We're Doing OK, No Need to Panic

The nightly news preview flashed across the TV screen, and within minutes my inbox and Facebook had started to fill up with doom and gloom.

The Australian stock market had suffered the biggest losses in twelve months. Wall Street was going backwards faster than ever. Fortunes were being lost in the blink of an eye.

And I sat and watched and thought "we're doing OK, no need to panic".

I was grateful on Thursday afternoon that we are debt free. I was grateful that our savings are in Australian banks (not all in one bank, even I'm not that trusting!). I was grateful that the losses felt by stockmarkets around the world didn't have a direct, personal impact on our lifestyle.

I was grateful that we have a very comfortable roof over our heads.

I was grateful that we had food to eat for dinner.

I was grateful for a mother who kept a fully stocked pantry, and taught me to do the same, and to stockpile for times of trouble.

I was grateful for a backyard big enough to handle our veggie garden, and for the seeds and seedlings that will feed us through the summer.

I was grateful that we had learned long ago that there is no such thing as good debt, and that when you have debt, you own nothing; that we worked and scrimped and scraped and saved and went without luxuries (we never, ever went without necessities) to pay down our debt so we would own everything we have.

I was grateful that Wayne would come in from work, relaxed and happy; that we would be able to sleep that night, secure in the knowledge that those huge losses wouldn't hurt us.

But most of all I was grateful that, whatever the storm, we would face it together. And together we would come through it, we would be OK.

How We Live Happily on Our Budget

I'd love to say it is easy and we live on our budget without even thinking about it, but that simply wouldn't be true.

We are human. There are times we want things RIGHT NOW PLEASE that we just don't have the cash saved up for, and I'll admit that I don't like it. Sometimes I suffer from the "I see it, I want it, I deserve it" mindset too.

But our lifestyle is what it is. We live debt free. We have everything we need, and as of today, want. We have worked hard to get to this point in our lives, and we do not ever want to be where we were When Disaster Struck, so we have a few checks before we go crazy with the spending.

Now we don’t stand in the store and tick them off, but they are always asked before we spend money that's not on our spending plan.

1. Is it a want or a need? – Sometimes, in the emotion of the moment, the difference between wants and needs blurs, but they are two very different things.

2. Can I find it used? – There are very few things we buy that are not used.  Underwear, shoes and tyres are the three things I absolutely won't buy used, otherwise as long as the item is in excellent condition and a fair price, used suits us just fine.  If something can't be sourced secondhand, then we do our research and look for the lowest possible price, and aim to never buy anything that isn't on sale (other than the basic grocery items from Aldi that we stock our pantry with).

3. Am I buying this out of habit? – We get so used to shopping that tossing things in the trolley or basket out of habit can really bust that budget. Shop with a list for everything, not just groceries. I have household and garden items on my shopping list, clothing, medicines - everything we need to buy. I'm so focused on getting what's on the list and crossing it off, I very rarely ever add anything to the trolley.

4. Will I be able to use the item for more than one task?  – How many times have you found something in your cupboard and realised you've only used it once or twice, or even worse, not at all? Or you can't remember why you bought it in the first place? Think about every purchase, and ask yourself:
• will you actually use it,
• will you be able to use it more than once,
• can it be used for other purposes,
• do you have the cash to pay for it ,
• will you still be using it in six months?

5. Is it worth going in debt? – Unless you're buying a house, then the answer is always no! When it comes to anything else (including cars!), if you don't have the cash to pay for it, then you can't afford it. Simple.

Working out your budget to fit your income may mean you need to trim a few things, but it's a much nicer lifestyle to trim a few things from the budget and be debt free, than to buy whatever you want and live with the ongoing stress of debt.

And if asking those questions is too daunting for you, remember the $100/24 Hour Rule:

If it's more than $100, wait 24 hours before buying it. Then, if you still need it or really want it, think about how you can afford to get it. Do you have the cash on hand? Will you need to borrow from the budget? Will you have to go into debt to buy it (credit cards, store loans etc.)? Can you raise the money to buy it (overtime, garage sale, use birthday money etc.)?

Most of the time you've changed your mind, realized you don't really even like it or just plain can't be bothered going back to the shop to get it and you've just saved yourself a couple years' worth of debt re-payments!

Happiness Homemade 8th February 2018

Beautiful roses growing in the garden 

We live a much more luxurious and decadent lifestyle than we should on our income and budget -we feel rich, far richer than we are. We do.

One of the things that worried me most when Disaster Struck was that with no income (and we went for years without a regular income, and months at a time without any income at all) was that our lifestyle would change. I didn't want that to happen, I didn't want to not have the things we needed, let alone the things we loved and enjoyed; I didn't want to fee poor and deprived, and so I became a Cheapskate.

I learned to get us the things we needed and wanted within our budget. And I became very conscious of just how much things cost, and how much we weren't spending to get those things.

 Delicous homemade chicken pot pie

If we'd had to buy them, we wouldn't have been able to have them. Nowadays, I know better, and I simply won't spend money I don't need to on the things we need and want. And I firmly believe that money isn't saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it just isn't spent!

Each week I look back over our spending, and what we didn't spend. When it is appropriate, I move the amount we didn't spend to our savings (at the moment most of it is going to our holiday savings account, ready for our trip in May). I've been doing it so long it's habit to me now and just one of the things I do on autopilot.

Violas in a pot - grown from seed, they put a smile on my face every time I see them

But if you're new to the idea of paying yourself the money you didn’t spend, it can be confusing.

A friend wrote

"Hi Cath
Just wanted to say I'm really enjoying your new series on the blog about what you spend, what you don't spend etc. I really want to adopt your method of transferring money saved by making gifts or cooking from scratch etc into a savings/holiday type account, and I was hoping you might be able to explain what you do a bit further for me please?

