As a family we have recently decided to live 2013 on a budget....
It has been a natural transition really and as a result hasnt proved to be too difficult (so far)
This might sound a little strange but it all started last summer when I bought my American fridge/freezer.
Having had a fridge/freezer forever I have actually never used it. I used to have ice & ice cream in it, when I had occasionally put some chicken or mince in, by the time i remembered i had got it, it didnt look to appetising and i forever gave all my frozen food away to friends, much to their amazement.
The arrival of my double capacity fridge freezer with all singing & dancing ice maker, chilled filtered water maker was just amazing and it had shelves so i could see exactly what was in it at amy one time, so i excitedly did a big freezer shop, this included onions, chilli, garlic, ginger, herbs, vegetables, fruit.... it was amazing, all the time i had thrown out out of date onions and garlic as they never all got used before they expired. Herbs that were half wilted when you bought them and completley wilted by the time you got them home. Vegetables rotting at ther back of the fridge .... such a waste of food but more importantly... money, my hard earned money that is..
So...
It really made us more aware of what we were eating and what we werent... As a result our recycling increased and our black waste bin is now only half full when the bin men arrive, whereas before all bins had extra bags with them as we clearly wasted far too much... It makes me feel pretty annoyed with myself really that something so simple had such a life changing effect on how we lived and have continued to build on from there. If we have leftover food (which you often do when cooking for 3) I bought plastic freezer tubs and we now freeze it and use it another time or I give it to my ex who works away all week and he happily takes it... Whereas before.. you guessed it, straight in the bin...
This became a great foundation to build on and I have looked at everything in our lives that we waste,we no longer require,could cut back on or live without...
2013 is still a year where everyone is struggling financially, mortgage rates are low, which means they are only going to go up, food is one of the most expensive things I spent money on to be honest, opting for lazy things which often meant expensive, i shop in M&S & waitrose and thats realoly because they are both nearest to my house, the snob factor comes into it slightly but not because they happen to be the two most expensive places to shop, but because Im too much of a snob to venture into Crewe to Tesco/Morrisons I do not like mixing with the buggy benefit brigades...
I spent some time going through all of our household and my business expenses, getting rid of things that were unecessary, renegotiating packages i was already on and still felt I needed, such as SKY, mobile phone contracts and such..
I spent the last couple of months in 2012 completing my house renovation knowing that my 2013 plan was going to be about saving & not spending, which means I can focus purely on that now.
We decided that me & supermarkets are not a great combination, we are all guilty of piling stuff into our trolleys that we didnt go in for, because it looks nice, or was on offer, my food shoppping bill was at times £200-300 per week, which now seems incredibly indulgent, I could afford it, but it wasnt necessary, although it was at this level when there were 4 of us not 3 and i also used to do a "truck shop" for my ex boyfriend who needed food for the week in his lorry. Now there are just 3 of us, it has become easier to manage and in addition I now no longer drink & of course with my ex no longer here thats 2 of us not drinking which on its own reduced my supermarket expenditure by a huge amount.
I now only do On -Line food shopping, which my eldest son manages, he has taken over the role of head chef & cleaner.. He plans the meals for the week carefully, shops according to his menu, bulk buys when things we need and use are on a good offer,includes a few treats and we now spend between £75-100 a week. which is a huge saving.
It has given him some idea of how to run a household and how to live for less, its a fantastic learning tool for his future when he leaves home.
Iv made some personal sacrifices, smaller ones (but they all count) for expample I also spent about £300 a month on beauty , i.e tans, hair, eyelash extensions, nails, pedicures, facials etc etc , so now i do as much as i can myself saving me a fortune and go without anything I can live without,
Iv also sold my beloved car, my BMW X5, I loved my car so much, but I needed to sell it at some point as to do our house project would mean we need a workhorse type car or even a van not a swanky BMW and if i had waited another year to sell it I would have lost so much more money, so the decision was made, thank fully it happened so quickly it was relativley painless selling it in 24 hours.
