personal finance

Chicken Tomato Risotto
(Risotto Rice, Stock, White Wine, Tomatoes, Onion, Mushroom, Brocolli & Peas)
Pumpkin & Coriander Fritters
(S/R Flour, Milk, Egg, Zucchini, Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, Coriander & Plain Yoghurt to dip)
Spinach & Ricotta Canneloni
(Canneloni Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Ricotta, Pumpkin, Garlic, Cheese)
Homemade Beef Burgers
(Mince, Egg, Onion, Lettuce, Pineapple, Beettroot, Tomato, Cucumber)
Roast Chicken & Veges
(Chicken, Sweet Potato, Potato, Pumpkin, Zucchini & Brocoli)
Soy Ginger Fish, Cous Cous & Stirfry
(Soy Sauce, Rice Flour, Ginger, broccoli, capsicum, onion, bok choi, zucchini, carrot)

Out of all that, I only need to buy:

Markets: Brocolli, Zucchini, Pumpkin, Capsicum, Carrots, spinach, Ginger, fish and fruit.

Supermarket: Olive Oil, Yoghurt, Ricotta, Canneloni and Self Raising flour.

I only have plain flour at home. Do you think I would be able to make fritters with plain flour and a little baking soda? I have never made fritters before.

Oh and of course, if any of the meals do not have veges with them, it will come with salad! I am a big fan of salad and veges with EVERY meal when i have kids, they will probably hate me...

BF and I were watching A Current Affair the other day and they had a feature on the 'Top 5' money saving tips. Of course, we watched it. I laughed at the tips:

-Sell things you don't need.
-Get a second job.
-Put your money in an interest earning account.
-Get an investment property.
-Ask for a payrise.


I regularly sell things on auction sites, and we plan to have a garage sale. BF makes furniture from scratch. I have two jobs, and a new third income source. I have had ING accounts for three years and a Bankwest Account (which they revealed as the Top Interest Earning Account @ 8.25%) for two and a half years. I also set up a Bankwest Account and automatic payment for BF. Our ultimate goal is to own investment properties, and we will probably start with our foot in the door by buying a unit which we will then use to buy another home. BF just got a payrise to nearly $30 an hour, and I too will be getting one in a few months.

They say these are the top 5 money savings tips, but I bet any money that most people on this site have already applied atleast one or two of these tips (and probably all) to their daily lives, and long ago. So my question is, how can I save money? I am always disappointed by saving tips, because most of them I already know and/or realise and apply them to my life.

-I don't drink often (once every six months on average - yes I said not often!)
-I don't smoke.
-I have curbed my magazine addiction quite significantly, and my book buying has decreased (to zilch) since I joined the library).
-I have also curbed takeaway and dining out to a maximum of one meal a week out.
-I stopped buying so many takeaway beverages - I wait til I get home for a coffee now, and make my own juice.
-I don't wear expensive brand clothes.
-I don't drive a gas guzzler - it's a 1998 4-cyl nissan pulsar.
-I don't go out regularly at all - maybe once a month.
-We always go for the cheaper option of everything when we do go out - the 'cheap movie' of the week, coupons for bowling, discount cards for most things, etc.
-I have the lowest possible mobile bill and the lowest possible internet bill.
-I pay extra on my loan, and am attempting to pay it off in half the loan term.
-The only splurges I have seem to be music festival weekends or bands, however I save for these events in advance. See below:
-My recreational use of drugs is quite limited, planned and saved for (yes, it's probably the oddest thing you've heard - and no, I don't need a lecture, how many of you have a glass of wine after work? i won't lecture you about that, even though I rarely drink and have my own opinions about it)
-I don't give a lot of gifts to people.
-I don't pay for others.
-I don't have a gym membership.
-I get a lot of music for free because my dad has an awesome job
-One expense I seem to have is purcahses of dvd's and movies, but even then it is not overboard.

On my budget analysis, the sections that I overspend on are my personal allowance/fun money, however in the past few months it has decreased significantly. Looking closely at it, there are no amounts that stand out either. I may spend $50 on clothes one week, but then nothing on clothes for a couple of months after that. I think my main problem is those 'stupid purchases' for which I've come up with a plan to stop, anyway. (see the stupid vault). So is this the only option I have to save money? Obviously the one thing I am doing to EARN more money is to study at university so I can get a higher earning job, but that still doesn't help with the 'saving of money'.

Well today I completely cleared the balance of CC1, so I won't have to worry about that for awhile. I paid some off CC2 (anz) and have $121.20 to go. Once that is cleared I will be making sure that everything I charge to that card is paid pretty much straight away (I use it for the rewards scheme, but it has a 20% interest rate). CC1 (Virgin) has a lower rate of 14% and is my favourite card (I know it's terrible to have a favourite credit card - but I do!). It is mainly the excellent customer service I get from the company and the flexibility they have, and basically how everything always goes so smoothly - there are never any hickups. Does anyone else have a 'favourite' CC?

