High income to pension.

[Little Chicken]

Where abouts are you in Melbourne? I used to do all my fruit and veg shopping at the prston markets. Could do it all for a family of four for around $30 - $40 a week/10 days. I find them cheaper then the Queen Vic or South Melbourne due to the fact they are definately not a tourist market. You see lots of Greek and Italian grandmothers out there. Use Aldi to do your main shop. They are significantly cheaper then others, especially for basics.

[Amity]

Food etc:
- Meal plan, meal plan, meal plan.
- Don't buy ANYTHING in a packet (unless it's flour, sugar or staples). Baking biscuits/cakes is such fun with little kids - it's an activity as well as making food.
- Buy frozen vegies. They're easy and stretch for longer.
- Home brand EVERYTHING.
- Long life milk - it's cheaper ($0.99L) than normal.
- There is NOTHING wrong with a tin of tuna, a can of tomatoes, pasta and frozen vegies for dinner. Total of about $3 a meal. So that's $1 each.
- Bolognese sauce is awesome and goes a long way. Buy cheap mince from the butcher, not the supermarket. Spag bol day 1. Turn the sauce into lasagne on Day 2. And on day 3 (provided it's been in the fridge) add some gravox and turn it into a pie. Cheap and cheerful.
- Meat is the most expensive thing you can buy. Try to have 2-3 vegetarian days a week.
- Rice crackers are awesome snacks and they're $0.99 a packet. Have them with carrots and some homemade dip. Cheap lunch.
- Basa fillets ($5.99 a kilo on special at Safeway on occasion) are fantastic. They're about $1.50 each. Slice them in to strips, roll straight into Home Brand breadcrumbs ($1.19 a packet) - don't worry about eggs and flour as they're already moist enough. Spray with olive oil spray (home brand) and bake for 10 mins or so. Home made and healthy fish fingers. With home made chippies - you can get an entire meal for the kids, (pretend "takeaway") for less than $5.
- Home made pizzas with flatbread are also fabulous.
- Avoid ALL takeaway - it's the most expensive thing you can buy. Including coffee


Games/activities/things to do:
You don't need a playcentre. They weren't around when we were kids - it's called the Big Outdoors. Try geocaching as an activity if you want fun things to do.
Check out your local Council for things like "neighbourhood houses" - they often have fabulous activities for free.
Join your local Toy Library and book library. They often have DVDs to loan, saving you the Foxtel subscription.
Go on outdoors adventures with the kids - let's find a new playground today.

[Floweryfields]

Home brand EVERYTHING.

But make sure to check out specials too - sometimes toilet paper, etc can be cheaper when on sale than the homebrand.

Is there a bulk meat supplier that you can find in your area. Yes mince is cheap, but you can get bulk pieces of the better cuts for cheap at bulk suppliers. I often buy a whole rump - so that's anywhere from $35-50 depending on the size (at about $8/kg). They will slice for free and I will get them to leave 1/4 at the end in a piece. This can be cubed or minced (in a food processor), or used for a roast (roast can last for lots of follow up meals too). Often mince is dearer than mincing some of a better bulk cut.
Bulk chicken can be about $6/kg too nd of course you can get really cheap sausages (though not too healthy) at these places too - $2/kg usually which would be fine for once/twice aweek.

Of course this will depend on when you can get that freezer.

[briggsy's girl]

you may also be able to access your ftb and/or pps advances if needed to get you the freezer - yeah, it means you're losing money from the payment for six months - but getting freezer and paying it back is easier than trying to save that amount each fortnight when you don't have access to the freezer for bulk cooking...

