Frugal 2010
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Topic: Frugal 2010
Posted By: cuppatea
Subject: Frugal 2010
Date Posted: 21 December 2009 at 7:54pm
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We are going to have a frugal 2010 to try and sort our finances out and get into a better position (hopefully). Anyone want to join me, help me fight the urge to buy those unnecessary coffees and order take out when I'm too lazy to cook? ------------- 
 
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Replies:
Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 21 December 2009 at 8:33pm
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i'm going to try and not use the credit card. I get annoyed at the amount of pizza that gets put on there.
the whole take out when cant be bothered cooking thing is such a have... i know that i can do a quicker and nicer meal than going to the takeaway, but laziness wins out! i am going to try and make that pizza dough someone posted in the recipes thread instead of using brought bases... ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 21 December 2009 at 8:39pm
We have cancelled our credit card and got one of those visa debit cards instead. Had to take a personal loan out to clear the credit card but it had got ridiculous and to the point where we were never gonna get the amount on the card down, totally our own stupid fault but I also blame the bank for keep putting our limit up Is too easy to treat a credit card like it's free money. We can over pay the loan so am hoping to get it paid off a bit quicker and the upside is if we over pay we can't then spend it again like you can with the credit card.
Oh I might look that recipe up too, homemade pizza is yummy and I normally buy bases as well -------------
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Posted By: Genie
Date Posted: 21 December 2009 at 9:41pm
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I'm in for this definitely!
I was looking at that pizza recipe recently too, used to make one in the breadmaker but started buying bases cos its a hassle to drag the breadmaker out. We've never had a credit card, oh well we have a warehouse card thats the same thing really lol. Gonna get that paid off and try not to use it anymore though. I've got to stay away from trademe, actually all online shopping..its just too easy! And I love getting packages delivered! And then theres those times I go to buy bread and milk but spend over $30.. ------------- 
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Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 21 December 2009 at 9:56pm
I must stop buying a chocolate bar every time I put petrol in the car, would be cheaper to buy some when i do grocery shopping and keep them in the car -------------
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Posted By: ?Lolly?
Date Posted: 21 December 2009 at 10:06pm
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great idea (budget wise) We totally need to take serious look at our budget in the new year. ------------- Captain Chaos (5) & the Trouble Monsters (2!) 
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Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 21 December 2009 at 11:04pm
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Any one got any good budgeting advise, how you set aside your money etc... ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com"> 
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 21 December 2009 at 11:33pm
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I spent $100 on cornchips tonight ..thats all I popped out to get....but I found some other things we "needed".
Food is our biggest budget blow out but I like food and I want to have nice stuff too. We dont buy a lot of pre packaged food (dont like it) and we grow some veges so you'd think we could control it...I dont know what we spend it on to be honest...the price of food is just bloody ridiculous down here. Kel, The most success I have had was to work out how much each bill costs on a weekly or fortnightly (pay period) basis and then transfer that amount into a separate account. Then have bills come directly out of that account. That way money kinda accumulates there for the bills and you always know there is enough there. It was a great feeling to buy 4 new tyres and know we could afford it. Unfortunately I havent got it set up like that at the moment and I am struggling...I just cant be arsed changing ALL the direct debits..but that s a poor excuse. |
Posted By: fattykat
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 12:11am
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I went out earlier to get nappies and ended up spending $83......I can't be trusted at the supermarket by myself as too many things I don't need end up in the trolley and on there way home with me (or being stuffed in my gob like a little piggy on the way home
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Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 7:57am
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fattykat me too..cuppatea I'm with you on this one! ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: palomino
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 7:59am
| I need to join in. im shocking at the 'quick' pop ins to the supermarket only to walk out a whole lot broker. Also bad at online shopping |
Posted By: Snappy
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 8:03am
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We did really well with our budget last year, we were only on one income. I made my own bread, pizza bases, and did a lot of home baking.
Then I started working part time... We ended up increasing our spending! Our grocery bill has gone from being $230 a fortnight to over $350. Not good! I want to study this year but at the moment we can't afford it because we have got used to the 2 wages again. I don't have a job any more either so as of this week we are knuckling down (Great timing!) |
Posted By: ooEvaoo
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 8:12am
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Yup I'd like to join in too. We've had to knuckly down our spending as I'm on holiday from studying so less money coming in...by feb DP will be debt free so will have some extra cash, but we're planning on saving for a house deposit..and DP has a trip to Saudi planned....so of course I have to plan a little trip for my little man and I!...but yea he suggested that next year we only buy things we need...and not want. Anywhos I always have a shopping list, have managed to get my groceries down from $160 per week to between $100-$120 per week. Try to make dps lunches for work each day..otherwise he'll spend up at the bakehouse. Kahtrell is wearing undies during the day so only need to buy one pack on nappies now for during the night. Damn pets cost a bomb to feed! ------------- 
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Posted By: EmDee
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 8:12am
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I'll join in, with an unexpected bub on the way we seriously need to look at what we spend.
Our big thing is also food, particularly getting take out when we can't be a*sed cooking and buying lunches. Nikki - thats what we do with our mortgage and rates payments and its great! We've been slowly accumulating extra in that account and now have enough for an extra mortgage payment. We should really do that with everything else too. ------------- DS 8 DD 6 DS 4 DD 2 |
Posted By: jaycee
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 8:17am
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with the popping into the shop and spending heaps - don't take your card (eftpos or cc) take cash, just a little more than you need ($1 or $2 more) and then you can't buy heaps.
