“So, here’s the plan,” I said to the Chef, as we drove home after an overnight stay in Beechworth with the parents. I left a pause at this point, to imply that the plan was much more significant than it probably was. Perhaps I was about to suggest we spend the next year travelling around the country in a hot air balloon, which would have been, quite frankly, awesome.
Alas, it was slightly more prosaic than that.
“I think we should stop spending so much money.”
It’s not as though we go around, throwing cash about with abandon. We don’t go out and buy a TV because there are slightly bigger ones available now. I haven’t been tempted to purchase a new fridge so I can fit all of my magnets on it. On the other hand, we are liable to buy a delicious looking blue cheese because it’s there. And don’t let us anywhere near farmer’s markets, because we’re likely to end up as temporary paupers once we’ve toured the stalls.
There’s Dumpling Thursday, too. This is exactly what you may imagine it is: every Thursday, we have dumplings from an amazing restaurant in the next suburb. They’re so delicious that I find it difficult to go for more than a week without a dose of chilli oil dumplings (with extra chilli oil).
Despite this, we have managed to save money, but I’m pretty sure we could do better if we really put our minds to it. If, for example, I don’t let the internet tempt me into buying quirky t-shirts or amazing bright yellow camera bags. Or a sterling silver camera charm necklace. There is far too much temptation on the interwebs and it is giving me a lot of practice in sorting want from need. Because I want that charm necklace but I’m pretty sure I can survive just fine without it.
So, this is the plan:
- Don’t buy stuff we don’t need
- Get ourselves a proper savings account, instead of one that gives us about 0.008% on our savings each month
- Stop talking about doing online grocery shopping and just do it instead
It’s a pretty short plan so far, but I like it. Easy steps, easy to follow. In time, we may even be able to follow through on the hot air ballooning idea. You never know.
Does anyone have any tips for a year of not spending much money? We’re already huge fans of op shops, so I expect we’ll be spending some quality time in them this year. I guess our main problem is groceries, so I’d be open for any tips there. Is it time we put the little garden patch in our backyard to good use, for example? Let me know what you think!
You have reached the blog of Katiefoolery: a writer, a photographer and a long term procrastinator. In this blog, you can expect to find ramblings about all manner of subjects, usually accompanied by photographs.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I think the most important thing for saving is drawing up a budget – so you know exactly how much money is coming in, what your monthly expenses are, & where your money is going. Then you allocate the left over “free” money to 1.) Paying down debt & credit cards (if you have any) and then 2.) immediately sequestering it into a savings account with a high interest rate. This is my way of getting to my personal $15,000 goal for the Korea Trip (I can doooo eeeeet!!)
For groceries, online shopping with Coles / Woolies is a bit hit and miss. It’s OK for staples, but for anything fresh like fruit & veg or meat you are better off going to a market or butcher and choosing it yourself.
That would definitely be the plan with the groceries – we have two fruit & veg shops and a butcher just down the road, so we’d go there for that stuff and just buy non-perishable items online.
We have a credit card each and I’m actually thinking of cancelling mine. It would save us the annual fee, at least! After that, I think my aim will be to shovel money into a savings account as often as possible. The highest interest I can find is around 3 – 3.25%, but that’s still better than what we’re earning now.
(You can totally doooo eeeeeet!)
Online savings accounts are awesome, nothing better than getting some actual interest. The comm bank net bank one has done me well for the last 8 years or so, and it’s even better that you can’t directly access it, you have to transfer the money into an attached ordinary savings account, so it always makes me think twice before buying up. Plus, the more you have in it, the higher the interest each month. Budgeting is great, too. I organise my pay fortnightly, and have a target amount to put into my savings savings account. (For some reason the double emphasis makes it sound to me like I’m doing something.) I’m also a big believer of not having anything on my credit card that can’t be paid off by my next pay. Big ticket items are only what I’ve targeted my savings for anyway, like flights to Japan and Scotland… ;D
I then double check the cost of everything online before buying, take business cards at markets instead of buying (or only plan to buy one or two things in a certain price range) and then stop myself buying clothes until they fall apart. (Very, very hard, but I justify it with one really nice well made dress on sale as opposed to lots of cheap t shirts that die after two washes no matter how careful you are.)
My biggest problem right now is eBay shopping has become one of my self care work strategies, or buying material and wool… I had to start that market stall with my ma purely to break even on that expenditure.
We sometimes take cards instead of making purchases at markets, but I always feel so guilty about not buying, especially if we’ve tried whatever the person is selling. Stupid conscience.
Once I get a proper, interest-bearing account, I figure we’ll just funnel as much of our pay into it as possible and just live on the rest as best we can. It’s clearly possible to save, even if the internet does its best to make it even easier to spend instead…
Honestly, the best thing Hubs and I have ever done to help our savings along is get the YNAB budgeting program. It’s sixty bucks, after a one month trial, but it is soooo worth it! You can keep track of every. single. cent – so you know where you can cut back and really make the savings. It’s a really simple program, but so effective and if I can use than anyone can!
Here’s a link if you are interested: http://www.youneedabudget.com
http://bit.ly/Vcooz3
If you do decide to buy it you can use this link to get a $6 discount
xox,
bonita of Depict This!
Thanks for that! I’ll definitely check that one out.
For me it’s the little things that add up – it’s easy for me to not buy that fancy camera because a multi-hundred dollar price tag – but buying a cupcake because they’re yummy and I’m having a bad day? That’s much harder.
I tend to ask myself “wait until tomorrow” and if you still want the thing then maybe it’s worth it.
You are so right about the little things. I went to the newsagents to buy the Saturday paper yesterday and ended up with a magazine and an address book as well. As I was standing there, trying my PIN into the EFTPOS machine, I thought to myself: That’s exactly what I’m trying NOT to do this year. But it’s so easy! I must put a stop to it, though.
I like the idea of waiting ’til the next day. I’m sure I’d find I can live quite easily without the thing I so desperately wanted the day before.