Managing money to make life easier

[Clues_Of_Blue]

One of the big things that causes stress and sure kicks you about when you already have mental illness to play with is money. Whether you're in debt, just scraping by, or feel like you're working to much to maintain a lifestyle. Here is a place to talk about how to make your dollars go a bit further and take off some financial pressure.

I'll start with some basic pointers:

- Plan a little with food. Make work lunches, decide on meals for the week and stick to your shopping list. If you shop a bit later you're also likely to get a lot of fresh produce at a discount.

- Check regularly (every six months or so) on your utilities. Often there is a better plan out there to switch to. As customers, loyalty to a company usually just gets us a quietly growing bill instead of discounts or rewards. Vote with your feet.

- Same with your home loan, you can refinance to one with a better interest rate, just watch out for exit fees (and LMI if you still owe more than 80% of the house value)

If you have any tips or questions, feel free to share or ask.

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Hi all. Have become a little busier than expected, today. Will reply properly to everyone soon.

Blue.

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Sure did, EM. 🙂

Nice work with the utilities. The solar panels, too. I've often considered it for both environmental and financial reasons, but they're pretty costly and I'm on a budget of $0 to spare - might be worth researching further for ways around that problem. Initial outlay on some things definitely makes saving money easier for people who have more of it. That's a big part of why I made this thread - we paupers need every trick we can get!

I definitely agree about making less trips to the shops. The less you are there, the less you can be tempted, plain and simple.

I'm exactly the same with sales, and also items linked with competitions - I'll only get it if it was something I would have bought anyway.

Buying in bulk when it's possible is super useful. Shopping with a family member or friend and splitting the cost and the products is a good way of getting around the initial outlay for those who simply don't have the money to buy in bulk and/or don't need huge amounts of what they're getting. Everyone wins. (I'm curious to hear about the "alternative world" - in whichever thread is most appropriate.)

I have something similar to the "Mojo" account, for bills - a set amount I put aside each pay day, accounting for all my non-weekly paid bills split into weekly amounts (i.e. power, water, council, etc. that are quarterly, divided by 12 weeks).

Completely agree about the offset account. Interest rates on savings accounts are dismal at this point in time, and saving money is ultimately the same as earning it - the offset account saves far more than the savings account earns, it's simple maths.

I love your Christmas coupons idea. Thanks. 🙂

Blue.

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Hey Quirky,

You're welcome. 🙂

Honesty is No. 1 priority with managing finances - you can't fix a problem if you don't acknowledge it, which means looking at what you're spending. I did the same thing, keeping my receipts and jotting down what I spent on things that didn't have receipts. You sure learn a lot from doing that.

You're right about less frequent shopping trips, too. I have found sticking to a list useful, or giving myself a shopping "allowance". When I was struggling most with money, I would get out just $50 cash for groceries each week and that was all I would allow myself to spend. At the time I lived alone and could make that go pretty far.

Thanks for sharing. 🙂

Blue.

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Hey RT,

Glad you think so, it's heartening to hear. You raise a good point about people reading and not posting getting something out of it.

You're right about online shopping giving you the option to sort things from low to high in price, definitely helps the budget.

Discounts and freebies from e-mail subscriptions can definitely come in handy. Yes, I do keep those separate from my main e-mail. Not from a lack of discipline, but because companies really flood you with e-mails and I hate clutter. I want to be able to find the e-mails from my friends in less than an hour!

You're right about shops going on about Christmas. I think it's the sheer overwhelm of that in your face all the time that leads to people ending up getting all their gifts at the last minute. Frankly, it's really unappealing. To be honest I don't have much of a strategy for Christmas, I have a very small family and none of us have a lot of money. I'll often make them something (I like doing crafty things and am also pretty decent in the kitchen), which they appreciate. One year we decided to simply go second hand - gave each other things we already owned and weren't using that we thought the others would like. Books, jewellery, that sort of thing. Everyone was happy.

Calculating your spending is really important, you're doing great. My budget accounts for some modest savings, split into two categories - one for in case of something crazy bad like losing my job, the other for bills and moderate unexpected expenses. Any surplus beyond that goes onto my mortgage because reducing my expenses is ultimately the best way of saving.

