Happy New Financial Year

I don't know that my bank balance would agree with the title here but it is the new financial year and I am bound and determined to make it a happy one financially and in general too. I overhauled our budget a month or so back and things have certainly improved for us. I went from a rather laissez-faire system (that would be no system at all)  to using the tried and true envelope type of system.

 

It is all relative though. When I look at our situation, it is actually rather good and we are grateful for what we have and how we live.

 

a calendula which has nothing to do with finances.

 Our bills are mostly paid by direct debit or I write cheques and so our cash needs are down to four  envelopes plus our pocket money.

Petrol: $60 per week
Pocket Money: $20 per week
Chook food: $10 per week (I think I need to tweak this amount a little)
Tim's work 'syndo': $4 (this is for tea, coffee, milk etc)
Groceries: $150/ week

So far, it is working for us. I'm not sure how the $150 per week for groceries will stand up with Tom at home but I'll try.

I have found that it is easier than I thought it would be and apart from the chook food and 'syndo', there is generally some leftover lolly in the envelopes each week. We had become too accustomed to just going to the ATM and taking out more cash whenever we wanted. Certainly having only $10 pocket money each for the week makes you think twice before you buy a cappuccino.

Menu planning is also key. Without it the system wouldn't work for us at all.

Snow peas which also have nothing to do with finances

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Our other costs are fairly well fixed and I think we have the best deals we can for phone, insurance, electricity etc. But I'll keep working on it.

Last month I took a big step and gave up my terrible(and embarrassing) addiction to cola. And this month I am adding chocolate to my banned substance list. I'm not sure how easy that will be but my body can only be better for it I'm sure.

Tracy

Hotch Potch it is then

Well thank you to everyone who left me comments on the last post. I think the general concensus was that hotch-potch posting is the go. I won't argue with that. My life in general and each day in particular is made up of so many roles and different activities and I think that is refelcted here. Maybe I should call it eclectic, sounds much fancier.

 



 

 I offered these two boys for sale last week and I am happy to say they are SOLD. Rams that can't be used for their only real purpose, breeding, are quite useless on the farm but I don't sell them until I see what their conformation is like. These two are pretty quite good Suffolk rams but would not win any shows. One of them is heading off to Sydney tomorrow and the other will only be about 120km from here. Both properties are only small holders so rams which are used to human contact as these are will be ideal.

 

I am having a little more trouble selling ducks. I have had a bit of interest but no definite takers as yet. Having photo-bombing roosters in the very average pictures they let me take doesn't help either. I actually don't mind if they all stay (as long as there are no drakes in the mix). The only drawback is ducks eat like every meal is their last.

 

And as usual for this time of the year, I have been spending time looking at our finances. On paper things balance up ...just. So I am going to try to be more frugal in my ways and I will try to share that here. My first step, is writing down all of our spending. I think this helps because if you know you have to write it down then you be a little more accountable.

 

Have a great weekend,

tracy

New financial year resolutions.

Save! Save! Save!

Cutting expenses where practicable.

Focus on growing more of our own food.

Tightening the belt another notch.

And maybe even make a little extra cash along the way.

Frugal by necessity.

Every so often I go over our budget to make sure things are working as they should. I like numbers and lists so I don't mind it a bit. I have never been a spendthrift which has been a blessing to our family. As soon as I had a job after university, I saved and saved. I didn't even take a holiday for the first few years of my working life. Thankfully I loved my job so it was no hardship. Back in those days, I was frugal by choice. Nowadays we live a frugal lifestyle by necessity. I am trying ever so hard to put a stop to any small leaks which might sink our ship.

I have been having a look at the thrifty tips  that Kate has been blogging about this month and consequently thinking about money saving ideas. I think most people can relate to having to economize especially in the current financial environment. I have cut out unnecessary spending (obviously not completely, I still have Internet at home) and we do our best to reduce our costs. I menu plan right down to what I will be baking for the week, turn off appliances at the  switch. There truly is a limit to how low expenses can go though. Council rates need to be paid, utilities, insurance for cars, home and farm, animals need to be cared for. The only item on our budget that is a non-essential (besides the Internet) is gift giving and that has been reduced too. Hanging out on a farm all day doesn't require a high-end wardrobe and thankfully our tastes are fairly simple. Last years "town" clothes become this years farm clothes.

