Mumof2's Personal Finance Blog

I know this might seem like a weird question...I am one of those people that use to shop all year for christmas gifts (had a monthly amount to spend for christmas) now the kids are adults I just do it in nov/dec...but one charity we support here is backpacks4 sakids...it's a place that provides backpacks for foster kids so they have their own stuff...they have also expanded into displaced teens that no longer live at home and DV families...so they have all the basics when they move as they found that was the issue that they couldn't cook for the kids, have plates to feed them etc...so now they have everything basic to get started...which has helped out a lot....but the reason I am asking is they also do christmas presents for the foster kids so they all get something...and our kmart here does a 6 month layaway begining july so we get a bunch of toys and donate to the charity...so our christmas shopping starts july....when do others do theirs?? Just curious

I can't believe it is june already...this year is flying by...and it's the first day of winter here...and it's cold...well for us anyways

We are doing good with the budget, all june bills are paid already and I have been real good with not buying any extra...going to work on that this month...menu planning is going well so we have been sticking to the food budget...gas prices have stayed down a bit so have saved some money there...between may/june so far we have saved $3500 in our house acct...will continue to add to it over the month

Hopefully getting my bed in the next week or so...so that would be great....trying to stay positive I feel the cold wet weather makes me a bit depressed but staying positive and trying to get things done

Only expenses today was my neurophysio...but had that in the medical account...hope everyone is enjoying the heat while we are freezing here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We have finally got everything moved to the new rental...we couldn't get movers as they were all booked out (yes we called 8 companies) so we did it ourselves so it took longer...so now we just need to finish putting things away...very lucky that we have had good weather this week...will rain this weekend but we have time to get everything under cover.

Mind you I don't think any of us have been this exhausted in forever...but it is starting to look like a home and is nice to be under the same roof again...so now we just have to finishing up letting every company know we have moved and getting everything put away and do some grocery shopping....honestly if we never see take away again it will be to soon!!

This weekend I can finally get back and sort our budget out...get back on track again!!

We are finally moving...yes we finally got a rental..so excited..only 2 sleeps to go...problem is I can't find someone to move us...everyone here is flat out so we may have to move ourselves which will take days...so hopefully we can find someone tomorrow...fingers crossed...it is an 18 month lease so once we move don't have to think about it for a long while...

I have to say I can't wait to be able to menu plan, cook the way we do....budget properrly, shop like we normally do etc...but more importantly I can't wait to have my own bed back....and we are hoping the animals settle down again...I can't wait.

Hoping it doesn't rain..has been getting cold and wet here..it's autmn but fels like winter already

Have more houses to look at but know have a politician as a reference and a housing liason officer to help us find a house to rent...they are trying to find out what the issue is in regards to our applications...so hopefully we will have one soon.

We are still waiting for our bond deposit back hopefully will get it soon, it $3,100 so that will be nice to go into savings till we need it for another bond, it is taking forever but they have had so many to do since so many people have no housing and need their bonds back...we are not desperate for it, but would like it in our bank account and not theirs..hopefully soon.

We should finally on monday finish emptying one of our storage containers so we no longer have to pay for that one, so can save around $400pm...that will be nice.

not much else happening here although it is getting cold so I had to go buy some track pants as mine are in storage..but they were fairly cheap $12 each....other than that only spending on groceries and gas which both seem to be costing a lot more

Thankyou for my hubbys birthday wishes he had a quiet day and our oldest got him a cheesecake that said 

"happy 27,394th day", he loved it...was great to catch up with some of the family even if it was just a couple hours

It's hubby's birthday today...he doesn't want to do much as we are living in someones elses home right now...so we will have family here and just order pizza and catch up with each other....wasn't a great start to the day got a call from our oldest daughter she had to call an ambulance for her sister as she was in extreme pain and wanted one of us there...I can't drive due to my dizziness so hubby went and didn't get home till 7am...daughter is doing okay with pain meds but still has to have scans etc later today...not sure what is wrong as she never takes meds or goes to the doctors without really needing it.

Still applying for houses, still looking at houses, we have a couple meetings this week with one of our politicians and a housing manager to see if they can help us out...but there is still around 80 plus people applying for each house...never been so frustrated in my life!

gas budget is out the window as we are driving so much to look at houses/shopping/specialist appointments etc so that hasn't helped and we aren't cooking or eating like we normally do so is costing us...his son says he will cook but when we get home exhausted from moving stuff from 1 container to another hes then to sick  or got a headache and we are to tired so we get take away which is expensive...just can't wait to get back to normal!!