As well as running my own lettings agency from home, I have now become a self employed courier, something no one thought i would stick to or enjoy, well I have and I do... and will continue to take any jobs that come my way, I no longer have the arrogant attitude i used to which is I wouldnt get out of bed for less than £200 a day, I didnt need to when I said that, but now I will happily clean someones toilet for the minimum wage, as all those £££'s are my stepping stone to get me what I want next year..
The main reason behind all of this change apart from it was clearly much needed, is that I am embarking on a new challenge, well, we are as a family. Next year my son & I are going to start buying some houses at auction to develop and re sell and hopefully make this a profitable (but enjoyable) business. Josh gets a sizeable inheritance from his fathers estate next year and this has been a plan of ours for a while, its going to be a joint venture and so one we intend to start off as we mean to go on, I intend to match each pound he puts in with a pound of my own, which is why I need to do some hard saving for the next 18 months to achieve this as we dont want a mortgage, so we need some serious cash behind us.
I also want to show my son that Im not taking advantage of the fact he is about to be given a shed load of money that he hasnt earnt (although he has lost his dad to get the money) and that I am committed to our project, take it seriously and will treat it as a profitable business venture as I have previously with my Estate Agency business.
Im pretty knackered working 6 days a week, but I am a hard worker and highly motivated when I want something, I always go out there and make it happen... This will be no different, I have every faith that Josh & I will have an empire of properties and who knows what other opportunities will come our way....
I live by a plan and feel very insecure when I dont have one, so whilst Im busy, shattered and poor... Im very fortunate that Im not actually poor and others are living on a budget because they have to & not because they are choosing to ... But I also believe you get out of life what you put in, there are no excuses for people to live off the state, there are no excuses not to work when you have children, there are just no excuses not to want to live and have a better quality of life for yourself and your family, its something im equaly passionate about... If I can do it running a business and bringing up two boys entirely on my own, then anyone can..... Go and do it.
Sunday, 10 March 2013
Budget Challenge
As a family we have recently decided to live 2013 on a budget....
It has been a natural transition really and as a result hasnt proved to be too difficult (so far)
This might sound a little strange but it all started last summer when I bought my American fridge/freezer.
Having had a fridge/freezer forever I have actually never used it. I used to have ice & ice cream in it, when I had occasionally put some chicken or mince in, by the time i remembered i had got it, it didnt look to appetising and i forever gave all my frozen food away to friends, much to their amazement.
The arrival of my double capacity fridge freezer with all singing & dancing ice maker, chilled filtered water maker was just amazing and it had shelves so i could see exactly what was in it at amy one time, so i excitedly did a big freezer shop, this included onions, chilli, garlic, ginger, herbs, vegetables, fruit.... it was amazing, all the time i had thrown out out of date onions and garlic as they never all got used before they expired. Herbs that were half wilted when you bought them and completley wilted by the time you got them home. Vegetables rotting at ther back of the fridge .... such a waste of food but more importantly... money, my hard earned money that is..
So...
It really made us more aware of what we were eating and what we werent... As a result our recycling increased and our black waste bin is now only half full when the bin men arrive, whereas before all bins had extra bags with them as we clearly wasted far too much... It makes me feel pretty annoyed with myself really that something so simple had such a life changing effect on how we lived and have continued to build on from there. If we have leftover food (which you often do when cooking for 3) I bought plastic freezer tubs and we now freeze it and use it another time or I give it to my ex who works away all week and he happily takes it... Whereas before.. you guessed it, straight in the bin...
This became a great foundation to build on and I have looked at everything in our lives that we waste,we no longer require,could cut back on or live without...
2013 is still a year where everyone is struggling financially, mortgage rates are low, which means they are only going to go up, food is one of the most expensive things I spent money on to be honest, opting for lazy things which often meant expensive, i shop in M&S & waitrose and thats realoly because they are both nearest to my house, the snob factor comes into it slightly but not because they happen to be the two most expensive places to shop, but because Im too much of a snob to venture into Crewe to Tesco/Morrisons I do not like mixing with the buggy benefit brigades...
