After some lots of thinking time on our holiday recently Jed and I decided it was time to buckle down and get ourselves out of debt.
I have written a list of expenses with having the most important at the top and the least one the bottom. The least important was getting the paper home delivered....Jed is devistated and says he misses it. hmmm I dont know how he could cause he only use to read it every second day and somenights it was still wrapped up on the kitchen table.
SO have decided it is on expense that is GOING!!!!
WOrked out that it is $4.40 a week = $17.20 a month = $114 a year
now whilst that doesnt look like alot..that small amount can wack the interest on our car loan quiet a bit.
What other no essential expenses do you consider choppable?
For us it's Basketball. DH used to play 4 times a week at $8 a pop! He also used to travel an hour for 1 game a week. So when you factor in petrol etc it got quite expensive. I've just worked out that he was spending $1664 a year on bball not including petrol. Now he plays twice a week.
The one magazine DH refuses to live without we now subscribe to, so that has saved us about $80 a year as there is a 47% saving to subscribers. Just trying to get him to stop buying another that he barely reads.
Have put my foot down with juice. I buy 2 bottles a week and when they are gone, they are gone. DH loves his juice with dinner (his waistline is hating though) and to me it is an extravagance.
School canteen. It might happen once in a blue moon here, say every 3 months if someone remembers.
I only buy new clothes etc for christmas & birthdays. Everything else comes from op shops...unless its a bargain sale & I have spare $$.
ETA: After school sports are great aren't they!! We have it twice a week here!!
I need to cut down badly, but I dont know where.... We are getting pretty far into the red at the moment......
We dont do takeaway, I clean the whole house with bicarb and vinegar, cried poor and got a reduction of school fees.... I just dont know how to cut costs anymore, the accounts are going backwards!!!
Ad is trying so hard to get any work, he applies for at least 2/3 daily.... poor thing.....
We did this ages ago. Andrew used to complain that while we cut the crud we still had no money. Little did he know an extra $90 a month was being put onto the home loan. The mortgage is our only debt. He only just found out last week about the extra $90, and I have been doing it now for a good year or so.
We dropped Thursday night take-away, hiring DVD's, & buying magazine's willy nilly including the TV Week. I also stopped impulse buying. The "oh I might just go to the shop and while I am there I might buy a game for the PC, or a brand new DVD or something the boys just have to have but really don't need"
I also at the time cut up Andrew's ATM card. I would notice $10 here $15 there go out of the account once or twice a week. He has since re-gained an ATM card (we changed banks) but I am thinking of doing it again as it is starting to happen again.
Besides wanting to be rid of the additives, I'm saving stacks! I almost died from shock when I had a slack attack and bought museli bars and le snacks before school one morning and they cost a bomb!
Been thinking about it here too. The newspaper is a waste too for us, I can't remember the last time I read it but DH is adament he *needs* it. Lunches out at work are a big spend, the project car that hasn't been touched for 3 years, Foxtel (no time and nothing on) hmmm what else?
Mobiles have been changed to prepaid as we don't use them much, signed up for loyalty rewards with gas/electricity companies recently, reduced our internet plan to match usage.....
My DH feels like it is all his stuff that is getting the chop (fair enough too as it is, but I don't exactly spend stuff on me very often) - tricky to balance the needs and wants isn't it? Good luck on your quest - I am slowly chipping away....
We use to have takeaway every fortnight but with 6 of us in the family it was costing us $50+ (3 boys eat like horses)
SO I now make our takeaway and the kids love it. It will only cost us $10 max and the kids get so much out of making it.
Pizza with pita base bottoms, taco's another night, our own KFC.
Probably much healthier too
I cant get over $8 a game of basketball tink...OMG that is unreal!!!!
Niklolaus played last season and it was $4 a game....ive decided to let him do the after school sports program through the school again....it cost nothing and he's nice and itred when he gets home after school .
Ive also taken to doing bingo duty at school to save $60 per boy attending of our school fee's.
I might have to look into enjo now.
Mak - I joined the loyalty programs throught my gas/electricity...should be coming into fruitition this summer to put us ahead
Ive gotta get at jed to finsih cleaning down the side of the house so I can expand my vegie gardern too
Ebay might get a big influx of some of my excess goodies too...im on a mission lol
Spring cleaning finances
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not including petrol. Now he plays twice a week.
We are getting pretty far into the red at the moment...... 
Baking more and buying less lunchbox snacks. 
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