Fiona Lippey,
Miser Extraordinaire and
founder of Simple Savings

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Habit changing    

Jan 5, 2006

Habit changing is the Simple Savings theme for 2006 and I have been putting my new calendar to good use. In fact, I have been busy trying to change everyone else's habits as well! Take Noel for example - since I fractured my leg he has been brilliant helping out with the washing and so on, but in the end I could hold my tongue no longer and had to give him a crash course in washing clothes. For example - one does not wash wife's best blouses with husband's thick woolly 'farm fleck' socks. One does not wash towels with anything else unless you want the family garments to be permanently covered in fluffy bobbles. One doesn't hang clothes out by their shoulders on the washing line unless you want everyone to walk around with quirky little peg shaped lumps sticking up on either side of their neck. Last but not least, the golden rule - one does not dry wife's bras on the washing line by tying them there using the shoulder straps!

Husband duly sorted, next it was the kids' turn to get a makeover. When I was growing up, I did absolutely nothing to help out around the home. Admittedly I was an only child and wasn't a particularly messy type, but my Mum did everything for me. It's only now I am being run ragged by children of my own that I could see what a lazy and selfish brat I was, taking everything for granted. Consequently my own children have turned out the same, but I had finally had enough of constantly running around after them and picking up after them. The house looked like a bombsite and I was worn out. So last night, I fought back! I stuck a new set of rules up in the kitchen, which read as follows:

1. Any cups, plates or bowls that Liam and Ali leave laying around must be washed up by them in the sink.
2. Any clothes or towels left laying on the floor will be picked up and Liam and Ali will have to wash them by themselves.
3. Any toys, artwork or magazines which are not picked up and put away properly will be put in a rubbish bag, hidden away and will not be brought out again for a whole week. If the mess does not improve, the offending items will be given away to children who do not have as much as Liam and Ali do.
4. Any mess, puddles or flooding in the bathroom must be cleaned up when Liam and Ali get out of the bath or they have to clean the toilet.

You should have seen their faces when they read the notice and realized that I was serious! We went through the house with a rubbish bag, tossing in everything that they had got out during the day and left laying around the house. Once they had finished, they couldn't believe how tidy the house looked - and they also couldn't believe that they had made so much mess in one day, even I couldn't lift the sack! It certainly made them think. While Ali was filling the sack, Liam went round and filled an entire washing basket with clothes and towels that had been strewn all over the place. They were then shown how to sort the washing and operate the washing machine. Finally, they went around gathering all the cups and plates they had left laying around and I showed them how to wash their own dishes in the sink. I know, I was embarrassed that at seven and nine years of age, my children had no idea what to do! Whose fault was that? Mine of course! The house looked wonderful after their jobs had all been carried out and they were really proud that they had done it all themselves.

The surprising thing was; how much they enjoyed doing it! They loved learning how to wash the dishes and putting their own washing in the machine, because they loved the responsibility. All these years I have just been thinking it's easier to take care of things myself, thinking that nobody else would do it the way I like anyway and acting all martyr-like. Today they were super conscientious about picking up after themselves and when they asked me where a particular toy was, they would suddenly remember 'Oh - it's in the sack. Can't I just grab one out of there?' But I stuck to my guns and they learned a valuable lesson. Long may it last - let's hope for all our sakes I don't have to teach them to clean the toilet yet!

The only one left who needed to change a habit was me and I chose a tough one to fill in the first month of my calendar. I do confess to enjoying the odd glass of wine (Fiona and Naomi will vouch for this) and I don't have a problem with that, I certainly don't buy the most expensive brand, but my wine drinking leads to all kinds of other bad habits. For example:

1. If I feel like a glass of wine on a particular evening and I don't have any, this means an extra trip into town to the store, using valuable petrol.
2. While in the store buying my wine, I invariably end up buying half a dozen other things, particularly lollies and drinks if the kids are with me.
3. When I drink wine, I often end up eating later in the evenings, such as crackers and cheese, chips and dip, that kind of thing. I only eat them out of habit and because they are there, not because I am hungry. Not good for the waistline eating at the wrong time of day!