Another thing about utilities - often you can get discounts if you have government benefits (like a Health Care Card) or are a member of the RAA, and things like that. Always worth checking up on things like that.

Blue.

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Hi Elizabeth,

Thank you very much for this post, you've really cut to the heart of it. Reading your words it really resonated with me that what you say is why I have been able to maintain discipline with my money. The why is so important. Also, congratulations on your hard work and achievements, that's pretty inspiring.

I am currently where you once were, in a cheap house with a bunch of problems that need fixing. My partner and I budget hard, with the purpose of making the best of our home and to get me working less and enjoying his company more. With that to focus on, saving money is so much easier.

As for ways we do that, one is that I have learned to cook a lot of our favourite take-away foods - pizza, Thai curries, laksa, nachos, you name it. Kind of needed to anyway since going vegetarian - I haven't found a plant based version of lemon chicken or honey chicken anywhere, but I make both at home and my partner loves them! The responses I get to things I make motivates me more to cook instead of going out.

I like your thought about getting flowers and cuttings. I've been known to bring in flowers or even just nice foliage from the garden to pop in a vase, it still brightens the place up. Something I have done for art is hang up some leftover curtain fabric on the wall, and I'll periodically pick some palm fronds and pin them on with sewing pins. No cost to get some beauty in the place.

Thanks again for your post, it's a really great contribution.

Blue.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi

I hope you all had a great weekend.

Blue - That makes sense! It can be a lot at times. I use gmail which has really smart filters so all of my subscriptions go to 'promotions', and then all the personal emails come straight to 'primary'. I also make good use of the folders too and that helps. It sounds like a hassle for me to log out and log in again just to check emails, but I'm really glad you've found a method that works for you.

Yeah, I think so too. I've often joked that we should celebrate Christmas mid-January so that the things we want to buy are cheaper. What are the things that you create? Generally I'll just think of some gifts at home and shop online and that seems to work fine.

I've found that too! The discounts are often a bit sneaky and it's not always clear. I'd be a bit lost if I couldn't have discounts on my medication (although that's an obvious discount), but it also helps with things such as public transport and ambulance cover.

I'm not sure if there's many 'benefits' to struggling with finances but I will say that I think I'm more grateful for the little things. I always feel a little fancy when I use a nice body wash or light a pretty candle; but if I was always in such a good place financially I probably wouldn't notice these things. Elizabeth - I wonder if this is something that resonates with you too. I hope you're in a better place financially as well.

rt

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Hey RT,

You must be more skilled with filters than I, I settled on making a dummy e-mail account and sticking things from it in a folder. I don't have to log in separately to use the dummy account, it comes in like regular e-mail but I can quickly identify and remove stuff from it from my inbox and if it gets junked up with spam I can delete it without any impact on my main e-mails coming in. It does work for me.

Haha, you might have something there. Have you noticed how all the biggest bills and most of the annual ones all hit in December? Really makes Christmas a drag if you ask me. It's birthday season in my family, too, so it gets real expensive. I have in the past done a bit of photography that I've given as gifts. More recently things like bookmarks, or paper flowers. I also give meals or desserts as gifts pretty often - I get a lot of requests for my cooking (most especially my laksa, ANZAC biscuits and lemon slice), so I make stuff like that. It's always well received.

Discounts are often pretty sneaky, yeah, it pays to keep an eye on them. Sadly though my income barely covers basics, it's "too much" for a Health Care Card - with asthma and severe hayfever it costs me roughly $60 a month just to breathe, so I have to be savvy about where to shop for that; it could easily cost me $80-$100 if I go to the wrong places. It is great that the Health Care Card helps with meds and also gets you cheaper transport and such, though. It also gets discounts on utilities and cheaper tickets for things like cinemas and zoos. My union gets me discounts on meals and movies and a range of other things, and RAA membership has given me a much needed discount on my power bill. RAA in particular is one for which you have to look for the savings, they aren't made too obvious.