I often get out my cash for the week and then that is it. Once it is gone then I can't buy anymore treats or coffee. -------------   
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Posted By: clover
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 8:36am
| I'm in. We should be able to afford to live off one of our incomes but we still manage to spend $300 a week from the other one. That really needs to change if we're going down to one income... |
Posted By: Genie
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 8:38am
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One thing that has saved us has been using http://www.mechcad.net/products/acemoney/index_lite.shtml - AceMoney Lite . Its a free program for helping keep track of income and spending, I download all our transactions from the bank, categorize them etc. Its good cos I can see exactly what bills are coming up and what will be left after paying them, and see what we do spend our money on. Trouble is I got slack and categorized a whole heap of stuff as "misc" spending! -------------
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 8:42am
| I'm in too. We don't do too bad with most our spending, like you guys its mainly food but then we have improved lots. But food has also gone up sooo much and I'm trying to get us to eat healthier too and thats expensive all by itself. Milk and squeezed orange juice (I have it after my workout) is way way way more expensive than fizzy drink sh*t. Gah |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 8:42am
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I'll join in too
we have seperate accounts for bills. mort and savings + an everyday acc. I think ususally if oyu have a mort with a bank there are no fees,so you can have as many acc as you like. We spend $300 fortnight on gorceries Doesn't help I have to have GF stuff with is sooo $$$$$.
I make dh lunches and do home baking. I am tryign to make extra meals and freeze for when bubs is born, but I will try to carry that on so will have frozen stuff in the freezer for when I can't be bothered cooking. We go grocery shopping ona wed night and they usually have a load of meat marked down. I also found going to the vege shop saves a bit too. And the veges are usually nicer than from the supermarket. we have made Xmas pressies this year and people get home baking for birthdays etc. I get dd to piant/draw cards too. |
Posted By: Cassie
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 8:54am
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I'm in as well! We really need to watch where our one income is going, especially with another baby on the way. We will need to find a way to fork out for a new vehicle, which means cracking down in other areas to get some savings under our belts. Have cleared out the overgrown gardens and am starting in hard on the vege patch come new years! I got the gardening diary from the supermarket and it's going to be my new bible lol ------------- ~Cassie~   
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Posted By: heaf3
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 9:14am
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oh i sooo need to join in here!!
we spend way too much money on groceries!! and takeaways! DF is to blame for most of the takeaways (well he has the idea of it) but im just as much to blame because it saves me cooking especially on those nights when i really cant be bothered. we usually end up using most of our pay (we get paid fortnightly) by the end of the first week and then have to scrounge to find money for the second. i have been getting a bit better at baking stuff and having leftovers for lunch etc, and DF is in the process of making us a bigger and better vege garden so hopefully we will have more veges and things this summer. we have a loan too that really needs to be paid off! was originally $9110 but have got it down to $7730 so far. but i want it GONE! we have the wedding to pay for as well, and then we want to save for a trip to europe and then have a bub (all going to plan lol) ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: ohanlon82
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 9:19am
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Totally in
With baby No. 1 in April - we so need to save ------------- http://lb2f.lilypie.com/TikiPic.php/RPaODBg.jpg |
Posted By: BeLoved
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 9:38am
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I am so in as well. I said to DH yesterday "2010 will have to be a year of us spending a lot less" but then quickly rephrased it to "2010 will have to a year of MYSELF spending a lot less!"
I am terrible at spending money on non necessity items and not just food, so I really want to change that. I found that writing down everything that was spent each day helped keep my spending in check, and I hated having to write it all down so I tended not too spend so I did not have to write it down, I might have to go back to doing that and keep it up! |
Posted By: SMoody
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 9:51am
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Yip we will join in too. We have started stuff after buying the house. After we packed stuff we just realise how much junk you have that you thought you needed but for the last few years havent even touched.
So I want a big clear out. Our biggest problem is impulse buying. Specially me for the kids. They really have way too much clothes (according to me) and dont need that much. Already started to slow down and M doesnt even need anything for summer. Andrew is all sorted too. Then food bill can come down. We are already not doing take aways and have been take away free for almost 2 months (due to us changing total lifestyles here). I want to get a veggie garden up but I think it will only be ready for next summer as such. We want to do raised veggie gardens and get that all done. We discovered which we think is an apple tree, We got grapes and I think that other tree is a fig tree. So we are getting some other fruit trees up as well. Lots more baking and we dont really buy too many treats either. What is pushing up our food bill is the healthy stuff. We eat 7+ veggies a day now and 3 portions of fruit per person. That adds up to one huge bill at the moment. At least the meat portions are a lot more down but fish is pushing it up again. Sigh. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 9:52am
This is exactly why I''m not going back to work!