I get the general idea, it's more the finer details I'm not sure how to deal with. For example, in your second week, where you made the cinnamon scrolls (I feel like some now btw!) and sausages rolls. As you mention, both would cost heaps at the bakery, so your saving is significant. But you also said that of course you wouldn't actually buy that many from a bakery.  So I guess what I'm asking is where you would transfer that money from in order to save it given that you wouldn't have that amount in your grocery budget?

This is just an area that has always tripped me up a bit when trying to work out the value of what I do in our home. There are a number of things like this that I do, baking, sewing, crocheting etc, and while I know they improve our lifestyle, I also know that they are things that if I didn't make them, we just wouldn't have them. For instance, I would never pay a huge amount for something like a handmade quilt for one of my children, so I don't feel like I've really saved money, I've just made something nice that we otherwise wouldn't have.

I've spoken to Annabel about this before in terms of her Vicky Challenge, and can see the benefit of recording what something I've made would have cost to buy, even if I wouldn't have bought it at that price. But where I get stuck is actually transferring the money so that it is truly saved. I love the idea, I'm just not sure how to transfer money saved when the amount is more than is in the budget. "

    Strawberries in our strawberry patch - they just keep on giving, year after year

And this is my answer

"Hello and lovely to hear from you. I actually read this last night before I went to bed, then spent all night thinking about how I could answer so it makes sense.

First, I believe that money isn't saved until it's actually in the bank - until then you just haven't spent it.

You'll see I have three headings each week:
1. what we spent
2. what we didn't spend
3. what we saved.

What we spent 

This s obviously, well what we actually spent i.e. groceries, petrol, chemist, hardware, clothes or whatever for the week. As the utility bills come in they'll be included in this amount too.

What we didn't spend

This is the area where I calculate the retail value of what I, or Wayne, have done for the week. You'll see costings for Wayne's coffee, lunches, baking, gardening, mending, cleaning, shopping around for better deals on utilities, major purchases etc.

This is mind boggling when you add it all up, and is what Annabel's Vicky Challenge is about. I don't consider this amount savings, because it's not banked. Rather it is money we didn't need to spend to maintain a rather comfortable, sometimes luxurious, lifestyle - the money that non-Cheapskates would spend without thinking about it to maintain their lifestyle. Does that make sense? Let me know - I can try to reword it if it doesn't.

You mention making the quilt for your children as not being a saving, and unless you actually put the value of the quilt into the bank, it's not saved. But the value of the quilt is important to show the value of your lifestyle. As you said, if you had to buy it, then you wouldn't. But making it has added value to your lifestyle.

What we saved

This is the amount I actually shift into our savings accounts each week.

For example, with petrol, I budget $80 a week, but these days I don't use anywhere near that much. I try to fill the car on the cheapest day and when it gets to about half a tank - just my fuel security and OCD kicking in. It's rarely more than around $50, depending on fuel prices of course. So each week I take the leftover money and shift it into our holiday fund. I can do this because the $80 has already been budgeted for, so the money is in the fuel account. I could leave it there and let it build up, but I like to see our holiday account grow - gives me something to look forward to.

Then there are a lot of things I'd never buy, because no matter how well off we will ever be, I just can't justify the price when I have a less expensive but just as good, if not better, alternative I can make - like the cinnamon scrolls and the sausage rolls. Or like paying for a manicure, these days I do my own nails and while they will never win prizes, I'm happy with them and I don't spent the money each week or fortnight.

These are the things that we can afford on our budget because we don't buy them (does that make sense?). There is no money in the budget for these things, so I don't have the money to move to savings.

This is money we didn't spend. And this total is important because at the end of the year I can see just how much living the Cheapskates way really saves us - a lot more than a full-time job when it's all added up. I get to be a full-time stay-at-home wife (our children are adults now, still live at home but don't need me to look after them), caring for our home and garden, because we don't spend tens of thousands of dollars every year on things we don't have to - and yet we don't go without a single thing we need or want.

We live the life of Riley, I'm sure, and all because we are aware of the value of what we have and do.

Frankly I'd much rather bake a batch of cinnamon scrolls than work at a paid job for three hours to earn the money to buy them - to me it's a no brainer!

Goodness I hope I haven't confused you more - but I hope this explains how I work out the value and the saving."

It's not really complicated, and it's just something I have always done. It's not vital to living the Cheapskates way, or sticking to your budget.

It does make you feel better though when you see the luxuries you enjoy on your Cheapskates style budget, and that is the secret to feeling rich, rather than feeling deprived.

WHAT WE SPENT, WHAT WE DIDN'T SPEND AND WHAT WE SAVED WEEK 5

This is the first week on No Spending Month, so of course Murphy came visiting didn't he! My car was making a rattling noise, and Wayne was able to fix it, but while he was fixing the rattle he discovered some rubber grommets were missing, so after hunt around he found the cheapest place to get them was from Nissan and to  buy genuine Nissan parts - go figure!

This is what we spent:

Aldi: $21.64
Ferntree Gully Nissan: $21.60
Craft: $10.99

This is what we didn't spend (and what was moved into savings/slush fund/holiday fund):

Coffee: Wayne is still using the Keep Cup but this week instead of hot coffee, we've both been having iced coffee in the mornings, minus all that fake cream the cafes use. I've been making up Iced Coffee Syrup, using expresso from my machine and MOO vanilla extract. Total cost: $3.82 for 1 litre of coffee syrup, that makes 20 iced coffees (I use 50ml per drink). Our iced coffees cost just 40 cents each (200ml milk costs 20c, 50ml syrup is 20c). Between the two of us, over seven mornings, we didn't spend $52.50 on iced coffee this week!

