Hi IM's
I am looking for advice on living on a low, low amount!
I am married with 2 children. We have gone from a high annual wage to very low earnings.We needed a change as the high wage role was very taxing on our family.
We are running our own business, which is picking up and has a lot of potential.
We aren't eligible this financial year for any family tax benefit as my husband redundancy payout has put us over the cutoff ( we put it on the mortgage)
We barely made the mortgage this time. We have over $1500 in bills ( business and personal)
I have set up direct payments on the bills I could. We don't have any credit cards. I don't work at the moment as we have 2 little ones and we both agreed we want me at home before they start school. I am not qualified enough to cover the day care anyway and don't have family who can help out unfortunately.
I know it can be done, I am just not used to it being this tight and need some help! I have stopped buying free range eggs etc and going for the cheapest basics.
I don't know where to start. Please help!
learning to live on low anount
learning to live on low anount
Posted in:
Life Lessons
3 Replies
Firstly look at the way you cook and eat. I live on a carers pension and still buy free range eggs :) I avoid recipes that involve one chicken breast/one piece of meat per person. I make the protein spread. So casseroles, spaghetti bolognese, lasagna, shepherds pie. Also mashed potato as a side dish as it spreads further, you don't need one potato per person. We have at least one vegetarian meal a week. Usually hokien noodles or similar with veggies etc. I make everything from scratch and we eat well.
I don't buy Prepackaged snack foods. If we make eggs we make scrambled because it spreads further.
Things like flour and sauces I buy home brand but some other things I buy middle of the range.
I have a herb garden out back with herbs that I use often so I'm not buying pricey bunches.
Have a good hard look at the cars you drive. If you've got big cars get rid of them! I bought a cheap but extremely reliable and safe car for $2000 and it's cheap to repair, insure and put petrol in.
Assess what the family is spending on waxing, nails, hair cuts, etc get rid of foxtel if you've got it. I only get my hair cut every 3 months. Go to cheaper salons etc.
Also I never go to do a food shop without a written meal plan and shopping list. I'll look for meat that is marked down because it's getting close to the date and freeze it.
We went from earning about $90,000 a year to earning less than $25,000 a year almost a year ago! I cancelled our private health insurance, put mortgage payments back to the bare minimum, no take aways, I don't buy my kids clothes anymore (only second hand) my weekly shopping budget is $100 (2 kids, 2 adults and a dog)
I started up my own family daycare so I can work from home, my partner is working 3 casual jobs - some weeks he gets a few days work, some weeks none. It's really hard!
I sell things on local buy swap sell pages.... Books, clothes, kitchenware, DVDs ect
I havent bought myself clothes in a year, just make do with what we have.
I also do surveys online and as payment I get vouchers which I can use at woolworths. Every cent counts!
It's hard being around my friends who are doing so much better than us, going on holidays and buying new cars ect
Best wishes xxxx