Holiday Spends

 

We don't actually have George Washington on our banknotes but I thought this might amuse some of my blogging friends.

It's only 3 weeks now until I head off on holiday, and I was hoping to have saved $1,000 to last me while I was away. At the moment I only have $400 but I am going to be able to add another $100 a week plus my small British Pension of $340 so I will have exactly what I need. Off of this amount I have to buy my Dad's Birthday present, 2 smaller gifts for my Great Nieces who share his big day and also help towards Groceries while staying with my parents. I think this is all perfectly doable.

I never heard back from the Dishwasher Hire Company is this good or bad ?? I suppose only time will tell, all the rest of our household accounts are up to date and all debts are slowly being paid off.

My littlest Grandson is now 8 weeks old and coming along in leaps and bounds I got my share of cuddles this morning and I also got some beautiful smiles.

Off now to make up my latest batch of soap powder. Only 3 sleeps to go until the car raffle !!!!

Living without Blogging

Apologies all round it has been 3 weeks since I last posted

As mentioned in my last post I have been suffering from THE BLUES. No one thing set this off just a serious of things which in the end I found so hard to cope with. But after some X-rays for my aching shoulders and stronger painkillers the pain is no longer an issue. The Foxx has taken over managing all of my debts and so I no longer have to avoid answering the phone. So gradually I find myself returning to normal or as normal as things get in this house LOL.

It is only 3 weeks now until I go off on holiday to spend my Father's 90th birthday with him, unfortunately due to a bad Echo Cardiogram reading The Foxx will not be going with me, he has to undergo more tests and they are due to start the day before I fly out, which also happens to be my Birthday. We tried to get another date but it would be March before he could get another appointment, which given his health issues would be too far away.

OK I hear you ask, what's with buying yourself  new car, or thinking of buying a new car ???

The Foxx and I went up to our local club the other night to spend some Birthday vouchers he had been sent, when you enter the club you scan your club card and it enters you for draws. On Sunday they are drawing for a new car, 36 members names were pulled out the hat and I was one of them. On Sunday they will take that number down to 6 these 6 will be handed a key and the one that fits wins the car.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I need a new car, so much so that I am frightened to go along on Sunday where the disappointment of not being the winner will be overwhelming. Or on the positive side winning it would also be overwhelming. Already I feel sick with excitement, I'm trying to rein it in but it's all I am thinking off.

Not Feeling 100%

Down In The Dumps

I have been feeling pretty low the last few days, I am prone to these feelings and during the time I feel like this I am not inclined to blog, leave the house in fact I hardly want to leave my bed. This seems to be my bodies way of coping with any problems which arise in my life and without medication I can't cope.  My world comes crashing down and all problems get magnified way beyond control, at least my control. I count and recount money, worry about bills don't answer the phone and don't open emails. Yesterday I received two blocked calls on my mobile phone which I never bothered to answer.

There is no need for me to feel like this I have my bills all under control, money in the bank and I am making great inroads on my debt,  this is a habit I have gotten into from so many years of living on the edge. When will this feeling of having no control ever end.........

My Grandchildren are coming over later to stay with me for a couple of days, they are on school holidays and I can't wait to have them here. We are heading to the Movies tomorrow to see Brave and have Lunch out. I have a bit of money left over from last weeks budget so we will use that to have a great day out.......

Apologies for MIA but I am seeing a light at the end of what was a dark tunnel, so I am back in the drivers seat again......

My Restaurant Has Caught Up With Me Again

My Usual Ostrich Act

This time I definitely know it's my fault I took my eye of the ball expected others to do the job for me and now I have to face the consequences. It seems that every time I get complacent Murphy visits, every time I think I have my debts sorted I get sideswiped.

When I walked away from The Restaurant thinking that I had sold it, I left behind a Dishwasher, a Restaurant quality one which I was leasing for around $19 a week. The couple who were buying the business from us had agreed to take over the lease, before they changed there minds and left me high and dry. Once my Sister and I closed down the bank accounts for the business the standing order to the rental company got cancelled. This payment came out weekly so about 2 days after the payment did not go through I was contacted by the Rental firm to check on why. I was very ill at the time both emotionaly ( I had a complete breakdown ) and physically ( a bad case of shingles ) and so I gave them the Landlords name and mobile phone number and left it up to them to make the arrangements to pick up their machine.

At this time I only owed 1 payment and 6 months on my lease agreement.

Should I have followed this up, sure, did I follow this up, no. I stuck my head in the sand and hoped it would all get sorted and then it would just go away. But it has not and yesterday I received an email from the company demanding I make a late payment of almost $900.

I must admit I got really angry probably not the right emotion, but why the hell did they not pick up the machine ? Why allow someone to run up months of back payments and never contact them to tell them this was happening ? So they have been gaily slapping on charges for a machine they knew I no longer wanted !!!!!

I sent them back an email yesterday which they have probably responded to by now, but I have stuck my head in the sand again and have not checked my inbox. I never slept again last night worrying about The Restaurant. How many times is this going to happen, instead of giving me great joy this Restaurant has caused me a world of pain. I thought it was going to end up a legacy instead it has ended up a nightmare........

A Fiscal Fast Fiasco

Hello New Friends

Since coming back to regular blogging after my Restaurant fiasco I have some new followers, so I want to take the opportunity of saying a huge Hello and welcome. I have also been able to add some new blogging sites to my favourites. Which means new things to learn, new successes to applaud and lots of new motivation.