NILS is a good idea - not had a lot of experience with them, but have referred people in the past. it's generally for essential goods, so a freezer should be ok to qualify you

i honestly don't think mince is that cheap in terms of cuts of meat, unless you go really cheap hamburger mince - other cuts can be equally cheap, and just as versatile, if not more so - i'd suggest watching the specials, getting to know if there is a local place that does cheap meat (no idea if you're anywhere near a Tasman outlet), and aiming to buy or cook in bulk. we have freezer space, so save up and do a decent meat shop every couple of months. means we only have to buy essentials each week, so can get away with a big shop maybe once a month, and then just bread/milk/fresh fruit and veg every other week, so live on about $50 a week - the big shop is maybe $130 - and then we spend a decent amount on a variety of meat every couple of months. check the local butcher to see if they do weekly/fortnightly "packs" too - they tend to be ok value - and some will negotiate with you to change items of similar "per kilo" prices to get something you prefer if you don't like one particular cut

make the most of the slow cooker where you can. umm, make soup at the end of each week with leftover veg, make as much as you can from scratch (which i'm sure you do anyway!), shop on a full stomach, with snacks for the girls if you have to take them with you. another option that i know can be hard with kids, but if you have anyone that can stay with them after they are asleep, sometimes the best time to shop is late at night when meat has been priced down...

we sometimes struggle - i'm fine with doing a tight budget, because i've done it since i left home, but until DD was born, DH had never really lived on a budget - we went from 140k plus to dole levels over night, and he still sometimes forgets that we don't have a large disposable income. i'm working the minimum number of hours that i can so that i can be home with DH as much as possible through this cancer treatment, and adding treatment costs into the mix, it's left us back on a realy tight budget - without the freezer, we'd be screwed, cos we bulk cook on my pay week, then freeze and eat from the freezer the following week - so if advances or the NILS scheme can help, go for it.

oh, we tried aldi, but i wasn't overly impressed - it really didnt' work out any cheaper than doing home brand or watching for specials - and the things that had a decent saving for DH to take in the truck with him (fruit in jelly) he said were so disgusting he threw them out - so we just dont' bother now unless there is something particularly good value in the catalogue and then we go in (usually art supplies for presents!)

[fionas]

I've lived on a pension but that was pre-kids so the other girls have much better tips than me for day to day stuff.

But to answer your question about getting into a low income groove, this is what worked for me.

I'm competitive. If you give me a challenge to live on $x per week, then it's a competition. Can you think of it in those terms ie. how much you've saved by not buying a latte rather than it being a shame that you can't buy one?

Remember too, that this is temporary. If you can live on a low income, think about how much you can save/invest when you're on a normal income again.

If you're a creative person, maybe turn living on a pension into a blog (maybe there's some already, I don't know).

Just find something emotionally that works for you and turns a negative into something more positive.

Sorry, I don't mean to sound so pollyanna about it. I know that it's tough. But this is your reality right now so I hope you can find a way of dealing with it that makes it less of an emotional burden.

[Abigail]

Not sure that I can really add anything in here that hasnt already been said. Ive been PPS for a number of years now. The key that I have found is budget, budget, budget. It can get really depressing micromanaging your finances, but it is worth it in the long run.

As someone said, add up all your long term known bills and average them out. Pay a bit each fortnight, you can centrepay or just pay them direct. I found if I put the money aside into a different account it was nothing to just "dip" into there when something came up. Also budget an emergency fund, even if its just as little as $5-$10 a fortnight at this stage - it adds up and you never know when something will suddenly die.

If you have insurances, it may help to pay them monthly. Yes it does cost more in the long run, however if you dont have that money here and now then it too can help cut the costs temporarily. If you have health insurance - are you benefiting from the current level of insurance that you have? Can you drop it down a tier?

Different states do different deals, but generally, rego and license are reduced if not free - check it now as you can/could get a pro rata refund on these. Gas/Electricity (only one does it cant remember which) and phone also gives rebates.

Phone - PREPAY! No nasty $1000 bills. If you are on contract see what the penalities are for breaking, how long you have left etc and go from there. Also if its prepay then if you cant afford it then you just dont buy credit.

Budget your food, meal plan, and look at what you can buy homebrand and what you cant etc. DS has special diet requirements so costs are increased there, but we can skimp on some of the other "luxuries".