Petrol: No petrol needed in my car this week, I still have between 3/4 and a full tank, so I didn't spend $80 on petrol.

Meals:  We didn't spend $376 again on takeaway this week - even though it was our anniversary and we had some very hot days and nights.  I allow $50 a month for takeaway, but we rarely use it. Being the end of the month, I shifted $50 to our holiday fund.

Greeting cards: I've sent two birthday cards and a get well card this week, using cards I've made. Nice greeting cards cost an average of $7 each - that's $21 not spent. I left the $21 in the gift account.

Petrol: No petrol bought so as per my habit, $80 has been moved to the holiday fund.

Mechanic/Car Repairs: Wayne was able to fix the rattle in my car using his own tools and spare parts we had, and replace the missing grommets, saving on a trip to the mechanic and a hefty bill. We have a great mechanic, and we trust him with all our cars, but he's still in business to make money. He's not the most expensive around, but he's not the cheapest either. For us we feel he does the best work. I estimate the cost would have been around $200, including the parts. With Wayne doing the work, we didn't spend $177. I moved the $177 from the car service account to the holiday account.

Total spent this week: $54.23
Total not spent this week:  $490.49
And moved to savings:  $307.00

Remember, money isn't saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it is just not spent - hence my "what we didn't spend" list and making sure I move money from the relevant categories into our savings accounts.

Our Tight Budget Holiday

Melinda wrote that she would love to hear about our holiday this year, and how we are going to do it as Cheapskates.

First, let me clarify: we have always enjoyed holidays, and, even before disaster struck, we enjoyed them on a budget.

Where are we going?

Back to Cape York! Yes, we were there two years ago, but we only managed to see a fraction of the area and decided back then that we'd be back this year.

How do we get so much leave? 

This year we will be away for six weeks.

Wayne will have four weeks annual leave owing to him, and he will take two weeks as long service leave. This means that we will still get a wage while we are away and our spending plan will just roll along just as if we were home.

I, of course, am my own boss, so getting time off wasn't that hard - I just had to convince myself it was a good thing (absolutely not hard, I love spending time with my husband).

How will we get there?

We will be driving. Our 4WD is fully set up for off-road adventures, and we can be self-sufficient for up to two weeks if we can't get fresh water, longer if we have access to fresh water.

Driving means no fares, but we will have fuel costs. On our last trip the most we paid for fuel was $2.63/litre at Bamaga, otherwise it wasn't too much more than we were paying here at home.

The Patrol carries 227L of fuel (70L in the main tank and a 157 in the long-range tank, so filling up hurts when prices are high. I will start tracking fuel prices in mid-April so we'll have a rough idea of how much it's going to cost.

Right now I'm budgeting 10 fill-ups. We probably won't need that many, but it gives me wriggle room. I'm also working on an average of $2 per litre for fuel at the moment, giving me a fuel budget of $4,500. Last trip we came home with fuel money, and I'm certain we will this time, but I'd rather leave home with more than have to come up with it if we under-budget.

Where will we stay?

We will have seven nights in caravan parks while we are away. We always aim for and plan one night a week in a caravan park so we can have real showers, although our camp shower is lovely and works really well, and to have access to a washing machine. The budget for accommodation on this trip is $700. Again, we'll probably come home with some left.

The rest of the time we will camp, and we always choose free camps, and not just because they are free. They are usually off the beaten track, quiet and in beautiful spots. We're hoping to go back to a few we loved last trip. Free camping isn't a problem for us, as I mentioned above we are self-sufficient for food, water, cooking, showering, sleeping and yes, even toileting. Some campsites will have toilets - they are checked and if not up to snuff then we don't bother with them. In the box of goodies under the back seat is a can of surface spray, a can of Glen20 (it's the only reason I buy it), a brush, a bottle of Miracle Spray, paper towel and disposable rubber gloves. They are used if the toilet isn't completely gross - it may look clean, but it has to be clean if you get my drift.

What will we eat?

There isn't much of a budget for food, it's covered in the monthly grocery budget. Just like at home, we have a meal plan, and while it may get moved around a bit, we pretty much stick to it.  Between now and when we leave I'll be vac sealing meat, chicken and ready made meals and freezing them. I'll also add UHT milk to the monthly shopping list, and that's about the only extra grocery item we use when we're camping.

I'll also make up crumble, custard, donut and damper kits, vac seal and freeze them ready to take with us.

Vegetables are easy to take with us when they're vac sealed. We tend to have lots of camp oven roasts, so I make up packs of roasting veggies: potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, onion, carrots. Because they're vacuum sealed they last for weeks in the fridge and we get to eat fresh veggies. As a side, I do this at home too - a whole pumpkin can take a long time to get through, prepping it and vac sealing means I can keep the packs in the crisper for weeks - no more mildewed pumpkin.

Bread is very expensive and is usually frozen, so instead we take wraps, Mountain Bread and English muffins.

We usually eat out once or twice while we're away, so we put aside $200 for meals and another $100 for treats - coffee, ice- creams etc.

One of traditions we have on any of our trips is to always stop and buy something - fuel, and ice-cream or a cold drink or sometimes a meal - at the small towns and communities we visit. It's one way we can treat ourselves and support these remote communities. They need all the support they can get, this is our way of helping keep them in business, and it blesses everyone - these little stores and roadhouses and cafes stay open and support locals, and they're there when visitors and travellers need them.