From experience I have found that it is good to have a specific goal in mind if you are saving. Throughout our marriage we have just been saving for the future without any real aim in mind. It was a good thing, it gave us the opportunity to set our son up in the city for his studies.Which is good for him now, the girls too if they decide to move to Sydney too for study or just to live. Now however I am thinking about saving with a more concrete goal in mind for mine and Tim's future. At the moment the savings dream is just that and the goal is going to have to be reached slowly but it will be worth the effort I'm sure. I'm saving only cents at a time, not big bucks but I am motivated.

Now that was serious and I would like to talk a bit more about frugallity a bit more some other time. Right now though, I have chores and must sign off.

Before signing off though here is the photo for June 11th. Topic: Door. This is a little cupboard that hangs in my dining room and the door is more interesting than my front door. I painted it a few years back when I was going through a folk art phase. I still have all of the paints but just not the inclination to use them (Grace and Hope use them so they aren't going to waste).
Tracy

Tidying Up

Making soap and tidying up our budget has been on the agenda. I actually made the soap two days ago but I am just getting around to cutting it into individual cakes. I just used a basic recipe which are available in books and all over the internet but added ground coffee after it reached the trace stage. It makes the soap a little more exfoliating and was a good way to use some caffeinated coffee I had which I can't drink.Nobody wants to be around me when I have had caffeine, I am no fun.

The budget tables don't look as good as the soap. We are making some real cut backs. Grace will no longer be taking music lessons. I hope that in the near future we can return her to her tuition but at the moment the costs of over $100 per week just for the lessons is not feasibe or sustainable. It is unfortunate because she is quite advanced and should be sitting an exam in August but it just can't be helped right now. I  feel awful about this.

Anyway, things will look better tomorrow I'm sure.
Tracy

Making Cut Backs

Sending our son off to university is forcing a few cut backs in our household. Perhaps cut backs is the wrong term, we are just having to be a lot more careful with our finances. We are not struggling but at the moment at least until things find their groove, every dollar needs to be accounted for. This is not a bad thing really, it will mean that there can't be any waste or frivilous spending. We aren't by nature big spenders but those little purchases that no one pays much mind to like a cup of coffee when out in town sure do add up. We are going back to an envelope system for managing our cash at the moment to see how that works. It has been successful in the past so hopefully it will work now and trial and more importantly error won't be necessary.


So now will be the perfect time for us to really enjoy the things we have which don't cost us a cent.

Self sown cosmos are free. I know that I have vowed to remove all of the cosmos as they pop up but really I am soft-hearted and just can't resist allowing a few to grow and bloom.

Tansy

The herb garden is well and truly established and provides something for our plate most days. Our initial outlay wasn't too costly and now we are at the stage where we can just divide plants if any bare spots arise. I love herbs and my herb garden in particular.





Elderflowers are a bit hip right now, I have even seen cordials in the supermarket. I have made the cordial before and I think I will make another batch with this crop of flowers. It is quite an understated flower and the cordial has a sweetness and delicate floral flavour that isn't overpowering.

We have been harvesting sunflower seeds as we garden, just removing the husk and eating. I probably should pick this huge flower head soon because I have learnt from experience that sunflowers can be there one day and gone the next thanks to the local birds.

Today I have been spending a bit of time outdoors. Although tonight our main meal is going to be an Asian style stir fry with chicken, garlic, tomatoes and zucchini, I have already decided that tomorrow we will be having some of this parsley. The parsley covers almost the whole bed so I will cut it back a bit and make a taboulli style salad as part of tomorrow nights meal.

Heres to happy frugal living.

Tracy

Out the back

I just had to share a picture from the back verandah I took today. The weather today is just glorious with the valley looking lush, not a cloud in the sky and the mountains a haze of green. I'm very glad to be here today and everyday really. It might not be everyone's cup of tea but it is just right for me and mine.

I am currently overhauling our budget to accommodate Tom's upkeep in Sydney. Trying to tweek the numbers only to find that there are not many areas in the expenditure column that can be tweeked.He will contribute too, hopefully transferring his part-time position to a store in Sydney. His main focus of course has to be his studies and I am very much looking forward to having a vet in the family. It will all work out though. I do like saving a dollar or two and the next few years will be a challenge that I think I will enjoy. When we moved here 13 years ago, we paid cash for our property which left us with a grand sum of $50 in our bank until pay day. it might not have been the wisest move but thankfully no emergency came up then and we have enjoyed being debt free since. Now we are ready to head back into the real estate market and have a mortgage again( which we will try to pay off as quickly as possible). I truly like the idea of having another property as an investment for the future but I'm not too keen on the househunting itself.

Tracy