Wednesday, August 20, 2008 Money Posted in Living on One Income Sadly finance companies are falling over here in New Zealand. Many mum & dad investors have lost all of their savings. Savings they have budgeted for all their life so they would have money in their retirement. Gone - all gone. Some have been lucky (if you can call it lucky) and the funds have been frozen - for some having the money frozen for 3 - 5 years is no good to them as it's now in their retirement years that they need their savings. Financial planners are happy to give free assessment & advise of your financial picture. Note they are paid on commission for the funds they get secured for companies that they have formed a relationship with. I do not advise free advise - yes take it - but ask many questions. And remember it is their job to secure your money into eg finance companies or shares so that they will get paid. Paying for advise can also mean the same thing - but usually they are not - (not always) relying on commission from sales. In my opinion & it is only a novice opinion but also one that Brent's father drilled into me - keep your money in the bank, it may be less interest but usually safer. For families who are not in retirement years yet - are you planning for retirement?  - Ar you paying yourself first ? - Get out of debt - for some this may mean getting rid of your credit cards & using cash.  - live below your means - have a budget! -  track your spending - this is what we have done now for 4 years & very powerful. I can tell you every cent we have spent. It sure stops the leaking of money. - teach your children how to budget - eg we give our kids a clothing allowance & pocket money I've written about how we live well on one income before in category - living on one income - There are a few  hard times for a few more years coming - especially with the rise of food & petrol. Taking control of your spending gives you power & control! • Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Saturday, August 9, 2008 Taking up Jeans Posted in Living on One Income I've never ever taken up jeans. Tailor's have done them for me as I like the professional finish. But with frugal living & the kids getting their own budget for clothes. Abbey insisted she was not paying the $20.00 fee to take up jeans at the tailors. I sure wasn't going to pay it. So finally after the poor girl waiting months for me to do it. I did it yesterday! My cutting is a bit wonky - but not too bad. I learnt to use a special jean needle for Bessie the Bernina - I'm not sure why - but the needle did make sewing through the jean easier. I used a thread as close to the pros do And the result not bad - looks a tad wonky in photo but who's gonna see? And Jennifer - nope I don't want to take up jeans - I'd have to say not one of my favourite things to do. I was a tad annal about it all, pinned, cut then tacked. Abs tried on the jeans & then finally I sewed. • Comments (3) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Tuesday, July 29, 2008 Washing Line Posted in Living on One Income Monday - we had sun - oooh sooo nice to see. I hung my washing on the line outside - sadly didn't get it all dry as no wind & our pines need topping badly to get the afternoon sun. In it comes to be rehung over clothes horse by the fire. I must admit with all this rain we have had washing is piling up every where. I normally can keep on top of it drying by fire & hanging towels in woodshed. It's not often I want a drier but over the weekend I did - not to fully dry the clothes but to take the last bit of dampness out of them. My mum said I can have theirs as they don't use it, plus I've scored their compost bin. Yippie that will give me 3. So I just have to drive up to get my new - old treasures. I sure do appreciate them. I saw an article on Tv that in USA some states you are not allowed to hang washing on the line. Unbelievable. Here in NZ most families do hang washing out. I actually enjoy hanging out the washing. I should of taken a photo of how I hang my washing in winter. I miss every second line this helps get the air through & drying happens quicker. Smalls are hung in centre & towels, jeans & sheets on the outside. Tee shirts hung neatly from hem folded once over the line. Shirts by shirt tails Singlets by the shoulders socks by the toes Jeans by waist band (otherwise you have to iron out the peg marks on legs) & always on outside of line Towels edge folded over line & two pegs - never swung joined like I do for tea towels. This helps keep the towels in shape. Sheets I use two lines per sheet & 6 pegs - so the wind can get in between the sheet to dry. I think there is an art to hanging washing to keep the clothes in shape & to be dried quickly. Nothing smells nicer than sun & air dried clothes. And the price is right too not using a drier. • Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Sunday, July 20, 2008 Credit Posted in Living on One Income Brent had a credit telemarketer ring him at work, finance companies make money by lending. "Would you like a free quote for debt consolidation?" Brent - "We don't have any debt" "Would you like some credit for a new car?" Brent - "I think we have enough cars - there are 7 in the backyard" "What sort of cars are they?" Brent  "Mainly yank tanks" "What about an overseas holiday?" Brent "Mate we run on cash, so we are right" This telemarketer sure tried hard giggle. It sure is nice to look at Brent's answers and make living frugal