Incidentals

With this trip there will be the ferry fee to cross the Jardine, although we're not sure we'll actually cross - we've been to the Tip, taken the obligatory photos, done the walks, driven the Five Beaches (and found eight!), spent some time on Thursday Island (a highlight of the last trip - glorious spot), looked at the WWII memorials and spent a lot of time walking and exploring around them, so for me I'd rather spend time exploring spots we haven't seen yet. We'll see. I've budgeted $130 for the return ferry fee - right now I can't find an accurate cost. The National Parks fee is included in the ferry fee, so for parks on the Cape we won't need to pay extra.

There will also be the ferry fee to cross the Daintree, at least one way. At the moment the fee is $24 return, so that's what I've budgeted.

I mentioned washing - it is so expensive at coin laundries - around $4 a load. Over the six weeks I've budgeted for 10 loads - so I've already saved $40 in $1 and $2 coins and they are safely in a zippy bag, ready to go into the laundry box.  I take washing powder, stain removing soap, a nail brush and pegs - I flatly refuse to pay for drying too.

National Park fees - there will be some fees to pay to visit National Parks. They vary, depending on the park. I've allowed $100 for park fees.

RACV Total Care - we don't leave home without it, ever. Yes, it is expensive, but absolutely, totally, completely and utterly worth it. You only need to use it once to recoup the cost and save a bundle.  I am a gold member, so it costs $200.60 a year. The benefits have changed since we first took this cover out, but for us and the travelling we do, it is not only good value, but great peace of mind. And yes, we have used it, twice in the last six years! This isn't really a holiday expense, we take it out every year, but it is worth mentioning if you don't have it. As a bonus there are other benefits to RACV membership, such as discounts to attractions, accommodation and so on.

How much is all this going to cost?

Our budget for this trip is $6,500.

We have been saving and planning and budgeting for two years for this trip, and we're not going to skimp on anything. There most likely will be money left in the holiday fund  when we get home, and if there is it will roll over to start the next holiday fund - and we'll start planning another trip.

I'll share how we saved, made or found the money next Wednesday.

WHAT WE SPENT, WHAT WE DIDN'T SPEND AND WHAT WE SAVED WEEK 4

Sorry I'm late posting this week, the hot weather left me with a migraine, and then Hannah left yesterday so we were in an (very organised) uproar, getting her packed, checking she had everything she needs, that we had copies of everything just in case, and finally getting her out the door.

This is what we spent:

Aldi: $19.63
Coles: $3.60
Petrol: $65.72
Pellegrino's: $14.35

This is what we didn't spend (and what was moved into savings/slush fund/holiday fund):

Coffee: Those Keep Cups really are keepers! He's still very happily taking the coffee I make him every morning. He didn't spend $21.35.

Petrol: Moved the leftover petrol money to the holiday fund - $14.38

Greeting cards: While the card making things were out I used those odd 15 minutes of time between other jobs to make more cards.

Cooking:  Made a batch of bread'n'butter cucumbers. Coles sells them for $3.91 a jar, mine worked out to under 50 cents a jar - most of the cost was the vinegar and sugar! I didn't spend $20.46 on bread'n'butter cucumbers to stock our pantry and enjoy  during the year (they're delicious on crackers with a slice of cheese for a quick lunch or supper).

Meals: Last week I calculated how much takeaway would cost us as a family if we  were the average and had it three times a week.  All our meals were cooked at home, using ingredients on hand. We didn't spend $376 again on takeaway this week - I'm going to continue to track how much we don't spend by cooking at home. At the end of the year, it could be a very nice $19,552! No wonder folk who eat out or have takeaway regularly complain they're broke!

Hairdressing: Hannah cut my hair for me. At her salon a wash, style cut and blow dry costs $65.  I budget $30.33 a month for hairdressing, so $65 has been moved to savings, from the hairdressing account.

Gardening: This week, before it became too hot, I planted eight iceberg lettuce seedlings I grew from seed, into the veggie garden. I also transplanted two white cucumbers and two zucchini, also grown from seed. To buy them from the nursery would have cost $21! Growing from seed, they cost under 20 cents, and that was for the lettuce. I saved the seed from the cucumbers and zucchini last year, so they were free. The holiday fund was boosted by $21, from the gardening account.

Total spent this week: $103.39
Total not spent this week: $518.19
And moved to savings: $124.53 (haircut, gardening, petrol)

Remember, money isn't saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it is just not spent - hence my "what we didn't spend" list and making sure I move money from the relevant categories into our savings accounts.

THE WEEKLY NO BUY DAY

Wednesday is finance day here on Debt Free, Cashed Up and Laughing and in our home.

It's the day of the week I do our family finances. I get out my bill folder and update the various sheets, check the bank balances against my ATM receipts and then check my spending notes against the receipts. Wednesday is the day I transfer money to the various accounts, make sure the bill accounts are topped up and update our Spending Plan. I stop at the ATM in the morning and withdraw the cash I need for the next seven days.

Wow, but that sounds like a lot of work. It's not really, about 15 minutes at my desk and it's done, and I can relax for another week.

And this year Wednesday is going to be my only spending day - the day I hit Aldi and Pellegrino's, and perhaps Coles and/or Woolworths to pick up the few groceries we need to get us through the week.

Changing shopping day to Wednesday for this year (there are a whole host of reasons - I go past Aldi, Coles, Woolworths and Pellegrino's, all three service stations; it's the day of the week I have the most "spare" time this year; it's a quieter day at the shops to list some) isn't a huge change for me, but I'm also challenging myself to make it the only day of the week I spend any money.

That means for the remaining six days, no spending.

Every week.

For a whole year.

No picking up specials.

No calling in to the op shop to see what's new (or no buying anyway!).

No online shopping.

No morning tea or lunch out.

