I know the idea of property investing is positive cash flow so that we don’t have to scrimp and save. But, I am trying to save money on my PPOR (see, I’m getting the hang of the lingo!) and I am trying to turn over a new leaf and be a budget fiend. Any ideas on saving money to inspire us?
Or, making extra bits of money?One idea is to write banal letters to women’s magazines, if they publish them, you can make $25 to $50.
I read a facetious idea that said at the supermarket checkout, key in the wrong pinnumber on your keycard once or twice and get a longer shopadocket for the discounts at the back!
We save money by giving ourselves a strict budget each week and sticking to it!! We only get $40 each a week pocket money. Doesn’t get you much but we saved and are saving heaps of money…Um, other ways is to get payment cards from the electricity, gas and phone companies so you can pay your bills in advance. By working out how much you use per week you can then paying specifically that amount each week and you’ll find once the bill comes, it is usually nothing or very little. Layby items that cost a great deal and pay a little off each week.
We found that helped heaps. Um, not going out as much helps also. Buying in bulk, cutting out luxuries you don’t need, ie. QUIT SMOKING, CUT DOWN ON DRINKING! Saves you heaps of money…
There are lots of things, but working out how much you spend each week and on what is a good start then you can figure out what is necessary and what can be cut. Treat yourself once a month to something you really want (as long as it isn’t too much!) to keep yourself sane.
That is the sort of thing that has helped and is still helping us to save money now.
Cheers
Steph.Work smarter, not harder!.
Cool, thanks.
YEah, agree about the cigarettes, Lung cancer and heart disease are pretty expensive deals, too….
With pocket money, what does that really include? I am so used to spending, i am not sure what is essential and what isn’t. Lke, you can treat yourself to nonessential items at the supermarket, now, and label that “groceries”! What did you call non essential?The thing with me is the constant leak of money through my fingers with very few substantial purchases to show for it!
The biggest thing I do is not spend a certain coin. For example, in Australia, I didn`t spend gold coins($1 and $2) and in Japan I don`t spend 500 yen coins(roughly $6.50). I saved around $2000 in ten months to pay for my yearly visit to Aus.
What an awesome idea! WHere did you save the money? In a jar? But, didn’t that just mean you were taking more money out when you ran out?
Non-essential items… wow, hard thing to answer.
Well for example, food, we went back to basics and bought mainly fresh fruit and veges and hardly any pre-packaged stuff. You end up eating much better and you will feel heaps better too.
THe pocket money is for those things you must have. Eg, a new cd, dvd things like that. Also we use our pocket money for going out. Moeny for the pub stuff like that. It doesn’t leave you much, but you end up enjoying more outdoor activities such as picnics etc.
Like I said before, write a list of everything you buy in a week and then work out what you can live without. Yes it is difficult making sacrifices but we have just seen our savings go past the $10k mark and it is a great feel!!!
Buy Anita Bell’s book, how to own your house in 5 years by someone who did it in 3.5. She explains beautifully how to budget. We based our budget on her ideas and then adjusted it accordingly.
YOU CAN DO IT APOLLIANA!!! You can! you can! you can!!!
STeph.
Work smarter, not harder!.
That is such a cool book, eh? I have it already. I was involved in some intense study until about a month ago and now have the time to actually do something about my finances so I am going to start doing as she recommends. Problem is, I can’t find the book, it’s lying around somewhere…
I have already started to keep a running account of my daily spending! I am finding I am spending a whole lot less just because I have to do this!BTW, I’m no Pollyanna!! You can’t count on me to bring cheer into people’s daily lives…. Apollonia was the name in the book “The Godfather” which is a wonderful book. It’s an Italian name and I am a fan of Italian culture.
excellent mate. That’s a good start. My hubby figured out that he was buying three cups of tea a day at 70p a cup and he was horrified that he was spending £15 a week just on tea!!! So we went out and bought a thermos and put that money away for savings.
Ho hum, getting there we are. not too far off our goal now. Just anoth $10K to go… [
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Steph.Work smarter, not harder!.
Amazing about the $10K. Good on you! How long did it take? Pounds or dollars?
10k aus dollars, thats why were in the UK at the moment. Saving pounds and multiplying it by 2.4 into aus$[
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With our budget in full swing we consistently save £500 or $1200 per week.
what r u doping awake at this time of day?
Not bed time here yet.
[8D]Work smarter, not harder!.
$12oo pw!!!! WOW!
Another good money saving idea: use those phone c cards (apple, hello, etc) for all your international calls, you save a tonne.
Hey apollonia, with regards to the coin saving. Yeah, the first few weeks I did seem to take out more, but pretty soon my way off spending changed. The biggest thing is don`t spend that coin. I planned to save one a day, but found that it was more like 2 or 3. Money in the bank in Japan earns 0.001% interest, so you don`t miss out there.
Save it whereever you are happy with. In a sock, around the room, but once it got too much, I just cashed it in. I keep track of every coin I add in my daily budget, so I always know how much I had.
Works for me, on top of putting away savings.What a cool idea. Never heard one like it, before! I’m going to do that with $! coins!
The easiest way to save money in Japan is to ride a bicycle. I can save $10 a day just by not catching the subway. Any transportaion costs you can cut out will help too.
Scott
Over the last year I recognised what I was spending on “non essentials”. For a month each day I would go over what I spent and identify what was actually waste eg coffee with the girls at work etc. The waste was enormous. I started walking to walk instead of catching transport……that sort of thing. Now at the end of each day I identify stuff that I normally would have done but didn’t owing to my new regime. Then I get the money I saved eg. $7.20 in transport, $4.00 in cofffe and put it in a sock in the draw. At the end of the month I can have up to 6 socks full of money. It is such a rush and sense of acheivement.
Caddy…………remember if it is was easy everybody would be doing it. []Apollonia,
How are you going on the first day of your new spending regime? DId you manage to identify what you were spending your moeny on?Keep us informed about how your going!
Steph.Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
Hi all,
Did anyone mention mobile telephones? They’re a costly little accesory too!
Cheers
Sooshie [
]“small steps make the journey” (SAS)
Hi again,
I forgot to mention that you can access tips on how to make your house more energy efficient from your local council. When you make your house more energy efficient, you lower your gas/electricity bills. An example of this is in summer to close the awnings on your windows (if you have them) or to close the blinds during the hotest part of the day. In winter, you can still do the same to cut out the draft etc. Thereby saving on cooling/heating costs.
Turning off the lights when you leave the room, or pulling up the blind rather than turning on the light.
I’m not sure where I saw this, but a mother living rurally, wrote a book on how to make things on the cheap and survive on a minimal budget. It may have been on ACA.Can anyone give some other useful tips?
Cheerio
Sooshie []“small steps make the journey” (SAS)
Main money saving tip especially if you love shopping as a sport is to leave your wallet at home – meaning all credit and eftpos cards. Just have enough cash on you for what you for what you went out for in the first place and no more!!
Another money saving tip is if you are going grocery shopping – eat first before you go!! – as well as make a list.
Shopping when peckish almost guarantees you’ll buy way too much junk you didn’t need.Better still leverage your time further and shop online (coles is good) and get it delivered. It only costs a few bucks.Also it’s much less tempting to impulse buy online, – the delay between ordering and delivery means instant gratification factor is gone, and along with that much of the appeal of impulse buying….
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