on one income just sooo worth it! We are back to saving hard & watching the pennies as we do, bank account has taken a bashing buying new computer & guitar amp the spend up made the balance drop. But soo worth saving & paying cash - a good feeling! • Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Wednesday, July 2, 2008 What is Money Posted in Living on One Income "Almanzo, do you know what this is?' "Half a dollar", Almanzo answered. "Yes. But do you know what half a dollar is?" "It's work, son "father said. "That's what money is; it's hard work" From Farmer Boy - chapter - Independence Day - by Laura Ingalls Wilder. James & I are working through Progeny Press Farmer Boy - and what an awesome lesson Laura tells in her writing. Brent & I give our children pocket money each week - plus a clothing budget, plus they can earn a certain amount for helping with cattery. Yes they work for their pocket money & cattery money. Nor do not hand out any extra cash - it all must come out of their money. Our old fashioned ideal that money is hard work - isn't often seen - many of the Y generation have had endless access to money, have the latest gizmo & gadget. I got soo excited reading the chapter out loud & seeing how Almanzo's father dealt with the money & then Almanzo's choice not to just waste his money on lemonade - but to save it & buy a pig he can fatten and then raise piglets to sell. - Yes hard work but look at the rewards. • Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Saturday, May 31, 2008 Second Chance Posted in Living on One Income I left home at 16 years old - Leaving home so young I had no formal qualifications only school cert. but I worked hard & always did more than was expected of me in a job - learning as much as I could of all positions. Age 22 I got my first position as a supervisor & then manager of two bank branches before I left 15 years ago to have Abbey. I was going to go back to work - but life had other plans. Having work experience under my belt that will be 20 years old before I re enter the work force will mean very little. So I am preparing myself for the time when I will re enter the work force. - Who knows what that will be in another 5 years. But now as the kids are getting older & more self directed in their learning & time I've picked up more study. I have been accepted into a course & also to have my fees paid for YIPPIEEEE a saving of over $5,000.00 (very lucky girl indeed!). I think I also got in at the level 6 due to my background in banking. I'm doing it via distance learning & all work is submitted by email. Diploma in Business Course starts next Friday and I am doing it part time - budgeting 9 hours study a week. This is MUCH better then the course I did over Christmas which was full time 6 hours a day - that was hard to achieve juggling home & Christmas but I did it & proved to myself I could. I've also applied for a Second Chance Education & Training Award through New Horizons for Women Trust. Women needs to be over 27 years of age & not achieved a NZ qualification up to level NZQA 4 - and are studying for A NZQA approved qualification. This was an interesting experience applying - I got a wonderful glowing reference from James' speld tutor. So I kissed the envelope goodbye & posted it - now I wait to see if I will be one of the lucky ones. Fingers Crossed. • Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Friday, May 23, 2008 NZ Budget Posted in Living on One Income Yesterday brought NZ Budget. Tax cuts will only compensate many households for the general rise in food & petrol (now $2.00 litre). Many people have moved into higher tax brackets over the last 8 years eg in 2000 when Labour increased the top marginal tax rate to 39% (up from 33%) for income bracket over 60K there were approx 5% of taxpayers in this top bracket. Currently there are approx 15%. Labour are bringing in staggering tax cuts over the next 3 years - this has left the door wide open for National (opposition) to give substantial early tax cuts as their main carrot leading up to the election. Current 15% 21% 33% 39%   up to $9,500 $38,000 $60,000 over $60,000 NEW 12.5% 21% 33% 39% from  Oct 2008 $14,000 $40,000 $70,000 over $70,000 From April 2010 $17,500 $40,000 $75,000 over $75,000 From April 2011 $20,000 $42,000 $80,000 over $80,000 So it will we be one and a half years away before a decent tax cut applies to most New Zealander's under the Labour Government • Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Tuesday, May 13, 2008 BRIQUETTE MAKER Posted in Living on One Income I have been wanting a Briquette Maker  for a while, had them on my Trade Me Wish list - ie every time one comes on sale in Trade Me I would know about it. I bidded on one last week - it sold for $70.00. This morning I WON one for $15.00. YIPPIEEEEEEEEEE YIPPIEEEEEEEEEE Now I just need to get it in my hot little hands, - wait for a fine day (like today) and I get to play with newspaper & water to make paper bricks for the fire. I really doubt this will ever feel like a chore. We have a friend who uses his concrete mixer to mix the water & newspaper & then dries the bricks in their very own hot houses all the old cars on his property - I doubt Brent will let me dry them in his treasures in our back yard. HAHAHA ANd what a BARGAIN $15.00 We get heaps of newspaper as people give it to me for the kittens. - the bricks are meant to burn for about 1 hour & give off a good heat. - Cheap heating aye • Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Tightening the belt. Posted in Living on One Income Over her in NZ all papers & tv, radio are talking about how everyone is feeling the pinch. If you have kids - and need to tighten the purse strings - get them involved! One of the BEST things we ever did (3 years ago when we got off the bus to live well below our means) was to give the kids a clothing budget, pocket money,  a cash book & two bank accounts each. We set each kid up with a cash book. We opened up two account each - an every day account & a savings account Weekly I transfer their money to their account Each week they have to track their income & spending. To begin with I helped run their cash book & their bank accounts - DD now does hers on Microsoft Money to track her spending - DS I still do with him in a cash book form Clothing Budget Our kids were still growing and still are - our dd 14 gets $25.00 pw - lets face it girls need more clothes - ds 11 gets $17.00 pw  & he does real fine on this. (NB I am not a second hand clothes shopper - for me I would rather have less clothes than lots. We do not have annual holidays - for other people they would rather have an annual holiday so clothing budget is something not so important to them - what ever works for you.) We have a few guidelines. The money is for clothes - it must cloth them in all aspects - eg shoes, underwear, coats. It doesn't cover accessories eg trendy hats, sun glasses, earrings only clothes. If they don't spend all of the money - it can not be spent on other things - it is clothes only - if there is too much excess left over it shows clothing budget too high - They must be tidy to go to shops so need going out in clothes They must have matching socks & if caught outside in socks then new socks come out of their pocket money not clothing budget They need to buy their own farm clothes - eg gumboots I tell you the amount of fights over who is wearing whos gumboots drove me nuts hence rule LOL- usually they wear their old clothes around the home The clothes must be suitable - But I have to admit I let ds buy some rather questionable Tee shirts this month Brent wasn't impressed - I think I need glasses as I didn't notice er umm all of the things on tee shirt. So these two tee shirts are banned to wear to certain places ( Oh my ). Pocket Money Our kids get $1.00 per age eg $14.00 dd & $11.00 ds from this they MUST bank 20% - they have learnt the PAY YOURSELF FIRST RULE. _ Very powerful! And they do this with any other income they get - be it birthday money, money I pay them for helping raise a litter of kittens - or baby sitting money. Then their pocket money is for them to use however they wish. If they want sweets, video, movies, xbox games. Cell phones they must have money on their phone at all times - our kids both do not do $10.00 per month texting they have seen the waste of money it is to send one text saying "HI". I feel strongly that pocket money has to be a reasonable amount for it to work - and you have to let them make their own mistakes - much better they learn now before they leave home & get into student debt or shudder credit card debt. Giving a reasonable amount of pocket money - it then stops them asking you for more money. They learn early in life - money doesn't come from the credit card or money machine So if your family is beginning to tighten your belts - I really recommend clothing budget & pocket money for the kids. It stops the kids asking for soo many things - hence it takes the stress off the parents to PLEASE the kids. The kids learn that is the budget & once gone - it is gone. PLUS you are teaching them very powerful tools for when they grow up & start earning money. • Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Sunday, April 20, 2008 Cost of Living in NZ Posted in Living on One Income I've found a very interesting calculator - the cost of living in NZ. For a frugal family. Using $350.00 rent per week. $60.00pw for petrol & car maintance - I think their price is too cheap $30.00 for Christmas - $1560 pa should cover birthdays too?? $10.00 pw for cell phone no holiday, smoke, childcare, pension plan or medical insurance. I have worked it out on a bare bones budget - as per their suggestion. The calculator say the min needed is $838.oo per week to live in NZ with a family of mum & dad & two school aged kids. Hence you will need a minimum income of $57,399.80 to bring cash of $838.00 pw into the home But wait Aunt Helen will give you a working for families tax credit. Here is that calculator on a family with a child aged 0-12 & another child aged 13 - 15 you would receive $112.oo tax credit per week. Bringing your cash in hand pay to  $838.00 +$112.00 ------------- $950.00 pw. You can get more depending on age of kids & how many PLUS You can get an accommodation allowance I quickly worked out a senario using this calculator & it was another $41.00 PW $991.00 total cash coming in weekly to home. Which brings your income up to $70,139.20 PA. MMM Food for thought! PLUS your child would be entitiled to student allowance as it depends of parents income  $71,280.88  before tax if you live in a parental home to study  $77,663.36  before tax if you live away from a parental home to study NZ average incomes are for men $51,012 & women $40,508. Using the above calculators is interesting to see what these incomes actually come up to with the benefits you can get in NZ. My question is where is NZ government getting all this to pay