2018 is three and a bit weeks in and so far, so good. I've just come in from my weekly banking and shopping expedition and it feels good. The fridge is restocked, the pantry topped up. I put a little petrol in the car (at $1.50/L I wasn't going to fill it up). I spent some of my Christmas money on some stationery that I really wanted and have been eyeing off for months - and it was 66% off, saved myself $10, that I still have to spend on something else later in the year.

My plan is to make a note in my diary of things I may want to buy - not the normal groceries, medicines and so on, but the things like stationery, books (my weakness!), clothes etc. with the price, and when spending day comes around, I'll add it to my "money we didn't spend" list.

Of course, If it's something I really want, will use, or need and it's within our budget, then I may buy it.

This week I needed some new refills for my planner. Now normally I would wait until they were on half-price sale and buy them, then go back to add the missing info. Instead, because I wanted them *right now* and didn't want to wait until today, I sat down with last year's and used them as templates to MOO them. I didn't spend $14.95, and I have forms that suit exactly what I want to use them for (I usually adjust the bought refills).

It's kind of like a version of the $100/24 Hour Rule supercharged.

So, who's up for the challenge? You don't need to have six no spend days, try one no spend day a week and see how much you haven't spent at the end of the year.

WHAT WE SPENT, WHAT WE DIDN'T SPEND AND WHAT WE SAVED WEEK 3

This is what we spent:

Petrol:  $36.65
Onions: $2.99
Aldi: $5.98
Ceiling Fans: $408

Petrol: Prices around here are crazy, with as much as 16c/litre difference. Even with the 4c/litre discount and any possible Flybuys/Rewards points, our local 7Eleven has been the cheapest petrol this week @$123.9/L.  Filled my car, cost $36.65 - a saving of $5.12 over Woolworths, which was again cheaper than Coles this week. Shifted $23.35 to holiday petrol account and $5.12 to savings.

Onions: Joy was able to get me a 10 kilo bag of onions for $2.99, which is my buy now price of 30c/kg. The cheapest I've been able to get them locally is 80c/kg, so a 50c/kg saving. $5.00 doesn't sound like much on its own, but when it's added to all the other savings we make, it adds up to a lot over a year. Watching the small spends has a big impact on overall savings.

Aldi: Milk, $2.99 and I splurged and bought a box of icy poles on Thursday, when it was so hot. Yes, I could've made them, but freezer space is at a premium so 20 for $2.99 made them 15 cents each, and I used my pocket money to buy them (and we all enjoyed them).

Ceiling fans: This was  a planned and saved for expense. We are gradually updating all the ceiling fans in our home. This week we replaced two in the family room and one in our bedroom. After spending hours online and even more hours tramping from store to store, taking photos and sending them to Wayne to approve or ignore (that means he didn't like it, but if it was what I wanted he'd be OK with it - he's a keeper!), I finally chose the two styles. Cost for the three fans came from the home maintenance account, for a total of $408, a saving of $429 (it really pays to shop around and compare prices online and instore before buying. Yes, I had to go to two different stores but the saving was over 50% - well worth it!).

This is what we didn't spend (and what was moved into savings/slush fund/holiday fund):

Meals: All our meals were cooked at home, using ingredients from the pantry, fridge and freezer. According to a survey (Eating Out in Australia 2017)  http://www.the-drop.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/EatingOutinAustralia_2017_Respondent-Summary.compressed.pdf, Australians spend an average of $94 a week on eating out and takeaway meals, and that's per person. Using this as a guide, we've saved $376 by eating homecooked meals! That's a month's grocery budget for my family, for just three meals! So glad I cook at home.

Lunches: Packed Wayne's lunch and snacks every day this week. He's still taking a MOO latte every morning in his keep cup. Saved $21.35 on lattes ($24, the cost of five large lattes, less  $2.65, the cost of five MOO lattes). Saved $60 on lunches and another $30 on snacks.

Baking: This week was card making week, so I made a batch of vanilla slices to take for afternoon tea. Because it was hot, they were my favourite no-bake style. The batch cost  $7.50 to make (a little more expensive than usual because I used biscuits for the base rather than pastry - it was just too hot to put the oven on). Vanilla slices sell for $3.20 each at our local bakery. My batch made 24 for $7.50 or 31 cents each; a few minutes in the kitchen filled the cake container and I didn't spend $69.30  ($76.80 less the cost of ingredients, $7.50) on vanilla slices!

Nails: Years ago I used to splurge and get my nails done at a salon. It was so long ago it only cost $10. This week I did my nails myself, using tools and nail polishes and hand cream I already had. I didn't spend $60 on a set of gel nails.

Made a batch of Miracle Spray. This filled the dispenser for a cost of $1.75, or 87 cents per litre. I didn't spent $9.90 per litre, a saving of $9.03 per litre or $18.06 for the batch.

Total spent this week: $453.63
Total not spent this week: $1070.71
And moved to savings: $452.35 (leftover petrol money  and saving on ceiling fans moved from house maintenance account)

Remember, money isn't saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it is just not spent - hence my "what we didn't spend" list and making sure I move money from the relevant categories into our savings accounts.

WHAT WE SPENT, WHAT WE DIDN'T SPEND AND WHAT WE SAVED WEEK 2

This is what we spent:

Groceries: $4.99 (milk, plain yoghurt)
Household: $260.00 (new mattress)
Chemist: $40.12 (vitamins)
Kmart: $3 (t-shirt)

Yoghurt: NQR had  1 kilo tubs of Greek yoghurt for 99 cents so I bought two and froze them in ice cube trays. The yoghurt cubes will be used as starter for MOO yoghurt and to add to curries and sauces.

