money. how we have turned it around..

[Sir Roofy]

well done mate worksfor us and where able to do as well as you
good advice mate never goes astray

[Crate]

This is the second time I have heard of doing that this week, never knew about it before! Certainly a good budgeting trick good on you mate for sharing.

[MudRunnerTD]

Good on you Kallen, great turn around mate.

Naomi and I struggled for a long time, still do to be honest. About 10 years ago though we were back against the wall and going down fast without any kind of budget on a monthly salary and living month to month and failing.

We sat down one night and got all our bills out, everything that was predictable. Electricity, gas, water,phone, rates, insurance, rego, etc. We added each of these up for the 12 months prior and "Annualised" the expense. We then devided that number by 12 and every month on pay day that amount goes into another account via direct debit. That's our Bills Account and generally ensures no surprises. If I was paid fortnightly I would devide that annual number by 26 and do the same thing. Without this setup I'd have gone under years ago.

Keep up the great work mate.

[MEGOMONSTER]

I have a mate who called those Budget buster people and reckon it was the best thing they ever did.
His situation was pretty bad to the point where the bank was saying to sell the house, you can't afford it anymore.
Now 4 yrs later, is well in front on the mortgage and just bought a boat.
It was actually quite scary, when he told me he has to sell the house.

Even though they are quite financially secure now, they still live by the same budget plan they started 4 yrs ago.
Their biggest saving was refinancing the home loan to a much much more competitive rate.

[MudRunnerTD]

I have a mate who called those Budget buster people and reckon it was the best thing they ever did.
His situation was pretty bad to the point where the bank was saying to sell the house, you can't afford it anymore.
Now 4 yrs later, is well in front on the mortgage and just bought a boat.
It was actually quite scary, when he told me he has to sell the house.

Even though they are quite financially secure now, they still live by the same budget plan they started 4 yrs ago.
Their biggest saving was refinancing the home loan to a much much more competitive rate.

Yes I have a friend that went to "My Budget" about 3 years ago, desperate and broke. They were down at my place last weekend in their new car and planning a trip to Tassie over Christmas. We had a good chat about MyBudget and they showed me how it works online. They love it, they have no regrets and can't imagine not using them long term. It has changed their lives for the better. The cost is very small and they highly recommend it.

It's about organising your life. It works.

[Clunk]

Bloody hell mate, 250-300 a week on food, I spit the dummy if we spend over 180 .......... yep, direct debit is definitely the way to go, been doing it for the last 20 years. Never liked paying bills in lump sums.

[Maxhead]

I've always lived by one moto. If I don't have the cash I don't buy it. Simple. (Home loans excluded obviously) Never owned a credit card and never will.

I find with direct debit you usually pay 10-15% more then if you pay annually so I use similar system to what Darren mentioned. Works for me but obviously not for everyone

...and yeah 250-300 for food a week is just crazy...shop smarter and enjoy the savings

[Agronaught]

In one of the few people I know who doesn't have a credit card, i don't believe in spending what you don't have.

I don't have a mortgage either, although that's due to losing almost everything in a nasty divorce over 10 years ago. Now property is simply to expensive.

J

[taslucas]

I'm a fully qualified tradesman but on a real low income. All of my mates earn a lot more than me.
One mate in particular can earn my weekly salary in one night shift.
BUT... I have a house, a patrol, a commodore (yeah wow! Lol), and a motorbike. I eat at restaurants a lot and waste a lot of money on alcohol. I also buy really top quality expensive food and will always pay the extra for tassie grown or aussie made.
Obviously I don't own my house and there's always more things I want to buy for the trol. My mortgage takes more than a third of my weekly wage.
But I've done all this by myself with no budget, no plans, no third party help. Don't buy what ya can't afford but more importantly be happy and content with what you do have. If you're happy, well then you have a happy life.

[megatexture]

First of all I was in to minds wether to post this or not, but I've decided to because it has helped us greatly.

This time last year my family were broke. To the point of struggling to put fuel in the car to get to work.. Wife and I decided something had to change.
We were sick of wondering if we could afford the nappies for our kids.
And quite simply we were living above our means. But were very unaware of it.

And the solution that has helped us.
DIRECT DEBIT....
That's it. Now magic. No sales pitch.
By simply paying the bills a bit each week we are no longer broke. Still don't have truck loads of cash but we can see the light.
We started of by working out how much we would need to pay weekly (or fortnightly or whatever your pay roster is) so that each bill was covered.
To start with we paid a little extra into things like water and electricity and now 12 months on were pretty much a full bill ahead. What makes it easier is you get that pay on time discount straight away. So you save again.
We got to a point were our water was $150 infront of the buffer. A quick call to the happy rep and a cheque was in the mail. Wife bought some nice clothes. Made her day.

Now there is a catch and one you'll have to watch for.
Some companies charge you a fee to pay direct debit. So this one is still a bit iffy and you personally do what your feel is best.
I personally have a credit card. I have 2 bills which charge to personally direct debit.. But they'll happily charge your card for free. But. I pay more than what's needed so that is compiling I'm the black and will help with our Jan trip as a bit of a back up.

Now the big bonus.
Christmas. Silly season. Wallet hurt time.
And the main reason why I'm posting this now because by simply putting $15 away each week we now have roughly $700 for gifts.

So in short I know that money is a huge stress. Well it was for us. But now were much better off by simply being smart and chipping away instead of drowning.

Anyway if your still reading.
Cheers and have a happy holiday season

Is the missus working or at home?