out - PLUS super, sickness & sole parents. And isn't it brilliant for mums who wish to stay at home that they can play with these calculators & with some frugal shopping & careful money management they possibly could make the choice to stay at home. • Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Friday, January 25, 2008 Clothing Budget Posted in Living on One Income Each week we give our kids a clothing budget - weekly because weekly they do their cash book - hence teaching the habit - when older I see them going to monthly. But a month is a long time for kids & we want them to get in the habit of tracking their money weekly. How we came to an amount was I looked at their wardrobe & worked out what they needed - as they were growing like bean poles I knew they would need everything sigh! So I worked out roughly how many clothes they would need & approx cost. DD got $25.00 pw & ds $20.00pw. as lets face it girls need more clothes full stop. The money given has to a fair amount for it to work. I believe it has saved us a lot of money by giving the kids their clothing budget. The kids were told that there would be no more money they had to manage with this to buy all their clothes,including shoes, coats & underwear. A few ground rules - they have to be dressed suitable to go out ie matching socks, neat good clothes - around home they could look like what they wanted. And we all do, we all wear old clothes - even me I have favourite jumpers that have huge holes in - but wonderful for the garden. We always change to go to shops & again when we get home. The money can only be spent on clothing - hats, glasses are accessories and that would come out of their spending money not clothing budget. If they don't spend it all it just sits there - they will need it for shoes or coats later. To begin with I helped them make wise choices and as the years have gone I have let them make their own as a mum it can be real hard to say nothing. DS would spend all his money on our door farm clothes - dd like labels. It has meant both kids can have what they really want. They have learned about sales and felt the pain of just buying a label to see it go on sale the following week. It really has been one of the best things we have ever done. • Comments (3) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Thursday, January 24, 2008 Pocket Money Posted in Living on One Income For school I am designing our kids an accounting package. I will share on blog over the time what I come up with. POCKET MONEY We have always given our kids pocket money. _ there is no strings attached there is no removal of it if chores are not done - nor is it withdrawn for miss behaving- instead we correct attitudes to develop their character - pocket money is a tool to teach the kids about money. And yes our kids do chores - another post one day I read somewhere $1.00 per age per week. hence this is what we have done for many years. We start each of them off with a cashbook - Each column is ruled like so Date   Details  (ie write done to whom or where from money comes & goes) Bank      amount of money going into or out of account Then the amount is split into following categories Saving giving clothes Spending gifts Saving Our kids have two accounts a day to day account and a saving account - the saving account is high interest & an E Account - this means can only be accessed by internet. On line banking is  very popular so we are teaching them about this. Pay your self first We are real pleased that we taught this - it did take a while for the kids to grasp this concept but very powerful that they have. One we hope will keep happening when they are adults & having to support their own family Minimum is 10% 100% of the time for all income Giving Each family & person will have different opinions on this - OURS is look after your own family  first - as Mother Teressa said oh I wish I could google on down & find the quote but it was along the lines if everyone first looked after their own families....With this in mind and you are a struggling student financial giving may not be your place - but might give in other ways helping others using with your time etc. But as Steve Demme's father in law says - if you don't give when you have $2.00, your wont give when you have $200.00. I don't believe in telling people what to do on this blog - more this is what we do & what goes around sure comes around! Clothing I will do another post about this one it Our kids get a weekly clothing allowance. Spending Ahh this is where the power come in - some friends have told me $1.00 per age is too much money for their budget - but this is where the savings on our family budget happens. The kids have to pay for their outings. They get no more money from us. We are teaching them budgeting - and that money has to come from somewhere. So if kids want to go to movies with friends they have the money in their spending, if they want to hire a xbox game they have the money. It really has saved our budget & at the same time taught the kids the real deal of money. They have also had the satisfaction of saving it & buying something themselves. Gifts The kids work out what their budget allows them to spend a year on gifts for the family - this has been hard for one of the kids whose love language is gift giving, it was really hard to spend only what was budgeted - another wonderful lesson • Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Tuesday, January 8, 2008 Frugal Friday: Financial Shape in 2008 Challenge Posted in Living on One Income Crystal at Biblical Womanhood has a budget challenge. Yes we do budget & every penny is accounted for. We sadly live in a two income world. Brent & I have made the choice for me to be a kept woman & homeschool our kids. For the last 3 years we have tracked all spending in Microsoft Money. It has enabled us to pay cash for a new car (well new for us - we would never buy a brand new spanking car - you loose just too much money as soon as you drive it off the lot - much better to wait & buy a car off someone who wants to go back & buy a 2008 model - buy their old one!) We also brought a brand new bed (yes brand new - sob in me), a dishwasher, & microwave plus a cattery shed & concrete pads. We have been married for over 21 years so our appliances are starting to need replacing next on the need to buy list is new fridge, computer, lounge suite & new cattery sheds. Having a budget enables you the freedom to do what you really want to do. I have blogged before on how we live on one income and you can read these posts here Living on one income. I'll admit at times being on a budget is not fun & one has to check ones attitude - especially when others around you are spending up large & we plod on on a budget - the emerald green monster does appear. But we need to stop & check our attitude - what are our goals (for us it's to be mortgage free & retire early) • Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Wednesday, January 2, 2008 Check your receipts. Posted in Living on One Income By chance Brent checked our petrol receipt - I had a 20c per litre saving so we filled up the truck & the jerry can. However I was only given a 15c rebate. When I rang packnsave they said there was an error. Today I took my coupon in & got my $4.00 (well thats a few tins of jelly meat) - I got no apology or nothing - so I asked how often this happens & was told quite often they have a glitch in their system & they advised me to check my dockets - all the staff began chatting away saying they now all check their & it has happened to them & their families.... Interesting I thought!!! Any way I got me 4 bucks back. • Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Saturday, December 8, 2007 Consolidate Debt Posted in Living on One Income I was chatting to a friend re them getting off the consumer bus. The first advise I gave was to get real. Record a fact sheet of how much debt they have. Record available credit limit, actual debt & interest rate. Then to do the Dave Ramsey snowball method of paying off the smallest debt first & just pay the minimum of other cards. I think Dave Ramsay has some really good advise & if you take the time there is lots of information on his web site you can access free without paying to learn. Brent & I were really motivated by Dave's saying - live today like no one else so you can live tomorrow like no one else. (not a direct quote) We enjoyed this one when we decided to get off the consumer bus. Thankfully we had no debt except mortgage so we are a head start with hitting the mortgage. We really want to be mortgage free & Brent retire early - not that he will really retire as Brent is a worker - but retire & do odd jobs he feels like doing. I am not a big fan on consolidating debt. Because it is too easy to get the pressure off reality of the situation you are in. Old habits take time to change - it is too easy to consolidate debt and then get back to your normal comfort level - which has been living beyond your means - well you have if you have debt. I just read on Dave Ramsey's website the same advise & he words it much better than me - I'm not a writer - I'm a waffler & blog for a hobby here is what Dave Says However there are times when consolidating debt is a smart move - if a company offers you a cheaper interest rate. Eg Brent was offered 2.99% for 5 months if you transfered over your credit card balances BUT you need to keep living real and stop the habit of spending without a plan. Or you will be no better off. And it will be very few people who can actually do this. Be real are you really one of them? When I was in banking I hit my sales targets in the bank as my focus was to sell mortgages & credit - that is a banks business - sell credit. - I wish I was able to give budget advise - but not part of the job - for me to get noticed in the banking world as a young female it was from my sales target of myself & my staff - selling is something I am very good at. My job was to  sell mortgages & up sell a new credit card since now they had consolidated their other cards from  another bank along with their new mortgage- a just in case card..... & maybe one for the wife - fantastic way to get bonus points on your shopping. A bank sells. It is not in the business to help. We did have a lot tighter application limits back then none of this 100% mortgage on a home with no deposit. I am not a fan of consolidating debt into your home loan - because again the pressure comes off but I don't think it gives people the time to learn new spending habits. And you actually end up paying more as the debt usually has to be redrawn down & if on a table mortgage you pay the interest first before the principal. My best advise is get real face your issues - own up to your spouse. Or if it's your spouse that is over spending really get them to do the budget & finances - it is one way they can face facts. Stop using your store or credit cards. Cut them all