Just buy less!

I read this money saving tip on a blog, and they said it works...in most situations.

"Just buy less"

I am not a shopper but at times I just seem to buy 'stuff', I don't come home with useful life enhancing purchses. Just stuff. I think I can benefit if I can keep this in miind. Perhps 'mindful shopping' would be a more apt term for me. I am sure I couls spend money in life enriching ways, rather than just fritter away like I have done in the past. I pulled DH up on this last weekend when the kids came home from a 9am swimming lessons with hot dogs! It was less than $5 but totally unnecessary. He has bought them footy cards too. At $3 a pack that is no value at all. They glance at them & then leave them kicking around the house & end up giving them away, that is frittering money away!

Today, on my way to get a free local paper, I saw a shop closing sign & went in thinking it was a cheap shop. Itt was a party shop. I did get a gift for a party tomorrow, some fancy gift bags & an awesome pinata for DS5's upcoming party. I didn't really need any of that stuff but it will get used. The gift will be given tomorrow. The gift bags will be used slowly, they are fancy grey/silver ones that I can dress up home made gifts with. And the Pinata will make a little boys day later next month. All for less than $20, that was a good buy I think.

Today I talked to DH about my stress over 'having' to get a job & he said 'just go with the flow'! Phew. Did 5 loads of washing, even though it is bitterly cold here. Some of it even dried on the line, the rest is still on the racks under the heating vents. Changed my bed sheets & doona cover (hence the washing). Sat in the library & read (The Tightwad Gazette) while the boys played free wii, gotta love the library! Enjoyed 'family feast night', having placemats, cloth napkins and sweet drink for all. It was so fancy having orange jelly for dessert and lime soft drink from a wine glass!

Enjoyed a good day.

Good night!

Incoming!!!!!

Action #3: Get 1 paying client (15-35 minutes)

Simple steps:

1. Brainstorm a specific need you can fill – Can you cut grass? Shovel snow? Walk dogs? Provide computer training/support? Tutor? Teach English? Consult on a topic?
2. Write out three clear benefits to working with you - Pick three BENEFITS of what someone would get out of working with you. BAD: I’ll cut your lawn. GOOD: You’ll have a freshly trimmed, clipping-free yard by the time you get home. Three benefits.
3. Brainstorm 5 people who could use those benefits - 5 people. Likely whom you already have some relationship with (or know through someone). Quickly list them out.
4. Call the most likely candidate – Pick one that’ll especially need your benefits. Call them. Explain who you are and list out the three benefits of them hiring you. Then… just ask.
5. Continue down your list until you have 1 client. If the first doesn’t work, try the other 4 – one at a time.

How this can change your life: The biggest mistake most people make in making more money is that they do TOO much planning. Your facebook fan page, twitter profile, and even your blog aren’t a tenth of the value of your first paying client. You’ll learn more in this process than you will in years of tweeting. I promise.

I have been thinking for a while that I could offer house duites as a form of part time work for myself, I like ironing & baking etc. Then I found this. I would like to work about 10 - 20 hours a week and bring in a regular income, even from erratic work. I am not thinking regular clients just one time or some time work, am I dreaming?

A List of things I can do!

Ironing. Freshly pressed garments, from a smoke free home delivered to your door! Leaving you time to relax!

Shopping. I'll turn your list into a products without the effort of going to the supermarrket, delvered to your door and I can even put them away for you if you like! Now that is service.

Clean your house.While you work or play I'll be there cleaning your home, so you can return and admire the clean surrounds without having used your precious energy on boring house cleaning.

Bake biscuts & cakes (allergies no problem). Like home baked goodies but lack the time, use mine! I have been baking for my family for the past 10 years, tasty home baked goodies fresh to your dooor. Catering for allergies no problem at all, whatever your requirement.

Shredding documents. Why not let me shredd those papers & dispose of them for you, can be done at your home, I'll bring my shredder with me! If you prefer I can shredd the documents and leave it for you to dispose of as you choose, it is your secruity after all.

Laundry, at your place or mine. No time to put the wash on? I have the time! Don't have a washing machine? I do! Has your machine broken down or is it unreliable, let me pick up the slack for you and have you back on top of things as soon as possible.

Will consider other requests also.

Available only between 10am and 3pm Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Prefernce given to loacls!

Now to put myself out there, that is the part at which I have previously stumbled but need to move beyond. I am a capable person and well able to do all those tasks, I just need to match them with some one who needs them done for them. All possible.