My Fiscal Fast ended a lot sooner than expected when The Foxx took me to a new Hardware Store which has opened up near us, there were a few piddly little things I needed like a lightbulb for my Cooker Hood, some Fertiliser for my garden some new fiddly little things for restringing my clothesline in the garden and a new garden hose complete with all fittings and a spray nozzle. This was all we needed but then I added a couple of wants.

This is exactly what I wanted to put on my wall in our Patio area as it is all undercover we use this space pretty much like another room. It is 74cm ( 28inch) and is very rustic looking I love it.

Then I  just had to have this Lanten which is now sitting in the middle of my outdoor table it is pretty solid and now holds a huge candle I had lying round the house. Again I have been wanting something large enough to look showy in the middle of our table and this is now doing the job wonderfully and the candle is casting a lovely warm glow.

This is a breakdown of our spending spree.

Clock .............$29
Lantern...........$19
Lightglobes....$ 3.62 ( for a pack of 2 )
Fertiliser.........$ 2.49
Garden hose...$ 5.90
Clothesline.....$5.94

Total $65.95

Going out with The Foxx ended up blowing the budget and the fiscal fast but I really think for the money we got some pretty good buys. And we also snuck in a visit to our Grandchildren and went to church. Back to the drawingboard next week.

Pros and Cons of Being More Frugal Part 2

Losses and Gains Part 2

After posting my losses yesterday it's now time to look at what I have gained by losing. I neglected to say yesterday that I have also lost paid income, but that in itself has provided me with many gains.


GAINS

1. I think I will start with one which is of real importance to me and that's self respect, I used to feel so guilty about where I was in my life and I used to worry about what my Grandchildren would think of me when they were old enough to recognise me for what I was. A financial disaster, so as a way of preventing them from falling into the same trap I started bank accounts up for them as soon as they were born. I still give them a little money each time I see them and allow them to only spend a portion of it while saving the rest. I am now hoping that as they grow older they will see me as a good financial role model.
2. I have now gained good sleep patterns, I no longer walk the house in the wee small hours counting and recounting money. This stage in my life was particularly bad when I was running the Restaurant and it was time to work out wages and pay bills, during that time I would be surprised if I got more than a couple of hours of sleep a night.
3. I have gained a wonderful Husband, for years we were on a different page financially we worked our wages and bills as a you and me type of situation with both of us refusing to talk about how much savings or debt we had incured. This was especially frustrating for me when I finally saw the light and The Foxx did not. Now we plan together and spend together and save together, how sweet does that word together sound.
4. I am now slowly crawling my way back out of debt. At last I am gaining control of what I thought would be following us into retirement. I now know that by sticking to our plan we will be debt free before The Foxx retires.
5. I no longer pay bank fees I have gained control over my bank accounts, there was a time when all of my direct debits would be late and at $40 late fees per time this happened I was struggling to get through the month ( I have since changed my account name and the fee would now be $10 ) I think now I would be happy to look my bank Manager in the eye.
6. I have gained my home life back and because I am no longer working we have gained a carer for my aging MIL. I now enjoy cooking and cleaning and everything involved with running my home. I remember a few years ago I hired a cleaner to come in weekly and do the work which I never had the time or the inclination to do. Now making my own cleaning products and trying to find ways of living better for less are what occupy my days now. I love being a housewife and The Foxx is loving coming home each day to an organised home with wonderful new recipes to eat ( all bought with my budget in mind ) I am contributing things which money just could not buy.
7. I have gained my own fruit and veg shop as we laughingly call it, this is my backyard. I am growing herbs, veg and we have a few fruit trees. Putting my hands into the soil is so therapeutic I love it. There are some aspects of gardening I just can't manage like heavy digging and spending hours bending over. So I have set up a high bench for all my seedlings and for potting and by regular weeding I don't have to spend a lot of time bending over. And if I need any heavy digging done I have a fit and healthy Son and Son-in-Law.
8. Last but by no means least my financial journey has brought me in contact with some wonderful bloggers who are a wealth of knowledge and support. I have gained some facebook friends through this as well maybe some day we might even meet.

So there we have it, my gains. I am sure there are heaps more which by now I am taking for granted. But after reading back over them I notice that the biggest gains are all about how I feel about me. It's shocking that it has taken me till I reach 61 years of age to find out things I should have always known. Still better late than never..

Pros and Cons of Being More Frugal Part 1

My Losses and Gains Part 1

Since starting to get my life and finances together there have been losses and gains but after  looking at it closely most of my losses have ended up as gains. If I give up something which costs me money I end up with a bigger bank balance, or my bills paid on time, or my car regularly maintained, so which of my lists ends up giving me the greater enjoyment and pride ?? You judge.

