I know it's only the first month of the year but it's nice to see all of our accounts have money in them. It's a great to see that our goals are starting off...I know our savings will drop when we bought the tickets for our friend to come over to visit us...but everything else is looking good.

The weather here has been horrendous so have had the aircons and fans on a lot...its 113 here tomorrow...such a hot day its my b-day so just having pizza with a few family members but we are buying it not making it...its a splurge day but way to hot to cook or do anything else...but will hopefully get a good deal.

Ordered 4 blankets for winter...know its summer here but they are so thick and I know it will save us money in winter as we wont need the heaters as much and will last us a few years.

other than that we haven't been spending any money....feeling positive about this month...and the rest of the year

These are what I do try and save money

1. Have a written yearly budget, use what you know your base income is, also allow you to know best times to plan holidays etc

2. put money away in seperate accounts for annual bills, car, bills etc

3. always revise insurances etc before they become due for better deals

4. set an amount for groceries and gas and use cash each week - use only that amount, whatever is left over put in an envelope so you can buy things on sale etc.

5. menu plan and stick to the grocery list, this includes, dinas, breakfast, lunch and snacks.

6. Always turn electronics off at the wall when not in use.

7. if it cost over $100 use the 24hr think and then buy or forget about.

8. keep up with car/equipment maintenance to stay ahead of costly repairs.

9. have madmoney that is not accountable to anyone but yourself...you can spend on anything you like

10. use whatever rewards and coupons you can to save what you can

11. remind people that when you buy something cheap your not saving money unless you put the extra savings in the bank..its just a good deal

In december I paid our water bill to the wrong company...the house we are renting was sold and we got new owners and when we transferred all data from my old computer to the new one the information came with it...so money went to the old company...I called them monday and the lady who does their accounting was rushed to hospital with for surgery but one of the ladies called me and got my bank info and put the money back into our account so that mistake has now been settled and was easy to get done...just a couple phone calls...so that went straight into savings again...so no more mistakes this year like this!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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