Spring cleaning finances

[Liz]

DH takes lunch to work... saves us heaps, not just because he doesn't buy lunch (well.. he does once a week I think) but because he doesn't feel the need to get so much cash out all the time!

We went through the credit card and got rid of 'forgotten' subscriptions. Things like Choice, various software licences, and other online subscriptions that we had but don't really use or need anymore. It was surprising how they all added up. in doing this I found out that we'd been paying insurance on the car we sold a year ago! LOL.. so that was a bonus.. got $700+ back from NRMA for that!

I buy a regular amount of petrol each tuesday, for some reason buying $30 a week is cheaper than actually using up the tank and refilling it... haven't work out why yet LOL.. but it stays within budget this way. I do need to remind DH tho when he gets fuel not to fill up.. just to get the $30.

I've been getting good at doing weekly shopping and planning the meals for the week. Not sure it's necessarily saving money.. but I can budget for it better. Trouble is having people round for dinners and stuff that throws in an extra shop.. which then has various nibblies and extras in it. LOL. Maybe I need to budget for entertaining.

[Astrid]

I buy a regular amount of petrol each tuesday, for some reason buying $30 a week is cheaper than actually using up the tank and refilling it... haven't work out why yet LOL.. but it stays within budget this way. I do need to remind DH tho when he gets fuel not to fill up.. just to get the $30.
.

Yes, do the same here and it really helps. Took awhile, but now DH will ask how much to put in. Before he would just fill her up and expect me to have the money for it, often it would result in us having no money for milk etc. I do get angry now if he uses my fuel for the week on the weekend for something trivial.

[*Infinity*]

Hiya, great ideas here....this is what works for us...

Set up a veggie patch & herb garden. Its tastes better, costs hardly anything and is great fun for kids to help look after.

Meal plan for one week / fortnight and shop accordingly. Also helps you 'roster' cooking meals in your house for you, partner and kiddies if they can help

Do you eat meat? If so, check out your local butcher and buy in bulk - we buy half a cow (sometimes a quarter) every so often. Red meat this way works out to be only about $6 a kilo and you get very nice cuts of meat, usually from a cow that's had a good life. YOu do need freezer space though.

Buy things like pet food, toilet paper, washing powder, toiletres & other sundries in bulk at a discount place. This stuff costs a bomb at the super-duper-market.

Make your own cleaning products.

Do a big bake up on the weekends of cookies, slices, cakes, muffins for snacks etc.

LOok at your mobile and home phone plans, internet etc, assess whether you're on the right ones for your usage.

Turn of power points, lights when not in use. Get door snakes to keep drafty winds out. What are your blinds & insulation like in your home (helps make heating & cooling more efficeint).

Join up at the library instead of buying new books & toys, or recycle and sway thru a second hand book shop.

De-clutter and have a garage sale.

What frequency do you make payments on loans? Simply changing your payments to fortnightly instead of monthly makes a huge difference on the life of a loan.

Good luck!

[Liviam]

What fantastic ideas. I've been looking for ways to cut down our spending since we are on one wage but haven't had any success as I honestly had no idea how to go about it. Thanks ladies.

[~Kim~]

just subscribing...we're trying to figure out a way for me to be a SAHM.
One thing we have done is ditch one mobile. DH was only using it for silly calls so now we're sharing one. Saving me over $100 a month.
PHI is the next thing on my hitlist. Either cutback or cut off.

[squidipa]

newspapers (we have internet instead)
magazines (dont remember last time buying one)
Coffee at shops... must have been now about 6 montsh since before that was like 4 or 5 times a year maybe.
We dont buy take out.. if at shops and kids are hungry ill buy a loaf of bread and some ham and cheese and make them a sambo.

We take water when we go out too.

hair dressers dont go to one but if i did i would extend the time between visits, get hair cut about once a year or twice No hair dying or coloring or blow drying here just mess up look lol.


manicures pedicures waxes NOPE dont get these lol a cheap manicure pedicure kit and an epilator is all i got.