Losses

1. I have given up getting my acrylic nails done, this used to be a 3 weekly visit which cost me around the $35.00 mark each time they needed filled or extra if I needed any replaced. I kinda miss these visits, but now that I spend time in my garden I definitely don't miss the nails... $600 at least saved yearly
2. I used to buy a magazine every week, it was a bit of an indulgence coming home every week sitting down with a coffee and having a read. But my local Library stocks this read or I could go online to read it. So I don't miss this at all now....$260 saved yearly
3. Gourmet cooking was a bit of a hobby for me I would get terribly enthusiastic buy loads of ingredients, then forget why I bought them or use them once and then end up throwing them out when they passed theyre useby date. At that time my Grocery bill was sitting around $175 weekly, now I try to spend no more than $100 a week and often less....$3,900 saved yearly
4. My trips to the Hairdressers are very few and very far between now, maybe one every 6 months rather than every 6 weeks I also now dye my hair at home thanks Mr Clairol. I was a Hairdresser in an earlier life so I can actually manage it OK myself if I am in the mood. I am going to have to estimate the savings here as I really have lost track of Salon prices now....$1,300 at least saved yearly
5. Gym membership, oh yes I had one of those where you lock yourself into a contract which you never keep, of course it's all done with the very best of intentions after all who would'nt want to look toned,taut and terrific ?? I now have a garage full of equipment which I was given for nothing so if I don't use it guess what no charge....$456 saved yearly
6. Every Friday night was takeaway night, when I worked fulltime this was a non cooking night I felt I deserved the night off after what was very often a heavy week. Now we use leftovers as our Friday night meal or Hubby throws together a Pizza. So still no cooking for me plus savings....$1,560 at least saved yearly

There are a lot of little losses which I make on a daily basis, like using less shampoo, less toothpaste, switching off electrical appliances and wall switches buying long life light globes these are changes which I can't put a price too but over the course of a year are bound to make a huge difference. Then there are the big losses like the new car I never got into debt for, believe me if I could have found a way of getting myself a more reliable car while travelling to and fro to The Restaurant then I would have got one. So my thanks to the banks who would not entertain the idea of lending me any money. So these losses / gains are saving me a minimum of $8076.00 or $155.30 weekly. The bottom line is am I missing any of them.....absolutely not !!!

Tomorrow I will post the gains.

1.  

Broke and Bills Bills Bills

I am going to be joining Lena in her fiscal fast for what remains of June check out her last post http://http://frugalandthankful.blogspot.com.au/

I mentioned at the beginning of the month that I wanted to save $1,000 this month, well I now know that that is just not going to happen, Murphy visited us with car repairs and now 2 bills have come in. I was absolutely not expecting one of them as it was a toll fine, and I was positive that I had paid off and finalised all payments. But this one is for November last year and I had completely overlooked it, what is my head full of cotton wool ???
The other one is our monthly phone/internet/cableTV account and it is $50 dearer than last months I expected it to be a little higher as I phoned Mum every day after her accident, but I am blown away by the amount.
How am I going to manage to pay all of these bills and still save ?? Well I'm not something has to go and it is savings. So this is one p****d of blogger.

On the plus side I managed to save $50 off of our food bill from last week and I managed to keep my fuel bill down as well so this morning I went and banked it, I also have around $60 in my snowflake jar which I have still to bank so I will be OK with the bills it's just the lack of savings which is getting me down...

Blown The Budget

I have just taken the time to read back 5 days of blog posts, wow am I behind I knew I had been a bit slack lately but I had no idea I had been MIA for that long.

As usual I am blown away by how well some of my favourite bloggers are doing with theyre debt repayments. I said at the beginning of the month that I was hoping to save around the $1,000 mark, but after 18 days I am still a long way away from making that happen as we had an unexpected car repair plus The Foxx needed new tires on his car.

Looks like June's budget has taken a nose dive, but I have not given up as yet, yes we may not hit the $1,000 we would like to hit but anything is going to be better than nothing. So it's onwards and upwards.

After decorating in my toilet area last week I have decided to freshen up my Lounge Room but only if we are given another year's lease, normally they let us know in July as our lease expires in August, so this means either one of two things a rent increase or removal costs, I know which one I'm hoping for...

Painting Project

I Am Painting My Toilet

I could'nt wait to get The Foxx off to work this morning as I wanted to spend all day in the toilet. No there is absolutely nothing wrong with me I decided to make my non spend stay home project painting the toilet.
It all started with the toilet roll holder falling off of the wall and leaving a huge hole behind it, this was fixed yesterday by The Foxx on his holiday Monday, if you are looking for a cheap way of spending your day off I can recommend this. So now we have a patch on our Aqua wall. Am I upset not a bit of it, I hated the colour, it was there when we moved in and I just kind of put up with it the way you do in a rental home.
When we first moved into this home the horrible Aqua colour was in one of the bedrooms and in the toilet, yuck, I spoke to the landlords about painting over it and they agreed to provide the paint if I did the work, which was the only way they were going to agree to it. So here I am sitting in the office typing this while my first coat dries. I might add that this Aqua colour does not want to go in fact it may even need 3 coats to do the job, but there is enough paint so it is what it is...

We spent hardly any money at all over the holiday weekend, as we spent most of the time doing our little projects and some gardening.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend I'm off now to check on my toilet, what is the saying about watching paint dry LOL.......

A Weekend In The Garden

This is a picture of my herb bed, it is in shade at the moment but it is in full sun for a large part of the day.

I am pleased to say everything is coming along beautifully, the post you see in the middle of the bed is my clothes line post, so I can admire my plants while hanging out the washing. I noticed my tomato plant has got some flowers on it, can't wait until I am eating my own sweet fruits. The rest of my plants and veg are around the back other side of my yard. Oh and by the way the string and sticks you can see were put there to keep my cat out of the soil, if you get my drift.