Well today I spent $4 on a coffee with a friend, $3.25 on a recipe magazine, and $4 on Vitamin E Cream (it is what I use as moisturiser - best I've ever used). I also went to the library and picked up four books, so they should keep me busy for awhile.

Unfortunately for my savings (or debt) I don't regard any of those purchases as stupid enough for the Stupid Vault (see previous entry if you have no idea what I'm talking about). My reasoning is that a magazine I would normally buy (but have not been lately) is around $8, and my buying a recipe magazine is a closer step toward saving as it advocates cooking for yourself, and is more than half the price of a regular fashion magazine. The coffee, while sort of avoidable, is a small price to pay for catching up with a friend (ok, we might work together... but still).

I am adding the savings of buying the recipe magazine instead of the fashion magazine to my $20 challenge ($4.70 saving), as well as 50c for drinking 1.5L of water today. That brings my total up to $28.20

I was naughty and bought a muffin for morning tea. That will teach me for not putting something healthy in my bag this morning! $3.80 - gone!

I have decided to copy Amber (www.veronak.savingadvice.com) and add the same amount to my debt (only it will be my personal loan, not my credit card debt).

From now on, any stupid purchases (yes, I said stupid) will be added to my Personal Loan. I'm going to try and keep a running tally, like the $20 Challenge, only I will call it the Stupid Vault.
Any pro-activ choices, purchases etc will be added to the Challenge money.

It makes more sense really:

Challenge Money = Savings = Good
Stupid-ness = Debt = Bad

Challenge Balance: $23.00
Stupid Vault: $3.80

Now only if the rest of our lives where that simple to work out, eh?!

I am trying to really get on top of my credit card usage. While I've never actually not paid the whole balance by the due date, it's usually a rude shock to see my CC balance at the end of the month and I find myself scrambling around to pay it. So I have been trying to transfer the money onto it from my main bank as soon as I charge something to it (like a visa debit card i guess). While some people will say this is silly as I'm missing out on interest accruing, it's a small price to pay for peace of mind, and the main reason I use the CC is for the reward scheme.
So today I charged a 2gb USB Flashdrive stick for $14.95 and an Invoice & Statement Book ($5.29) for my contract-cleaning job. Yesterday I charged the petrol ($23.17) and milk ($2.39) expense to my CC, and last week I paid for the electricity bill ($277.07 shared by 3).
I transfered $230 to the CC today, and will transfer another $93 when my BF transfers his portion of the electricity bill to my account.

Whew! It's hard being organised sometimes, but worth it all the same.

Does anyone else do this, or am I just insane?

Yesterday I only spent money on petrol ($23) and milk ($2.39L) so I am adding 50c to my challenge money as I see it as a partial NSD - as in I only spent money on neccesities.

A friend of mine took me and my little brother and sister to a resort near our house where her friend works, and we snuck in and had a go on the resort lagoon's catamarans (we actually got stuck in the middle of the lagoon as there was no wind and then the friend had to come out in her boat and push us back in), fed some fish, and then jumped on this giant trampoline in the middle of the lagoon. It was heaps of fun, and FREE!

Last week I did some cleaning work and am charging out at $36.60 per hour. I did 6 hours of work so that means I earnt $219.60 for the day. Doing the cleaning work means I missed out on a day of my office work, where I earn around $105 per day less tax. So in the end I earnt extra:

cleaning: $219.60 less GST of $19.96 = $199.64 for the day
officework: $105 less payg tax $17.00 = $88 for the day

199.64 less 88 = $111.64 extra earnt.

In normal circumstances I would endeavour to put all of the extra earnings into my new challenge money, but as I still have an outstanding amount on my CC for my dentist visit I will be putting all the money on that.


EDIT NOTE: I redid some calculations and will actually be charging $40 per hour, so it is an extra $130.19, not $111.64

EVEN BETTER!!!!