So, the wine had to go! I filled in my Wealthy Habits Plan on the calendar and on the website:

1. The one bad habit I would like to change is: drinking wine.
2. I am going to replace this habit with: lime juice and soda.
3. I will gain a saving of: $50 per week, which is around $200 per month or $2400 per year (Jings!)

I will remind myself to change this habit by: keeping a packet of Tim Tams on the kitchen bench. (I read an article which stated that drinking a glass of white wine is equal in calories to eating a Tim Tam and there's no way I would sit and eat two or three chocolate biscuits in an evening, so this is a great deterrent for me). I will also place a Memory Trigger sticker on the wine rack.

4. My reward for progress will be: hopefully losing some weight from cutting out all those calorie laden glasses, not to mention the full fat cheese and crackers!
5. I will make my old habit hard to do by: only keeping beer in the house, which I don't like.
6. My new habit will be easier to do because: the wine will not be there and I don't want to use any unnecessary petrol going to get some.

I wrote down in my calendar all the things I would like to do or could achieve with an extra $2400 a year - wow, how easy would that be, just by changing one little habit! So, that's what I'm doing and so far it's working. I put a little tick on my calendar for each day that I don't partake of any wine, which is great motivation because it's right where I can see it and I don't want to see any crosses on there for days that I fail! I'm already well on the way to saving my first $50!

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Online grocery shopping    

Jan 6, 2006

I have just completed my first ever online supermarket shop - it was great! It did take a while, being as I don't have broadband, but still a heck of a lot faster than driving forty minutes each way to my nearest supermarket. It's a great way to shop, the kids thought it was hilarious asking them which kind of cereal they would like from my computer and were also extremely grateful not to have to be dragged around the supermarket to get boring old food. I found the whole experience quite empowering! I could see at a glance what the specials were and what products were the best value for money - some of them were a real surprise and I discovered that not all generic items are cheaper than the top brands.

Living in a rural area as we do, there were some items that I could not purchase online, such as bread, milk, fruit and vegetables and frozen items - but that didn't matter as I never buy those from the supermarket anyway! I only bought exactly what I wanted - no convenience items; I don't need to buy those since I've been menu planning, and no impulse buys. No kids' magazines or lollies at the checkout either - hooray! It was also great because if there was anything I wasn't sure if we needed or not, I could just go and check, meaning no forgotten items and no overstocking. I couldn't believe how cheap it was to deliver everything to me either - just $19.95 to courier to the back of beyond! I could barely drive to the supermarket and back myself for that price!

Online shop done, the boys and I zipped to the local store to stock up on any remaining items that we couldn't get over the Internet. All up, we managed to shave more than $100 off the usual supermarket bill. If I were to shop the same way every month, I would save $1200 a year - hello new water tank! I've also been learning quite a bit from Maxine about supermarket shopping. We have two supermarkets very close to one another in the same town where we usually shop and she has found by checking the specials at each supermarket before she sets out and dividing her shop between the two retailers, she can save up to $70 on her groceries. I'll be giving that a go when I can drive that far with my leg, but for now I'm happy to shop from the comfort of my own home!

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Killing with kindness    

Jan 10, 2006

What an old miser I am turning into! Went to our dear friends' wedding at the weekend and there I was in the middle of this beautiful and romantic occasion, looking around and thinking 'I wonder how much they could have saved on that? I wonder how much this cost? I could have saved them heaps on these...' - all those Simple Savings wedding hints several months back have turned me into an expert! Mind you, I guess I'm not the expert I thought I was when it comes to online grocery shopping. My delivery was due today and I haven't received a blooming thing so far!