Are you still studying? You may also be eligible for Pensioner Education Supplement which varies from $30-$60 depending on study load, plus you may get reduced day care fees if eligible.

Skip the playcentre if you can, we make the most of our parks and free/cheap entertainment.

Pre-loved clothes, if you have friends with older children they may pass them down otherwise use your charity shops and there are even facebook buy swap pages now. I have bought things with their tags still on in both places. I also pay it forward and the things he grows out of go back to those places.

Honestly I get no CS so eventually did return to work casually. However we made it work for around 3 years without any extra income. Its frightfully hard but if you can make a budget and stick to it then it can open up more opportunities.

[LimeSlice]

Thanks so much everyone! So much helpful stuff in there.

I am a meal planner. Just trying to get used to planning smaller meals! I am used to being able to freeze all the leftovers.
Thanks N2L - I will definitely look into NILS. I found a direct rentals place that does no interest Centrepay rentals to own over 12 months to HCC holders, will look into that more too I think.

BG - can't use my advances, I am not eligiable for them at the moment, I used them to help cover moving costs and what not over here a couple of months ago.

Keike - the phone thing isn't a bill stuff up - it has come from an issue when I first moved over here with Telstra not connecting my home phone on the bundle properly, which has only been resolved in the last week, meaning I had to keep using my mobile to make calls, which went above and beyond my cap in a BIG way. DH had lowered my cap without telling me and so I am screwed, and VF had removed the free call between our two numbers, despite both DH and I calling to put it back on on 3 separate occasions. I am in the process of getting rid of the contract mobile altogether, but will be stuck paying it out as there is about 12 months left on it. We got them both on a business deal years ago and it just keeps rolling over, which i did last year and upgraded the phone. Since separating and separating the accounts though and putting it in my name, we lost a major discount (the point of having them both on one name ITFP ). Anyway, I have a prepaid, and have a home phone now that includes the net, and ALL local and mobile calls, which I can start using by Wednesday to contact D for the girls to talk to him. That is really our major expense, phone wise, comeone is always calling to or from a mobile.

WRT to the Foxtel, yep, I watch it and for me it is worth it. As I said, there really is no going out or anything on my own, so movies, everything, all happens at home. The girls watch the cartoons, and I watch the footy, cricket, movies and most importantly, the docos. It will be getting reduced when uni starts back in a couple of weeks though.

I have given the concession details to the utilities and to Telstra, all of which come out each fortnight via Centrepay so I don't even see that money - which is AWESOME! lol Love that it comes out before I see it, unlike the money that comes out the day after it goes into my account, that is depressing!

Abigail - I didn't realise that the rego could be reduced or free with the pension card! I have the WA rego on the car until October, then will need to switch it to Vic (which I think will also involve a trip over the pits to get a RWC, is that right??) so having to not pay that full cost will be a life saver.

I use the car much less frequently here than in Perth, so that is helping. I am getting about 3 weeks from a tank of petrol most of the time, if I don't go to far too often, saving me about $100 a month.

The girls are covered under exDH's top notch private health insurance - a BIG bonus of his job is the supreme health cover included on top of his salary - it doesn't cover me, but does him. The car insurance is about to get changed over too next month when it expires, so will be doing that monthly, but should only be about $80 a month for full comp cover.

I get boxes and things of fruit/veg, but I can't plan that way what is coming, so I am hesitant. I have looked into having the basics delivered from AFD and a few other places, and it is just not economically viable at the moment. The girls can't drink cow's milk anyway, so have to get "specialty" milks and I only drink milk in my coffee and for cooking (which I use theirs). Will be making our own bread though, I can't afford my bread anymore, but the $1 loaves from Coles just don't sit well with me. They eat a lot of bread so need to be careful with it. I really hate processed crap.

We go to the park OFTEN - about 3-4 times a week. It is our staple now, but when it is raining and freezing, the playcentre is a good out for them - in Perth though most of the time it is too hot to go to an outside park, so the playcentre became something we did several times a week - but it was more than HALF the cost of our local playcentre (which is crap, expensive and we won't be going back to).
It is good to now there are some places I can take them that are concession friendly - DD2 is *almost* at an age now where I can take her to places like the museum without her getting bored witless.