I spent some time going through all of our household and my business expenses, getting rid of things that were unecessary, renegotiating packages i was already on and still felt I needed, such as SKY, mobile phone contracts and such..
I spent the last couple of months in 2012 completing my house renovation knowing that my 2013 plan was going to be about saving & not spending, which means I can focus purely on that now.
We decided that me & supermarkets are not a great combination, we are all guilty of piling stuff into our trolleys that we didnt go in for, because it looks nice, or was on offer, my food shoppping bill was at times £200-300 per week, which now seems incredibly indulgent, I could afford it, but it wasnt necessary, although it was at this level when there were 4 of us not 3 and i also used to do a "truck shop" for my ex boyfriend who needed food for the week in his lorry. Now there are just 3 of us, it has become easier to manage and in addition I now no longer drink & of course with my ex no longer here thats 2 of us not drinking which on its own reduced my supermarket expenditure by a huge amount.
I now only do On -Line food shopping, which my eldest son manages, he has taken over the role of head chef & cleaner.. He plans the meals for the week carefully, shops according to his menu, bulk buys when things we need and use are on a good offer,includes a few treats and we now spend between £75-100 a week. which is a huge saving.
It has given him some idea of how to run a household and how to live for less, its a fantastic learning tool for his future when he leaves home.
Iv made some personal sacrifices, smaller ones (but they all count) for expample I also spent about £300 a month on beauty , i.e tans, hair, eyelash extensions, nails, pedicures, facials etc etc , so now i do as much as i can myself saving me a fortune and go without anything I can live without,
Iv also sold my beloved car, my BMW X5, I loved my car so much, but I needed to sell it at some point as to do our house project would mean we need a workhorse type car or even a van not a swanky BMW and if i had waited another year to sell it I would have lost so much more money, so the decision was made, thank fully it happened so quickly it was relativley painless selling it in 24 hours.
As well as running my own lettings agency from home, I have now become a self employed courier, something no one thought i would stick to or enjoy, well I have and I do... and will continue to take any jobs that come my way, I no longer have the arrogant attitude i used to which is I wouldnt get out of bed for less than £200 a day, I didnt need to when I said that, but now I will happily clean someones toilet for the minimum wage, as all those £££'s are my stepping stone to get me what I want next year..
The main reason behind all of this change apart from it was clearly much needed, is that I am embarking on a new challenge, well, we are as a family. Next year my son & I are going to start buying some houses at auction to develop and re sell and hopefully make this a profitable (but enjoyable) business. Josh gets a sizeable inheritance from his fathers estate next year and this has been a plan of ours for a while, its going to be a joint venture and so one we intend to start off as we mean to go on, I intend to match each pound he puts in with a pound of my own, which is why I need to do some hard saving for the next 18 months to achieve this as we dont want a mortgage, so we need some serious cash behind us.
I also want to show my son that Im not taking advantage of the fact he is about to be given a shed load of money that he hasnt earnt (although he has lost his dad to get the money) and that I am committed to our project, take it seriously and will treat it as a profitable business venture as I have previously with my Estate Agency business.
Im pretty knackered working 6 days a week, but I am a hard worker and highly motivated when I want something, I always go out there and make it happen... This will be no different, I have every faith that Josh & I will have an empire of properties and who knows what other opportunities will come our way....
I live by a plan and feel very insecure when I dont have one, so whilst Im busy, shattered and poor... Im very fortunate that Im not actually poor and others are living on a budget because they have to & not because they are choosing to ... But I also believe you get out of life what you put in, there are no excuses for people to live off the state, there are no excuses not to work when you have children, there are just no excuses not to want to live and have a better quality of life for yourself and your family, its something im equaly passionate about... If I can do it running a business and bringing up two boys entirely on my own, then anyone can..... Go and do it.
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