Budgeting and Insourcing...Plan ahead for everything....

Here's a topic that some of you might think dull, but for those of us who love Insourcing, it's a fabulous kind of game. Like a Scavenger Hunt of a sort.

Believe it or not, Insourcing won me a competition that allowed me to purchase my dream oven. Thankyou to those who participated in that event. I remain eternally grateful for your support. And all I really did was make a posh salad! So there's gain to be had on many levels!

Planning ahead

Planning ahead is part of life here.

We plan ahead for next seasons clothing needs, for birthdays, for Christmas, for Easter, for holidays for staycations, where you stay at home and entertain yourself and the family with planned activities, instead of going away. 

Husband built this fire pit a couple of Winters ago. That made a Staycation in the middle of the cooler months, pretty attractive!

Planning ahead means you can put what little money you have, into snapping up bargains or buying fabric from the remnants bin, or buying a sewing machine or overlocker or a robot vacuum cleaner, or setting it aside for something worthwhile, rather than frittering it away on random purchases that do little to enhance your life in the longer term. 

We renovated an old van for daughter to have her own mini-vacations, using only what we had on hand, and a few remnants from the discount bins at the local haberdashery. It turned out pretty well we thought!

And don't just look ahead one year. Try to see 5, 10, 20 years ahead. This helps keep things in perspective. That pair of shoes, or jeans or bag or coffee will mean nothing in 5 years. That money on your mortgage or into superannuation or just into the bank for a rainy day, could have the power to have a significant impact on your life.

Let's all just get on with what needs to be done. It's what our Mums and Dads did, it's what their Mums and Dads did, it's just what has to happen.

On the Home Front

One thing that I did this morning to plan ahead, was make up a huge batch of home made laundry detergent. This sounds mundane, but has the potential to save us literally a couple of hundred dollars over the next few months.

I use the one in Rhonda Hertzels book that's also on her Down to Earth website. This is my doubled up recipe for a huge batch.

One box of Lux flakes (8 cups) I have sometimes grated Sunlight soap, as its cheaper again. But the Lux flakes are particularly nice, and have a soft, comforting scent.

1 1/2 tubs Borax (4 cups)

1 packet Lectric Soda (4 cups)

Mix together well and store in a large container. I use a Hurricane lantern with a little scoop in it, that's actually a tea bag holder I got at the thrift store. It just makes doing the washing feel nicer. And the Lux flakes make the linen smell gorgeous.

This costs about $14 and at one heaped tablespoon per wash, will give me about 180 loads of washing. The other great thing about it is, I don't need fabric softener to scent or soften our laundry (another saving), and it's the only thing that doesn't give the family eczema (a further saving on creams, lotions and potions to relieve the eczema). So sometimes you have to look at where other savings might occur due to making your own. The up front cost might be the same, but other costs might be significantly reduced by using home made.

Making a house a home

I'm not an investment adviser by any stretch of the imagination. All I can tell you is that we've never bought a new home. We've always bought the house (some might say the fixer upper, or 'the dump') that no-one else wanted in suburbs that weren't yet trendy, renovated and landscaped slowly and gradually, doing almost everything ourselves from patching and painting to building kitchens to polishing floors by hand to pouring concrete, then sold for a profit and done the same thing again. 

This was sometimes a three year, but often a 7-10 year project. During that time we would live in the house, without floor coverings, without a kitchen or bathroom or other creature comforts for weeks or months. We managed. Lots of people used to do this but it's not so common any more from what I understand despite the plethora of DIY television shows and YouTube videos.

When we couldn't afford new, we bought second hand and made do. Husband built things, I painted and patched them. We made thrifting an art form in many respects. There are literally dozens of posts here on my blog about our upcycling efforts.

It can be daunting if it's not in your DNA that's for sure. Buying cheap and new often seems the simplest solution. All I can suggest is that you need to be flexible in what you think you can do, and where you think you can live. We kept an open mind and often lived in or invested in areas that made our friends think we'd gone mad, but guess who's laughing now.

The Rewards

We didn't get to where we are in our 60's by living the way many people do now. And it has nothing to do with technology or the absence thereof. It's just a different mindset. You can be frugal when you're young in order to live comfortably later in life, but most don't see that far ahead.