It seems there are other areas I should be saving in too, according to our local vet today. Noel took our dear slobbery Labrador, Ella to get her eyes sorted as they have been affected by some kind of pollen allergy. The good news is that the $1000 cruciate ligament operation she supposedly required is no longer necessary. The bad news is that the reason for her unexplained limping is due to Ella being more than a tad overweight; hence she now has a bit of trouble getting herself around. There was I, thinking I was being so economical, letting Ella have all the scraps instead of throwing them out - I mean, anyone who is familiar with Labs know what dustbins they are! Ella is even savvy enough to toddle over to the neighbours and plonk herself at the back door, tormenting Maxine with her 'feed me' eyes and scoring all kinds of goodies before waddling back home for dinner. So poor old Ella has been forced to go on a diet for her own good, otherwise in the vet's own words 'She will die very young, though extremely happy'. A harsh wake up call!

Of course Noel is completely blameless and has berated me all afternoon for attempting to kill his favourite dog with kindness. Not that he is without his faults, as his over-zealous attempts to care for our flourishing vegetable garden recently ended in disaster. As a rule, Noel does very well in the fishing department and this inevitably means that once his swag of fish has been filleted, he is then left with a load of fish bones and remains. Despite his best efforts to bury them in a secret location, Ella would always find them and usually wait until they were at least a week old before depositing them back on the lawn for everyone to enjoy a second time. He thought he had found the answer to his problems when reading an article in a fishing magazine which gave instructions on how to make your own organic fish fertilizer. All he had to do was get an old plastic drum with a lid on the top and a tap down the bottom, (which we already happened to have) cover the fish remnants with water and brown sugar and leave for nature to take its course. Apparently, after several months, one could then open the tap to harvest what is supposed to be wonderful liquid fertilizer.

Seeing as we have been going through a dry spell, Noel decided the vegetable garden could do with a bit of a boost and seized the moment to lavish his wonderful fertilizer on our lovingly tended plants. I was unaware he was doing this and both the children and I - inside with the doors and windows shut - were wondering what on earth had died, as the aroma of what could best be described as 2000 year old broccoli wafted through the neighbourhood outside from 50 metres away. 'Phew! It took a brave man to tackle that!' reported a grinning Noel. 'Let's see those veges leap out of the ground now!'

The poor veges leapt out of the ground alright - as far away as they possibly could! When we went to monitor its progress two days later, the smell in the vege patch was so bad that I was close to vomiting over my prized tomatoes. Noel decided the best way to tackle the overpowering stench was to give it a thorough watering and shovel large amounts of donkey poo on top of the offending area. While this did actually help the smell, it was too late to help the vegetables, some of which had been reduced to shriveled brown stalks, while others had completely disappeared. The cost of Noel's fishy experiment resulted in the loss of several broccoli plants, runner beans, tomatoes, zucchini and watermelon - and the tomatoes still aren't looking too flash. The sooner I get my worm farm, the better!

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Kids saving habits    

Jan 12, 2006

My online grocery order was finally delivered yesterday and I have to say I am very impressed. Sure beats heaving mountains of carrier bags to and from the car, my shopping was put away in a fraction of the time! What I noticed most of all was the lack of impulse buys and unnecessary items, particularly for the boys. I used to estimate I would spend around $40 extra on magazines and little treats to keep them happy each time we trailed around the supermarket - the only treat they found in our online packages was a bottle of lemonade!

Not that I have a problem taking Liam shopping anywhere - my two children's spending habits are as far removed as can be. While Ali's money burns a hole in his wallet, I wouldn't be surprised if Liam had moths flying out of his! On our recent trip to Australia, Ali was madly buying souvenirs wherever he went - being the wildlife nut he is, within a few days he had acquired a new toy snake, a pelican, platypus and several types of penguin, his major fascination. By the time we were halfway through our trip, he was already well in pocket money overdraft and writing out IOU's to his parents. In contrast, Liam refused to buy anything whatsoever, keeping all his money for the one Playstation game he had saved his birthday money for, from three months before. Not available yet in NZ, he knew he could get it cheaper in Australia, and remembered to bring his EB Games coupon from a magazine from home, in order to obtain an even better bargain. 'We know which of those two will have all the money by the time they're 20!' pointed out Fiona at the time.