This shot is just me showing off my beautiful Hibiscus plant, the bush has about 2 dozen of the largest most beautiful flower heads on it.

Another weekend with The Foxx and I full of the cold and so we are staying home and trying to avoid passing it around the family. So no Grandchildrens cuddles this weekend.

Have a great weekend everyone..

A Waste Of Food and Money

A Waste Of Food

And here was me thinking I had gotten on top of this pantry of mine. Yesterday I decided to check my staples as a way of eventually keeping my grocery bill down, I took everything off of the shelves washed then down and put all my flour, sugar, cereals and pasta into containers in fact anything which was loose in now in labeled containers.

So why am I so angry ? Because I found dessicated coconut which was about a year out of date I found Porridge oats which had passed there use by date and I also found sultanas which I could have used in my scones the other day hidden away at the back of a shelf which I keep my little used electrical appliances on. So what is going on there ??? Has the pantry imp been up to mischief again or is it the two women in the same kitchen scenario ?

Whatever it was that caused me to throw unused food into the bin I am not happy about, got to keep a tighter rein on what is happening in my own kitchen....

I have nothing to report on the financial front as I have spent most of the last couple of days in the garden weeding and repotting. My Herbs are doing so well in the spot I have put them in and my Veg. although growing well is getting eaten especially my cabbage leaves. I want to keep this garden as organic as possible so if you know of a way of keeping my veg from getting eaten please let me know.

Yesterday blogger was playing up really badly for me and it has been a couple of days now since I was able to post, so I have had to put my blogger interface back to the old original settings just to get my dashboard to work, how frustrating is that. Although I found out that this was my problem by googling the error number I kept getting and I ended up in a chatroom where this seemed to be a problem affecting a lot of bloggers, so if this is an issue for you try going into your dashboard and clicking on the little gear icon top right of your page and clicking on the original interface setting. Although I am still finding I cannot highlight any of my words so I cannot change sizes colours or font Grrrrrrr

Off now to do a little grocery shop, hoping to catch up with the baby tomorrow, see you all around...

June Goals

Goals For June

I have not been setting any monthly goals of late being content to let each month take care of itself, I had gotten myself into a bit of a payment and spending routine and I was not challenging myself in any way. So June will be a little different, I am going to set some goals and they are.

Savings = $1,000

 I have worked out that I will be adding $880.00 to our savings this month. If I can keep my Grocery bill down I would like to see that figure climbing up to $1,000.

Groceries = $400

I allow myself $100 a week for food and household needs, but MIL adds another $50 to that and if I try really hard I am sure I can get that figure down. Allowed $400 hoping to get my fuel off of this amount.

Bills = $500

 Adding all our bills up for the month the total should read around the $450.00 mark this includes the rent to buy scheme for our PC. We will put aside $500 anything left over at the end of the month will go into July's budget.

Debt = $600

Around $600 will be set aside for debt. For the household debts this is only our CC and for my failed business I will be using $250. I do  intend to pay more off of my debt each month so any extra money earned by The Foxx or any Ebay sales money plus my snowflakes will go straight into paying this off quicker.

House Payment = $1,480

This is our rent and as private rental is so damn expensive this costs us $1,480.00 monthly. Actually this covers us for only 4 weeks so in a month when we have to make 5 payments this can become a bit of a stretch. But we are 2 weeks in advance with our payments, so no stress there.

Misc. = $00.00

I am allowing myself nothing for entertainment, clothing, or presents this month. I overspent on my Grandchildren last week buying each of them a new Winter outfit and of course buying for the baby as well as sending his Mum and Dad flowers when he was born. I also sent flowers to my Mum when she came out of hospital and I bought a gift for my Sister-in-law's Birthday last Friday. Did I budget for any of this expense no, which means in came from my pensions back money. I want every dollar to be accounted for, so fun over, it's back to being Mrs Frugal

Holiday Fund = Approx.$350

 We are going away in August and I would love it if we did not have to dip into savings to fund this. Our goal is to get ourselves some scoopon deals before we head off which should pay for all our entertainment in advance. So any deals we see will come out of this fund. I am putting my little pension into this fund can't wait to see how far I can stretch it.


I will come back to this list and check it off as I go through the month, hopefully there will be no variables. Murphy stay away......

Staying With my Son's Family

It's very unlike me to post without a photo of some description, but I am on my Son's PC which I am quite unfamiliar with.

Thursday is my bill paying day ( not household ) I tend to pay the house one week and my debts the next, I am only kidding myself on that it makes our money last a bit longer. The Foxx gets paid fortnightly so this works for us.....


Long Standing Debt                 $25.00
Police Fine                               $45.00
Gas Account Repayment Plan $50.00
Food                                         $100
Fuel                                          $25.00
Toll Account                            $25.00


Glad to say that this was the last payment on my fine, another one bites the dust. So I will increase the payments towards the Gas Account next fortnight this was a Restaurant Debt so I am going to be throwing everything at it soon. I topped up my road tolls account as I pass through tolls both coming and going to my Son's house. The food bill will hopefully be cut this week as my cupboards are pretty full, plus MIL has still to put in her money. Not much else to say on the financial front.