Do cost of living expenses nowadays make a difference? Well almost certainly, yes. But it's all proportional in the end. Your mortgage should still be no more than 30% of your income, savings should be 10%, the rest is negotiable according to your situation.

Adopting this mindset can mean that you're out of step with popular opinion. But if you do, it means that you can weather tough times in your life and not crumble in a heap, because you've practiced making the best of a less than desirable situation, whether it's illness, financial troubles, relationship challenges or job losses.

For my part, I practiced that mindset. From trying every alternative therapy on the planet when my gorgeous little son was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, to hand painting my terminally ill Mothers casket for her funeral as a last loving gesture to her, I've always remained determined to maintain a feeling of purpose in my life, even when placed in sad situations that were completely beyond my control. This actually GAVE me a sense of control, where none existed. I think thats kept me sane. It can do the same for you.

Tell me about your planning. What creates financial freedom and a feeling of being in control for you?

...Mimi...

Todays Savings Secret....5 ways to keep your eye on the prize...

 

 

This idea applies to so many things in life.

 

You may have heard the term 'visualisation'. Visualisation is a great tool for goal setting, and staying true to your dreams.

 

It can also help you to avoid budget leakage when saving for something that is important to you.

 

If you can keep your eye on the prize, you'll find you're less likely to fall prey to little temptations. That latte` every morning on your way to work? Let's say 220 times a year? That's $880-$1100 over a 12 month period. That's enough for an overseas holiday, or a good lump sum towards any other significant purchase including a deposit on your own home, or a really good Christmas for your kids. That's even a good start to an emergency fund so that those unexpected bills don't cause you headaches.

 

Here are five ideas to help you keep your goals in your sights....

 

1. Keep pictures of your 'prize' be it a holiday, a home of your own, a new car, or a great Christmas, in places where you'll see them every day. On your bathroom mirror, in your wallet, on your Desktop screen, on your mobile lock and home screen.

 

2. Change your passwords to reflect something relating to your goal. Something like 'disneyland442016'...that is Disneyland for four people in 2016, or 'mazda6november16', or 'parisinspring2017'...you get the idea. Every time you type those letters and numbers, you're reinforcing your resolve. Maybe even 'nolattes2015' would do.

 

3. Don't let others mess with your head. So no keeping up with the Joneses just for now. Who are the Joneses anyway, and where do they live....I want to have a word with them! If you're tempted more when you shop with friends or you have friends who encourage you in habits that are incompatible with your long term goals, then minimise the impact they have on your wallet. Socialise somewhere away from temptation, only take enough money for lunch but not a shopping spree, or have a reason to leave before the spend-a-thon begins. Seek out free entertainment. Learn a new skill. Propose a weekend cookup so that all of you can eat inexpensively and healthily for the coming week. That will save everyone a packet!

 

4. Learn a new skill every year and gift your time and your newly discovered skills, instead of lashing out on expensive gifts. An online tutorial on cake decorating could see you baking up a storm and delivering personalised cakes to those your care about. Learning to knit and investing in some oversized knitting needles and gorgeous yarn could mean that you're producing throw rugs that easily retail for up to $400, in just a few weeks. Working on making your own soap and bath bombs (either from scratch or by using the French  Milled method which is easier and just as much fun) might give you the ability to conjure up gorgeous toiletries to rival those found at The Body Shop and Lush, for next to nothing. Now, just a note on this. Choose something within your capabilities and time constraints, and start off simple, working your way up to more complex interpretations of your newly found skill. For example, a simple iced cake, decorated with fresh (unsprayed!) flowers dipped into eggwhite, then into caster sugar is stunning and so easy to do, over attempting a full on fondant covered affair. Splurging on a ball of wool in a stunning colour or texture, and knitting a simple scarf that's finished in a day or two, or a week or two at most, will give you more satisfaction and confidence, than starting on a throw rug that may take months. Making French Milled soap, which involves grating existing soap bars, adding colour and fragrance and setting them in moulds, is a heck of a lot easier than making soap from scratch and still yields a gorgeous result. Start small and simple and work your way up to more spectacular ideas from there. Accept too, that there will still be an investment of time, effort, and some money involved in learning any new skill. So choose a skill that is compatible with your budget, and seek out tools in thrift shops, garage sales, and eBay before lashing out in a designer haberdashery or cake decorating supplies store, or you're defeating the purpose.