Completely agree with you about gratefulness. I certainly appreciate the good food I can have now after living out my 20s on a lot of baked beans and canned spag - it's made me love cooking and being able to share what I make. I think struggling also heightens our compassion for others who are struggling. It always seems to be the have-nots who are the most generous when disasters happen like floods, bushfires, etc. They may not have much to give, but they give it freely. It's part of what keeps our resources humble, but I'm inclined to think if we can manage what we have well enough to live comfortably, we don't need to be tight-fisted when others need help.

Blue.

[Clues_Of_Blue]

A few more odds and ends I was thinking of that save money:

- Only put as much water in the kettle as you need, boiling a full one every time is a big money waster.

- I put a couple of soft drink bottles full of water in my toilet cistern. The water always fills to the same level but the bottles reduce the volume it fills up, so you save a couple of litres of water every flush.

- Check your paperwork - receipts, bank statements, payslips. Sometimes we get overcharged or underpaid, or there are system errors, even identity theft. If we check what's coming in and going out regularly, a lot can be saved.

[ecomama]

Water saving

10y ago I put in dual flush sisterns upstairs & downstairs when I got an $11 000 payout from a Scholarship fun for my eldest child. I couldn't afford the funds for any other child after that, and could barely pay it at times as it was lol. IT was a brilliant move.

But it's an Australian Scholarship Group and I had my Accountant look over it, he said it was AMAZING.
I joined eldest when she was 2yo.

WHAT A GODSEND.

When she turned 18yo I received a cheque for every cent I'd paid INTO it. Over $11K.
Then SHE received a cheque per Semester of her attending Uni - between and $2K - $3K per Semester. This was the Interest on my money they invested.

AND SHE WENT TO UNI all right, she's going again lol!

That went off track lol.

I put in 2 water tanks when Council were giving rebates to install them.
We have a VERY large garden and grow lots of food, so I only use tank water for my garden, cleaning the cars, scrubbing hard surfaces etc.

I've even run a hose into my laundry from the tank when it's high and filled my washing machine for the initial wash from the tank.
When we were in Courts, I even brought in buckets of tank water to use in the toilets lol and more.
I collected water when it rained in containers near huge overflows and put it in the washing machine.

I have a tall jug next to the kitchen sink. The children know to empty ANY cleanish water into there from their drink bottles and I empty this into the washing machine.

We have a plastic cup next to the bathroom sink and all the kids know to use this then rinse it out when brushing their teeth. We NEVER leave the tap running.

During extreme drought I use the washing machine water to water the garden.
It can also be used to flush toilets as long as it's not left for long.

We also have water saving shower heads AND a timer in each shower that Council handed out years ago. I don't monitor this with the kids, they're really environmental and money saving like me (mostly).

I grew up on tank water only and a can toilet. Having a flushing loo is a LUXURY lol.

We had a flourishing edible garden back then but BOY it was a lot of hard work to keep the recycled water up to it by hand after our shared bath water every night lol.

EMxxxx

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Blue,

Ha! Well I do spend a lot of time on the internet, so I tend to make myself familiar with these things! I think managing email can tie in to your other post on minimalism too.

Yes, very much. I love the sounds of your gifts and what appear to be very random meals! Unfortunately with my family conversations around gifts are difficult at best, so I probably put more pressure on myself than I should when shopping. But sometimes it can be fun looking at all the different things out there, especially quirky gifts that I would have never thought of otherwise. What's your plan this year?

Oh gosh, I laughed at that. How relatable. It costs me about 60$ a month too (sometimes up to 80$) and that's with a concession card! I'm terrified to even ask what it would be without it, because it's not something I can skip.

Yes I hear you there too; I think I notice now my privilege because I'm in a place where I can afford to be sitting on the computer and have coffee for breakfast and that wasn't something I was able to do. I managed to find some money and donated to OzHarvest who help people out- every 1$ is 2 meals which is pretty wholesome.

With the drinks too- I think these can really add up, so making our own juice or smoothies, or using a soda stream or getting a water filter can save a lot of money in the long run. Sometimes it really is the little things. I tend to be quite meticulous with both leftovers and waste now as well - whether that's reusing food in someway or repurposing things - plus it helps with my eco footprint as well.

rt