Hang on a minute did I really say nothing to report can't believe I forgot to say that the letter I have been waiting for regarding my UK pension arrived and it is back money they put into my account, yes that's right I get to keep it all.


About 2 hours after I posted about my Grandson's arrival I got a phonecall from my Son asking if I could please come and stay for a few days to watch my Granddaughter as the baby and Mum are still in hospital. Apparently due to the break up of the placenta his blood sugars are low making him very jittery. As 80% of the blood sugars feed the baby's brain this was of concern and so he is on a drip which should stabalise him until Mum's milk comes in, which should hopefully be today.
We are not unduly worried about this little hiccup it's just so frustrating as he is now in The Special Care baby unit, away from Mum.
Hopefully by Saturday they will both be back home and then I will go back home, at the moment I am making myself useful I have the Hoover out and all the washing is up to date. Now to start on Dinner.

And yes I have had my first cuddle, I wore a mask and had a couple of minutes with our new addition, when his older Sister was born she was a little clone of her Mum, this time the baby looks like my Son. I got a little choked when I saw such a familiar baby. WELL Granny's are allowed are'nt they ?????

Just a quick thank you for all your support and good wishes I know this is a financial blog, so thanks for putting up with all my Granny chat..

The Baby Is Here Photo Moment

At Long Last it's Over

Just a short post to introduce my Grandson to the blogging world. He was born on the 29th May at 10.30pm ( Australian time ) after almost 2 days of on and off labour, which resulted in this poor little lad being born by Vacumn extraction. They had administered an epidural for a C Section when they decided to give the extraction a shot and it worked.  He was a little distressed as the placenta had broken down but after some oxygen and a bit of TLC he is absolutely fine.

My Son sent this photo to me after he was stabilised and although there will be plenty more to follow this will always be my favourite. I spoke to my DIL's Mum this morning and she is ill just like me, so it may be this weekend before we get to see him. My arms ache already.....

Welcome Euan 6lbs 1oz looking a lot like his Father.......CUTE Ehhhh

This is So Frustrating

No Baby Yet

For those of you like myself who have been waiting to meet my new Grandson, the news is.... NOTHING..... all labour has slowed to almost non existant and nothing that is being done to speed it along has worked. My DIL is a hypno-birthing practitioner and wants to have as painfree and manageable a labour and birth at home as possible. Her sister who works with her and her midwife who advocates home deliveries are also with her. But her Mum and I want her to go to the hospital get some help to get those contractions moving along and then we want a nice pink healthy Grandson. To Hell with all this new age stuff, we just want it over.

Nothing on the financial front, today although I do have my menus all made out for this week and my Pantry Fridge and Freezer are all looking nice and full. I will be staying home today as I am waiting to see if my youngest Granddaughter will be dropped of at my house for a liitle spoiling before her new brother arrives.

That's it folks so fingers crossed...

I Have Had The Famine Now I Have The Feast

  

I'm In The Money

Since I last posted I have received my Superannuation money back from the Tax Dept. This was co-contributions and came to $585 so now my bank balance is even healthier and still untouched. I have received no notification as yet from the UK and I am still somewhat scared to think $4,800 that they sent me is mine... However I have now made up my mind how this money will be used.

As The Foxx and I have very little time left where we will be in a position to buy new furniture, we have decided to buy a Lounge Suite, one which will last us well into our retirement a comfortable one which we will feel comfortable with allowing our Grandchildren to sit, eat, play, jump on. Our present suite is covered in a light coloured linen which has not stood the test of time and was never comfy to start with. We have a gorgeous suite in our formal Lounge room but this one will be for our Family living area and we are thinking leather.

Expensive I hear you say Ebay I hear myself say, yes The Foxx and I are looking to buy a good suite on the cheap, the search starts today with The Foxx heading off to have a look at one we saw listed yesterday. If the quality and condition are any good we may have found one already so fingers crossed.

$2,600 will be put into an emergency fund which we are hoping to be able to add too, and the rest will be put towards debt. We have very little now owing on our CC and have no mortgage or car payments so all that is left is my debts from The Restaurant and as I have been plugging away at them, they are now only Utilities. Can't wait to hear from two of the debt collecting companies who still have not been in touch, then arrangements can be finalised. Yippee this puts me in a place I never thought I would be again, comfortable with staying at home and no longer scared to open mail or answer the phone.

My Son has just phoned me and it looks as if my new Grandson will be putting in an appearance today, my DIL was in labour all night, although it seems to have slackened off a bit just now it's 8.30am on the 28th May so depending on her blood pressure she is happy to stay home for a while yet. Unfortunately due to what has turned into a chest infection I have been advised by my doctor not to go near them, how frustrating is that after waiting 9 months I get ill right when it counts Grrrrr