We came home on Sunday to a damp bed. We have a water bed and it sprung a leak sometime between Friday night and Sunday afternoon. Ho hum. We  (read: Wayne) tried to patch it. We have a super-strength patch kit with amazingly strong and fast drying glue. After pulling the bed apart and hunting for the leak, we thought we'd found it, so it was patched. And we thought that was the end of it. Nope. There was still a leak, a sneaky, hidden, impossible to find no matter how hard we searched leak.

After a night in the spare bed we both woke up cramped and cranky. After a discussion on the merits of buying a new mattress over hunting for the leak, we chose the new mattress. Then came the searching for a replacement at a price we could afford and were prepared to pay. We found it, with same day delivery if ordered before 2pm. Yes! So I rang first thing, had a chat to the fellow to make sure what I was ordering was the equivalent replacement of what we had and handed over $260 (this included a new liner, water conditioner and delivery). This came out of the household account, which is where I stash the cash to cover replacement furniture etc.

This is what we didn't spend (and what was moved into savings/slush fund/holiday fund):

Yoghurt: Made two kilos MOO yoghurt. Cost: 12 cents for yoghurt (it was 99c/kg!) and $2.88 for milk powder. Plain Greek yoghurt costs $5.30 per kilo. My MOO yoghurt cost $3 for two kilos, leaving my grocery budget $7.60 better off.

Coffee: Wayne is still using his keep cup - and I'm loving the saving.  $21.35 moved to savings from Entertainment.

Lunches: Packed lunches every day, along with morning and afternoon tea. This week I made a batch of scrolls, a large chocolate slab cake and two dozen mini fruit cakes, as well as two dozen sausage rolls for lunches. Our local bakery sells coffee/cinnamon scrolls for $4.80 each. The batch made 14 really big scrolls and cost $6.10 to make; that equates to just  44 cents per scroll, or $61.10 I didn't spend on scrolls (not that I would - we can't afford to spend a week's grocery money on cinnamon scrolls!).

The chocolate slab cake cost $6.20 to make and it filled my large Corningware baking dish (I made four times the recipe). This gave me 60 large slices of chocolate cake. At $2 a slice, I didn't spend $113.80 on cake for morning/afternoon teas and lunches.

Sausage rolls are $3.30 each at the same bakery (and it's not even a particularly trendy bakery). The cost of making sausage rolls has gone up, as sausage mince has doubled in price in the last 12 months. It now costs $4 for a roll of sausage mince, $2.50 for pastry, 30c for onion, 30c for breadcrumbs, 20c for herbs and 25c for egg, for a total of $7.75; that equates to 32c/sausage roll or $71.45 I didn't spend on sausage rolls (and mine are so much nicer, better flavour and not as much grease). Again, I would never buy two dozen sausage rolls from the bakery, we just couldn't afford it, but I can make them without hurting our grocery budget.

Mini fruit cakes are an expensive treat for us. A batch costs $9.45 to make (I get 24 cupcake size from a single recipe). I use Aldi mixed dried fruit I buy for $4.95/kg before Christmas each year and freeze, and Aldi butter. I really noticed how the cost of butter increased the cost of Christmas cakes and puddings this last Christmas, and it has made me think about baking and how much butter is in a recipe. The 24 fruit cupcakes cost $9.45 to make, or 39 cents each. I've no idea how much they would sell for, but regular cupcakes are $1.50 at the bakery, I think fruit cakes would be more expensive, so I didn't spend at least $26.55.

Bread: I've been making our bread this week. Bread at Coles is $1.80 a loaf - my homemade bread costs around $1 a loaf. I've made 5 loaves of bread, not spending $4.00.

Household: My knitted dishcloths in the kitchen were starting to get very ragged so they've been shifted to the laundry and I knitted three new ones. These sell for $8+ each on Etsy, and they cost me approximately $3 each to knit, so I've moved $15 from the household account to the holiday fund.

Chemist: My doctor bulk bills (for which I am very grateful) but sadly medications cost a small fortune. Last week he ordered a bunch of vitamins and minerals for me, to balance the long-term effects of medication I'm on. Some time spent hunting for the best prices and I found them on half-price sale, saving $40.12.

Total spent this week: $308.11
Total not spent this week: $360.97
And moved to savings: $286.70*

*I didn't move the $26.55 for the fruit cakes, the $7.60 for the yoghurt or the $40.12 for vitamins

Remember, money isn't saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it is just not spent - hence my "what we didn't spend" list and making sure I move money from the relevant categories into our savings accounts.

What are your top financial goals?

We have a strict policy of not going into debt for Anything. At. All.

If we want something, we do our research and save up until we can afford it.

If we need something, we either use budgeted monies or use our Emergency Fund (that's what it is for - emergencies!).

We haven't always been debt free, so our financial goals have changed a lot over the years. But right now, in January 2018, I can tell you that:

our immediate financial goals are:

• to continue to save for our holiday later this year - it's another big one, six weeks of travelling.to rebuild the medical fund (it has been decimated the last two years with my medical bills)

our long-term financial goals are:

• to increase our retirement savings (we are really hoping to not have to rely on an age pension, and I really don't want us to work until 70!)
• to add to our retirement home savings (the aim is to pay cash for our retirement home)

So what are your financial goals?

• Create a lifestyle where one parent can stay at home with the children full-time (or a lifestyle where you can share it - either way there will always be one parent at home for the kidlets)
• Get out of credit card debt?
• Start an education fund for said children?
• Pay off your mortgage?
• Create a 12-month emergency fund?
• Pay off car loans?
• Save the deposit on a house?
• Pay off last year's Christmas bills?
• Save for a self-funded retirement?

