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Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Weekly budget Time..




Our Weekly Budget

Last night saw our ( Australian )  budget read out in Parliament. It seems to benefit Families with young children, the unemployed all peoples on a pension. It also seems to come down heavy on business's and it seems to be of little or no benefit to us. So we are plodding along as per usual.

It seems my MIL must have overheard some of the money arguement The Foxx and I had on Monday as today she informed me that she was going to pay for all of this weeks Grocery bill. Was I pleased not in the slightest, in fact I am determined this is just not going to happen. Unfortunately  like The Foxx I have my pride as well. I also don't like eavesdroppers.
I know after reading this back that it sounds petty, but if you knew my Hubbies family and the way they like to stab that knife between your shoulder blades then you would understand why. We would be the couple who took Mum into our house just for her pension. It would make no difference that she lived with us for ten years before she became eligible for this pension. So with pride intact we are saying NO to her handouts.

This Weeks Budget

Rent        $740 (2 weeks private rental )
Gardener $40 ( this is for our large backyard to get mowed )
Telstra     $200 ( phone, internet, foxtel package )
Food        $100
C/C          $500

These were our main outlays this week from The Fox's fortnightly wage the rest of his wage we left in our savings account for whatever may crop up this fortnight, at the end of the fortnight this will be saved towards our holiday.
Nothing unusual about those amounts, we are up to date with all accounts except Telstra The Fox has been chasing then since the beginning of the year as a couple of our payments went missing and he refused to put any more money into paying our account incase it was being paid into the wrong account, after 4 months of fighting with them they found the payments and our bill went from $1,118.33 right down to $451.33 so with this payment we now owe $251.33 due in 2 weeks time. By which time our next account should be in, never ends does it ???
The backyard being mowed is a must for us if we want to enjoy a lovely garden, The Foxx's heart condition and his Leukemia make the job impossible for him, so this is an indulgence for us..
Our C/C now sits with a balance owing of $1,500 we intend to pay it off over the next couple of months and then just sit with the balance, waiting on an emergency cropping up. The eternal Pessimist, we should probably close this card down but with me no longer working I agree with hubby that we should keep it just in case.

It is Mother's Day on Sunday so I am off to try and find a suitable present and card for my Mother, nearer the end of the week it will be time to find a little something for MIL, I have enough left from last week to manage all this without touching the C/C so yippeeee.

5 comments:

  1. Maureen, perhaps you should take some help from your MIL? Maybe her share of the food?

    Great job on the cc paydown. Slow and steady..and you'll be debtfree before you know it!!

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  2. Sharon she already puts $50 a week towards our food bill and has done since day one. She has always had a pension she brought it our with her from Scotland, but it has'nt changed in 10 years and what with a stronger aussie dollar she was losing money on the exchange rate as well. She now receives an Australian aged pension and is now managing very nicely, however our circumstances have altered and this is where the problems are arising....

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  3. That's a rare thing these days, to have older relatives living with you and caring for them and providing for them. I just think that what you are doing is wonderful...though definitely NOT without its challenges!! - Fiona

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    Replies
    1. Fiona after 10 years it now seems quite natural for us to be living together and I am sure it would work if the rest of her family would help out a bit, not financially, but just by giving us the opportunity to spend some time on our own.
      I am sure that when your kids grow up and fly the nest you will enjoy just having time for yourselves again, well in my cicumstances that does'nt happen and for me that is where most of the problems lie.

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  4. Are you not able to leave MIL alone for a day or two? It does sound like the Foxx and you could use some time for yourselves once in a while. Is that what the holiday savings are for??

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