Yep do this already, but it's the other unnecesary spending  ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com">
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
kaiz231 wrote:Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 11:12am
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After being without an Income for part of this year, we've learnt to be pretty frugal. We've now got our grocery bill for the 2 of us down to $280 a month and I had been keeping track of what we brought each week on a spreadsheet, and stocking up on the things we use lots ie: tinned tomatoes when they're on special. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">   [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: xLUCKYx
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 11:15am
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I'm in :)
We went over our budget last night and have an awesome plan. All of the bills and direct debits for our debt are coming out of my bank account so it is bye bye to my eftpos cards for a loong time. Everything else including the mortgage and savings is coming out of DF's. Each payday I will withdraw $400 cash. That is $100 for petrol for both cars, $50 each for sanity money and $200 for groceries. Then we don't even need to think about the rest as it will all be done by magical auto payments. We have worked it out that we will be debt free in 33 weeks hoorah! The $200 for our shopping sounds a bit more than most of you but that includes nappies and my DF eats like a horse so it includes making his lunches and loads of fruit and vege. Looking forward to an awesome year :-) Edited for my bad spelling! |
Posted By: heaf3
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 11:57am
how many weeks is this based on? ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: xLUCKYx
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 12:50pm
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That's weekly. So $200 a week for groceries - but really in our house we need that - at the mo we use $150 and then I end up getting extra fruit and vege as a top up during the week and it puts us over. That is including 2 kids, 2 cats and 2 dogs though :)
With the sanity money once it is gone it is gone and the gas is for 2 cars :) |
Posted By: xLUCKYx
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 12:51pm
| Oh and a boarder :) |
Posted By: MamaT
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 1:09pm
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I'm in. We have been shocking at the moment, like most of you the majority of our spending is on food, but DF and I are both shocking at impulse purchases too. We are trying to save the last little bit at the moment for our wedding in Feb too and with me on Mat Leave at the end of the week it is a must do. -------------  
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Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 1:25pm
I am so in 
We have 3 kids & 1 cat, we have paid off all bills (dam hard work) so no HP's & cc. We are on 1 wage. I have been working on a plan for a few weeks now, DH & I want a weekend in oz next year & I want a new car at the end of it. Plan: Put 20% into saving account every payday Pay bills fortnightly with auto payments Doing baking & freezing $10 a week into xmas club (PNS) Meal planning & shopping fortnightly (veg shop weekly) Growing a few veg in garden Home made lunches for all Buying only groceries needed, not junk food & takeaways Sorting out wash days to save water & doing it at night Sort out stuff to sell on TM DH is getting a push bike to bike to work I got a MB pram from a friend so will be walking to school Looking at changing sky for tivo Doing free stuff, picnics at park, fishing, bush walks Save for what we want Kids got money tins for xmas so they will do chores & earn money & can not spend it till full (big tins) So at the end of it we should have money saved & be fitter & healthier. I am also doing a list of what everyone needs & will start getting them fortnightly so I have them before need them, like gumboots & hat & winter stuff, instead of panicking at the last minute. I am starting in March as Jan & Feb are for DH's bike, kids school uniform x2 & books & fees. I also want to stock up the pantry & get all bills up to date. |
Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 1:28pm
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there always seems to be some big bill esp like the power in winter that stops us budgeting well...and i am shocking at buying stuff i dont need.. mostly extra food and mags:) ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: xLUCKYx
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 1:33pm
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We have put our power bill on even pay - they calculate your average spend and you can then pay it either weekly, fortnightly or monthly. That is where I used to get unstuck as well.
Thats the good thing with withdrawing the cash though - if you go over the budget - you can't get it so the least important things need to come out first. When I shop I make a list and then add up how much I estimate it will cost. If I have a bit over I usually get some luxury items but maybe I should use that leftover $$ to get a christmas club account.... |
Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 2:03pm
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Yep we do even pay as well so we pay power weekly, took a while for the payments to get set at the right level but now it's all good and we dont' need to worry about any huge power bills.
Dh did a spreadsheet of all our bills, including rego, dog rego, yearly insurance the lot, then split them all down to the weekly amount and we pay that into a separate account and all our direct debits come out of it and then at rego time the money it sitting in there and we can transfer it out (there is no eftpos access to that account), so that means we don't need to worry about paying bills. Our biggest problem was putting stuff on the credit card and worrying about it later, then later arrived 
Our food I have capped at $180 a week, it was $250 a week so i'm doing quite well, I refuse to buy processed crap or non free range and without sacrificing those two things we can't get it cheaper, even at $180 we have no food in the house come Tuesday (we shop on Wednesdays). DH bought fish and chips today, he got an earfull 
I've been looking at working part time but I think by the time they take WFF off us, take the childcare subsidy off us and then the extra petrol, work clothes etc we would probably be worse off. At least our loan got drawn down today and my visa debit card arrived, so no more evil credit card. I think I might have a ceremony and burn it.  -------------
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Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 2:04pm
| Alex, we are struggling on $200 a week for groceries so I know where you are coming from...and we dont buy meat in that lot either....and we are only in sposies for night time. I think the cost of food down here is ridiculous...and dont get me started on our power! |
Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 2:05pm
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mind you $10/kg cherries makes up a little for the power
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Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 2:19pm
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I think I am going to add xmas and birthdays to the bills and pay money each week into a bill account for them. I can't really buy throughout the year cos most of what we buy is for children in England (amongst our family we agreed to only buy for the children and not siblings or siblings other halfs cos it was ridiculous, both are families are huge) so I buy online from UK website cos the postage works out cheaper.
I bought a load of toys for Spencer from a closing down sale most of which was age 3+ so his next birthday is sorted  Have not bought anything for Kyle's yet though, maybe I could wrap up some old toys and trick him -------------
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Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 2:35pm
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We don't have Sky, enough rubbish on the 5 channels we get for free. We have even pay for our power means its a fixed cost each fortnight. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 2:38pm
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We are generally spending about $220-240 for food one week and then between $50-$80 the following week and cycle that. I used to be able to do it for $200 and $50 but I just can't anymore and its buying pretty much the same stuff
We would be no better off if I went back to work.. well not really. I think last time I worked it out it was about $200 a month better off but we decided it wasn't worth it with the huge stress and hastle with work and daycare and looking after the house. |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 2:53pm
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I got offered a part time job but after you take out daycare cost for 2 under 5 & 1 at before & after school care, petrol & it was shift work so I would not be home till after 9pm, it was not worth it I would have $20 extra a fortnight.
i only buy for a few & only the ones we see, I send off the odd chocolate box. I also buy a few toys on special during the year for birthday parties, but keep that to approx $10 |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 2:55pm
| A question to all that bake...is it cheaper? |
Posted By: SMoody
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 3:12pm
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baking for us yes. Perhaps if you compare it directly perhaps now. But here is how I see the savings.