up except one for an emergency - give that card to the other partner so you will not be tempted. Or freeze it - I have heard of people who freeze their card in a block of water. An emergency is not needing petrol or food - you need to budget for these or go without. I hope thats helped someone. • Comments (5) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Thursday, December 6, 2007 You need a Budget Posted in Living on One Income My blog has been a fun place for me to record our day - sharing a peek to friends who want to pop in. I've learnt to keep up with computers & kept my brain working in that area with techno stuff - so it's been fun. I have been a bit flattered with emails from people saying I've inspired them wow ! It's quite a thrill to hear someone is going to now begin a vege garden & others they are also getting off the consumer bus. One lady has shared with me their struggle of making ends meet & asked my advise. I don't claim to be perfect in this area but our whole family has made changes over nearly 3 years. I track our money in Microsoft Money - I like it as I can balance our accounts to bank, see where every penny has gone - show a graph of the saving progress we are making. I recently wanted to tighten our belts even more - grocery, gas & pretty much everything has gone up & we want to keep on saving & living below our means. So I googled & found - You Need  A Budget Here is a pretty good review about YNAB The difference with how we have been budgeting is we haven't really been - Microsoft money tracks your money - it tells you where you have spent it. But You Need A Budget plans where you are going to spend your money. I wish one of the programes did both - ie track spending & balance to bank & also Budget ie tell your money what to do. So I have started using YNAB in conjunction with Microsoft Money - a bit of extra work but it's quite fun showing Brent our budget plan for the month. A good think in my books Now if you are thinking of buying YNAB - there is a 60 day money back agreement its about $20.00 USA$ The owner Jessie stands by his product & when I said I was having trouble loading it on my computer he posted me a disk from the states and it was then no problem. I also recommend you start off using the cheat sheet. The hardest thing to get your head around is supplement & Primary income. If you haven't got a buffer of one month salary key all income in as supplement The idea is to be one month ahead of your income (hence your buffer) once yu are there key i income as primary. • Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Saturday, November 24, 2007 Gift of free wood. Posted in Living on One Income If you have been following our blog you will know Brent & I nearly 3 years ago in February decided to get off the bus & become mortgage free in 7 years. It has really become a way of life that usually we enjoy – being honest there is the odd occasion when both of us wanna play like others & have everything. But we are both motivated to live well within our means on one income and save. It is really starting to become who we are – we enjoy living very simply, we enjoy seeing how little we can spend – eg our trip to town this week only cost us the petrol & the Christmas decorations, no stopping for drinks or snacks or purchases not needed. And going to photographer & not getting emotionally involved with looking at our family photos & buying portraits. But then we have days like last week when I impulse purchased at the quilt shop – these days don’t happen very often. So it was much joy last night I was at kitchen sink & Brent pulled up from work in truck, stopped & tooted to show me his free wood he had got. For me this gift of gathering was more to me than getting a bunch of flowers. He said he could get as much as he likes – usually the staff from the company take it in the winter – but not in the summer – so guess who’s getting it in the summer. This year we will have to buy the bulk of our wood in –Brent has sooo many projects that need to be done – cutting down trees is not going to be one of them – it will seem funny not having as much wood to burn as I want – I am waiting till a few weeks before Christmas & then will contact different wood merchants to see what sort of a deal I can get for buying before Christmas using cash. It is awesome that Brent & I are on the same page both wanting the same things & our lifestyle it is also rubbing off on the kids – we really, really want (spice girls singing along there) our kids to have the life long skill of managing money. • Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Tuesday, November 6, 2007 Zero Fees Posted in Living on One Income I have often wondered what do I do when I grow up & the kids have left the nest. I considered doing some study this year via distance learning at a university  - but I was unsure if the new commitment to my already busy life would add undue stress. My first commitment is to home school the kids & see them leave home schooling, into other areas of study, knowing I have done the very best I could for them. I also didn’t want to get any student debt. So I have enrolled in http://www.sit.ac.nz/ for zero fees programme – I have been accepted and begin my course next Monday in Basic Certificate in animal care. I kinda figured I should learn something that will be helpful with the cattery at the same time PLUS see if I can commit to the time for study. Next I think I will do the course on organic gardening as that interests me. As I am up early every morning & probably waste too much time on computer – I am putting those hours to good use & will do my course work then. If nothing more – this should be good to keep the grey matter working! And it's free - a good thing! • Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Monday, November 5, 2007 Frugal Changes we have made Posted in Living on One Income Copy of post I put on old blog last December. – Updates in RED I did a balance sheet yesterday – or state of the nation. I am thrilled with our family’s accounts!!! We have had a tight two years with our goal to be mortgage free in 7 years. We have had a few hiccups – needing a new car & needing a new bed this year. We also really need a new dishwasher (now brought) & fridge – (She is still hanging in there!). We have a bit of spare funds and we have decided to put that money towards fencing the bottom paddock – I will so love to get the sheep & goat fenced in that area – so it’s a toss up new fridge – when I can use old beer fridge for a bit longer – new dishwasher which we can wash dishes by hand or more fences….. I think more fences will win. Abbey & I would dearly love a dairy cow mmmmmm & I would love to raise a few pigs…………… Update – bottom paddock fenced There has been no one contributing factor to our savings, lots of little things & all the family involved. v     Realising we needed to run a cheaper car to work (Brent found this hard) v     No wasteful expenses on things – eg eating out – we have lunch before we go or take a snack pack v     Having good communication talking monthly of our finances v     Tracking every single cent we spend (I use Microsoft Money as that’s what a computer came with) v     Cutting back on leisure activity ie going to stockcars …scrapbooking, quilting..movies …. v     Using cash & eftpos only – I found it too easy to use credit card for things even though we had no credit card debt – it is just too easy to use on things.. v     Converting price of item to how long Brent would have to be at work to pay for it – this is very powerful! v     Making the choice we would rather have Brent at home more than work – We are planning Brent will take 3 weeks unpaid leave in February – not that he will be having a holiday – more a change – he will build next stage of cattery & fix up a few vehicles that he plans to sell. (He has lots of big boy toys bwg) v     Big Boy Toys no 1 – stock car is nearly ready to sell v     The kids on their expense & clothing budget – they get a nice amount each month & they have to live within or more importantly below their means. v     Using the library instead of buying books (I found this hard) I was such a snob & didn’t like reading books others had read. v     Finishing a project before starting a new one eg quilts (I found this hard) Still find this hard v     Stopping monthly movie sky tv channel – not going to the movies but instead paying $7.00 to hire a movie over sky (no late fees this way BWG) MM somehow when kids were sick we signed up again with skymovies – we are now watching these more than hiring them v     Getting library books out for 5 weeks – this has limited the overdue fees I used to get. v     Opening up a bank account just for food & petrol – this has really made me stick to my food budget most weeks – still an area I have to work on! 2007 I will get kids more involved with this account & budgeting for our food. Still an area I need to keep working on! v     Not buying magazines unless we use pocket money we get weekly So as you can see lots of little things tweaking & tightening the purse strings where we can. Yes at times the emerald green monster appears & we all want to spend So 2007 will be our third year of getting off the bus and living differently from others so we can live differently when we are older. I must say I am driving Brent & the family nuts with my grand plans… I have been reading (from library) all of Robert T Kiyosaki books – making everyone play Cashflow 101 living, breathing finances BWG Powerful stuff!!!! And it has been the small changes that are making BIG differences. • Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link Monday, November 5, 2007 Back Up Posted in Living on One Income Sunday was wet – so I spent time backing up my computer files on a USB stick – now I have never used one of these before & I have to rave on & on & on about them – it is just sooo easy to back up. It’s such a good feeling to know I have finally done it! I’m quite bad at backing up & had the niggling feeling that I had all my breeding records of cattery not  backed up. PLUS I worked out in Microsoft Money that I could set up different users – so I am now tracking all cattery expenses – it has it’s own file & budget. I enjoy tracking so this will be an interesting exercise – at just how much my hobby IS costing us. I also opened a Microsoft Money folder for Abbey – she has been promoted from keeping a cashbook to using the computer to track her money. I’ll do a separate blog entry of how we teach our kids money skills. – Something I think is real important to teach your kids as there is much more available credit & debt than in any other generation. Tracking your expenses I really feel is the key to getting your finances under control & saving - and saving we are - we really need a new cattery & I would dearly love a craft room. So I am on a MISSION • Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link