Todays weather is just perfect..not hold not cold just a perfect temperature...almost like spring weather (even though its autumn here) , we had a house open today..they changed it as it was suppose to be tomorrow..so only us and a mother with her teen daughter they wouldn't shut up so we didn't get to talk to the people who were there about the house waited 20 mins and gave up as our daughter was tired and not feeling great...so we will dee what happens...right now we will just bout take anything that might remotely fit us

Stepson ended up back in the er last night, he has Hemiplegic migraines like his dad, they said they were going to keep him overnight then we got a call around midnight to pick him up as they needed the bed and were kicking a few less sick people out to make room...he is feeling a bit better today...

nothing much happening this week except looking for a house to live in and trying to keep stress levels down

Hi guys

I don't know your tax system well at all and just wondering how do you figure out how much tax you need to pay as a couple or single person based on your income? Just need to find out where to find the correct information and since you are all so graet at advice thought I would check here first...Thanks

looking through our april expenses and one that that we won't have to pay is the water/elec & gas bills as we currently don't have a home to pay these, I will still put the payments into our POM account as we will have connection fees when we rent again, but for now it is savings, although our oldest daughter is paying rent at our youngest daughters house it isn't much more than what she was paying before and we are only paying storage fees so saving some money on rent, I do however put the rent money that we were paying into the account like we were paying rent and have since we moved (yes I have seperate accounts for things) so we are actually accumulating so extra money there...when we get a house and get settled will keep some there and then move the rest into savings...

I find it really hard that even though most of our budget is still manageable (except the groceries) I still get frustrated not being able to menu plan, grocery shop like we do....it throws everything off kilter...I also am a bit ocd when it comes to things and that is hard being in other peoples houses...but over all unless we have moving expenses this month (hope we do) we should start being able to save a bit more.

Weather for the next couple of days is warmer than usual which is nice...love the warmer weather much better than cold weather...hoping that doesn't hit to early at least until we move.

Our budget just doesn't to be working at the moment living in 2 places, but trying its mainly groceries that is hurting us which means we take it from savings..but we will get back on track eventually..it's hubbys birthday in a couple of weeks so not sure what we are doing for that yet....right now everyone is getting on everyone elses nerves....so it has been hard...hopefully we get a house soon...tuesday we have 5 maybe 6 to look at so will be a busy day

have a great easter

Well a quarter of this year is almost over and it feels like it is just flying by!!

Easter is this weekend and I'm really not feeling it this year so not really going to do anything...and easter sunday daylight savings ends which means dark by 5.30pm and cold...I hate winter and I love daylight savings so not looking forward to the next few months...hopefully we will get a house before it starts getting to cold and wet!

I'm guessing in may when we see the doc we will be getting our flu shots...not sure when covid will be available to us ..my hubby will be before us but me and my daughter I'm guessing around sept...but last year we hardly had any flu cases thanks to all the covid protocols...so I'm hoping it will be similar here.

One of our states has a few covid cases in the community again..we havent had any in our state for months (nov when had 17 cases) and before that only a few in april 2020...so we have been real lucky but we still have all the protocols like hand sanitiser and the q code for all the stores...so that helps

It's payday this weekend but won't really look at updating till next week, we are getting back on track tomorrow with our grocery budget living in 2 seperate houses has been hard buying food for 2 houses etc...so we had a talk and will get back on track tomorrow and hopefully it works...its hard when you live with people that cook completely different from you and you have none of your kitchen stuff..but hopefully it will work better and we can save a bit more money

Hope everyone has a great easter 

Looked at more houses today...one was okay the other one not so much...this has got to be one of the most frustrating things we have ever had to do....who would think renting a house when you have decent income would be so hard...not sure what is going on but it is frustrating...fingers crossed we get a house soon!!

we have 3 storage units and 2 alone cost us $722pm so wince the movers packed one of them we are thinking of restacking it and trying to get it down to 1 unit to save some money...also to get a a few things out of the back of it as it is getting cold here and we need some of our winter clothes and my daughter needs to make her jewellery and get it sent out...but that will be a job for next week if we should attempt to do it as it is warmer this week has been cold and wet

Easter next weekend and daylight savings ends..I love daylight savings hate that it is ending...honestly can't be bothered with easter this year so probably won't do anything...enjoy your weekend

I have been MIA for a few weeks, we are still couch surfing which really sucks but still haven't got a house...weird we are classed as homeless but can afford to pay rent (usually pay more than $2000pm) but still no house we are looking at about 5 plus a week...so fingers crossed we get something soon...our oldest has bipolar and isn't coping well not living with us and house sharing with people who don't really regard anyone but themselves...so we go spend the day with her and her sister is there at night (its her house)...I was staying there but it was hard to as I was continually get stressed and sick and would have ended up in hospital..so staying with my hubby at his sons house...but my body is breaking down as couches aren't comfortable.

One reason we have found difficult to get a house is one of our housing agent references won't answer calls or emails...there is nothing we can do about it and since there is such a high demand for housing they just take us off that listing...so I have decided to take his name off and just say we were travelling for those 2 years...easier on us...and yes I hate lying..but I hate couch surfing more and my family needs to be living under the same roof. 

