how do you all do it?

[Cupcake]

Ive created an excel spreadsheet that keeps me ontop of my bills, i enter them in when i get them and when they're due so i can make sure they're paid off on time and we dont cop and over due fees!

[Tinks]

There is some great advice here!

I also have all my bills come out of my bank acc fortnightly, I never have to pay a huge lump sum for electricity or phone at the end of the billing cycle. It makes life easier.

I also agree with not having things you can't afford. Don't use credit!

Don't buy toys - join a toy library. It costs a small amount per family a year, although I think some may be free. It saves having millions of toys lying around the house that never get used. My kids loved it, every week they would pick out a 'new' toy, it was like going shopping for them.

A girl I knew a long time ago who was the same age as you BC with a young boy, she used envelopes to manage her money. On payday she would take her money out of the bank and divide it up between envelopes. I was amzed at how well she managed her money.

She had envelopes for bills, clothes, gifts, car, food, luxuries etc. She was amazing!

[grub17]

don't forget garage sales. i have picked up some great toys (yes exxy fisher price etc) for 50c - in great condition. And heaps of clothes, most hardly worn. You can usually get all the home stuff you'd need and you can bargain with them as well to stay within your budget.
and i agree, don't get a credit card. they are a lot more trouble than they are worth - a visa debit will aloow you to shop on the net without owing money. Also consider putting some of that $3K inot a term deposit that will earn money for you.
also, shop around. if you arelaly want something a little research and scouring different sellers will usually net you a great deal. and don't forget that laybys are great too.

[Kazbah]

hehee, I'm just giggling at Bath's old '90s phone compared to her iPhone now!!!!

[Bathsheba]

ROFL ahhh yes!!! Well DH bought me the latest iphone for Christmas last year... I didn't ask for it mind you I had no clue how to use it but we did save alot by holding off upgrading my phone for about 10 years!

ATM we have decided to save money by delaying turning on our central heating. We have moved the tumble dryer out into the main living area near the kitchen... it has floor boards so no carpet is getting ruined. With all the rain we've been having i have had to use it anyway so might as well benefit from the heat coming out of it instead of having it wasted in the laundry. We also have been getting free heat from firewood. We asked the nieghbours to throw any branches over into our yard over the warmer months so had quite a stockpile. We also gather up any wood left out on people's nature strips after they prune their trees. if we can avoid turning on the heating we'll save a few hundred dollars this winter.

We have also saved thousand of dollars recently by avoiding upgraqding our old car for 15 years. A few weeks ago it started to become very unreliable and now with 3 kids (two in car seats) and an upcoming move to the country we have decided to upgrade our car. We bought a 7 seater All wheel drive Kluger Grande 2008 model. Originally over $70,000 drive away... we got it for a little bit over $40,000.... due to it having HAIL DAMAGE! So yes it has pock marks on the bonnet but that doesn't bother us! We've got a bloody good car (low Kms too) for nearly half of what it was worth a year ago! Stoked!!! Moral of the story is don't be proud to drive an old daggy car as long as it is safe and fulfills your needs... hold off for as long as possible then buy a new, but not brand new car and haggle just before the June stocktake sales... we bought ours in Late April / May and knew the dealer was keen to offload stock.

[Cupcake]

Sorry to go off topic here...Bath did you find it hard to insure your new car with the hail damage history? I said it would be such a bargain to my dad and he mentioned that it might be difficult to have the car insured?

[Bathsheba]

No trouble at all (car insurance). RACV insured it quite happily... the pock marks are totally superficial... didn't break the surface of the paint... the dints you get on your door in the supermarket from other car doors bashing into your car are worse as they usually remove paint therefore can lead to rust. These pocks are much more shallow. We intend to buy a new bonnet as soon as we can afford it... only $800 apparently. Certainly worth the $10,000 saving (compared to comparible cars on the market).

[Cupcake]

Awesome bargain! Ive wanted to do the same!