Whatever your goals, put a workable plan in place so your goals will be achievable - there's nothing quite as satisfying as reaching a goal you've planned and worked towards.

What We Spent, What We Didn't Spend and What We Saved Week 1

A new series for 2018, as so many of you are curious about what we spend (or don't!).

This is what we spent:

Groceries - $56.54 - $16.54 over this fortnight's budget as I bought reduced meat for the freezer
Petrol - $60
Chemist - $5.49

This is what we didn't spend (and what was moved into savings/slush fund/holiday fund):

Petrol: Shopped around (locally) for the cheapest petrol.  Woolworths was 5c/litre cheaper than Shell/Coles, saved $3. This, along with the unspent petrol money, has gone straight to the holiday petrol jar. Just so you aren't confused, I budget $80 a week for petrol. I rarely use that much (very rarely), so when I fill up I shift what's left from the petrol budget for that week to the holiday petrol account. It builds up very quickly, meaning we can travel without worrying about any additional costs for fuel.

Garden: Bought liquid seaweed concentrate from Aldi 2 x 2litre bottles @$9.99. Saved $24.64 over buying 4 litres from Bunnings. I do have worm tea and bokashi tea on the go as well, and these are cost free to make, but not always ready when I need to feed the garden.

Parking: Mum is in hospital, so I've been parking a couple of streets over and walking to visit. Saved $60 over paying$4/hour for parking at the hospital for the time I've been there this week. I also had a couple of very quick visits, under 15 minutes, so I did take advantage of the closer parking - under 15 minutes is free.

Lunches: Packed Wayne's lunch and snacks every day this week. He's been taking a MOO latte every morning in his keep cup. Saved $21.35 on lattes ($24, the cost of five large lattes, less  $2.65, the cost of five MOO lattes).

I ate leftovers, sandwiches and salads for my lunch this week.

Cooking: Made gnocchi instead of buying it. Saved $4 over buying 500g of fresh gnocchi.
Made all our meals from scratch, using pantry, fridge and freezer ingredients.
MOO Pizza - My boys LOVE pizza so every Thursday is MOO pizza night. They make their own, and clean up so it's a very easy dinner for me. I don't eat pizza (well not very often anyway) so on pizza night I have a freezer meal. Last Thursday two pizzas were made, for a total cost of $5.80. To have two large pizzas delivered would cost $26 (according to the Pizza Hut website - 2 large super supreme @$13 each). Saving: $21.20 - and they're much nicer pizzas.

Chemist: Used my discount card to buy prescriptions, saving 15% or $12.80. I've left this in the chemist account, so it doesn't show in the savings total.

Doctor: Asked him to bulk bill pathology. No idea how much this saved but at least $80.

Craft: Used my stash of fabric to make some presents for the gift box. Scraps of fabric and lace I've had for ages became pretty gifts that sell for $7.95 each at a local chemist. I've made six, so a saving of $47.70. I've moved that from the gift budget to the holiday account.

Total spent this week: $122.03
Total not spent this week (and moved to savings): $281.59

Remember, money isn't saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it is just not spent - hence my "what we didn't spend" list and making sure I move money from the relevant categories into our savings accounts.

How we are going to Live on a (Really) Tight Budget

Morning and afternoon tea is always something homebaked, like this Fruit Salad cake

A few weeks ago Joy posted some statistics in the forum pertaining to how much money is needed to live in retirement.

The following was taken from the ASICS moneysmart website.

"The table below will give you a rough idea of how much money you need to support a modest or comfortable retirement. It applies for people retiring at age 65 who will live to an average life expectancy of about 85."

Those figures stunned me, and not in a bad way!

We live on a tight budget. We don't carry any debt. If we want something we pay cash for it. If we don't have the cash we save up until we do, then we buy it.

Our lifestyle isn't extravagant but it's not stingy either. We don't go without anything we need. We mostly don't go without anything we want either. We do think about our purchases and our spending, and rarely have any spontaneous spending. That is mostly because there's not much we need or want that we don't already have.

Our clothing budget stays low because we take care of our clothes, making simple repairs immediately so clothes don't sit in a pile until they're thrown out.

We eat well. I cook from scratch (real scratch, not packet scratch). I grow a lot of the vegetables and some of the fruit we eat. I have a strict budget for meat and poultry and shop once a quarter for those foods, timing the shop around the best sale prices.

Chicken pot pie from scratch, a delicious and frugal family dinner

I am a bit of a power warden, reminding the family to turn lights, appliances and power points off (if they're not powering something essential like the fridge or freezer).

We catch water in buckets in the showers and I have a tub I use to catch water from the kitchen sink. This water is either tipped into the washing machine, used to water the pot plants, wash veggies or for cleaning. It doesn't go to waste.

So why was I happily stunned with those figures?

Well because as a family we're living well under them. We have started living on our 2016 budget (yes, it's kicked in a couple of months early) and according to those figures we are living on the Single Modest retirement income of $454 a week!

I love flowers in the house, but they're expensive. Just a few blooms from the garden in a vase makes me happy and saves $12! These Daphne sprgs smelled divine and scented the whole house, and they cost nothing.

Our weekly budget is $454.81! And that covers everything we need to survive and a few non-essentials too. Now bear in mind there are five adults living in our house. I am feeding five adults, there are five computers, three TVs, five people showering every day. And yet we can manage on less than a single modest retirement income and we are not going without and we don't feel deprived at all.

Here is our current Spending Plan:

As we are and will be living off our stockpile, the grocery budget has shrunk considerably.
There is wiggle room in this budget. I've factored in haircuts for both of us, pin money and a craft allowance. These are all flexible and non-essential. I can cut Wayne's hair and if push comes to shove I can either stretch my monthly trip to the hairdressers to every second month or just let my hair grow (or act as a model for Hannah so she can practise cutting!).

