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Archive for June, 2005

Finances

June 29th, 2005 at 12:15 am

I have done a weekly budget for when we have moved and have slightly overestimated some things just in case.

Rent - 215 (this is the most we are willing to pay when we find an apartment)
Elecricity - 30 (this is slightly more then we paid when it was just the two of us)
Phone & net - 20
Preschool - 60
Sponsor child - 15
Christmas club - 60 (only until the end of october then we will cut down to $15)
Spending - 40 (this is to cover weekend fun, will save some for camping, going to the zoo etc)
Extras - 30 (this is to pay off lay-bys, clothes, any inexpensive gifts we find, things like that)
Groceries - 130

TOTAL $600
All money leftover from Spending, Extras and Groceries will go into individual labelled jars for spending later.

Between the two of us we earn a minimum of $800 a week, that's on a bad week. So we should be able to save a minimum of $200 every week as long as we stick to our budget. Obviously any unexpected costs such as medical will have to come out of our savings if we can't cover it with any money that's saved from Extras, Spending and Groceries. Thankfully we are all healthy and our Christmas club payments are only that high because we are paying off a new fridge, stereo and stainless steel banquet frying pan with it. After going through a few second hand appliances before we had Zac, we decided to buy some good quality new appliances (nothing flashy) so we had the warranty and guarantees to cover them.

Good news, my partner finally got back paid for some overtime he worked so we are able to pay all of the storage unit bill this week. Next week we have to pay for his driving test and two lessons, then we are free to continue saving the week after that.

Frugal Days and Emergency Rooms

June 27th, 2005 at 02:17 am

I'm sitting here extremely tired right now because I spent half the night in the emergency room with Zac. He was just screaming non stop which is really out of character for him and i couldn't find anything wrong, no fever or rash or anything to upset him. The doctor at the emergency room couldn't find anything wrong with him either and kept us in there for two hours observation before he sent us home saying Zacs cold was probably just upsetting him a lot. As soon as we got out into the carpark Zac threw up all over my Dad, it would seem he has inherited my fear of being sick and holds onto it for as long as possible. To top things off it was only 1 degree celcius and my dad had locked the keys in the car so we had to wait for Mum to come and rescue us. Zac seems to be better now though, he's sitting in his high chair eating vegemite toast and blowing rasberries with mouthfulls of water and getting it everywhere. I love all the cute things he does, even if he does make a mess.

I've had a couple of good days managing our money. On Saturday i went to a discount shop at lunch time and bought 4 Enid Blyton books, they're illustrated in colour (not like the ones i grew up reading) for only $3.99 each, they were originally $9.99 each and i'm going to put them away in the gift box for a present for Zac when he's a little older. I went to one shop to look for tea towels and found them on sale 3 for $2 but looked in another shop and i found some that were 4 for $1.25 so i bought them instead.

On Sunday we went to a big clearance sale at a local department store and walked out with...NOTHING. We decided there wasn't anything in there that we really needed and decided to spend a small fraction of what we had planned to spend to rent out a couple of DVD's and buy a bag of lollies so we could enjoy a movie night.

Daisy came back from the vets and thankfully wasn't pregnant because that would have cost us an extra $80 if she was. The kittens she'd already had have both found new homes now so all the cat issues are over. My next focus is paying the $376 storage unit bill. I might have to pay half this week and half next week otherwise we won't be able to eat.




Thoughts

June 22nd, 2005 at 09:21 am

It has occurred to me how great it will be once my partner has his licence. He will be getting a payrise as well as a company ute, which comes complete with free fuel. We'll be able to check out garage sales, clearance sales etc without it costing us a cent in petrol! If we pack our lunches, snacks and drinks for any long trips, we won't be wasting money on takeaways either. It also means we will be able to plan family camping trips as well. My parents have all the camping equipment you can dream of so we can borrow all of their stuff, pack food and all we'll have to pay for are site fees, fishing licences and bait, which won't amount to much for a holiday at all.

I've tracked down a nearby Warehouse that sells bulk cleaning supplies, including things such as toilet paper, paper towel and rubber gloves. They deliver to businesses all over the place, including my partners workplace and he said that their products are really good quality. I looked at their prices on-line and their products are heaps cheaper then reatail. For example, their laundry powder turns out to be less than a dollar per kilo and the cheapest i've found laundry powder anywhere else it was $2 per kilo and that was for a cheap brand on special! I emailed them to find out if they sell direct to the public and they said yes and they'll even deliver to me for free on one of their regular runs. We'll be paying them a visit once we've moved out that's for sure!

Miss Daisy, my cat, is at the vets ready for her desexing, microchipping and vaccination tomorrow and they quoted me $243.50 but it will be more if she's in heat or pregnant. Her kittens are only 7 weeks old so i'm hoping that she's not. It's a lot to pay for a cat that my parents are going to keep because i don't want to have her cooped up in an apartment when she's always been an outside cat. She is my responsibility though so i don't really mind.

The Start of a New Lifestyle

June 21st, 2005 at 05:26 am

I've been researching ways in which i can save money ever since Zac was born 10 1/2 months ago. We have been living with my family ever since he was born because we were so careless with our money and didn't save for my maternity leave. In just two short months we will be back out on our own and i can't wait! My parents have been very generous letting us live here, we have been paying board, food and utilities but not as much as we would have paid if we were still living on our own.

I have so many plans for ways we can save money once we have moved out. A lot of it is too hard to do here because my parents have their ways of doing things and i don't feel it's my place to change that. I did however get mum to start buying generic paper towel instead of the most expensive one on the market and she has agreed that it is great quality and does the job just as well.

There are so many things i have learnt about saving money that i never would have thought of on my own. I'm really looking forward to putting my new found frugal abilities to the test. In the coming years we would like to get married, have more children and buy a house. We have one credit card which we owe $1500 on so that will be our first priority, then we will start our emergency fund to cover those little surprises that tend to pop up.

For now i'm just biding my time. We have saved $1000 towards moving out and have $500 more to go but i've got a cat to get desexed, microchipped and vaccinated (about $230), a storage unit bill to pay ($376), my partner's driving lessons and test (up to $500 for the next month if he passes first time) and we are all in need of some winter clothes. I went to the second hand baby shop and picked up some great stuff from there but he needs more. So saving isn't looking too good for the next month but i am putting the odd $5 or so into my ing account every week, just for my own sanity.