First of all it is an activity the kids join in. So therefore you dont have to buy a toy or go out to a paid entertainment thing so you get that for "free" Second: dont know if this is the same in other households but here if we buy biscuits on special it really doesnt matter how many we buy. They are all finished within a day or 3 days max. So evertime there is a sale we use to buy but it never lasted. However it is effort to bake sometimes and by the time it is done and you smelled everything the kiddies themselves dont even want to eat them all as McKayla keeps on saying we have to save some for tomorrow. So they last a lot longer. And in that sense we eat less bad stuff = better health, cost saving and free entertainment.  ------------- http://lilypie.com">
http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: heaf3
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 3:18pm
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i think baking is only worth it if you bake a couple of things each time and combine it with using the oven for dinner, otherwise the cost of power running the oven probably wouldnt be worth it.
i dont even want to think about how bad our budget has been, we havent really had one! just got our power bill though and was stoked to find it was only $85!! yay! ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Genie
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 3:24pm
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I think baking is worth it but only if you watch what you make, you need a collection of recipes that use basic ingredients, some have such expensive ingredients they aren't worth making.
Also I find that home baking is a lot more filling, you might only eat a couple of pieces of home baking whereas you could eat half a packet of bought biscuits. I often double the recipe and freeze the excess especially with muffins, also sometimes freeze cookie dough after doubling the recipe. -------------
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Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 3:26pm
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I was thinking about making up bulk cookie dough & freezing it so I could make a few batches during the week if using the oven.
My SIL does a pizza in the oven when finished using it for the kids lunch boxes for school now & then. |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 4:32pm
| See I'm the opposite, I don't think its worth it. When we buy packet cookies they last ages in our pantry but if we make a batch of cookies they are gone within a day or two easily. We still do it ocassionally but don't find it worth it. |
Posted By: GuestGuest
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 4:41pm
| I just baked some christmas truffles which included amongst other things two packets of chocolate melts, glace cherries and almond essence. Those ingredients alone cost me $10. It all depends on what you bake but with the way I bake it works out a lot more expensive than buying packet stuff. |
Posted By: Rovic
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 6:42pm
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We have had to be on a pretty tight budget for the last year or so (we have been a bit slack over the last wee while though). A few key things that we do are have pocket money of $40/ftnight each for anything we want (this includes lunches etc), use credit card for all purchases possible and pay it off evey month (then we use the points we get from the spending to buy christmas and birthday presents so that saves a bit) and we budget for takeaways ($20/mth) so that we still have the option to get them but we have to make the choice. We budget for $250 a ftnight for groceries but usually average $150. From the $250 we also put aside $25 ftnight for 1/2 a beast - very cheap way to get meat, even with the freezer we have to run for it. Will have to get back into it in more strictly in the new year so we can ave for when bubs is here and I am on ml. The question we ask ourselves when we are looking at buying something is "How will this help us acheive our goals?". Sounds a bit cheesy, but it does work to make us stop the spontaneous purchases. We did a seminar by an organisation called Wise Money - would recommend it as couldn't budget to save myself before that. (sorry for the novel) ------------- http://alterna-tickers.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 8:55pm
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I am still astounded by people who can shop on $150 a fortnight...or even $250 a fortnight. What do you buy? what dont you buy?
As for $85 for power! WOW!!!!! I think the only way I could get a bill that low would be to move out for the month and not turn anything on. I was excited at our cheap bill...$150 |
Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 9:17pm
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i pay all our bills automatically every month when my husband gets paid... so the phone and power and savings go out automatically. food is probably our biggest expense too, that and gas. ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">
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Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 9:18pm
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Nikki, last night I bought:
Rice milk, flour, porridge, pasta, rice, chickpeas, kidney beans, canned pears, Farex, Baby foods pears, Frozen chips, butter, toilet paper, eggs, rice noodles, rice crackers, sliced almonds, soda water & tuna, spring onions. Extras were cake chocolate, superwines, pegs, baby hair clips. I bought multiples & only spent $142. Probably get it cheaper at countdown but I shop at NW. I have bought a lot of ingredients but not much "food" I don't buy biscuits & occasionally buy chips. We also get our meat in bulk & buy veges at the markets. I really wanted to buy a burger tonight. Purposely left my wallet at home  I also spend the whole day at home too so didn't spend on the kids Saved petrol YAY------------- Kel http://lilypie.com">
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 9:19pm
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Actually thinking about this thread made me leave it at home ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com">
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 9:25pm
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I have been using woolworths online to make a shopping list before we go that way I can see what is on special and work out cheapest ones and also get the total and cull where needed, rather than getting to the checkout and thinking "oh crap, that was more than I thought it would be".
I save the list then print a copy, it's not the best thing to work off but first week we spent $158, last week $174 and this week the total is sitting at $126 but I need to ask DH what he wants to do for xmas day yet so will mostly likely have meat and some treats to add to that. My aim is to shop at $150 with $180 being the max we will spend, is bloody hard though. Oh for the childless double income days when I just threw stuff in the trolley and didn't even look at the prices, barely even noticed when they gave me the total either should have saved some money then, when we had some to save!