We dont go t o the movies or out on holidays we do picnics and i buy stuff to invest in our selves for activities for kids like glue glitter wool arts and crafts stuff. Kids love it.

Cooking recess at home can save you heaps too we make muffins and all sorts and freeze them.

Something you wouldn't scrap but can make a difference is this... if you shop every week for food thats every 7 days try the next shop in 8 days.. then try the following time in 9 days we shop every 3 weeks here sometimes monthly bar form bread and milk but most fo the time we have this in freezer or long life variety or frozen.

if you eat meat 7 days a week drop off one day that would also save you.

We also turn our hot water unit off when not in use and make sure washing machine is OFF when not in use.

hubbie walks kids to school so we dont use much petrol eithor.
We buy our fruit and veg in a large box at very low prices. look for smaller markets to do this.

hope this helps maz xoxo

EDIT

we have voip for calls and i spend about 6 dollars a month in calls also me and hubbie are with virgin mobile and we text each other for FREE. we charge for 6 months at a time think thats 30 dollars or is it 15 hrmmm...

[Liz]

We just switched to prepaid mobiles.. it is SOOOOO much better value. We did have group savings and free calls to each other etc, but the bills were still too high for texts & stuff. Now we've got good rates on txts i won't be using much talk time at all, so my mobile bill should be down to about $20 a month, if not less.. just gotta see how much talk time I need each month, if not much, then it'll be less per month. woot!

[maz]

having gone over our bills the last month...we have actually saved more.
I use to take the boys to and from school. Jed drives nearly exactly the same way everyday.
We decided that Jed would drop the boys of near the school so they could walk 10mins..getting a bit of exercise and independances in the process.
By doing this we only have to fill the Kia once a month instead of every fortnight..AND cause im not out in the car that time of morning thinking..oh I'll just get such and such quickly, im saving fuel, buying useless shiat and SAVING MONEY!!!!
We are saving a minimum of $70 a month and for the first time in years we actually have a $1000 in savings again. I knowit doesnt sound alot to some...but just learning to curb our spending, to buy if we really need instead of wanting and staying focussed is part of that first $1000.

WOO HOOO im on my way to getting clear of out debt!!!!!!!

[Astrid]

Great news Maz

[Doing my best]

Well done Maz..

I never thought I would have to worry about it. (I had no plans of being a SAHM before I had DD, now I have another, and not heading back to work till DD is at school )

We have started a vege patch, but still waiting for the benefits, but DD helps DH water it and check it every day. We also have a herb garden.

We shop at Aldi for most stuff, bulk butcher for meat, fruit and vege shop, and I take note of catalogues.

I am also a believer in paying a bit more for something that will save money in the long run, e.g we bought a $40 garlic press over a year ago, but considering we were buying cheaper ones every few months as DH kept breaking them, this has saved us money..

[my-three-monkeys]

I have only just started doing my supermarket shopping online. The prices don't seem to be any dearer than in the store, and we have free delivery in our area. I am finding this is saving my sanity by not having to take 3 kids to the supermarket,and also easier on the hip pocket because I am not buying all the random things that we don't really need.

[Indadhanu]

Lunches for Shel at work! I had to work at that because she loathed taking sandwiches because they go soggy or hard but for a few months now I've been baking and making dinner go further so I have enough to chuck in the freezer for her lunches. They were charging $10 for a toasted sandwich. One sandwich, not including a drink, or morning tea! And thats with a staff discount!!!!! Outrageous!

Meal planning and buying in bulk is a HUGE saver.

We treat ourselves regularly. Not on huge things, but we find if we give ourselves a little treat every now and then, like if we're lookinf forward to takeaway night or buying a new DVD or book, we're less likely to go and blow out on other things or buy takeaway on other nights, because we're looking forward to what we've already bought.