She's not wrong either. I print off the free Kids' Balance Sheets from the Simple Savings Payday Scheme and stick one for each child up on the fridge. It is a great way to monitor their progress and we have been doing this for many months now. Apart from his precious game, Liam put every cent of his birthday money in the bank and has done the same with any Christmas money he received, because at just nine years old, he is conscious that he is going to need a car one day and is determined to do as much as he can to make darn sure he gets one. The only problem now is Liam's frugal ways are coming back to bite me!

You see, both boys receive $5.00 pocket money each week, plus $2.00 from their Grandma. There are several small jobs that they have to do consistently to make sure it is paid and we write down their new balance every week on their Payday sheets. To be fair to Ali, he doesn't do too bad; he currently has $39 on his balance sheet. Each time he wants to buy something, we simply deduct the sum and write what the purchase was, so he can see where his money goes. Liam however is a different matter! Because he is so conscious of saving, he refuses to let me give him his pocket money, preferring me just to hang on to it so he can watch it mount up. For months and months he has saved everything he can get his hands on; as well as his pocket money he has also snaffled away money from the tooth fairy, bonuses for outstanding school reports, all the dollars he earned in rugby (he gets paid $1.00 per try), even coins retrieved from behind the washing machine. The grand total on his Payday chart as we speak is $277.65!

Don't ask me how I let it get that far. 'You've got to pay him!' gasped Noel when he saw the extent of our eldest son's savings. 'But he doesn't want me to, he wants to keep saving', I defended myself. 'Then put it in the bank for goodness sake! Otherwise we'll have to fork out enough for a car by the time he's 12!' Needless to say, from now on Liam will be forced to stash his money away a week at a time to avoid expensive scenarios like that again! No such danger of that for Ali - had he been allowed his way yesterday he would have come home from town with a fencing sword and mask, a plastic 'gripper' with a handle and a $50 musical penguin. Goodness knows how Liam learned to be such a miser, but I'm glad at least one of them has some restraint over their finances!

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Never shop when bored    

Jan 17, 2006

Apparently, one of the golden rules to saving money is never to shop on an empty stomach. Well I have another one to add - never shop when you are bored! Since injuring my leg weeks ago, I have been unable to drive more than 10 minutes at a time, just enough to get to the corner shop or post office if necessary. It's really been a fantastic way to save, the last time I filled up my car with petrol was on December 28th! I also really quite enjoy the reduced amount of stress that not rushing around has brought and I actually think the boys have enjoyed not having their mother dragging them out in the car every five minutes! However, after weeks of being virtually housebound, I had had enough. I wanted to get out and join the real world! I wanted to go SHOPPING.

I had several purchases in mind that I had been waiting for to come on sale after Christmas and now I wanted to go and get them! I couldn't put it off any longer and informed my Mum I was going to drive to the city an hour away, to which she said that I most definitely was not going to drive that far and offered to chauffeur me to the shops. Filling up my car with petrol proved quite a painful experience after so long between visits to the petrol station and I probably should have taken this as an omen and headed straight home, but no - I was getting out! The boys were very excited too as they were off to visit the new Warehouse megastore in our area for the first time, to be let loose with their pocket money. True to form, Ali went rushing around like a little blond dervish and purchased no less than five items, while Liam methodically searched the store from end to end and found absolutely nothing he wanted to part with his money for.