DD1 is at kinder days a week, and the mums have told me about the Steiner playgroup that runs for DD2, but not sure I can afford a daycare day for DD2 yet. She goes to the creche at the gym when I go, as does DD1 on her days off kinder, the hour to myself is lovely! lol But will be leaning on my brother and sister I think to take them for a day every fornight so I can study.

Abigail - yes, I am on a FT study load, who do I contact about information for the Pensioner Education Supplement?

Fionas - thank you That does help immensely, I think I need to work on my mindset a lot at the minute, it is all pretty negative up there really, and needs to change, or I am going to end up in a ball rocking back and forth in the corner. Not Pollyanna at all - exactly what I needed.


Can anyone tell me anything about Myki? Has this replaced the oldschool yearly/half yearly tickets? Is it worth getting this, or will I need to get one for me and one for DD1 herself (she is 5 in November), or am I still best off sticking with Metcards for now? When do the Metcards stop being sold?


Thanks again everyone, I think it is really just going to require much more attention than I am used to it needing, and me getting used to doing it all on my own 100% of the time.

[Astrid]

It is hard and I still struggle keeping on top of the little expenditures when out and about with the kids. I am in a situation now where we have more money, but still need to keep some control over it.

Totally get you on the driving around to save money. Have that situation where I live. I try and look at what I need, then work out the best place to shop based on that.
If out with the girls, then I just suck it up and let them order what I know they will eat, rather than what I would prefer them to eat. Nothing worse than spending the money and then they don't eat it, then complain later about being hungry. Often I would not order for myself, except maybe a coffee and just rely on what they did eat to feed myself (not doable so much these days, as they do eat more).

I still have the memory of when we first moved to Melbourne and not affording to go and grab a coffee.

[Cassius2]

food is the biggie too i reckon. Avoid the Big Two supermarkets like the plague for your main shop. Seriously just go in for the cheap milk and bread. we do alot of ALDI and after alot of research for our family it was cheaper to get a fruit/vege box delivered. you dont choose the contents, but it does keep life interesting lol.

Meal planning is key. Can be a PITA to get organised but once you have the knack it is totally awesome, it streamlines shopping too.

[nothing2lose]

I have to declare an interest here (DP works for Woolworths) but it's not right that Aldi is cheaper. Compare like with like and they are on par and often cheaper. Aldi is the equivalent of generic or homebrand products. So if you buy the equivalent at Coles or Woolworths (Preferably Woolworths - mumma needs some new shoes ) you will find you are not paying extra. It also helps to look out for specials (obviously ) and buy meat, etc when it is on clearance at the end of the day.

[AnyDream]

Ok, so you can live well and cheaply, but it often requires a bit of time and planning.

My big tip - get the "infrastructure" you need to support your low-cost outings. Start with a good quality stainless steel travel mug and make yourself a nice coffee/chai latte (or whatever) before you leave the house (I got mine @ the health food shop, and if you preheat the mug with boiling water before you add the hot drink it stays hot for hours). Get a collection of good qual drink bottles, and make some drinks for the kids before you leave. In summer I keep a supply ready in the fridge/freezer. Have a good medium-sized lightweight backpack to carry them in, and add a waterproof picnic rug so you can just stop wherever and enjoy the outdoors.

I agree with the PP who suggested doing whatever you could to get a bigger freezer on board. The savings to both time and money if you cook in batches and freeze, then you have an endless supply of yummy dinners you can just pull out when you CBF'd. It also means that you can do a big veggie shop at the markets less often when you're planning to have a cook-up, rather than schlepping there every week/fortnight. It also means you can buy what you cook with when it's in season, eg, we're still eating yum pumpkin soup that we made back in March when pumpkin was 90c a kilo, whereas now it's nearly $4/kg. We save yoghurt tubs to freeze things in.

