Well, things have been a bit quiet on the frugal front from me for a while, mainly because I’ve actually been pretty broke for the last few months thanks to a glitch with my payments and various other dramas occurring to drain my cash.
I’m finally getting my head above water again, thanks to some careful budgetting and a very nice insurance payment last week that has helped tremendously – I paid off my credit card actually! 
My debt clearance is starting to feel quite achievable now which is so exciting. I’m hoping by early next year that I’ll have some very good news to share with you.
So what has changed?
Well, for starters not working means that I don’t need to buy work clothes! This save so much money actually. Though I think I probably need some more track pants and the like for wearing at home as the thighs are wearing a little thin on a couple of pairs. I hate it that my thighs rub together and wear my trousers down at the seams – anyone else have that problem?
I cook at home a lot more, because I can. I know this isn’t practical for everyone, but a little organisation and planning goes a long way. I think I’m still spending too much on food though, prices have definitely gone up and eating gluten and dairy free can be more expensive. My goal this month is to be really careful about what I spend and see if I can save more money. Though, I do find the occassional treat with groceries probably saves me money as then I’m not tempted to eat out if I get bored with what I’ve been cooking. I think it’s important to still enjoy your food.
Because I’m gluten free (most of the time) and the bread you buy can be around $6 a loaf I’ve been trying not to buy bread lately and have a great flatbread recipe that I’m living on at the moment from Karina’s Kitchen which are so yummy even if you can eat gluten I’d recommend making them! They are great for filling and making a packed lunch out of as well, which is fantastic as when you stope eating normal bread you also lose the sandwhich packed lunch option (gluten free bread is pretty gross for sandwiches). I also have been making a lot of Japanese and Korean style pancakes – pancakes are great for a quick meal and pretty cheap and easy.
I also save huge amounts of money by not buying veges and meat at the supermarket. For example a cabbage cost me 99c on Monday at the local Asian grocery, but I noticed they were $3.99 at the supermarket! That is a huge saving, I just would not buy cabbage at that price actually.
I’m also very determined to be a bit healthier this month than I have been lately – I have been baking way too much and while I’ve been improving my gluten free reportoire, it’s not good to have so many sugary treats in the house.
I’ll keep you posted on this…
I’ve been doing a lot better at not using my car as well, petrol is expensive again this year (though thankfully not as horrific as last year) and so I try to keep my spending under $40 a week. I’m doing pretty good at this lately by only taking my car out once a day maximum. I’m not working, so unnecessary trips are a waste of money I think. It’s been a little cold for too much bike riding lately, but I got a lovely new cycle jacket for my birthday that is taking away the ‘too cold’ excuse quite nicely.
The main way I think I’m saving money though is that I am trying to think a lot more carefully about what I spend. I play a little game where I add up how much something would cost each week and then work out monthly and yearly how much that would cost. It definitely gets me thinking about all the silly and frivolous spending I do. Try it, it’s pretty scary to think about all the money you waste over the years that could be sitting in a savings account or be invested.
The other cool thing to happen this week, in a geeky sort of way, is that on the phone with my bank this morning they told me about a great product they have which lets you spilt your money into up to ten different accounts with names on them (like holiday fund, expenses, car etc) and you don’t pay any extra in fees. I’m going to definitely switch over and label my food and expenses, savings, holiday fund, petrol etc etc. It will be really interesting to see how much I can save that way – maybe I’ll even end up with a surplus in some of them.
I’m not perfect, but I’ve come a long way in the last couple of years, and I’m looking forward to all the extra things I’ll get to do in the future just by being a bit careful with money now.