Budget wise we really aren't following one, we pay rent at one house, and groceries at 2 houses...so I just don't bother as long as the bills are paid I am fine with that..but we are also paying storage fees instead of rent so saving a little...will get back on track when we get a house and can figure things out again...

The weather here is cooling down in a hurry and all our winter gear is in storage...right at the back so might have to go buy some new clothes if it gets to cold to quick as we can't get to the boxes the way it is stacked...hope you are all staying safe and doing great!!

So we have been told that even though we live overseas we should have been getting the stimulus payments, we have a Us bank account but even though we put the info on our tax returns they always seem to send it via mail...now we have been waiting for last years and this years taxes to be done and neither has been done yet...we have to send via mail as we can't do it online (its US rules), so if we are eligible will they back pay them? We never expected them and probably won't get them but just getting our taxes done would be nice....we have called several times and just get the run around that they are understaffed, still working on this years taxes or doing stimulus payments...but damn its been over a year now for one of them and I know they have them as I send them registered so they had to sign for them so i knew that they received them....so frustrated with this process so many people out of work...employ some more people and get the back logs done so we can get our taxes done and finished....the IRS is so poorly run it is pathetic!!

So we still have no house and I am now couch surfing between 2 houses which sucks and me and my hubby are living in seperate houses...it sucks but we have done everything we can and one of our landlords just won't answer and so we don't get a house..so frustrating but we will keep trying to we get a house.

Other than that not much else is going on in our lives...just appointments, house opens and applying for houses that about it!!

It's autum here and it's getting cooler....I hate the cold...like really hate...I am a summer baby and I don't really think we get much of a summer any more!!

We are moving thursday..don't know where yet we will get everything finalised tomorrow so it will be either in storage and us couch surfing or into a house we are waiting to hear...either way we will be out of here..the owner won't extend the lease at all as she wants to sell...so tomorrow I will finish up all the packing that needs to be done, I have organised movers and a truck, I have organised a place for my daughter and the pets to live, and my hubby wll probably stay with his son till we get a house...I need to stay with the dog as he has severe anxiety but hubbys son has animals that won't get along with our dog..so just don't need the stress of the animals not getting along...either way we will figure things out eventually...

Also had a busy day with my mom who had a fall last night ( she is 82), my nephew (he lives with her) sat up all night to watch her to make sure she was ok....then went to school so we took her to the doc to check her out she had a scan today on her head and she has to have xrays and ultrasound in next couple days...she is doing ok just a bit sore...so glad about that but had to cancel my appointments for today...I can remake them but wanted to make sure my mom was ok first...not what we needed this week..its busy enough...we also have appt tomorrow and thursday...so may not be on here much...its pay week this week..have paid all the bills for the month but not sure how much the move will cost....so once we are done moving I can do an update and then get back to saving

We have finally been able to talk to the IRS, they still haven't logged in that they have last years taxes let alone this year..although I sent registered mail and they had to sign for it which they did end of jan but neither are logged in as being received yet...my question is if they didn't get last years as covid hit around the same time how do we know if they have it or someone else has it and stolen our identity? I wouldn't know where to look over there for that info...I'm hoping that hasn't happened but seriously they have been no help and we have no clue where last years are...its very frustrating....and no we can't do them online as we live overseas....so any advice would be great!!

Still no freakin house and we are over it...I just want to put everything into storage and just jump in the car and go...can't do that but want to!! so we continue to look 4 houses we have to look this week...we only have 1 week till we have to be out of here

The stress of this has made my illnesses kick into overdrive so I have been having episodes, feel so sick all the time..no energy so our diet hasn't been great as we just don't have energy...so that doesn't help and we have just been using what we have had in the house except the fresh stuff...but then it is coming to an end as our freezer is nearly empty...so will need to go back to weekly menus in a week or so....and my daughter has hurt her knee so we haven't been able to walk...and with my illness I can't walk alone....so haven't been able to destress and get out of the house...so hopefully we can move soon...get a routine and start getting back on track...and I can say I am getting quite bitchy with all the stress and not feeling good...try not to be...but can't just go and destress either...so just have to try and deal with it

Financially we have been eating more takeaway then we ever have probably 4 times a week lately....which is something we never do and it is expensive...so we are trying to cut back on that as well!!

FINGERS CROSSED WE FIND A PLACE THIS WEEK

Well still no house but we found out why we weren't getting them...which is frustrating basically we are being punished for an agents inaction, we have done all we can with housing authorities over here and not much they can do, but we have written a letter to each house that we apply for explaining the situation and hope that helps...I also got an email in today from the State Premier and hosing minister today...didn't expect it  to go that far but hopefully they will check into that person or maybe look at the rules in regards to agents and what they can/can't do.

Fingers crossed that we get one soon, on a positive note it's payday so we will take out grocery & gas money and the rest will go into savings...