I spent petrol but then I drank tea and ate biscuits for free at my friends house -------------
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Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 22 December 2009 at 10:48pm
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yeah and back in those childless double income days things cost a lot less too. How much could we have saved...its scary to think about it isnt it.
We only have 1 supermarket..no competition. WE spend a lot on milk cheese and yoghurt. We go through 6L milk and 700gm of cheese a week plus about 8 pottles of youhgurt...and then there is the olivio...DH would go through one a week...then bread....6 loaves a week! I have looked into easiyo but it actually isnt any cheaper than buying the yoghurt that is on special (which I always do). I also only buy cheese that is on special. I wish I could get DH to use less but he just wont...end of story! |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 23 December 2009 at 7:27am
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How on earth do you go through 6 loaves of bread and that much cheese??
We go through one loaf of bread a week maybe and one of those little square blocks of cheese goes completely moudly before its used up |
Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 23 December 2009 at 8:19am
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DH's lunches mainly. So there is cereal and toast for breakfast followed by about 3 sandwiches at lunch and then he has some more toast when he gets in from work. Both the kids have toast and sandwiches too. I get what I get
Dh is a cheese freak....everyone's sandwiches are cheese based....vegemite and cheese, ham and cheese, salad and cheese. he has cheese on his toast. This is fine except that he cuts the cheese with a knife so gets a huge slice....whereas I would prefer a cheese slice to cut the cheese...or for the kids I use the end of the grater (the one with slices). and then there is the fruit consumption....I have to shop mid week to restock the fruit bowl....bring on stone fruits! at the moment its a bit hard as there are only bananas or oranges...we lived on apples and pears through winter and now we'll shift to stone fruits. |
Posted By: SMoody
Date Posted: 23 December 2009 at 9:00am
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How about slicing all the cheese up so he can just use the slices instead of having to slice it himself. We use to go through a 1k block every 2 weeks with a lot of nighttime meals that had cheese all over the top. Well after this health kick we are now using 1kg every 6 weeks or so. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: IVFGirl1111
Date Posted: 23 December 2009 at 9:07am
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How on earth does everyone survive on under $80 sanity money?
We have budgeted for the new year getting $100 each a week which is just for us - and Im worried how Im going to cope! Lol. Like if I go meet a friend for tea theres $30, then have lunch couple of days theres $25, then the rest just kind of goes! So how much do all you guys get sanity money each week - and what do you spend it on? How do you cut back without having to turn heaps of things down type thing. Help! I really want to do this, but am a bit scared that if I cut it back to like $50 a week then we will go dipping into savings or something. Our plan next year is to save my whole wage - fingers crossed! ------------- TTC 6 years IVF it is IVF/ICSI round one 10 eggs, 8 mature, 3 fertilised BFN IVF/ICSI #2 = 22 eggs! 20 mature, 15 fertilised, 1 fresh transfer and 2 frosties BFN 2 Frosties still in freezer thank god |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 23 December 2009 at 9:14am
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We have about $30 a week sanity money. Its not exact but its what it turns out to be. You don't have to turn things down but you can change what you do. Instead of buying lunch take it with you, going out for dinner, choose a cheaper place or invite friends over for dinner instead.
I'd kill for $100 a week of spare cash! |
Posted By: lizzle
Date Posted: 23 December 2009 at 10:34am
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What about a cheese slicer thing - has wires down the side - that would save money.
Stacey we go through a loaf a day - 2 x 3 sandwiches - 12 slices, then 2 x 2 sandwiches - 8 slices = grand total 20 slices a day during the week |
Posted By: Snappy
Date Posted: 23 December 2009 at 10:50am
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Popcorn has been a money saver for us. Mum bought us a popcorn maker last year and the seeds only cost $1 a bag... We get at least 20 big bowls worth from them. We buy the pams glad bags and pop the popcorn in them for lunches.
I make a banana loaf which lasts two days, as well as a big bag of budget sultanas and make my own muesli bars. If the muesli bars are less than $2 a box I will buy them. We eat porridge for breakfast which is $2 a bag and lasts us the fortnight. We buy the budget $1.30 bread as well. We buy yogurts, apples and bananas and thats lunches for us for the week. I buy the big tresemme shampoo and conditioner for my hair, that lasts ages! |
Posted By: SMoody
Date Posted: 23 December 2009 at 11:03am
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Bread we do not buy any budget stuff. Grant will eat it and eat it and eat it and still not get full. Same with McKayla. We buy the more expensive brands but by about 2 a week and it works out cheaper as well and a bit more healthy.
And $100 a week sanity money? Woa. That is a lot. Grant is the only onIe earning money and he gets $100 a month that he can spent on whatever and even then he sometimes dont even spent it a lot. I dont really have sanity money as such (even though hubby tries to get me to just spent on myself) For me I hate hate paying $30 or so just to go out and have a coffee and a sarmie that I know I can make better at home. I do however go out with kids and hubby now and then and for a real nice meal out can spent up to $150 - $200 and for waffles and all that under $50 but definately not every day of the week. (or even every week for that matter, more like once a month thing) ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 23 December 2009 at 11:57am
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We have $50 each a week but we each buy our petrol out of that. I normally go out to lunch once a fortnight but have started choosing a cheaper option when I go, like getting a savoury scone instead of a full meal. I use to dip into the joint account for extra coffees when so that is stopping cos there will be no extra money in the joint account as we are gonna transfer all excess out at pay day to a non eftpos account.
