Making Ends Meet – Emergency Action

6 Comments

Posted on December 9, 2013

As I mentioned in my previous post, these are the things that you can do immediately that will make a difference.

1 Eat from what you already have

We have all heard the cry, “But there is nothing to eat!” If you are living in a developed country it is very, very unlikely that this is the case. In fact many of us do the grocery shopping out of habit as much as for the real need of buying food. The other thing to consider is that in the UK, USA and Australia research shows that somewhere between 20 and 40% of all food is wasted. Imagine buying 5 bags of groceries and throwing 1-2 bags full straight in the bin. It sounds ridiculous but that is essentially what is happening.

The first step is to make an inventory of what you have – in the refrigerator, freezer and pantry. Then plan as many meals and snacks as possible from what you have. Trawl around the internet and you will find literally hundreds of sites offering ways to create meals from limited ingredients.

2 Stay away from the shops

If you are not there you cannot spend money. It is simple really. Shopping is not entertainment.

3 Curtail your car usage.

Walk or cycle everywhere that you possibly can.

4 Minimise your heating costs

Wear more clothes at home. Put a beanie on. It may not look glamorous but a disproportionate amount is lost through your head.

Do all of these things for 2 weeks and you have immediately saved the equivalent of what you would normally spend on:

Food
Incidental purchases
Fuel
Heating

Try it and see how you go.

If you would like to send me a list of what is in your freezer, refrigerator and pantry right now I will do a menu plan for a week (at least) and use it as the basis of an upcoming post. Just let me know the number in the family and ages of children. You can email me at the address in the ‘About Me’ tab at the top of the page.

Making Ends Meet – Expenses

2 Comments

Posted on December 8, 2013

We all have different expenses and priorities but I will try to cover them all using some broad categories. Not all categories apply to everyone and please add any of your own. Please feel free to let me know what I have omitted.

The necessities are really shelter, nourishment and clothing. There are lots of other things that we see as essential in Western cultures but if we strip it all back these are the bare necessities so we will start with them first.

Mortgage repayments or rent
Food
Clothes

Other ‘essentials’

Debt repayments
Transport costs – car and/or public transport
Utilities – water, electricity, gas
Communications – telephone, internet
Heating, cooling
Education costs
Health – including health insurance
Other insurances – house, car, life

The first thing you need to do is to know how much you are spending in each of these categories at the moment. Some, like rent or mortgage payments will be easy as it is a set amount. Decide on a timeframe such as weekly, fortnightly or monthly and then work out how much you are spending in each category for the specific timeframe. I would recommend weekly or fortnightly, however, monthly is an option if you are paid or receive benefits as your major income source on a monthly basis.

Now, you need to add up what you are spending on the essentials and what income you have. Is you income enough to cover your essentials? If not, you will need to work out how you can cover the shortfall. Increase income? Reduce costs? Even if you have calculated that you have enough income to cover the essentials, now is not the time to be feeling smug. Remember, there is no allowance here for gifts, treats, outings, birthdays, Christmas, haircuts, coffee, snacks or eating out. If you think this sounds extreme, it is, but it can be done.

Read this link from Frugal Queen’s blog. http://www.frugalqueen.co.uk/p/our-story.html I began reading this blog about 3 years ago and it is absolutely inspirational. Froogs pulls no punches about what has to be done to improve your financial situation but she leads by example and we would all do well to follow her lead. Once you have read the previous link, I would strongly suggest that you take the time and read the blog from the very beginning. You will not do it all in one sitting but you will start to see that by taking some fairly drastic action you will see the light at the end of the tunnel. Some things will be relevant and others will not but the message is clear – take responsibility for your own financial position and do something about it now! Cut your spending to the bone. There is no use mincing around the edges and wailing that you can’t do it. You can and you must.

Tomorrow I will cover what I refer to as ‘Emergency Action’. These are things that you can do right here and now that will make an immediate difference. You will not necessarily be able to continue such drastic measures long-term but it will help to kickstart your journey to balance the budget.