Will Keep You All Posted

My Pot Of Gold

My Pot Of Gold

As those of you who follow my blog know I am broke. After a failed business and what was almost a failed Marriage The Foxx and I have been beating off the creditors with a big stick. The light at the end of the tunnel was some Superannuation which by the way I still have not been paid out and a small pension which was going to be coming to me each month from the UK.
The amount of the pension was a bit of a grey area, as it was being paid to me on a sliding scale of my age and the number of years I worked in Scotland. I was'nt even sure if this was taking into account the time off between children and so I had no way of working this out for myself.
On Saturday morning I checked my bank account to see how much to give The Foxx towards food as he was going to be Grocery shopping for me due to this heavy cold of mine. And deposited into my account from the UK Pensions Dept. was almost $4,000.
Where the hell did that come from ??? I almost burst into tears I can't remember the last time my account even looked like having that amount in it. I could hardly wipe the smile off of my face all day, But I did not and still have not spent 1 penny of it.
There has to be a logical reason why there has been so much money deposited into my account and this payment is being backed up with a letter from the UK so until it arrives and I know beyond a fact that I get to keep all this lovely money, I refuse to touch it.
But physical touching and mental touching are two different things and so I am determined that not one cent is wrongly spent, I need an Emergency Fund I need a Holiday Fund and I need to pay off some debts, but I just can't make my mind up which percentage should go where.
I need some help here folks please help me make sure this goes to the right areas............


I am feeling a lot better than I did over the weekend but this cold has left me with a really nasty cough which once it gets started I just can't stop and ends up with a sharp pain between my shoulder blades, so tomorrow I have a Doctor's appointment maybe I need an antibiotic.

My Mum is home from The Hospital now she is getting an assessment done today to see exactly the amount of help she is going to require. I told her not to play Miss Independent but to ask for any help they can give her, she has promised to do this and my Sister will be there to make sure she does.

We Have No Baby Yet

I Am So Unwell

  I Am Feeling Like C**p

Please excuse my lack of posts over the last couple of days, I have so much to say on both the financial and personal fronts, but it will have to wait until I feel well enough.

No Baby Yet

A Really Bad Accident

  

My Poor Mum

This is what my 85 year old Mum has been up to this weekend she fell just outside of her patio door and has broken both wrists and beaten her face up pretty badly. My sister took this shot of her from her Hospital chair, I would so love to be with her just now but she is on the other side of this vast continent and I am going to be going over there in August for Dad's 90th. It's at times like this I wish we were a lot nearer, or a lot richer so travel could be more affordable. Makes me realise how important an Emergency Fund is.

Get Well Soon Mum xxxx

It's Oficial I'm A Pensioner !!!!!

My Pension Has Started

As from the 16th of May I now receive an aged pension, actually it is only a part pension and as it has'nt hit my bank yet I really don't know how much it will be. I would like it to be around $100 a week but I could be dreaming. Still whatever it is it is going to be income I need and need badly. It should show in my bank account some time next week and every 4 weeks from now on.

After all of the excitement of getting some extra cash died down I realised what this actually means, if I am getting an Aged Pension it must be because I am an old age pensioner !!!!!!What !!!!! How could that have happened, was it not only yesterday that I walked down the aisle at twenty years of age?? When did my children grow up and make me a Granny ?? Is that really wrinkles and grey hair staring out my bathroom mirror ??

To all my young blog readers, learn from my financial mistakes. You are never to young to start putting money away for your retirement. Make sure you buy a home, so you can enjoy that sense of security when you are at your most vulnerable. And enjoy this life of yours which can fly by in the blink of an eye.......

A quick money update I put $20 of petrol in my car today to get me back home from my son's house, so now I have $5 to last me until Tuesday, still I am now 1  day closer to succeeding.

No new baby yet, wll keep you all posted.....

Murphy Pays A Visit

Murphy Got Me Again

Bill payments, food shopping, debts, fine and computer payments come out today. These are fortnightly payments except for food which gets paid weekly. I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to have a shortfall of around $60 to meet these payments.  It was right from the word going to be a difficult week.... And then Murphy visited.....Last month while extremely bored I paid $1.99 to buy an online game, this came out of my paypal account and I had the necessary funds to cover it.

Today I opened up my online banking to check my balance and to pay my bills and instead of having $450 in there I only had $433, let me tell you that when every penny counts this was quite a blow. Without realising it I had joined bigfish's monthly online club and this was the monthly payment to paypal ( which they had to take from my bank account ) of $7.71 plus a $10 overdrawn fee from my bank, I immediately contacted them to cancel this monthly amount and to let them know how annoyed I was to have my accounts hijacked by them. So within minutes I received an email from them canceling my payment and promising to return my $7.71 back into my paypal account. I will now have to speak to my bank and see if they will reverse the fees, fingers crossed.

Anyway here is a breakdown of my figures.

Gas Bill                     $50         ( this is the first payment of this Restaurant debt )

Driving Fine              $50         ( this is my second to last payment )

ANZ C/C payment    $25         ( this is an ongoing payment I will be taking this one to my grave )

Advertising               $148.00  ( my last Restaurant advertisment payment)

Computer Payment  $135.00  ( A monthly payment )

TOTAL $ 408.00

This leaves me the grand total of $25.00 to cover my food and petrol for the week, is it looking to you as if the CC is going to take another hit Grrrrrrr

Still no sign of my new Grandson yet, I am staying with my Son and his wife for a couple of days as they have all got heavy colds and they need a little TLC. So I am nesting, you would think this birth and labour were going to be done by me. LOL

Today Debt Chased Me

I Got The Dreaded Phonecall Today

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was waiting to get  Lawyers letters from the Companies which I still owe money too from the closing down of my Restaurant and today the Gas Company sent me their Lawyer's letter demanding final payment. I was expecting the letter and was even keen to get it so I could start putting a payment plan in place.

I phoned the Lawyer's right away and they put me straight through to their call centre, which was as usual overseas where once again I spoke with someone who had virtually no understanding of what had been the build up to me receiving the letter, nor cared. This female was so demanding she complained about the amount of time this money had been overdue and expected me to make huge payments. The amount is so overdue I tried to explain to her, because I have had to wait to hear from a recovery agency before I could start to make part payments and because I am not working I can only afford to pay $50 a fortnight. She was not happy to accept this but I was insistant and eventually she accepted my terms, but could not resist having one last go before we hung up. " And make sure you are never late with your payments " was her parting shot.

What makes people on the other end of a phone who have no idea of your financial situation treat you like something they just stood in ?? Am I going to have to go through the same thing for the Electricity account and the Telephone account ??

Anyway as from Thursday I wll start making my payments and I have made out a spreadsheet for them. According to my dates it will take me until January to pay this debt off, but I am going to put everything into making sure I pay it off quicker than that.

While on the subject of money I phoned the UK tonight to find out what is going on with my pension payments and when I can expect to receive them. If you remember I faxed them off my bank account details on the 3rd of this month. The lovely Lady on the end of the phone told me they did not receive my fax and could I give her the details over the phone and they would ring me back within a couple of days to let me know how it is going. So fingers crossed I get my pension this side of Christmas LOL

I am absolutely going to have to make sure that I bring in a little extra money every week in order to cover my debts. I don't care whether it's doing Tupperware parties, selling Avon or starting an Ebay business I just have to make this happen, any ideas ??? 

The Foxx and I have got $510 worth of bills, debts, fines and food money to be found by Thursday and only $450 available. Looks like the C/C will have to be used again, so we are not happy.

Organised Me / Mothers Day

My Recipe Organiser

While out Grocery shopping in Aldi on Friday I bought myself this cute little recipe box, I don't know how often I have sat at this Computer and written recipes down on scraps of paper only to lose them, so now I have put this little box on top of my Computer Tower. As you can see I have also added my cleaning recipes as I hav'nt learned them off by heart as yet. The box was heavily reduced and I just know it is going to be worth it's weight in gold. In fact it could become a family heirloom. LOL

So keep those excellent money saving recipes coming bloggers, because now I'm ready for you.

Mothers Day in Oz

Today is Mother's Day in Australia and so I would just like to wish all Mother's and Grandmothers everywhere a special day.

Unfortunately I was unable to catch up with my Mum as she lives so far away but I rang her this morning and we had a cosy girly chat. I had sent her flowers and a a card which she loved.  My MIL spent most of the day out with her Daughter while we spent most of the day with our Daughter and her family, starting with breakfast and a walk round The Markets. Unfortunately with our new Grandson's birth only days away we only spoke with my Son and his wife by phone, as the drive would have been to much for them. So a lovely day one which I will treasure.

Homemade Cleaner and Grocery Shopping

 

Grocery Shopping Day

Today is a big day in our house it starts with pen and paper and me going through my pantry, fridge and freezer checking what staples I need. Usually the night before I will have made up my menu plans for the week and so armed with all that information I head for the shops with my MIL.

We started at our local butchers where we got chicken breast fillets on special for $6.99 kg, and premium minced beef  $16.00 for 2 kgs right away I have the basis of 7 meals. A quick cup of coffee, then it was off to Aldi for the stuff on the rest of my list. I should now have enough food in the house to get us through the next week with the rest coming off of next weeks grocery list. Apart from the Chicken and Beef I also bought a nice joint of Lamb some Fish and fresh Lasagna sheets and Ravioli. there will also be enough for us to make a Pizza for dinner one night, this will probably be a vegetarian Pizza, made with whatever is left. Plus we snuck in a mascara for me, I love Aldi's brand of makeups and skincare range.

Aldi            = $82.65
Butcher's   = $28.32
Coffees      = $4.00

Total Groceries for this week = $114. 97c

Homemade All Purpose Cleaner

After my huge success with my home made washing powder I decided to go ahead and make my own all purpose household cleaner, this was so easy and I have tried it already and I don't notice any difference between shop bought and homemade. I just googled a recipe and up came hundreds of them so take your pick. I added Eucalyptus Oil  and it has the freshest of smells. I had all of the ingredients in the house so the cost to me today nothing at all. 

Weekly budget Time..

Our Weekly Budget

Last night saw our ( Australian )  budget read out in Parliament. It seems to benefit Families with young children, the unemployed all peoples on a pension. It also seems to come down heavy on business's and it seems to be of little or no benefit to us. So we are plodding along as per usual.

It seems my MIL must have overheard some of the money arguement The Foxx and I had on Monday as today she informed me that she was going to pay for all of this weeks Grocery bill. Was I pleased not in the slightest, in fact I am determined this is just not going to happen. Unfortunately  like The Foxx I have my pride as well. I also don't like eavesdroppers.

I know after reading this back that it sounds petty, but if you knew my Hubbies family and the way they like to stab that knife between your shoulder blades then you would understand why. We would be the couple who took Mum into our house just for her pension. It would make no difference that she lived with us for ten years before she became eligible for this pension. So with pride intact we are saying NO to her handouts.

This Weeks Budget

Rent        $740 (2 weeks private rental )

Gardener $40 ( this is for our large backyard to get mowed )

Telstra     $200 ( phone, internet, foxtel package )

Food        $100

C/C          $500

These were our main outlays this week from The Fox's fortnightly wage the rest of his wage we left in our savings account for whatever may crop up this fortnight, at the end of the fortnight this will be saved towards our holiday.

Nothing unusual about those amounts, we are up to date with all accounts except Telstra The Fox has been chasing then since the beginning of the year as a couple of our payments went missing and he refused to put any more money into paying our account incase it was being paid into the wrong account, after 4 months of fighting with them they found the payments and our bill went from $1,118.33 right down to $451.33 so with this payment we now owe $251.33 due in 2 weeks time. By which time our next account should be in, never ends does it ???
The backyard being mowed is a must for us if we want to enjoy a lovely garden, The Foxx's heart condition and his Leukemia make the job impossible for him, so this is an indulgence for us..
Our C/C now sits with a balance owing of $1,500 we intend to pay it off over the next couple of months and then just sit with the balance, waiting on an emergency cropping up. The eternal Pessimist, we should probably close this card down but with me no longer working I agree with hubby that we should keep it just in case.

It is Mother's Day on Sunday so I am off to try and find a suitable present and card for my Mother, nearer the end of the week it will be time to find a little something for MIL, I have enough left from last week to manage all this without touching the C/C so yippeeee.

A Weekend Rundown

A Day in The Garden

Most of this weekend passed was spent in the garden, Monday was a public holiday and so The Foxx and I spent it keeping ourselves busy and our hands dirty, we planted vegetables mainly Broccoli Cabbage and Leeks. We replanted all of our decorative patio pots and no weeds are daring to show their heads, the grass is cut the paths are swept and we are exhausted. I think The Foxx was glad to return to work this morning.

I have had to string off my herb garden as something ( I am glaring at my old Cat ) has decided that nicely turned earth would make a great toilet, so it is now crisscrossed in bright blue wool with old CD's hanging from the wool. I have lettuce and Bok Choy also in that area so this might also be successful in keeping the birds away. Now all that's left is a way of chasing of the snails or encouraging them with beer. Would I stoop that low LOL ??

However we did spend some money this weekend but only on garden stuff, which when I am saving money at the Greengrocers should pay for itself.

Today is The Fox's payday and we will sit down after tea and pick names out of a hat, only kidding!!!!!!!!!  maybe that was how we used to pay our bills but not anymore we will check the balance of the account to see how much his wages are and then work it out from there. Although we are now at the stage where we agree with the household expenses we are definitely miles apart with how to divide up what is left. I want so badly to have a savings plan an emergency fund a holiday fund and miscellaneous fund as well as all my jars but The Foxx wants to put it all into our CC and work from it, unfortunately for him I discovered that he took cash money out of the card last week and so now we will be paying heavy charges for that. This resulted in a row about money yesterday, which we swore would never happen again. He has obviously been going through his adult life with no conception of how the banks charge, no fine print for this Scotsman.

The sun did not set on that row but it lets me know we still have a way to go before we have got this right.


I am having Lunch out today with a good friend who has just returned from a Cruise so I will be on familiar ground as I have always loved cruising, can't wait to see her photos. But I am going to try and keep expenses way down, between my MIL's little trips to the shops and my lunches out I am seeing a pattern of spending there which I am going to have to rein in. I cannot afford to spend money on coffees and food outside the house, so it is going to be once a week for Lunch and twice a week for Coffee. Just got to pluck up the courage to tell MIL...

Finally got all my information off for my pensions and Superannuation and The Australian Budget which is out today is promising extra money for people on pensions of all kinds this includes the unemployed. A lump sum so MIL is a happy Bunny today. Maybe our lucks are changing....

My fortnightly budget will be posted tomorrow......

Pension and Superannuation Frustration

 

Today I'm Chasing Money

Last night a received a phonecall from a lovely lady in England, she told me she was just about to process my aged pension claim when she noticed I had not added my banking details to the forms. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had sent off the forms and expected to hear from them round about Christmas. So imagine my surprise to learn that apart from the banking details we are ready to go.

I don't remember there being anywhere on the form for these details, but I suppose there must have been. Anyway she gave me a fax number for me to forward on all the necessary information. She also mentioned that she would send me a form to fill in in the unlikely chance that they do not receive my fax.

Did I say unlikely!!!! I feel like swearing as I wrote out a letter to fax off to them, made my way down to the Post Office, and the b****y fax would not go. I have googled the details for the UK Pension Dept and the fax number there is different in every way from the numbers she gave me. so it looks as if I will have to wait until I receive the form and this is going to slow down my application.

Superannuation

I also contacted the Australian Tax Dept. yesterday as they have Superanuation of mine which I am still waiting to receive, so imagine how annoyed I was to hear that they are way behind and have not even started the processing, but while I have you on the line I will have a look at your forms she gaily said.

Wait a minute you have not had your photo ID certified looks as if we cant go any further until you send in certified copies of your drivers License. Go any further !!! you hav'nt even started I felt like yelling at her. So while down at the Shopping Centre to fax off the Pension details........ I photocopied the License but it will be around 6 o'clock tonight ( 5 hours away )  before there will be anybody available to certify my copy.

So ask me if I'm mad, ask me if I'm frustrated and ask me if forms are getting too complicated for this old addled brain to take in....YES.....YES......YES.....