Today I found some hope, and bouncy balls, while decluttering & cleaning. Now I need to somehow transfer that hope into action, I can do it! The post I copied to put here says it takes 15 - 35 minutes, I'd be happy with that! Today I calculated how long Baby Step will take us on our current rate & it was 2.23 years! Was is .23 of a year anyway? I want to find a way to help that along. Today I cleaned the blinds in the bathroom, vacuumed the boys room & kitchen living area, made a yummy dinner for the family(chips & snitzel for little boys & roast pork for grown ups). I listened to some podcasts & read for a while. I made food, put away clothes and read blogs, pretty quiet day really. I also got in a 20 minute walk a few push ups and some internet surfing, I need a job!

Food Budget

I read a blog post today that said that during the Great Depression food took up 30% of people income. This month that would be a lot, I think we spent d quite a bit on food at almost 16% (based on this months income). Not sure where we fit in on a larger scale but I do try and keep food expenses down. It is a constant effort.
When i first joined Simple Savings I was throwing out quite a bit of food. I would buy great looking produce but fail to consume it and it would end up in the compost. We had a great compost but were throwing montey away.
I got the food bill under control & then I began to focus on my health & weight, so the type of food I ate changed & I had to spend more money. Recently I have been zeroing in on the food budget & have spent under budget for the first time last month. The beginning was an exact food budget & once I was a little under one week it became a game. I have lowered the budget this month but have begun menu planning, with the kind help of my 7 year old son (gotta love that kid). Menu planning means I buy food for meals & am not left wondering 'what's for dinner'. That question starts early at our house as DS5 is uite food obsessed, in a good way.

So what do we do to keep the grocery bill down?
I grow some of my own food. I have a constant supple of green leaves to eat as I love them. I have lettuce just starting , silver beet and rocket on the go at the moment.
We keep our own chickens for manure & eggs. Chooks have great personality, so it is partly for pleasure too.
I compost everything I can. I have a 3 bay compost system and I love composting & can't understand peoople that don't.
I check the price for unit or weight, not just the shelf price. Sometimes the smaller one is cheaper, but not always.
I look for home brand or generic options. They are not available for eveything but I use the flour, sugar, snack & cracker biscuts, lollies, and nappy stuff and have not had a problem. They are just cheaper items.
I keep scarps to use later. Like I do for Molly stew but I also ave the crusts to make breadcrumbs, use up every last little bit of something and make the best use of my freezer. I do try.
I drink hot water as I like it and it is way cheaper than tea or coffee. It is always a cheap option when out too & sometimes it is even free. I have got od looks when I drink special tea or felt limited when I only drink decaf but hot water makes every host feel good and I get a drink I like, perfect!
I try to reuse some of the packaging.

Today I; was disappointed to see DH got a $239 speeding fine; was likewise disappointed to drive somewhere to buy an item at a market stall that wasn't there; the kids all played with cardboard xes that I had saved the last few weeks; tidied my desk but didn't find what I was looking for; used a 4cent voucher to buy fuel and saved $1.30 (I think); was tired & crabby in the afternoon & ate too much sugar.

I have no set plan tomorrow for the boys but I hopeit is better than today.

I'll jump start that with an early night!

Herald Sun Spread Revisited!