Booboo, I buy pretty much nothing for myself ever. I only get new clothes for my b-day and xmas (and this year haven't as we couldn't afford it), I can't remember the last time I bought a cd or dvd or anything like that. I don't wear make up or use much cosmetic products at all, except sun lotion. Most of my socialising is done through coffee groups so apart from petrol it only costs me money when it's my turn to host. Dh and me rarely go out, too much hassle to get a babysitter mostly cos we have no family out here so we don't spend any money on dinners out. We get through 2-3 loafs a week and a block of cheese lasts about a month I think. We are getting through heaps more eggs recently with me baking more. Have also started doing my own muesli bars and they last quite a while, not overly convinced it is cheaper than buying them though -------------
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Posted By: Mum2ET
Date Posted: 23 December 2009 at 12:02pm
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DH & I have $50 ea fortnight 'sanity money'. DH's is for lunch (he tries to bring lunch from home ) and any extras. Mine is for me & Ella- I hate paying money to eat out for lunch so normally eat lunch at home. Have also started selling Ella's clothes so trade me so any extra I make from that goes to me as well. Bread- we go through a couple of loaves a week. ------------- Mum to Ella (5) and Tom (2) |
Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 23 December 2009 at 12:30pm
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we have $60 a week sanity money but DH pays some of his life insurance out of his...I need more. we also put $30 a fortnight into a spending account for the kids things.
I find $60 a week tough at the moment as I so desperately need new clothes as mine are all old pre pregnancy work clothes...which I dont where now and preggy clothes which have seen 2 pregnancies and everything in between. I need to dress a bit better so I am trying to use my money for that...and then I have haircuts and waxing to do too. I know waxing is a luxury......but I get seriously hairy bikini and thighs and shaving just ends up in rashes. Haircuts I only do about every 4-5 months....I need to do that more often so I look presentable for work. My hair is NOT low maintenance and it pisses me off. $100 a week would be awesome!!! As for how we survive on less.....kids stop you having too many meals out or lunches. One thing we havent factored in is babysitters. as we have never used them and have this week and sh*t its expensive |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 23 December 2009 at 9:05pm
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Dh gets $75 a fortnight for beer and his cricket . I get maybe $10 if i'm lucky and that goes mostly on dd, music/playgroup etc.
The popcorn is a good idea. We go through 4 loaves of bread a fortnight. And a kilo of cheese , but cheese is my pregnancy craving ,mmmm . We try tobuy budget/homebrand stuff, canned fruit sauce etc. Plus dd is is disposables overnight now so we use th homebrand nappies 50 for $20 and they last all night. Cuppatea we don;t go out at all really, dh parents to old to look after dd and my family aren't here. |
Posted By: minik8e
Date Posted: 23 December 2009 at 9:46pm
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I'm a serial lurker in here....really should join, but yeah...great at procrastination!!
Re. the hairdresser...see if there are any trainee hairdressers around who are looking for clients. I get mine done by a trainee at one of the top local salons, overseen by a national award winning hair stylist, and it costs me nothing. DH has the same. They do a REALLY good job and if anything doesn't quite work, it gets fixed at the end by the stylist. |
Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 24 December 2009 at 8:53am
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We bought a bread maker & we go through a loaf a day now.
I remember reading somewhere with Easiyo that you can make up one packet & then keep yourself a culture that you start your yogurt with each time so you are not buying packets. Pleased to say we have started our Xmas tin I got a heap of change in return yesterday when I met the girls for coffee, it was the first time meeting where we had to pay for coffee, all of $3 but do I put all this change into my tin? ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com">
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: Turtle
Date Posted: 24 December 2009 at 11:07am
| I think I need to join this too. My main problem is the food shopping. We go in to get a couple of things and come out with a trolley load. I am hoping that being home most of next year I will do a much better job of pre-preparing food. We already take our lunches to work as well. At the moment we spend about $120-$150 a week on groceries and that doesn't include fruit and veg which we buy separate, or dog food which we buy at the pet store. That is a huge expense for his food! |
Posted By: IVFGirl1111
Date Posted: 24 December 2009 at 6:35pm
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OK so maybe I just need to pull the rains in a bit then and realise that it IS acheivable!
What do you guys do when you want to go to the movies with a friend, or go get clothes, or get your haircut, eyebrows done etc? Do you then take more out of the account? ------------- TTC 6 years IVF it is IVF/ICSI round one 10 eggs, 8 mature, 3 fertilised BFN IVF/ICSI #2 = 22 eggs! 20 mature, 15 fertilised, 1 fresh transfer and 2 frosties BFN 2 Frosties still in freezer thank god |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 24 December 2009 at 6:57pm
I don't budget for them, I should & will next year. I find when we have extra money it goes on the kids & DH, I go without & always put myself last. So next year will be changing that. Thing I find & reading here I am not the only one, I spend too much on groceries. So need to plan better there. |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 24 December 2009 at 7:24pm
How much does it cost to make a loaf of bread? We used to use our one all the time & to make pizza doh, but have not used it for a while & have forgotten if it is worth it. |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 24 December 2009 at 7:33pm
TBH I haven't been to the movies in a few years. If I wanna watch a movie I buy it on dvd so at least I'm not paying a fortune to watch something only once. Its just as cool to get some goodies and sit down and have a dvd night. All those things all come out of my sanity money. I use to buy clothes all the time but now I don't. I had so many items in my walldrobe that I had only worn once or twice and forgotten about, so really its just wasted money. eta: the only thing that doesn't come outta my sanity money is for bras. Bras in my size are between $70-110 a pop depending on the type and its not something I can do without |
Posted By: Genie
Date Posted: 24 December 2009 at 8:19pm
Errrmmmm geez I don't really do any of those things, now I'm wondering if I should feel ripped off! Ok thats not quite right, I do get my hair cut but probably about twice a year at $28 a pop, and I do buy clothes, just not for much expense, I usually get things at the sallies, or yellow stickered at the warehouse. And now I feel ashamed! I don't think I look like a slob or anything though! And to be honest going without and spending on the kids instead doesn't bother me. -------------
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Posted By: monkey33
Date Posted: 24 December 2009 at 8:55pm
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There are some awesome ideas here!!! I'll definitely be trying some of them out.