We went to the market on Sunday and BF and I spent $35 on veges for our week. ($17.50 each). Then so far at the supermarket my portion of spending has been $16.55.
Our estimated extra expenses will be lamb, coconut milk, rice noodles, rice wraps, 2 x chicken breast.

so that should cost under $20 for the lot ($10 each). and that brings my total grocery expenses in at $44.05, which is nearly $6 under budget. yay!

meal plan:

tuesday: steamed veges and rice
(carrot, zucchini, capsicum, sweet potato, brocolli)
wednesday: lamb korma (lamb, brocolli, pumpkin, potato, capsicum & zucchini)
thursday: roast chicken & vegetables
(pumpkin, sweet potato, green beans)
friday: fresh spring rolls (non-fried)
(grated carrot, capsicum, lettuce, cucumber with a freshly made thai coriander dressing)
saturday: spaghetti bolognese
(already prepared in freezer from previous week)

well, today I am starting my $20 challenge officially.

i am having a virtual NSD - i have to buy milk, but that will be the only thing. because it is not an ACTUAL NSD i am only adding 50c.
i am going to walk to the shop to get it instead of driving, so i am adding $1 for that.

i am also adding a health and fitness part to the challenge. i am adding 50c for my morning walk and 50c for drinking over 1.5 litres of water today.

so that brings my challenge money to $22.50


this is fun!

but not for the same reasons as everyone else.

sure, i love a day off, and it is usually guaranteed if there's a public holiday (i am too expensive for my boss to hire on a public holiday, i think i earn about $42 an hour).

i love that i either get a day off, or earn a wad of extra cash, and i love that neither one is better or worse than the other.
i love that on public holidays, there are a lot of shops closed. if there are any open, a lot of the time you can't be certain that it's the one you want, so you can't be bothered going out at all.
i love that the only places usually open are movie theatres and bowling alleys etc.
i love this for the reason that those places are usually so expensive that you won't even consider going, and then you mentally add the 15% surcharge on that.
i love that you can then fondly think of all those people that have decided to go and cram themselves in a cinema seat like sardines in a tin, and then realise how nice your house/apartment/shack really is.
i love that occasionally some friends will have the day off too, and you can have a barbecue in a park, or at home.
i love that if you don't want to do anything, you don't have to.
i love that you can get up early or late.
i love that if you get up early, the day seems to go forever, and you can get so much done if you need to.

I have decided to start my own $20 Challenge.
This is mainly because I have started my new blog and I wanted to do something different.
I also think it will be a good constant reminder and motivator to save.

I want to lay out some ground rules, but will probably make some up along the way as well.

- The money will start with the initial $20 deposited automatically into my House Deposit/Uni Fund.
- Additional monies will be added on a daily basis to my bills account, and then transfered to the main Challenge savings account either fortnightly or monthly.
- I will attempt to keep this blog updated of the daily challenge amounts.
- As for the amounts for each 'thing' i do to save money, I think $1 is a good starting amount and will keep things simple.
- However, if I do something that is only a very small money saving action, I will add 50c to the challenge.
- On the same note, if I earn extra money or make a large change in my spending habits, I will add either the whole amount saved/earnt, or $5 (depending on the scale).

I figured I will not miss $1 here or $1 there. I may also employ the 'rounding up' method, as it is basically the way I saved for my first car.

Anyway, wish me luck in my $20 challenge journey.

Short Term:
- Track my loan payment progress in $250 goal increments
- Track all expenditure and endeavour to stick to or under my budget.
- Get my car serviced.
- Completely pay off all cc balances.
- Start my $20 challenge
- Start transfering money to my cc as soon as I make the purchase, so I don't get a nasty shock at the end of the month.
- Eat less meat and make my boyfriend enjoy meatless meals more.
- Start cooking healthy meals and then freezing them in bulk lots.
- Exercise 6 days a week.
- Make an appointment with my parents' naturopath/homeopath

Long Term:
- Completely pay off my loan.
- Reach my target amount for my Emergency Fund ($1200).
- Maintain a gifts/holidays account where money is drawn out of for days off & gifts purchased for others.
- Save a lump sum for university (current goal: $10 000) by January 2010.

last edited: 8th June 2008

Weekly Income:
Job1: $175.00
Job2: $315.50
Other: $30.00

Weekly Expenses:
Rent: $130.00 per week
Groceries: $50.00 per week
Loan: $37.00 per week
Petrol: $25.00 per week
Bills: $60.00 saved per week
(Phone & Internet: $7 (approx $30 per month)
RACQ: $1.20 ($62 per year)
Car Insurance: $7.60 ($395 per year)
Car Registration: $11.10 ($577 per year)
Car Repairs: $20.00
Electricity: $7.00 (approx $90 per quarter)
Total: $53.90)
Skincare: $8.15
Mobile Phone: $3.75 ($15 per month)
Bank Fees: $2 per week
Fun: $55.00


Savings:
EF: $20 per week
House Deposit/Uni Fund: $20 per week
Holiday/Gifts Fund: $70 per week

Total IN: $520.50
Total OUT: $370.90
Total Saved: $90
Left Over: approx $60

I have been blogging on this site for quite some time under another name, but decided I needed a change.

Over the next couple of days I will be updating everything. Thankyou for your patience.

gg