VICTORIANS LIVING ON THE EDGE!
72% are worried about making ends meet. Well that is most people. Who hasn't wondered this at some time?
If you don't have a plan or keep track of income & expenditure then it really is left wide open to worry...or action. My suggestion would be to get a plan, track your spending even for a little while so you know how much is going where and where you could make changes. Peace of mind is valuable and a plan is simple, there are loads of good plans out there or you could make your own. I follow Dave Ramseys 7 Babysteps and have found it is working very well for us.
66% say they have cut back. That is a vague statistic. What have they cut back and by how much or how often? Does cutting back on spending mean one is living on the edge? There is not enough information given here to really make any statement.
46% may avoid the movies. I personally don't like the movies much. I don't want to be entertained I would rather be learning or be active in some way, even if it is only intellectually. No great loss unless you work at the movies I reckon.
39% will cut back on driving. Petrol has gone up in price in my short 41 years. I remember driving when it was 45 cents a litre and think I can even recall paing 30 ents, but I am yet to pay $1.30 as I buy it on cheap days with a discount voucher. I bought a small car and try to use it as little as possible, but that is my choice. But hey! I don't like driving either. Aren't we supposed to drive less with all the talk of carbon emissions etc. ?
35%could stop buying new clothes. Another vague one. I don't buy many clothes but I do buy them for my kids and i have bought a couple of items in the last few months. They last quite a long time so as long as no one is naked I don't see a problem with forgoing new clothes.
23% plan to avoid the doctor. This is weighted and lacks specific information. If my kids are unwell I can take them to a clinic that bulk bills, so I am not out of pocket and no one is at risk.
22% have struggled to put food on the table. I don't believe this at all!
19% would stop buying meat. That may have something to do with the push to say that a vegetarian diet is healthy combined with living on the edge. I sure won't be giving up my eat but I do watch the prices closely.
15% are considering dropping private school. We have already done this and it hurt for a time but it was necessary. We have public school options and no one will be without an education. Not a huge deal.
10% are considering getting rid of pets. That is fair enough I think. If you have limited finance, which we all do, people are more important than pets & only one in ten are 'considering' getting rid of them at this stage, I think that is wisdom.

Today's wrap up. I noticed a $10 fee on my home loan account so I set up a direct credit each month to cover it. I cancelled direct credits that are beyond Baby Step 3 until we get this emergency fund completed. I sat in Rosebud library and read the latest Time magazine and borrowed some interesting books. I love libraries, they are awesome. I took the boys to a school holiday activity at another library this afternoon & that was by far the best $4 I have ever spent. They had Wild Action come with real animals to the library and the kids got to touch them, hear them and learn about them, it was excellent.
I also made a batter using the last of the juice from a tin of peaches and a black banana. It was OK and was more of a sweet craving on my part and the family thought it novel. I tried.

My home made splint was a success. I made a few modifications, I trimmed it a bit more, but it worked perfectly. I ma y put off buying one for a while yet. I just needed something that I could do myself & this works well, the meat tray & sock.

I also took down a note from Time where they asked an architect a question about how you could spruce up any house & he said to cull some furniture, paint it all white & clean the windows. I like that. According to him "It's all about luminosity". A thought worth capturing I felt.

I'm off to continue reading "The Moneyless Man"...very interesting!

4th of July!

Well it is Independence day somewhere, how sweet that will be when we are free from debt. We are free from debt at the moment, except the mortgage and I am pleased about that.

Today I read 2 page article in the Herald Sun and I just got DH to go fetch it from the recycle bin. The article was titled "Money fears push families to brink", and can be found on page 10 & 11 of the Herald Sun for 4th July 2011.
We don't buy the paper, it came with the nerty today at Scienceworks. So I was having a browse on the way home. They have a money and business liftout on a Monday too, which I have sometimes glanced at if i have been at my Mum's of a Monday.

This article is ridiculous. I found no helpful information in it. The above mentioned headline is for 4 separate article to do with finance related topics ranging from mortgage rates to takeaway food.
The examples given are somewhat flimsy and I didn't read of any genuine signs of hardship. Worst case reported was that they were having take away food less often, o please!

They cashed in on fear & linked in an article on depression too! Not taking control of your finances is depressing. Feeling like you deserve everything even when you dont have the money to meet that desire is depressing.

In one section titled "Super pinch" Karen Collier says that "Struggling victorians want access to their super earlier despite worries about the size of their nest egg." So people want to spend it now & fuel more worry about later, without actually doing anything to ensure later is OK. Sounds stupid to me!

What about work a plan to grow your nest egg and get control of your finances now, and avoid worry all together. Replace worry and possible depression with a plan. But that sounds too easy! Surely I don't have enough money already to even think about building a retiement nest egg, do I? Why not? Are you overspending?

If only 15% of readers stick to a budget then 85% potentially wasting money and have no idea where.

All of the things Karen says that people are reviewing are non essential, is that newsworthy?

When I saw the spread initially I thought it may be helpful and have some good tips, even just a good read. But no, all little bits of infomation thrown together haphazardly in attmept to make a news item of a hot topic. Thumbs down from me.

I did learn that the Resrve Bank board meets tomorrow, July 5th, but some expect rates to stay the same and some don't. Great article, I think not.

Where i live I and peek into the trolleys of other shoppers I see chips, soft drink and masses of pet food & I see juice too.

