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.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Blue's Clues,

Oh, such a great post - thank you for this. I really like the shopping list pointer; I often shop online and click and collect otherwise I'll be too tempted! It's great how you mention your home loan and utilities - I think this is one we all 'set and forget' even when there's potentially a better deal out there for us.

As for my own contributions to help build up this thread -

- Take advantage of your library. Yes, there's books - but there's also digital magazines, digital books, audiobooks, puzzles and toys! Our local one is also linked in with ancestry.com and lynda (an online learning platform).

- Shop around. Especially with Christmas coming up, it can make all the difference to going to a couple of different places or websites just to see who has the best deal. I even have my one chemist for scripts and another for vitamins/supplements/pain relief because the discount really does add up.

I also have a thousand emails of discount codes from shops. 🙂 Sometimes memberships and email subscriptions can be a pain, but sometimes they can help.

- If you do have health insurance, use it - I recently saw one had a 'health improvement' allocation which means you can buy some hats and sunscreen from Cancer Council and get 100% back. This is one of those sneaky things nobody advertises. Likewise, if you're not using it, have a think about if this is worth your money.

I hope this helps. I'm off to go have a look at my phone provider and see if I'm getting the best deal now.

rt

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Hi RT,

Thanks for stopping by, and for the vote of confidence. I often shop online, too. The beauty of doing that is when you get to the check-out and see the end cost, you can remove things you don't need urgently if it's too much. That's a lot more awkward to do in person! As for "set and forget", I have more than once found my providers advertising the exact same product I have for a lower cost, whilst still charging me the same or more than when I signed up. Not okay with that. I have made it a major part of budgeting to check my plans regularly.

Some great tips there, didn't know that about health insurance, so I have learned something. 🙂 I do the same with chemists, my scripts are way cheaper in one place and my antihistamines better elsewhere. I'll add a couple of things on those subjects:

- With discount coupons and subscriptions, if you are in a period of needing to simply not spend at all and are tempted to buy things you don't need because of it, keep subscriptions in a separate e-mail account to where your main e-mails go, so you can put those things aside when you need to save.

- Plan ahead for Christmas. Things like FlyBuys or Woolies Rewards points can be saved up, rather than using discounts during the year you can cash them in all at once on gifts or Christmas dinner ingredients. Also, don't be sucked in by Christmas hamper deals you see on TV, they are a rip-off. A nice basket from a variety shop filled with treats from the supermarket, bottle shop or local market will cost way less and you can choose exactly what goes in there (whilst also supporting local business).

Your suggestions are great, RT, and reminded me of more of my own bits to share. Thanks. 🙂

Blue.

[ecomama]

Hi Blue, you STARTED it, yay!

Great pointers.. saving on food is a biggie... I'll come back to that later...

Yes, I've actually been able to maintain my relationship with the SAME electricity provider by phoning and mentioning a number of things in the past that got me HUGE discounts lol, at that time they were great and it only cost $15 / week for electricity for a large family back then BUT we were watching every light switch (during Courts and lots of legal fees) ...

It's higher now but read on....

Most definitely PHONE them and tell them what you know others are offering.

I've done this and they've offered me a 20% discount lots of times.

In January this year I got 24 solar panels installed - large roof.
I ordered them last year when the specials were on, then deferred final payments etc with a plan.... lol.... when they came to closing the deal I said I couldn't afford the cash gap after the Govt rebate, so they offered me a 3y interest free loan. The Govt rebate was almost $9 000.
I had to push for 3y.
I had to push for interest free. (I never used to do this like EVER but I'm a changed person after the battles).

Elec co. made me sign up for a 2y plan, which I did.
I allowed them to charge my credit card, so I won't get a late fee, like ever.

omg I cannot believe the difference it's made to my electricity bill!
We were up to $50 / week usage by Jan, using air con almost 24/7 during the fires (asthmatics in the house) and a hot hot Summer.

Then believe it or not, this year I didn't have to pay for ANY electricity for 7 months.
Zero.
Nothing!

Yes I pay the interest free loan but it's down to 2y 2m now, even with paying for that, I paid less out for elec including the cost of the loan for the panels.

Never thought it would be so good tbh, I was doing it majorly for eco reasons lol but so happy it's a financially sound move too!

I'll take it.

Love EM

[quirkywords]

Blues clues

Thanks for your thread.

i think you need to be honest about your spending habits and not be on dial.

for a month I collected all my dockets to get an idea where my money went, This was a wake up call for me.

i find shopping once a week helps and eliminates impulsive food buys.

Thanks

[ecomama]

Absolutely reducing visits to the shops even for food is a big one.

The less you visit, the less you spend, this is a fundamental one.

I also save up all my Flybuys points till just before Christmas, then convert them to dollars and buy our Christmas food with that.

I also use their vouchers they mail out, I NEVER buy what they promote just because they promote it to be on Sale.. or half price or what not.

