I promised to share some tips from my house owner friends told me:
Number 1 tip was ‘how to know you are ready to consider a home loan’?!
A) You are able to pay your
regular utility and rental bills.
B) You are able to
pay for groceries and other essentials.
C) You are able to pay for
A) and B) and still put aside some savings on a regular basis (no matter how
small).
My personal experience of saving is that it is all about ‘being
mindful’ (as my friend studying psychology would say), more than restriction
(like a diet).
My last post sounded like we live as paupers with garbage for furniture
and clothes. That is far from the truth,
we have very nice furniture, mostly new clothes and a good life in general and do not
miss out at all.
We also do have fluid funds available to buy gifts and meet other social
obligations when we want!
However, Too much of anything is bad for anyone… so you cannot live too
much in the future, or the past because ultimately we live in the ‘here and
now’, the present. However, too much present
is also not good just because you never know your own future. ‘Moderation is key’ as they say!
So my own savings plan means that I allow my kids and family to enjoy
life and not be too restricted but at the same time putting something away
every week (just in case)!
What do I mean exactly? I am
more organised and boring in general LOL..
Not that the rest of the family may realise… We still go on family holidays, but I book
them many months in advance to take advantage of discounts and also the opportunity
to pay them off over many months in advance (like lay-by).
Camping holidays are a good option for families (kids love tents!), as
are beach camping ground cabins and youth hostels (yes, we have used all of
these as a family!). Driving yourself instead of catching a plane, or train, or hiring a car also saves money but requires extra planning.
The kids still have many after school activities and the chance to try
new things…. My kids still have birthday
parties and all the other usual celebrations during the year, they do not miss
out.
However, I choose for them to go to the community centre for gymnastics
because it costs $10 / 2 hours, instead of a more expensive option. And they are in Cubs, another $10/ weekly
session activity. We also attend the
free Salvation Army Hip Hop dance classes, open to everyone. The Cub camps are also cheap and heaps of
fun! We are also lucky to live in
Ipswich because they have a fantastic school holiday free and fun program. This means that the kids can try lots of
different types of sports programs and enjoy art and literature and theatre
during the school holidays, all for free, you just have to book online in
advance!
You also need the support of family...
My Parents give their Grandchildren clothes for birthdays and every
other occasion. This saves our immediate
family thousands of $ every year and is no small gift. You could also suggest your extended family/
friends offer to pay for activity fees (like 1 term of swimming lessons)
instead of buying toys, or even buy school year necessities, or art and craft
supplies (kids really are happy with any gift!). Toys are important for kids but there is a cut-off
point where they just become excessive.
Another simple way to save is to substitute name brands for generic
brands (food, medicine, cosmetics). I do
buy name brands for some products where I really love the taste, or the quality
etc. However, I substitute for the
cheaper brand whenever I can! Quality
can sometimes make up for initial cost, especially over time… If it lasts and
still works after several years for example.
However, generic name medicines and some food products (like diced
tomatoes) really do not matter. This you learn through experience because the
retail market is constantly changing.
Before I had kids, I was able to stick to a strict grocery shopping
budget. In a perfect World (post kids) I
would write a list of what meals we are going to eat for the week and a
corresponding grocery list and I would buy only what is on the list. That would definitely save money and stop
impulse purchases. That is just to hard
with the kids in tow (ain’t happening!) but, I do try to make a basic list in
my mind of weekly meals and then shop at cheaper supermarkets like Aldi first
before I buy the extra groceries at the more expensive Woolworths and Coles
supermarkets etc. I also find that if
you also shop at fruit shops and butchers, you can get great deals on meat and
fruit/ veges. I have friends who buy
online so that in theory would stop impulse buying.
The best savings plan I can share though is ‘Direct Debit’!!!! I decide in advance what I need to pay and
when and I program this via online banking.
I organise with the electricity and phone companies to pay bills in
instalments without penalty whenever possible.
I also direct debit our weekly savings.
Then every week, I wait 1 day after we get paid for the week/ or
fortnight for all these debits to come out of our bank and then the leftover is
our ‘fun money’ LOL… Well not all fun
really, ‘the worker’ in our family lives on a weekly allowance for normal
weekly expenses and then whatever is left again after that is ‘grocery’ money
and it dictates how much we have for food and fuel.
We also restrict out family outings so we go to free venues like parks
and community events whenever possible.
We also wait and rent recent release movies, instead of going to the
cinema. A trip to the cinema for 2
adults and 3 kids can end up costing $60 plus popcorn etc. but renting a new
release for the family is less than $7.
We also buy junk food and go to Maccas for a family meal instead of
eating out… We will do the real deal,
family trip to the movies or date to a real restaurant maybe once or twice a
year only! We do not subscribe to Foxtel
etc. although I do try to be open to long term packages and plans.
That is savings, it is not pretty or glamorous but it gets results and worked for us J I will get into the nitty gritty of ‘how to
prepare yourself for a home loan’ next post!
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