Perhaps I think I am trying harder than other people even though I don't really know what they are doing. Well I am; sticking to a written budget, where every dollars is given a job on paper before the start of the month; turning off applicances at the wall when they are not being used; saving vegetable peel to make pet food; growing my own vegetable; shopping from a list weekly; menu planning but only as of the last fortnight; shopping around for the best price on insurance; collecting rewards points without a credit card; composting; keeping our own chickens for eggs; buying plain label food where appropriate rather than pay more for branded items; making all my food from scratch; and using up whatever finds its way into my pantry; I bought a 2nd drying rack and no longer use the clothes dryer at all. That is all I can think of at the moment. I am sitting here with a beanie and a warm wheat bag on my lap as it is a cold winter night.

Today I; got a free herald Sun with the admission price into Scienceworks; saved vegie scraps for Molly Stew; took lunches and snacks with us on our outing; got a free cup of hot water when I bought DH a coffee (he paid); had lunch when I got home, actually it was early dinner; and I read an article that really annoyed me due to its lack of information. "Simple Saving" has much better content than the Herald Sun, but I did already know that!

Oh, I also have attempted to make a splint from a sock & a cut up meat tray to stop me making a fist in my sleep. I have been using a bandage & 2 icy pole sticks but I hope this works better. The sticks dig in and are uncomfortable.

I am enjoying this journey and the creativity it brings out. We had a good day today and have a full program again tomorrow.

Good night!

menu planning miracles

I did the food shoppinf today instead on Monday as we are going out as a family tomorrow. I did a menu plan and checked the food supply before I went & miracle of miracles! I spent a lot less. I will need to buy more milk later in the week, but I have the menu on the fridge and all the food there to make it up. I love menu planning.

I think I am getting gazelle intense as I can feel the extra dollars being squeezed out otf the budget.

Today I; made up Molly's stew using all the frozen scraps. I got online & checked the prices of activity ideas before we got there (haven't done that before). I want for a walk when I was cold & cross with DH. I jogged down one section of dirt road to really warm up and shift my focus. I told DS5 he can have sandwiches or toast rather than endless bickies, bread is $1 a loaf at the moment. I got a whole chook at $3.99 a kilo and bought a large pice of beef to make my own mince rather than eat crap steak or pay rop price for unpleasant mince. I mince some budget steak & the patties just tasted like steak, I love it!
I also got out & read the mortgage agreement & discovered the exit fee is $1200 but we may have to pay broker fees too.

Today I am feeling motivated and encouraged with our progress.

Mindsets!

I have been reading minimalism blogs for a while, becuase I find them interesting and inspiring. I have decluttered, but could always do more...even if my family don't think so.
I had my hair cut today and the hairdresser got to telling me about her Great Aunt. I won't go into all the drama but she mentioned a couple of noteworthy things about the Great Aunt, one that she had money and two that even though she has always been a single lady she chose to live frugally.
Could I enjoy a frugal life? I do like to be creative, often because I have to due to making something from nothing. But as a way of life, is that something worthy of pursuit? This Great Aunt has been able to help family financially over the years. She has consistently been a source of financial backing & resource. That sounds like a noble calling.
In our talk of moving I came to a place in me that is wildly discontent with where I live, not just how much it costs to live here and how long in takes to clean. Is that something I need to make provision for, I don't think so.

Surely life can be rich and fulfilling without spending lots of money on stuff.

Today I made chocolate pudding and some chocolate crunchie biscuts after turning the oven on to make the boys dinner. I planted cos lettuce seedlings I have raised and used worm castings from DS's worm farm to encourage their growth. I have been working on using up camomile tea and nori sheets from the pantry, made meals more intersting. I have some other items that I'll discover I'm sure.

I also realise after reading a newsletter from Scott Pape that I need to read our mortgage documents to check out what our early exit fees are, we may have to wait a little. I need to read them.

Another great washing day. A friend gave me a small bottle of an amway solution for removing greasy stains, it works brilliantly. I used it on a top that was otherwise going in the compost & the stain is completly gone, I am impressed. Got 3 loads dry today in the sunny breezy weather. I have not used the dried for a while now. I invested $25 in a 2nd drying rack, and I make the effort to finish things off inside under heating vents. Every bit helps.

I am going to put up some flyers and get some ironing work. I need to get some income flowing and I hope to put up a flyer or two tomorrow, and apply for Bunnings.

Happy Saving!