[*Ali*]

Something I have found works well for us, is to figure out what our bills are annually (water, electricity, insurances, phone etc) and divide it fortnightly, and just pay off via B pay each fortnight, so that I never have a big bill to pay- it usually comes in paid or in credit, I find this easier knowing exactly each fortnight what I need to pay, rather than having to find $200 all in one go.
I also think meal planning makes a big difference, because if you buy everything you need for your weeks meals in one go then you don't go back to the shops, thus eliminating that extra $5-$10 you spend each time you go to the shops.
Buying cleaning/ beauty products 1 or 2 each shopping trip rather than waiting until they run out helps, because they are exspensive and if you need to get lots in one shopping trip it makes a huge difference to the bill.
Not having credit cards makes a big difference for us, because trying to pay them off is really difficult and you get stuck in the pay and use cycle, for us if we dont have the money to buy something it has to wait, we always think twice before dipping into our savings, but never did when we would spend on credit.

[Oscar&Grouch]

Hey hun, where abouts do you live?
I have lots of furniture im trying to get rid of - cant be bothered putting it on ebay as its in a storage shed and im purely to lazy.
So i am paying $40 a week for it to sit in a shed, im on the goldcoast tho.
but im happy to hand it along

[luna moth]

Hey, Brookies, she's not that far from you... definitely do-able. Maybe if DH and I do get that ute we've been talking about, I can be the missing link

[Oscar&Grouch]

oooh well id be happy to help out. i have a couch, fridge a whole house really lol. so Emma if your interested pm me and we can all sort something out
xxxxx

[Butterfly Child]

oh my gosh hun that sounds AMAZING i live near byron bay but ill pm u see if i can figure something out thank you thank you hun ! im currently trying to get my hands on a fridge, as ive applied for a place and waiting for if ive gotten it fingers crossed and thats the main thing i need.

Audux- your AVY is absolutly breathtaking i love love it!

[Oscar&Grouch]

well you will be happy to know im also willing to throw in my boxes of plates, bowls, coffee cups, knives, forks, spoons as well i have a whole box full and there extremly decent looking im extremly happy to give you anything you need providing i have it! I know how hard it is being a single mummy trying to afford to just live. Us single ladies need to stick together and look out for eachother!

[Bathsheba]

What an amazing example of something I am just about to start a new thread on: Collaborative Consumption. It's a new forecast trend in how we as consumers of goods and services are changing our ways SIGNIFICANTLY since the GFC in 2008. I'll link here when I have it up.

Well done girls

Oh and regarding credit cards... the main thing we use ours for is to pay school fees. They can't wait. But we usually get some free flights each year because we have linked our credit card to the Qantas FF program. If it wasn't for the school fees we could easily live without one. Lucky we don't have to pay the service fees of a CC because DH is "staff" at the bank we have ours through.

The link to the thread is HERE

[Raupe]

Definately make your food from scratch. Buy fruits/veggies that are in season. That will save you heaps of money, too. Also, stick to 'simple veggies' aka carrots, potatoes etc. They are HEAPS cheaper than 'fancy' ones like bok choi etc (and last longer in the fridge... hehehe). Every couple of days we do a 'fridge raid' where we go through our fridge to use up all 'old' food/ingredients before they go off. It's amazing how much food and money you can waste, if you don't pay attention to your fridge content.

Also, shop around when you are looking for a rental property. Prices can vary enormously! We managed to snap up a well maintained HOUSE (not unit!) for 220.- a week. It had 3 bedrooms and and a small garden. It was cheaper, because it was a little further away from the city (as in 25min drive instead of 10), but that didn't bother us.

Another tip: mention to your friends and family what you need/are looking for and if they can ask around for you. My Mil needed a new couch and asked family members if they new anyone who wanted to get rid of theirs. Sure enough, one uncle just bought himself a new suite and had to get rid of his old one, as well as a coffee table and a cupboard. So my Mil not only got her couch for free, but also additional furniture! There are always people who know people....IYKWIM

[Cupcake]

Hey, Brookies, she's not that far from you... definitely do-able. Maybe if DH and I do get that ute we've been talking about, I can be the missing link

Dont have anything to offer but i wanna be apart of the big move day (if anything goes ahead hehe) we can make it a mini meet up