I ignore sales unless it's what I'd buy anyway.
This week our favourite tea was half price so I bought 2 - bec that's the price of one and that should see us through till Feb lol.

I DO buy things in bulk but that goes with having a big family.
It's so much less nowadays but my strategies go way off into the "alternative world" with this, so I might leave that till later to explain lol!
I did this when I was home schooling and it saved us thousands, we didn't have the money anyway, so it's not like I could bank the savings.
It was ALL about survival really.
When I work less and am older, I'll be getting into the alternative world again alot more.

It's a pretty strong alternative world here anyway and really very interesting, to me anyway!

Hope you all have a great day and this thread has got the creative juices flowing!
Thinking "outside the box" is VERY creative and can be FUN and EXCITING too!

Love EM

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Blue,

That's no worries at all- it's a great thread and very helpful! Especially for those who might be reading and not posting.

Yes that's so true! Can't exactly drop a bunch of things off at the counter haha Plus, a lot of the things that are cheaper brand-wise are usually lurking at the bottom of the shelves, as opposed to being able to sort low-high online.

Thank you for the suggestion about email subscriptions. That's such a good idea! Although I think I'm fairly disciplined when it comes to being tempted by it; it more so comes in handy around birthday times and discounts/free shipping costs when I do have to do an order. Being able to claim free things on my birthday feels worth it. Is a separate email something that you do?

I also appreciate the nudge about planning ahead for Christmas! Every shop I go into now keeps reminding me that it's coming up, but it feels a little overwhelming to think about right now. Do you have a method when it comes to Christmas shopping? As for the hampers, totally agree- I usually do a little calculation in my head about how much it would cost if I did the shop myself and it's pretty significant.

The other thing that I do is calculate my spendings every month. It can be hard to make a budget because unexpected things always pop up, but seeing where my spending goes can help me cut down or think about if I can make things cheaper. I started doing this years ago and it's become a habit now - definitely recommend it for when finances are really hard.

rt

[ecomama]

I love "The Barefoot Investor" (BFI).
Now I transfer x amount to my "Mojo" account which is NOTHING like the author's... his is spending money lol.

Mine's food / petrol / kid's expenses per fortnight. So when it's gone, it's gone... then time to collect my brother's bottles and cans for Return and Earn if we need more food. He usually delivers them when he's got a stack! lol.

I also have the monthly phone bill deducted from this account. The day before, I transfer it across to the cent.

If there IS excess money in my "Mojo" then I transfer less across the next fortnight for food / petrol / kids.
Occasionally there is. So any money I save, I literally save back in my offset.

BFI doesn't like "savings" in an offset account against one's mortgage, he suggests another account. He has accounts galore.

I DO leave my savings in an offset account against my mortgage and I know for sure it's saved me thousands in interest. It's FAR more interest saved than I could get investing it. Then it's on hand when emergencies arise like needing a plumber etc.

He also has pretty amazing advice about investing and Superannuation.

EMxxxx

[Elizabeth CP]

I think having a budget is essential but the way we think of budgeting is important. If we focus on the negatives of going without it makes you feel worse. For me a budget is about priority and getting what I really want or need. This changes my thinking so it feels worthwhile going without because I'm getting something better. When we were first married we bought a tiny house with no heating an outside loo & a really bad tiny oven all set on a steep block. Although the house was cheap our finances were so tight I would have to save to buy a wooden spoon. We had no spare money because we needed to save for a proper toilet. oven & heater. Rather than the strict budget being negative we focused on what we were achieving. Going out for a meal was a picnic at a park. We'd invite friends around to play board games or just talk also free but fun.

Even when we could afford to go out to eat we often chose to go to a favourite park and have a picnic tea overlooking a lake with the smell of roses behind us.

My point is to think about what you really like & then find ways to get this within your budget. If you like flowers can you pick them from your garden. Can you get cuttings from a friend instead of buying plants. If you have some spare money use it for things you really want not what others want.

[ecomama]

I like your perspective on it all Elizabeth CP, it's more positive than thinking of it being restrictive.

When I had lots of little children at home, we had free Family Traditions like a picnic on the loungeroom floor lol.
For some reason there was a lot more laughter there than sitting at the table.

Also a Christmas idea I love doing for the kids (of ANY age) is making up a set of coupons they can "cash in" throughout the year.
This saves ALL the spending happening BEFORE Christmas and spreads it out quite alot.
I mean we're going to spend the money doing some fun stuff in January holidays anyway, this way the kids can get it stuff as presents at the same time.
Some coupon ideas I've used are:
* a movie ticket
* a trip to a take away
* ice skating
* an indoor play centre
* paddle boats
* a trip to the beach
* a trip to the local swimming pool.

and for the older ones:
* a movie ticket lol
* facial
* manicure
* dinner for 2 and I mind the kids.

This also goes REALLY well with the minimalist mindset.
Giving experiences instead of "things".

EMxxxx