I thought I would update after almost a year,I have a new budget after going to see budget advice in August last year and thigns have just gottenbetter and better.I now have $150. for food weekly and its great.I also have a few accounts with set amounts going in every week.Last week the car broke down but I had money aside to pay for it to get fixed.Ieven managed to register my car for 6 months not 3.I am proud of myself.I also got rid of my more expensive car :)
elliehen,
Mar 29, 7:31pm
Sounds good fatboy6.If your phone bill ever takes you by surprise, Telecom will give an extension by phone (just an automated voice) if you call before the due date. I think it's either 10 days or two weeks.
duckmoon,
Mar 29, 7:59pm
Stop using cards and start using cash. Then if you don't have it, you can't spend it
trah,
Mar 29, 8:02pm
Oh well done fatboy6!It's sogood to hear success stories!
vrx2evo,
Mar 29, 8:16pm
The only way we could get out of debt was following a book I read. You have an account for everything!
We have "income, bills ( which we added up a years worth, then divided into our pay scale ( weekly) then each week that amount gets transferred into bills), house ( maintenance), school, Kids birthdays, Christmas, personal saving, family savings, car and pet.
Then each week we transfer X amount into each account ( after working out an average yearly need)
This is hard to do at the beginning. But 3 years down and we are so better off for it.
daleaway,
Mar 29, 9:10pm
Good on you for seeking independent budget advice, and VERY good on you for actually taking it! Best of luck for your future savings.
medicina,
Mar 29, 9:18pm
Well done!Knowing what you really NEED is key.Some things are nice to have but not really essential to life. I'm glad you have your priorities sorted.
lythande1,
Mar 29, 9:48pm
Then you don't have a budget. A budget should include everything - car costs, drs (roughly) etc. You work out what you will need in the coming year and keep it aside.
fatboy6,
Mar 29, 10:24pm
I do just that now.I take out what I need for the week and don't touch the account again:)I have got a good grip of budgeting now.
elliehen,
Mar 29, 11:06pm
And while some people seem to despise loyalty cards, like Flybuys, I have found mine to be very useful when it comes time to buy gifts for people.The points collected by your normal shopping are like money in the bank.
charlieb2,
Mar 30, 1:28am
Well done fatboy6, sounds like a big turnaround for you.You can be very proud of yourself
fatboy6,
Mar 30, 2:18am
I am proud, my freezer and fridge are full.My pantry looks good,I have gas money and it's a great feeling controlling money and not the other way round.
punkinthefirst,
Mar 30, 2:35am
Well done fatboy. It's great not to have to worry about money, isn't it!.and gives you a chance to get out there and enjoy life!
uli,
Mar 30, 3:20am
Wow - where do you live motorbo! I haven't seen 1 or 2 "dolla" notes since decades in NZ!
shop-a-holic,
Mar 30, 3:31am
By the time you found this thread, which may have started years ago.we did have $1 and $2 notes. LOL. *pokes you*
Still, it's great to see you bump another thread which is irrelevant to the forum.
uli,
Mar 30, 5:07pm
Why start new threads all the time when we have perfectly lovely older threads already :)
elliehen,
Mar 30, 5:17pm
Because your idea of "lovely" is unique to you, and you often revive a thread just to be contentious or revive a thread which is already contentious!
Be honest with yourself. On the one hand you castigate people for eating sugar and rave about the poison in Health & Beauty.Then you come back to Recipes and bump a sugar-laden thread like the Easter Egg one!
uli,
Mar 30, 7:02pm
Oh - I have just seen a recipe of a pudding stuffed with creme eggs - shall I post it!
And what has all this to do with budgets ellie! Again you are not sticking to the topic. Give us some advice on how to stick to a budget!
elliehen,
Mar 31, 12:04am
Unlike you, I don't think of myself as the fount of all knowledge.I've posted further up in the thread, but I won't be banging on just to hear my own voice ;-)
fatboy6,
Jun 9, 3:45am
I have a budget and am finding it hard to stick to it,
Things like dr's, car rego, warrants or something else turns up or fire wood grr.I am hopeless and the kids need me to be better PS they don't go without the things they need
motorbo,
Jun 9, 3:47am
save all change! one and two dolla notes mount up.savings account.every pay day make sure its auto payment or christmas club start small and build up
fatboy6,
Jun 9, 3:54am
I have a couple of savings account one for christmas and one for unexpected and there just seems to be lots of unexpected things at the moment grrr
sarahb5,
Jun 9, 3:58am
Take your time and really, really study your bank statements - write down all the outgoings and all the income - it's quite scary when you see it is black and white just how much money goes "missing" on nothing much.If you have to stick to a weekly budget then sometimes it's easier to do it on a cash basis - take all the budgetted amount out of the bank on pay day and then hide your eftpos card so you literally can't spend anything else.It's far easier to overspend on an eftpos card than it is with cold, hard cash in your wallet
fatboyswife,
Jun 9, 4:05am
Sarahb has good advice!
When my ex and I split a few years back, there were a LOT of financial issues - he went bankrupt and I chose not to.I went to the stationery shop and bought an accounting book which I call my budget book LOL
I have listed EVERYTHING down the left side, all my outgoings that I can think of, and then at the bottom, all of the incomings. I tick each item off every week as I pay it online.I find it really interesting looking back (as I started it about a year ago!) and I can see what I was paying, and how far I've come. You have to allow for spare, and in the budget as a bill, we have savings.It MUST be paid, just like any other bill.You can't live week to week and never put anything aside - I found it just too scary.
fatboy6,
Jun 9, 4:15am
The cash is a good idea.Maybe I will give that a go.I know I can do better but I have so many things coming up in the next month. Birthday,Warrant, rego, Concert tickets and also I need to get fire wood it just doesn't stop.
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