I think I have our budget down pat for 2010 (let's see how well we stick to it lol!). I have just finished up work for a year and got about $8500 in annual leave plus we have the PPL payments. I have planned to stretch this out and pay for my petrol, insurance, rego, $30 spending a week for me and mobile phone bill for all of 2010. Will also pay for food for the first 4 or 5 months ($150 a week, but am sure I can get that down). DH to pay rest of bills. Some things that I have planned to help are: Just changed the mortgage to come out the day DH gets paid (used to come half way through the month) & the rest of the bills come out a few days later by AP - so all the bills are paid and DH can manage with what is left (this is going to be a BIG shock for him!), buy takeaways once a fortnight, not once or twice a week like we do now, continue to make DH's lunch 3 times a week (can't do 5 otherwise he gets sick of it!), bake biscuits, make homemade pizzas etc. This year I saved $10 a week into my savings so that by christmas we had $300ish to spend on christmas presents. Needed more, but at least it was a good chunk and I never missed the $10 per week during the year. I'll get DH to save $20 a week in 2010 and will buy bday presents from this account throughout the year. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: SMoody
Date Posted: 24 December 2009 at 9:48pm
Okay movies will be under entertainment, clothes out of the clothes account for everyone. Haircut is what I save out of foodbudget as that all falls under there but Grant keeps on saying I should spent more money on myself. I am not happy with the way I look and therefore dont really spent loads of time in a clothes shop so dont really buy. Next year I want to work on my body as well as my mind and later go and spent some money on clothes for myself. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 24 December 2009 at 10:19pm
I rarely get my hair done, like Genie I maybe get it cut twice a year, no way I can afford the 6-8 melarky that I did pre kids. The last time i had my eyebrows done was last year as part of my b-day present (my b-day is in dec). I don't go to the movies, Dh and me do DVD night though, friends I mostly just meet for coffee and then that comes out of my sanity money. Clothes I normally only buy with b-day or xmas money or if I desperate needed something I would get it with some of DH's overtime money, or put it on the credit card, which with no card now will not be an option next year. This year in total though I have bought 2 bras (breastfeeding ones), an outfit for a wedding, and some cheapo jeans off of trademe. I tend to always choose to buy for the kids instead of myself, probably cos I enjoy shopping for them. -------------
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 24 December 2009 at 10:56pm
I don't do any of those things, I get my hair cut maybe twice a year. If there is spare money it goes on clothes for the kids or I pay extra on bills. All that kind of stuff takes a backseat when you're on one income. I sometimes wish I had more for me but wouldn't change it for the world, zI love staying home with my daughter |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 26 December 2009 at 8:51am
I know how you feel...I have decided to take $20 a week for me & I am going to weight watchers. I like most mums on here never spend money on me it always goes on the kids of DH, so time to invest a bit into me next year, need to feel better & look better & lose weight to keep up with the kids. DH is getting a push bike in Jan that will cut down the cost of petrol & he will not be buying his lunch as he is on a get fit & healthy eating drive also. So no more crap in the house & the kids are just going to have to learn to love fruit & veg more. |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 26 December 2009 at 8:56am
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oh & also I am not going to any sales, the way I see it if I did not need it when it was full price I don't need it now.
To carry on our Frugal 2010 I am going to start a new topic about groceries as that is where a lot of us are having trouble with over spending. |
Posted By: isabel
Date Posted: 26 December 2009 at 8:25pm
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I go to hairdresser about 2 a year.sometimes i go to the hairdressing school, where you can get it for much cheaper. we cut DPs hair at home.
Bake bread and sweet treats at home. we do a lot of budgeting and that way we can quickly see where the money are going. We spent heaps on power so hunted around the companies, switched company, got energy saving light bulbs and always switch stuff of at the wall. Phone companies are the same. We switch to slingshot and it is way cheaper than telecom for homeline, free toll calls, and broadband. trying to get food costs down as our grocery bill should be tiny, considering we get meat from farm. seem to spend it an the basic stuff, we dont buy any sweet treats just the normal, yoghurt,butter, milk,cheese, cereal, pasta, spices, flour. someone was taking about dogfood.a lot of petstores does the buy 5, 6th one free for some brands. other wise buy from farming stores like RD1, wrightsons if you are close to them as you can get 40kg for $65. sorry about the long post.  ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: flakesitchyfeet
Date Posted: 26 December 2009 at 9:30pm
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A friend cuts my hair lol - when it annoys him.
We cope fine on one income, but with another child on the way our family tent is shrinking as the family is growing! And savings could be better too. So I'm in
Edited to add: We have $50 a fortnight ( currently less to pay off our ipods out of our accs) sanity money. We didn't for ages, till we realised how much we both spent on junk food etc. Most of mine goes on craft stuff, thats what I do when he's playing computer games, and generally I make kids stuff anyway. -------------  http://lilypie.com"> |
Posted By: monkey33
Date Posted: 26 December 2009 at 10:38pm
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This has got me motivated Thought I would shop around online for our internet/home line and have found a plan for $20 cheaper a month which includes MySky which we were going to get - so a saving of around $35 per month.