 

5. Finally, learn new financial confidence boosting words and phrases. Don't say "I can't afford it", say "Sorry, I have other financial priorities that don't include xyz at the moment". Don't say "I'm broke this week", say "I've contributed all my 'fun' money to my holiday/Christmas/new car account this week so I'm having a quiet one". And don't let anyone make you feel bad about it!

 

Be clever, creative and inspired and see what a difference you can make to your life.

 

...Mimi...

 

...Mimi...  

Mimi's Savings Secrets....Set priorities...

 

The bridge in Monet's garden at Giverny. My own photo, taken in 2008, when I fulfilled a lifelong dream of visiting the picturesque little village where he lived.

 

We try to have a big overseas trip every two or three years. We prefer to travel comfortably and stay in nice hotels or houses. Not for us the cheap airfares, economy hotels, and bus tours with 50 other people.

 

Suffice to say, that we don't go cheap.

 

We don't consider ourselves part of the 'moneyed set', though, and these trips mean sacrifices in other areas.

 

We are off on such a trip this year, so I thought I'd use this year on my blog, to document how we can afford to fly comfy class, stay in a five star hotel in London, cruise the Mediterranean in luxury, have a relaxing stopover in Singapore on the way home, and arrive back refreshed and with not a whit of guilt, and without battering the credit card.

 

I find it highly amusing that friends and family in much less stable financial situations than our own, find it embarrassing to talk about saving money. Gosh kids. If we hadn't saved, we wouldn't be where we are today. Where's the shame in trimming a little here, to allow greater expenditure there, where you really want it?

 

They insist on upgrading their car every second year, buying their kids designer clothes (seriously? What baby of two or even ten year old cares whether their rompers are Ralph Lauren or Target??), eating out regularly and entertaining lavishly.

 

And NOBODY is game to be the one that says 'but what if we just entertain at home or make our own sushi or buy the kids clothes from the clearance rack at Target for next year' (when everything is marked down to three bucks and is the same stuff that was $30 a couple of days ago). Nobody needs to know but you, so where's the shame in it? When did the idea of home made, marked down, heavily discounted for today, or even *gasp* thrifted (the celebs call it vintage dahhlings...) or handed down from a friend, become icky, and why?

 

And really, no matter how much we earn, it's still a FINITE amount kiddos. Everyone's income is limited. Even if you're earning gazillions, it comes to an end sometime. If you keep spending, all you'll have in five years is a lot of stuff, and an empty bank account. Why do you think all these ageing rock stars suddenly pop up doing a revival tour when they're all old enough to be my grandfather? It's cause they too have a bank manager breathing down their turkey like, scrawny necks. It's just undignified, I tell you. Some interesting reading on this topic here.

 

My husband and I decided long ago that we'd rather drive our cars for ten years before upgrading, that we'd prefer to DIY our garden and home even if it took longer and meant living amongst sawdust indoors while we sawed and painted our way to perfection, and dust outdoors while our garden, lovingly landscaped over six long years, took hold. It was a sacrifice we were prepared to make to then be able to afford those trips and have a few other little luxuries. And when I say 'luxuries', I mean a plan for our future, for our kids future and even a bit for the grandkids for their future.

 

I've had my own children tell me that our ideas are old fashioned. Well that may be so. But all I see is that things don't change that much. You can't live like a rock star or royalty at 30 and expect to be able to continue doing so when you're 60. I know because we're nearly there, and even we have made our mistakes. We could have invested differently, hung on a bit longer there, declared defeat there, and been better off, sure. But overall, we're okay. And not through upgrading our cars, technology, shoes and bags every five minutes. Rather through sacrifice and prioritising.

 

Now I can't tell you how to trim your budget to be able to afford your luxuries, but I can tell you how we did it, and how we continue to do it even now as we edge very close to retirement.

 

Lesson no. 1 coming tomorrow...

 

...Mimi...