Making Ends Meet – Be Honest

Making Ends Meet

4 Comments

Posted on December 5, 2013

The Duke and I have begun planning and booking for an overseas trip in August 2014. It has been a considered financial decision for which we have budgeted. This is in addition to our day-to-day household budget, debt repayments (mortgage and personal loan) and savings (superannuation).

On the face of it, everything looks pretty rosy financially at the moment which is in stark contrast to some other stages of our lives. But everything could change in a blink if one or both of us were to be made redundant from our jobs. We do not really expect that to happen but nothing is 100% certain. We just have to make the best of what we have at the moment.

As I mentioned earlier, there have been times when making ends meet has seemed almost impossible. Unfortunately, there are many people in this situation. I read their stories every day in newspapers, online and in magazines. I see it being played out in cities and small communities all over the world. Sometimes it can be a problem of long-standing (spanning generations) or may be a small blip on the radar due to a temporary change in circumstance.

Whatever the reason, there is a problem when expenses exceed income.

I deliberately left that line by itself because that is the crux of the matter. Read it again. When expenses exceed income. It does not matter what way you dress it up, if you spend more than you earn you will have a problem. One day the credit card will reach its limit, you will not be able to get more credit and the house of cards will come tumbling down.

Enough of the problem. We are looking for solutions. There is no magic bullet and this is going to be hard work. I plan to write a series of posts over the coming days to focus on each of the following points in more detail. If you have personal experience, suggestions or comments please leave them here or you can email me directly at the email address in the ‘About Me’ tab at the top of the page.

1 Be honest

2 Create a list of expenses

3 Sort essentials from non-essentials

4 Make a plan

5 Accommodation

6 Food

7 Utilities

There will be other topics and the structure may change as the comments unfold. However, the purpose of this will remain. It is designed to share collective wisdom from all sources in order to help and support each other.

I look forward to hearing your stories and tips, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. What are the little things you do every day that save you money? Remember, this may make the difference to someone else’s life.

Until tomorrow.

Now We Are Six

Now We Are Six – A.A. Milne

When I was one I had just begun
When I was two I was nearly new

When I was three I was hardly me
When I was four I was not much more

When I was five I was just alive
But now I am six, I’m as clever as clever;

So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Downsizing the Drawers

6 Comments

Posted on December 2, 2013

Last week I showed you some of our furniture restoration projects. Like everything we do they did not come to fruition quickly. In fact, The Duke found the receipt for the new hardware for the drawers which was dated May 2012!!

The drawers are finally finished (apart from the mirror) and have been moved into our bedroom.

This is what they have replaced.

The first step was to remove the contents from the existing chest of drawers.
As per any good decluttering guide, the first step is to remove everything from its existing location. Even though it was completely necessary to do it in this instance,it is certainly sobering to see the entire contents piled on the floor. I was amazed at the things that I ‘found’ that had not been worn for some time. After carefully sorting the items I managed to toss 2 pairs of socks and an old t-shirt. There probably should have been more but it is a case of small steps.

I also removed the drawer liners and cut the pieces to size to re-use in the new drawers.

It took a bit of judicious re-arranging but the clothes all fitted in. This was mainly because the drawers in the new dressing table are somewhat deeper than in the previous chest of drawers even though there are less drawers.

This is my new dressing table/clothes storage which is silky oak timber. The silky oak tree is native to the local area in which we live. We bought this about 2 years ago and The Duke stripped all of the paint from it, sanded and stained the piece of furniture. All of the drawer handles are new reproductions of a style similar to what would have been on the drawers originally. All that is left to do is to get a new mirror cut and place in the oval frame which will be suspended between the 2 timber uprights that you can see in the photo. We are taking the old mirror to town tomorrow to get it done.

I am really pleased with how this has turned out. There is a huge degree of satisfaction in restoring old pieces of furniture and bringing them back to life.