Making soap is another way I keep costs down. It makes a lovely gift too.

I've included an entertainment allowance. We rarely (maybe once a year) eat out so it's covered if we do, but the main purpose of this category is to give us time out when we need it. We tend to go camping (usually free camping) or on day trips and this amount will pay for petrol and camp fees so we can have at least a few days away during the year.  Entertainment also covers expenses birthday celebrations, anniversaries and any other fun things we do during the year.

There is a separate Holiday category. We are saving up for another big trip so steady, regular saving will help us get there in 2017. It's flexible, again if for some reason I've miscalculated our expenses I can shift  this money to another category.

Camping is our favourite type of holiday - find a pretty spot, set up the tent and then kick back and relax. Once you have all your gear your holidays are virtually free!

The one thing that isn't flexible, that is set in cement, is our Emergency Fund category. An emergency fund is essential and even on a tight budget we will continue to build ours. I've been asked if we'll be dipping into our emergency fund next year to cover any shortfall in our income. The short answer is no.

Our budget has been re-worked, we've gone over the figures and double checked them and unless there is a major emergency i.e. the washing machine blows up and there's not enough in Household Maintenance to cover replacing it, then we won't be touching it.

We will thrive on our current budget because we don't live extravagantly. We live a modest lifestyle and we are happy.  The bills will be paid, we have food to eat, clothes to wear, a roof over our heads. The present box is bulging with gifts for 2015, 2016, 2017 and I've started on 2018 (we have a couple of weddings in 2018 and the presents are ready and waiting).  There are veggies growing in the garden.

So yes, those figures for a retirement budget have made me very happy. I know we'll manage next year and I'm reassured that when we're ready to retire we'll be able to manage on a "retirement" income too.

Old Fashioned Budgeting Saves Real Money

This is the year of saving so most of the Wednesday Tip of the Day emails this year will be focussed on saving and that includes budgeting.

There are a gazillion different ways to budget. If you are struggling, keep trying until you find a method that works for you. Me, I like the old fashioned paper spending plan and when Disaster Struck I went back to Envelope Budgeting, just like Annette does.  It stopped over-spending, ensured the bills were paid and paid on time and kept my sanity.

If you are looking for an easy, basic way to budget this may well work for you.

Old Fashioned Budgeting Saves Real Money

I recently went back to the age old system of withdrawing my total expenditure and keeping it in envelopes at home for petrol, food and my budgeted 'general expenses'. On pay day, whatever is in my wallet and in the envelopes, gets put into the savings jar and it is surprising to see how much money is left over.

I have found this to be an excellent saver with the recent drop in petrol as I have withdrawn my normal budgeted amount that was allocated while the price was higher. Last month I saved $30 on the petrol alone and this month with pay day still two weeks away there is an extra $150 to spare (after taking away my normal budget spending).

You just need to make sure that you put away your cards (both debit and credit) with the cash that you have set aside so you are not tempted to make any extra purchases or withdrawals. It stops you making impulse purchases and encourages you to always check what is in your wallet before you spend as if there is no money, you can't make impulse purchases which always used to eat into my budget even though if I did make a purchase, it wouldn't be any more than $20.

I also only take with me the amount that I am prepared to spend when doing the grocery shopping which means that there is only room for the necessities because I am aware that I can't cover the difference of the bill to what is in my wallet with my card.
Contributed by Annette

Spring Clean Your Finances - Week 1

For the next four weeks Wednesday is going to be spring cleaning day. We spring clean our homes to get rid of the dust and mustiness of winter and we should do the same thing with our finances.

To know exactly where your money is going we are going back to basics. This week get your Spending Plan, a notebook, a pen, your bills and receipts and track your spending. Because you have a working Spending Plan a week is  long enough to give you a snapshot of exactly where your money is going and whether it is going where it should be.

How to Track Your Expenses

There are a lot of ways you can do this. For the purpose of this exercise, seeing as it is only for a week, choose the easiest method that works for you. It might be a notepad and pen, it could be an excel spreadsheet on your computer or even one of the gazillion aps available for your phone. Personally I just use my diary and jot down each day's spending after tea. To make tracking expenses even easier I've created a printable expense tracker you can download and use.

Download the printable Expense Tracker

Start with the receipts you currently have. Go through your purse, handbag, wallet, the fruit bowl, check your bedside table and the console in the car. Find as many receipts as you can and then write the details into your expense tracker. The Cheapskates Expense Tracker has common categories you can use. Jot down the date, the item, how you paid for that item (cash, credit card, direct deposit, Bpay etc.) and the Spending Plan category it comes under.

You'll see the Expense Tracker has a category for "Other". We all have one-off, odd expenses that don't really fit anywhere. Put those expenses here.  Now a week of tracking won't necessarily be a complete picture of your spending but it will give you enough detail to determine if your Spending Plan is working and where you need to tweak.  Remember, this is just a spring clean of your finances.

If a receipt falls under two or more categories, for example you bought food, medication and school items at the supermarket just list the totals under their respective categories.

For purchases that don’t have a receipt, mortgage payments for instance, write these in every time you make a payment so you don’t forget to track them.

As you track your spending this week you may see some surprising habits that you may not even have realised you have. You may be wondering why your grocery bill just won't fit in the  $300 a Month Food Challenge, then realise just how much you are really spending at the supermarket on incidentals. Or it may be the odd coffee now and then that is breaking your budget.

Tracking expenses shows you exactly where you are spending your money, and how.

Next week we'll use this information to review your Spending Plan.