Hmm going to see what else we can shop around for. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 26 December 2009 at 10:40pm
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monkey33, what plan?
We pay $140 approx for ph a mth & $100 for sky a mth |
Posted By: monkey33
Date Posted: 26 December 2009 at 10:48pm
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Sorry I should probably clarify that better as it doesn't include Sky itself, just the MySky part - the plan I looked at is with Vodafone (you need to already be on a basic or better plan).
$90 a month: 20GB data (we currently get 10GB data for $100 and go over every month, therefore paying between $10 & $20 per month), home phone (including directory calls which are usually 50c I think) and MySky (you still need to pay the $10 HD ticket per month, so plan in total is $100 per month including all of the above). The only hook seems to be that you need to sign up for 12 months and you need to pay your whole Sky bill through them but that seems to be okay with us. http://www.vodafone.co.nz/sky-tv/mysky.jsp ------------- http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 26 December 2009 at 11:08pm
TBH I'm not sure. but I don't I'll be paying the equivalent price of the loaf that DH likes!! It's about $1 for the flour & then you have yeast, salt & sugar so not much at all. ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com">
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 26 December 2009 at 11:18pm
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We use 40GB & that costs $80, so all up is $130-140
We have mysky HD & 2nd decoder & movies & sometimes sports. Thinking about changing to tivo. We pay approx $1200-1300 a year for sky ($25-30per wk). We don't go out (only a couple of times a year) or hire movies, so that is entertainment but wish I was not hooked on UKTV, lol. |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 26 December 2009 at 11:20pm
| Aliasmum, I usually spend $4 on the nice grain bread for lunches. |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 27 December 2009 at 6:57am
| We only have the basic plan for sky. No sports no movies. Movies I buy as dvds from my spending money - usually get them on trade me or amazon, very cheap averaging about $10 a movie and at least we get to keep it. |
Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 27 December 2009 at 7:58am
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Yeah we only recently got sky through one of their deals so it was $11 a week for the whole lot, now it's gone up so we have stripped it back to the basic plan and will only pay $33 a month but we only get basic channels. I personally think sky is pretty crap though and we mostly only watch the free channels anyway.
We just downgraded our internet/phone as well, not sure which plan, DH did it, but it's only $90 a month. He looked at how much GB we generally use and got us the lowest plan that still allowed us to use that much. We normally hire DVD's from civic video and we have an entertainment book so use the vouchers from that. Maybe I should look at going to a hairdressers school to have my hair done, I normally pay $80 when I have mine done cos i go to a decent salon, but if there are professionals over seeing the students and putting right for free I would feel ok about that. For people in Christchurch you can buy yearly passes to Orana park and willowbank which costs double the normal entry fee but you get to go all year, well worth it for kiddy entertainment that isn't too expensive and is cheaper the more times you go. -------------
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Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 27 December 2009 at 9:31am
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Good idea about the passes, we buy the zoo one & go a lot in the winter, the kids get to run around, splash in puddles & not many people there.
We got a Motat one also but have not used it as much as don't think the little one enjoy it that much. |
Posted By: Emmecat
Date Posted: 28 December 2009 at 10:58am
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OMG I am TOTALLY gonna joint his thread!! I'm already pretty tight lol but here's what we do already:
My goal this year is to cut back even more by using the car even less and convincing DF to eat less bread, less peanut butter (he goes through nearly a loaf of bread a day! I'm a total anti consumer anyway with a list of companies I don't buy from so shouldn't be too hard lol Keep the tips coming though guys...so awesome to hear other peoples ideas
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Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 28 December 2009 at 12:29pm
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Emmecat have you thought about a mooncup? I think I'm gonna get one, although I'm not sure it will cope with my flo (tmi!)
We have a huge vege patch with no veges in it cos we need to dog proof it first and have run out of money to do that. -------------
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Posted By: palomino
Date Posted: 28 December 2009 at 12:32pm
| Yea part of me really likes the idea of a mooncup, but i just dont know about the umm 'logistics' of it. |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 28 December 2009 at 7:41pm
| mooncup, I have heard of them how do they work? |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 28 December 2009 at 7:51pm
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They are a "cup" that you use instead of a tampon which collects all the blood products and you tip it out down the toilet.
I used one for a few months but gave it up. It takes practice to get the positioning right so you can have some leakage as you are getting use to that. But I found it gross lol I didn't care about the tipping out part it was cleaning it that I found nasty and I'm not overly squeamish either. But some people love them. |
Posted By: SMoody
Date Posted: 29 December 2009 at 8:52am
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I have one and find it a bit awkward but I know I must just get it right. And that is one of the things I am going to do. Not really for the saving money part (which is a bonus) but for environment wise (and yip doesnt make total sense as I use disposables for nappies. ) ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 29 December 2009 at 4:19pm
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One thing that has saved me lots of money is joining the local toy library. Cooper has had lots of different toys this year & I haven't had to buy and store them, just rotate them every three weeks I have a leapfrog table for the holidays
Yeah Jazzy, bread was expensive as DH would go through 2 of the expensive loaves a week just by himself! ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com">
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 29 December 2009 at 4:21pm
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Also we've planned two holidays this year. One for DH & I & the other for the family. I'm saving for the Oz trip by selling stuff on Trademe & also a small savings amount.
So we are having 2 bigger hols rather than shorter trips around. ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com">
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |