daughter is going to nebraska for a month beginning feb...it is scary for us for her to be travelling over there amongt all the covid...but she is an adult and it is her choice...when she gets back she will quarantine at her sisters house for a week to make sure she doesn't have covid....if she does get sick her sister is only 2 doors down so she can help her if she needs it...just hope she doesn't get sick over there...that really scares me...I know but she is still my baby and will be so far away....I still worry.

I have a few things budget wise that I am doing but not ready to put up here yet....although this week will probably do a major monthly grocery shop and get meat from the butcher...so we don't have to go out much when our daughter isn't here...I get very unstable on my feet so can't really be left alone due to falls...so will be hard on my hubby if we need to go places....and wearing masks make me really dizzy...but guess we will have to work it out

I am by no means an expert...damn I'm rarely understand your taxes over there and yet the IRS seems more confused than me about what is going on with our taxes after an hour on the phone still no progress only a note put on our account and then transferred me to someone who said they couldn't help me and transferred me back and said I had to wait 30-60 minutes...sorry I'm on my cell phone and just sat there talking to you for an hour I'm not waiting again. So a little back story...we sent our 2019 taxes in and the pandemic hit...so obviously all that went on it never got processed...then we sent in our 2020 taxes in feb 2020...we had called about our 2019 taxes and they said just send them in again as they hadn't seen them..so we sent them in where they had to sign for them...after all we have to send in paper copy and it has all our personal info on it so wanted to make sure they got them...and they did.

So they finally did our 2019 taxes and we got a refund...thought that was the end of that...but found out tonight that they have me as filing as a single not married filing jointly...considering it's my hubby's income...so not sure how we are suppose to fix that now...or maybe we will just wait for them to contact us about it.

So 2020 taxes rolls around and we got $67 refund...which was around $3000 short...so we called them to find out why so low, they said it was because of the stimulus payments etc...which we informed them we never received as we found out that they based it on our 2018 taxes as at the time they hadn't processed our 2019 taxes yet...so they sent my hubby $1800 in stimukus payments (I have an itin so didn't qualify..which is fine by me..we didn't expect anything) but because we didn't get the payment we never had them on our 2020 taxes....after several phone calls we figured out that whoever put our information into the tax system put our address in wrong, they never put the taxes we paid on the computer...so thats why the refund was so low...so I had to send an amended tax return in with the taxes on it...which was apprently filled out wrong but they went line by line with me to fill it out...so again...they messed up....they have now had the amended tax for 23 weeks so they have put a not on it saying it has to be processed ASAP...but no-one could tell me what stimulus credits we have to put on this years taxes whether it is the 1800 plus 1400 or just the 1400...even the lady I spoke said she was really confused...so this weekend we will do our taxes send them off and hope for the best and maybe if we are lucky they will be done by the end of 2022...but they did say if I didn't receive a response in 30 days to contact them...we have never received mail from them in over 2 years....so lets see what happens....I wish we could file them electronically like everyone else...these screw ups are on their end not ours and it is really frustrating....they are frustrated as the info they have is not the same as I have because someone isn't doing their job right...and I am frustrated because they have no idea what they are doing

Sorry for the long rant...but I was hoping this saga would be finished by end of last year and it hasn't been...now we have to try figure out this year...I think I will be putting a letter in the taxes to explain what has been going on....and hope they get the data in right this time...wish us luck...so glad our taxes are so much easier 

I love the beginning of the month I can pay all our bills and then not have to worry about them...then every fortnight we will take out our grocery and gas money...we use to use cash as it was easier to be in control of but with covid so rampant here and doing more ordering online we decided to open up an account just for groceries and gas so we can keep it seperate from everything else....we also only have $300 left to put into the ice account for the month (to reach my monthly goal) , we still need to pay for the truck for my hubby's son to move so won't get as much paid on the CC but that is okay...as long as everything else is paid we will be fine...so far this year things are looking good budget wise

Well it is finally 2022...it seems sureal that it is here already...2021 just flew by so fast...but this year is going to be better than last year...today we are celebrating our grandaughters 17th birthday...yes she is born on new years day...she has decided to do a dinner at home since covid is rampant right now and most of us have compromised immune systems...and they are also moving 5 hours away on the 7th jan...so we will be busy this week helping them pack and move. 

I don't really do resolutions but I do goals that I want to achieve all year...some are small and some are big...some of them are 

In my budget to get more precise of where our spending goes 

pay off the CC AGAIN

big one is focusing on our health this year...

To declutter some 

to move into a better house

to save some for a house deposit

To try be more active (hard with my dizziness)

be more positive on all fronts

Try to get back to at least 70/30 dietary habits

Hope everyone has a great new year...it has been over 100 here this week so looking forward to some cooler weather..

I know mny of you are getting to start the new year but this year I want to start logging in each amount that we spend in each category..right now we just have an amount say for food $1000 per month sometimes its less sometimes its more, then we have other categories of course...so just wondering what programs they use to keep track of that which is quick and easy....I want to start it tomorrow (2022) so hoping to get it set up this week...any ideas would be great..Thankyou 

I want to wish everyone a happy, safe and prosperous new years...ours will be low key as it is over 100 here and with our health we won't be going anywhere

Well it is the end of the year we have no more pay checks but I don't keep track like most everyone and have no exact amounts for each catergories. We now have to pay the CC off again and then we will put it away....we just had so many medical things the end of the year that it just broke it...no matter what how much we put away it seems to never be enough. 

I have done next years budget but we know things will change a bit so it will just means our savings will be down a bit...but thats okay...my main focus for 2022 will be our health not our budget...I have been so off for the last few days...not sure what it is...but one thing I know is that we won't be going out as 5 weeks ago we had no covid cases and now we have almost 5000 cases...its to risky for us so we order our groceries online and do direct to boot...so we only really go to doc appointments now.

We were hoping that our taxes would be done by now but they are no and they are closed now till jan and then it will be time to do this years taxes so that is frustrating...just hope they get their act together in 2022. 

Not really going to look at the budget till I am feeling better so hopefully a few days...have done most of jan grocery shopping all we will do after that is fresh produce and milk/bread...although I am trying to get my hubby and daughter to get off of cows milk (all animal milk) as hubby has prostate cancer and my daughter is prone to breast cancer and has to be tested each year...so that will help as well. 

The weather here is getting warm here this week around 98 plus so trying to stay indoors and cool as this house only has 1 air con

Hope everyone has a safe, prosperous and healthy new years

I haven't posted much as not a lot happening, I have decided not to worry about the budget to much..what happens...happens..will get back into it next year but it is not high priority right now even if it should be..my health is my priority now and that is what I am going to be working on and doing it myself...doctors have not been much help so will just see my regular doctor and I do need to see a physio (it is free) and an endocrine doctor but that won't happen to march...and I have an endoscopy end of jan 2022 (this is also free)...so won't be to many out of pocket expenses.

Covid since they have opened up the borders in 3 weeks we now have over 230 cases...that may no sound like much but we didn't have covid in the community for almost 300 days and even then it was like 16 cases so that is frustrating as we are now limited to where we can go and what we can do its just to hrd with hubbys cancer and copd..so that annoys us especially being summer here.

Still waiting for them to do our amended taxes has been 5 months and they still haven't done it so annoying so not even sure if we are suppose to do anything to this years taxes from last years taxes...it was the irs that messed up our taxes so will be adding in a note in with the new one when we send them and hope they get it right.

Our christmas shopping is all done and just waiting for the last one to come in should be here in next day or so and..all are wrapped and under the tree...so feeling good and I am hoping that next year will be a better year for us when it comes to health and finances

So the last few months I have just about given up on our budget...when I get sick or depressed it just stresses me out and I also spend way to much money...it's a bad habit and one I am breaking...usually happens once a year!!

So I sat down today and since our income doesn't really change..if it does it usually goes up so we don't add it in...and I have written up our budget for the next 2 years and if all goes well we should be able to buy a house in 2 years...sounds like forever and feels it...but we will get there. I have also printed out 12 months of our menu plan so we can start writing it up monthly again and shopping monthly like we use to, then just get fresh stuff once a week at the markets....when the insurances become due will search around and see if we can get a better deal and will after christmas see if we can get a better deal with our cell phones.

Any tax money etc we get will go straight into savings and I am hoping to hopefully get some answers about my health and go back to work at least part time...I miss working...I miss living a normal life...so these are my future financial goals...fingers crossed nothing big comes up

Finally got a hold of the IRS and got some answers as to what has been going on...let me try to explain where it makes sense...living in a different country we have to do a paper copy of our taxes..I do ours on the computer and then print them out and send. When the pandemic hit our taxes must have been there somewhere but they had closed etc so nothing was done and then they were so backlogged and had millions of stimulus payments etc to do as well...so we gave them plenty of time. So we didn't get stimulus checks (didn't think we would) and they went by our 2018 taxes. So this year when they finally did our 2019 taxes things had changed and my hubby was eligible for his part of the stimulus checks which we got about a month ago but things still didn't add up with the taxes we paid...so after talking with them today we are looking at the original and amended taxes (they asked me to do and helped me do over the phone earlier this year)...whoever put the information into their data base never added in the taxes that we actually paid so it looked like we didn't have any tax withheld....so the kind lady after an hr and half (god help my cell phone bill) finally figured it out and now is going to try and get the account moved to her as she knows what is going on...so basically for the last 7 plus months it was basic human error of putting in data into a computer that has taken so long to figure out...so hopefully it will be finalised in the next few months and next years won't take so long....fingers crossed!!

I hope that makes sense to people

So our state has  pretty much over the last 2 years been covid free in the community except for a few minor outbreaks...but tonight we are opening up our borders...none of us are happy there are states that will be allowed to travel here now without quarantening that consistently have over 1000 new cases a day...and have for a long time..obviously they don't know what they are doing there....so with my hubby having cancer and my health we are really limiting where we go and it will only be essential services...we will do contactless deliveries of groceries etc...even our businesses are going back to the old covid ways of wearing masks during all appointments...having to be vaccinated etc...can only imagie how many cases we will get here between now and new years...no-one will be allowed to visit at christmas unless double vaxxed and they have to sanitize hands etc when they come over....hate that we have to live this way...I know not many understand that since covid in the US has been such a big issue for so long but the govt we have has cut so much funding to our health services that they can't cope now...let alone with a bunch of covid cases....a lot of people are waiting up to 4 hours for an ambulance...and now many doc/nurses are quitting or being let go because they aren't vaccinated...so less workers as well...its just a wrong move...and we will also be opening up to international travellers as well...Australia will soon be like the rest of the world...covered in covid and not being able to cope....but I guess its a way for the govts to get rid of the elderly and people with health issues!!

Not a happy camper...but already preparing for the worst and hoping for the best...bad thing is with summer holidays and christmas...so many people will be travelling!!

As I sit here and look at the budget for december I am reminded that come Jan 1st it is tax time again (in the US anyways) and the crap starts all over again...yes I know I shouldn't call it that, but we are still waiting for them to do this years amended taxes....so its just a major headache as we can't do them online...and when we call they have no info and ask us to send them again...which we have decided ehen we send them they have to sign for them now so I know that they get them....that is a lot of personal information if they aren't getting them and we wouldn't know if people are using our info as we don't live over there....so we hope that isn't happening...I am just hoping this year the taxes will be done and dusted early and we don't have to worry about them.....and getting the refund that is owed to us would be nice to get as well.....rant over

Not all financial but I have decided to change how I do things and take the pressure of myself...I ended up in the ER twice last week and still no answers...they also think that my cortisol levels are not the issue...so we are still completely clueless to what is going on with me...they sent me to another clinic who will send some suggestions to my regular doc to have some more tests done...I have taken myself off all my natural meds and just seeing how I go...I am trying to walk everyday although our spring weather has almost been non existant...and I have to have someone go with me due to my dizziness...but we are struggling through. I see my integrated doctor early december and my hubby sees his urologist in dec to see how his cancer is going....so lets hope we get some good news and no more bad news...Our state borders open up this week and it worries me as we don't have covid in our community and haven't for months and the states that we are opening to are having 1200 plus new cases a day...and I know if my hubby or I get covid with our health we will most likely die!!....so we will be changing how we do things and will be doing mostly click and collect or deliveries of everything to limit our exposure.

I have redone our budget and instead of freaking out of what we don't have in our accounts I am putting some in each account each month and I will have to be happy with that...we will get where we need to be eventually and I have to be okay with that..and I think I will be...just have to be smart how we do things now. On the upside I have 2 more gift cards to buy for christmas which I will do today and then we are done...will only need to get christmas food which is in the budget..next year I have a monthly amount we will put into savings each month as we buy gifts all year on sale...my great nephew got his learners today so has asked my hubby and daughter to teach him how to drive over the next year (yes they have to have them a year) so that may add to the budget a bit but if we aren't going as many places then it might not...time will tell...he has a part time job so is saving for a car of his own..other than that we are trying to sort out all the stuff we have and get the house/shed/storage sorted a bit...it will take some time as we haven't been well.

So I know many on here are pretty well off and congrats to you and others are doing okay and others live paycheck to paycheck, we do okay we are pretty good at never having much debt except the CC that we use every one in awhile...but I do pressure myself to put more money into savings..more money into my ice account etc...then I fall off the wagon and then have to restart...it is frustrating me...I know i do it when I am having a bad day/week...and if I put money into one area and not another then I get frustrated that I don't put it into those other accounts....it's just how my brain works right now...

Our bills are always paid on time (usually early) and we always have plenty off food but I think because of my illness the last 8 long years, that it has put us so far behind where we want to be that my frustration stems from that...now that they think we have figured out what is wrong with me it is going to take another 1-2 years to hopfully get back on track and maybe get well enough to go back to work (hopefully)...so I have decided to take the pressure of myself and every payday put money into each account and just be happy where we are at that time and that we will get where we are suppose to be in life eventually and just focus on my health and happiness.

So now I am going to go rejig my budget for the next couple of years and just take things as they come up and just focus financially on saving in all areas and see how it will work out...wish me luck...hopefully the pressure feeling will disappear and I can relax when it comes to finances again. 

Well we finally gave in and went to costco...not a place we would go often but did get some new things to try and some good deals...we only have 1 costco in our state and it's about a 50 min drive from us...so haven't really wanted to go...so we spent a bit more of our grocery money but we will take it out of the rest of the months budget...but interested in trying some new things...

We are moving stuff from one storage unit to another today....but it got to hot and my illness doesn't like the heat so will go over around 5pm and work for another couple of hours....tomorrow is out as we have rain...so what we don't get done with hopefully finish thur/friday  and can hand back....we have done about half of it....then once done we will work on the stuff here that needs storage...then hopefully will be done till we buy a house...

I decided to do the 52 week challenge even though I didn't really have anything to save for...so have decided to do it for things we want to do for the house that we buy like painting...new floors etc...obviously will figure out when we buy it but it give me a goal to work on

As usual things in life are always changing....so we have decided instead of moving in a year we will stay here 2 years (if we can) until we can afford to buy..so we are saying 2 years unless things change dramatically...so with that we have made some changes and we have leased a bigger storage shed (yes we have lots of stuff...mainly hubbys tools) and will make some changes in how we use this house so it will fit us better for a couple of years...especially if our DD gets pregnant....although I don't really like this house it would have been a waste of money to move in a year then again the following year...so will rejig the budget and go from there.

We had halloween here this year we decorated, it looked pretty awesome considering we decided 3 days beforehand to do it....its not real big here in aust and some years we have sometimes only gotten 3-5 people...but last night we had around 200 kids come to the door...we ran out of candy but lucky we keep a good staff of munchies that we take in the car if we know we will be out for awhile and that our daughter takes hiking so we used those....the 2 neighbours both ran out they couldn't believe how many more there were this year...but it was fun and will plan better for next year

The weather here has been weird, had really nice spring day, then a major hail storm (destroyed so many cars), then back to nice coule of days and then we are back to rain in a few days....we have had weird weather all year...

I am going to start my spring cleaning again...we will be moving a lot of stuff in the next 6 weeks to the new storage and then will need to get our christmas stuff done....and before we know it 2022 will be here....have ordered my last x-mas present and then I am done

I love to budget..but the last couple of years have been so unpredictable for us that a budget has been hard to stick to...my health has cost us thousands in specialists and treatments...my hubby's cancer the first time cost us a few thousand...not so much this time as only treating with injections at the moment...and then moving house, couch surfing, helping our youngest daughter out, moving my mom...plus our oldest trying to have a baby (we will probably help her out as well. 