Learn to love pasta/rice/couscous. And tuna. And pasta with tuna. LOL. Also, experiment with the wonderful world of frozen veggies. Not so much on your dinner plate, but if you use them in your soups/casseroles etc they can be excellent (just respect that they've been frozen once already and keep them 'fresh' but not cooking them as long). Also mince, you can make pretty much any casserole type thing with mince instead of chunks of meat, it still tastes the same, and you'll save a fortune.

It might be worth also thinking about getting some childcare. Even just one day a week can give you the capacity to whip through a lot of those errandy/shopping/organising type things, or you could organise your market trips around those times. It might seem counter-intuitive (as it costs more $) but if you're on a very low income you might find you're not paying much at all. And if you're efficient with that time, it can mean that you enjoy having a cafe stop occasionally with your girls, instead having to stop and feed and water everyone in the middle of trying to get whatever errand/shopping done.

[Astrid]

It might be worth also thinking about getting some childcare. Even just one day a week can give you the capacity to whip through a lot of those errandy/shopping/organising type things, or you could organise your market trips around those times. It might seem counter-intuitive (as it costs more $) but if you're on a very low income you might find you're not paying much at all. And if you're efficient with that time, it can mean that you enjoy having a cafe stop occasionally with your girls, instead having to stop and feed and water everyone in the middle of trying to get whatever errand/shopping done.

Agree with that one. I find I can get so much done, with little extra expenditure, as I am on my own. Also lets me have time to check out the clearance rack for specials or to really compare pricing.
Also childcare is entertainment for them. As they can paint, craft etc there, it means I can cut back on that type of expense at home. Plus they are also fed, which means less out of your budget

[AnyDream]

And re you phone/internet/mobile - there are savings to be had with these. Are you really using every penny worth of that expenditure? Think about whether it would be cheaper just to have a mobile plan and a prepaid dongle, or naked adsl and make your phone calls via the internet, for example. I don't know how much your Foxtel costs, or whether the number of hours you're using represents good value or not. We have a DVD/harddrive recorder thing, so we just tape what we want to see (free to air) and then watch it when we want. Combined with the occasional trip to the DVD store/public library DVDs (where you can hire an entire telly series for <$10) we pretty much have more good telly than we have time to watch.

[shellbell3]

Being on single parent pension you shouldve got a concession card so don't forget to contact ur electricity/ gas/ car rego for discounts. Also the museum and scienceworks are free entry with the card too.
Good idea above with contacting to try get bigger fridge, the best thing I do is cooking and freezing meals. As its just me and 2 small girls we don't eat all that much so meals do go far.

[Arimeh]

I've found that because we are on such a low income (I'm a SAHM on PPP, and DH is on austudy, which is $442 a fortnight - so really low!) its so hard to keep to a budget.

So I've done up a budget, and my aim was to put aside each fortnight what we need to pay etc - and then when a bill comes in, I'd have the money there. Nuh, didn't work like that, because I can only put a little bit aside, I was reaching into other money to pay for stuff.

So now - and people will probably hit me over the head - we live off our credit card, and I pay it off every fortnight when we get paid. My rent gets taken out automatically from my account before I pay anything. Any bills that come in are paid off by bpay and then I transfer the rest of the money over to the credit card. Most fortnights its completely paid off. This fortnight it wasn't because we had DD1's birthday and spent more money than we would have liked.

You have to be really strict though, we only buy food, clothes and stuff for the car. If I want anything extra, I sell something to pay for it (or sometimes I'm lucky and my mum slides me $50 and I buy new cookbooks for example heehee!). Its so hard on the limited money that we have to pay for everything.

But for food - I have been shopping at Coles and I go over the food budget every bloody week. So this week I'm going to the markets tomorrow to buy my fresh stuff, going to a discount meat place to buy my meat, and then Aldi - and then if I still don't have all my stuff - i'm going to coles or woolies.

Is there anyone near you that can go to the market for you and pick stuff up? i'd do it if you lived near me - so thats a possibility for you - move to Queensland