Cutting Down on Weekly Spending

Because we’ve decided to buy a house, there are some changes we need to make to our spending patterns.

While we’ve never been extravagant (we’ve never had much to be extravagant with), I figure there must still be ways in which we can shave our spending down a bit more and make paying off a house easier.

Our first goal is to cut our spending by $280 a week.

There are several ways in which we’ll be doing that:

• Holiday savings go straight into the mortgage ($100pwk)
• Preschool ($93pwk) ~ We’re paid up until the end of the year, as I’ve been paying extra each week.
• Fewer luxury foods ($40pwk)
• Less take-away ($30pwk)
• Clothes shopping at local “op shops” ($20pwk)
• Transfer income protection insurance to WH’s super ($11pwk)
• We likely will no longer have a fireplace ($8pwk)
• Summer means more cold meals & longer daylight hours, saving electricity ($5pwk)
• Reduce car usage ($5pwk)

If you counted carefully, you’ll see we’re actually trying to save $312 on our weekly spending.

That way, if we overspend a little it won’t be the end of life-as-we-know-it.

In case you think I’m cutting out some necessities, this extreme frugality will only be in effect until just after Christmas.

We have a freezer full of meat and cupboards full of food.

I think we can manage to pull in our belts for three or four months.

From January things will be a bit easier, because one of our two remaining debts will be paid off, giving us an extra $200 a month to sock away into the mortgage.

I’ll be going into more detail in the future on how we go with our spending plan.

Believe me, you’ll be sure to hear about both our highs and lows.

And if I do go over budget, I do solemnly vow to confess all publicly.

A Change is as Good as a Holiday

At least, that’s what they say, isn’t it?

Well, we received some news just under a fortnight ago that will really put this adage to the test.

We’ve been evicted, with 90 days notice as of the 21st August.
That gives us until the 21st November to hand over the keys.

We’re not sure why, as the landlord hasn’t given the agent any reason, but we think it’s because he wants to move back in here.

You could say that it kind of threw a spanner in the works.

We had planned to continue renting here for another couple of years, until we’d saved a good deposit for our own home. It was a bit of a shock to the ol’ system.

On looking around at other rental properties in our area, we realised that to live in a similar~quality place we’ll have to pay at least $70 per week more than we do now. There goes a good chunk out of our regular savings plan.

A fortnight went by, with WonderHubby researching details while I alternated between sleeping and throwing up (remember, I’ve been sick?).

After looking at things closely, we’ve decided to go ahead and buy a house of our own, now.

It’s a bit ahead of schedule, and it will mean things will be tight for the first six months, but it’s the best way to go.

Grandma will be minding the kidz a lot over the next few weeks, while WH & I scour the open houses and get all intimate with the local real estate agents.

Since we’ve decided to change the direction of our lives, the stuff here at Kidzarama will reflect that from now on, too.

You can expect a lot more on moving tips, money-saving and home maintenance, because that’s what we’ll be doing here “in real, real life” (as Mr Bump would put it).

If all goes according to plan, we should be in our own home by Christmas!