So with all the happening our budget wasn't working..bills were paid (never late), but everything we were saving for a house just went to these other things,,,so I am hoping that everything is getting sorted and slowing down and we can start saving our house deposit (which is super expensive and hard here) so I have done not only 2022 budget but also 2023 budget...our income rarely changes and if it does then it is more not less so it is easy to figure out...it looks like we will have to save around $50,000 for a deposit (yep that is only 3 %) so will take around 2 more years not one...so that is the plan for now...does everyone here use a budget and how far in advance do you do it? 

Woke up to find out that petrol (gas) prices have started going up to $1.85 per litre, with no idea of when it will be going down..highest it has been in a really long time...for those of you that is 1 gallon for you which equals approx 3.7 litres..which wouldbe $6.85 per gallon (aus)...which would be around $5.11 per gallon...guess we won't be going many places anymore....I am guessing with the price of that going up then food will rise as well since trucks will cost more to transport food etc...

So my step son suffers (like my hubby) from hemiplegic migraines...although they get different ones..my step sons affect his brain..he has trouble doing things, remembering things etc so in june they ordered an EEg on his brain..he had the doc yesterday and I ased him about what he said about his eeg not being done yet...he said he said nothing...so I thought I have had enough it doesn't take that long to get one done (usually a month to 6 weeks at most)..so I call the hospital to find out if they have his referral, they don't but they give me their direct fax number, I call the doctors clinic we all go to...and they arent sure what is going on they thought he went to the hospital to have it done...so basically nothing has been done...so I ask them to fax letter to the hospital so we can set up an appoitment...an hour later I call the hospital they have it and have set him an appt mid november...although they have him on the waiting list if one comes available...so finally we can get it done and see what is happening and get him the help he needs as he can't be treated till it is done...I know I probably should have done it earlier but with our own health issues, moving my mom etc I just think of it...so next month hopefully we can get some answers and start getting him more help...but it just goes to show you that you need to follow up on things when it comes to your health...yes there was miscommunicatin between all 3 parties but I still feel the patient is the one that is responsible to make sure things are being done....who knows how long he would have waited if we hadn't stepped in...only took an hour to get sorted...so remember to fight to get things done in a timely manner

Christmas shopping is done and paid for, still waiting for a couple to come in as I have just ordered them, the rest are wrapped and in the cupboard...feels good that I am almost done, will only have food to do at christmas time...ordered early thinking it would take a while to get things in from overseas but it really hasn't taken that long...so that has been good. 

The weather here has been getting a little nicer here the last couple of days so hubby and I have been taking short walks, his legs have been bad since his cancer treatment was just starting to get them a little better and he has to go through treatment again so hopefully we can work on them and they won't get as bad..and the dog is loving being able to walk most days.

My daughter finally has a donor that she can use, they have changed the rules here which are tough, and with her genetic testing, she only has I donor she can use...they can't even use the ones they can use in Seattle as they say they can't test them for everything they test here...so she couldn't use them either...so hopefully she likes the profile but probably won't start or anything till december...so she is excited.

I find using cash for our groceries we don't seem to spend as much so that is good, I found using the card we seem to spend a lot more..and we have been doing well with the menu planning and it will be great with the nicer weather to be able to start having  bbqs and salads...I love summer...and the fruit is so much better...

my neuro thinks I may have vestibular migraines, so he is going to send my doc a letter and discuss options with her to discuss with me, she knows I hate meds that are not organic, so we will see I do take them if I have no other options...but I do limit what chemicals go into my body as much as I can.

I have ordered some aboriginal teas that are suppose to help with health, sleeping, anxiety etc..so will see if they work, hopefully they will but I don't like tea or coffee, cant have dairy so hopefully they taste okay and settle in my system without making me to nauseated.

My hubby is doing better sleeping more but not enough so hopefully the tea will work on him as well. My DD has an appt with the head specialist at the clinic to start another plan with her, she has to pick a new donor due to the new laws that have come in, so hopefully next month she will start the process again.

Our daughters dog that lives with us had to go to the vet, he was vomiting foam yesterday and not eating..cooked him up some chicken last night and he finally ate it around midnite and the vet said he is okay just has an upset tummy for some reason, just keep him on bland diet...so need to go buy him somemore chicken breast...he is a very fussy eater.

doing much better with the budget now we have gone back to cash...a couple of times we have fogotten to take the cash so have had to use the card...so I just keep track and will take out less today (its payday), but we are getting use to it again...using your card its just to hard to keep track.