Bye July

According to my clock it,s only a little over 3 hours until I start my No Spend August, I think I cheated a little bit by buying more groceries today than I usually buy, there were two reasons for this and one was I wanted to put some extra staples into the pantry as I don,t ever overstock so I knew what I had in there was not going to see me through until September. The second reason was that the least often I go to the shops the less opportunity there is for buying anything, so there is method in my madness. This way I spent an extra $40.00 on staples but I am going to benefit by saving on petrol and cups of coffee. Roll on tomorrow, I can,t wait to get started

I,m Totally Confused

 

Before I rabbit on about finances I need some help, I am following some great blogs, and a few of them are on my blog page down the right hand side, but after setting that up I can no longer remember how I got them there, and I have added many more to my favourites, can anyone out there with more computer savvy than me tell me how I get them from my dashboard to my blog, many thanks.


Today was my last July pay day, and I have already put aside my $300 to get me through August. Tomorrow I will do a grocery shop put fuel in my car and have my last coffee out, then it,s all hands on board for no spend month.
I have warned absolutely everyone from family and friends to neighbours and workmates, although it now looks like September before I return to work. So everyone is now waiting for me to fall at the first hurdle and that aint gonna happen. I will post daily and count down the days and my money, wish me luck.

Almost in August / July,s achievements

 


July was not the best Month in terms of actual savings, but it was a really good month in terms of goals set.

I wanted to give my Daughter the money I promised her towards her Wedding DONE

I wanted to clear all my bills DONE

I wanted to organise myself for my no spend August DONE

So now with only a couple of days left in July I,m sitting back and waiting to start my no spend month, the no spend month does not include my monthly bills these obviously still have to be met. I am going to use all money saved towards the Wedding and my housefull of guests at that time.
During the month of August I will still have to pay.

Landline/cabletv/internet package $200.00ish
Mobile $30.00
Debts $50.00 ( payments in place )
Everything else $300.00

Incomings $2,160.
Outgoings $600.00ish
Towards Wedding $1,560ish

I don,t like the ish,s but all Interstate or overseas call made are charged over and above my plan sometimes it can make as much as $30.00 of a difference. As long as I clear the $1,500 I will be a happy girl. Wish me luck.

Countdown to no spend August

 


It,s 8.55pm on the 28th of July here in Australia, and that means only 3 days left until my no spend August kicks in. So today I went through what needs to be paid during the month, I,ve also checked through my cupboards, freezer, fridge, pantry even through my wardrobe. And as far as I can see I,m all set to go.

I,m definitely going to be wanting some cheap and cheerful recipes to help me through, just don,t forget it,s Winter over here, so some foods may not be in season, but my pantry is quite well stocked, so I should make it through.

I am going to try and get through August with only $300. this is going to cover food, petrol, and entertainment I will be buying nothing else. As I am still not back at work and probably won,t be for the full month, my petrol costs will be low, and I won,t need packed lunches, those are the pluses the minuses are because I am home just now everyone feels sorry for me and I am fighting off all the invitations to meet for lunch/coffee/dinner but I,ll be honest and tell friends and family why I,m not going to be joining them, maybe they will be happy to come round here for coffee and some inexpensive home made biscuits ( recipes please )

I decide to up my monthly amount to $300 as I have to cater for a Diabetic MIL and a Hubby who has a heart condition as well as Leukemia, which fortunately is in remission, but there are certain foods and supplements he just can,t be without.

There are two of us bloggers doing this so we will be supporting each other, thanks JPKittie, who else wants to join us ???

At Last Husbands On Board

 

I can,t believe it,s finally happened, after a disasterous weekend in which Hubby managed to end up with nothing in his wallet, he has decided to start budgeting and saving, the downside is that,s it,s still going to be him and me, but every journey starts with a single step and this is the step. I could hardly sleep last night, I was mentally budgeting his wages, my wages, combined wages, I just got so exited. I,m going to have to rein some of that exitement back because knowing him like I do, if I go in all hot and heavy he will back off. That,s just the kind of guy he is.

Next Month sees my no spend Month so this could,nt have happened at a better time for us, Friday is my last pay for July so I will clear of as many bills as I can ( most of the money is already put away ) and stock up my pantry for the month and see how I go. Unfortunately my 60th Birthday fall exactly half way through the month but I think that everyone except me should be spending. LOL :) I am just about to email my nearest and dearest and tell them about my no spend August so they don,t expect me to go out anywhere expensive. Picnics and family BBQ,s for me for a while.

I,m excited

Good News Today

I got some good news this morning from the Real Estate Management Team we lease our house through. Apparently the owners of the home have listened to our request for new flooring in the living areas, and in a few weeks time we will be getting, nice shiny new hardwood floors. And not long after that we will be getting new carpet treatments for the rest of the rooms. Yippee this should all be done by the time visitors start arriving for the Wedding.


I intend to have a no spend day today, and also put some plans into action which should hopefully see me earning a little extra income, this will be a slow process, and as it,s still in the putting together stages I,m not ready to talk about it yet.

By the way this is not my home but it is the type of flooring we will have soon.

My Awareness Moment

At last the moment has arrived and I have become aware that this is going to be a long slow journey back to security, my Tax cheque is firmly in my bank account, my wages are due into the same account on Friday and I have put aside the money I promised my Daughter towards her Wedding. All my bills are paid up to date my car is registered and insured, and I,m in a really good place. I,ve stopped sweating the small stuff, so what if I,ve got nothing to very little in my jars, I enjoy buying for my Grandchildren, and so the occasional little treats are not going to stop so I have snowflakes to roll on at the end of the month. although I love to see how well my fellow bloggers are doing this is my journey and I wont be happy if Im not doing it my way.

On a more personel level I have just had my second hand operation done and at only 3 weeks after the first one, I now have two hands which are not in full working order, which is the reason so much time has lapsed since my last post. But this has not been a bad thing as it,s given me time to reavaluate my budget and slacken off a little.

I am going to do something this week which I have never ever done before and that is to formally complain to a Company about one of their employees. this young gentleman ?? ( I,m questioning his right to be called a gentleman ) Was rude and condescending to me while I was trying to speak to him about his Assistant who was having some trouble with her till and my order, she was a trifle slow and at that point I was respecting the Company for giving her a go. I was thinking that we really are a long way away from the times when young handicapped people were treated badly. And while I tried to make him understand the problem he kept cutting me off, and ended up saying I KNOW to me. Excuse me I said to him "how can you possibly know when you are not listening to me" I am trying to speak to my staff member he said not even lifting his eyes to look at me, clearing the till is my first priority, again not looking up. I beg your pardon I said but your customers are your first priority, by this time steam was coming out my ears, well after I gave him a real dressing down I took his name and told him I was going to report him, and this grumpy old Woman will. Obviously there were other things said but you get my gist, he even managed to get another customer on his side, a young teenage girl decided I was the cause of all the trouble and called me names. What do you have to do to stay on the right side of counter assistants, let them walk all over you. ?????