In the Warehouse, I purchased the three barstools I had planned (we used to have three at home that I had bought for five dollars each quite a few years ago but the last one was finally on the verge of collapse) which were $29.95 each. I was also shopping around for a personal CD player for Liam - I had promised him one for having a staggering school report almost a month ago but wanted to make sure I got the best value for money. I didn't think the best bargain was to be had here and I was right, Dick Smith's had a much better deal. Good stuff, but it was from here on in that it all started to go a bit pear shaped. Liam found a Playstation game that was as rare as gold dust and finally agreed to part with some of his stash. Unfortunately he then pointed out a Gameboy game called 'Operation Penguin' to the penguin obsessed Ali. Who excitedly put back the penguin shaped shower radio and penguin shaped waffle maker he had found (who thinks these things up?!) in favour of the new game.

'But Ali, you don't have a Gameboy', I reasoned with him. 'It's OK Mum, he can use mine to play it on', offered Liam. Thanks a lot mate. Luckily the price was around half of what these impossibly expensive little cartridges usually cost, and feeling somewhat indulgent after not taking them out anywhere for so long, I agreed. However, it wasn't long before a little light started going on in Ali's head. He had also had an amazingly impressive report, just as good as his brother's, so shouldn't he be allowed a special treat too? Something like a Gameboy of his own perhaps? Unfortunately he was dead right, his report had been just as good as Liam's, therefore they should be treated the same. But there was no way I was buying him the newest version, he had to have the same kind as Liam's, so at least they could share the same games. Who was I kidding? We trailed from store to store but the only options any of them had available was the newest version, the Nintendo DS, which renders all other types of Gameboy games useless, meaning you have to buy a whole load of compatible ones to play with it. 'Sorry Ali, no way!' I said. 'You're just going to have to wait until we find a better deal'.

By this time, we were in K-Mart. Liam was over the moon to find another super rare game, which he had been hoping to find for months. While he tried to con me into buying it for him, I held firm and he reluctantly agreed to buy it himself. Ali tried to persuade me to buy the Crazy Frog CD where his brother had failed earlier and found that it was still no-go. It's bad enough to keep shelling out for penguins, there was no way I was giving any money to a singing frog! It was while we were in the music aisle that a real 'blast from the past' CD jumped out at me. I tried to leave it on the shelf, but it was no good, I had to have it.

As we were about to leave the store and head home, I was excited to finally find - quite by accident - what I had spent half the afternoon searching for, a Piranha hand held vacuum cleaner. A Simple Savings help request several months ago was all about vacuum cleaners and I had heard a lot of good feedback about this particular brand. Normally I wouldn't have needed one, but I find vacuuming really painful with my dodgy leg and thought something small and portable would make life a lot easier. It was $69, which was $20 more than when I had seen them in the Warehouse a few months earlier, but it had proved so hard to find that there was no way I was leaving it behind.

So, we headed home and I couldn't wait to pop in my new CD, full of songs reminiscent from my college years. It was absolutely dire and it wasn't until the 16th song (out of 18) that I found something I could listen to in its entirety. I made a mental note to sell it on Trade Me. On arriving home, I couldn't wait to try out my new cordless Piranha. Which turned out not to be cordless. OK, so 'hand held vacuum' does obviously not necessarily mean 'cordless vacuum'. In my haste to grab the darn thing, I didn't take too much notice and as I indignantly showed Maxine, the only trace of a power cord showing on the picture on the box was covered by a large red sticker, emblazoned with '2 year warranty'. I did give it a go and the performance is fantastic but if I have to go from room to room plugging it in, it will save me no more time and effort, so I would rather stick to my usual vacuum cleaner! After an expensive day out like that one, I think it's safer for me to stay at home in future!

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Best & Worst of 2005    

Jan 20, 2006

At least my mistakenly bought un-cordless Piranha has managed to sort of justify its presence so far. I went to turn a light on by pulling one of those string things and the entire light fitting came away from the ceiling, sending the bulb crashing into a squillion pieces on the floor. Thank goodness nobody was sitting below it at the time! Quick as a flash I grabbed the Piranha (cord and all) and whizzed through the mess in a fraction of the time. So there you go, already I have managed to find some reason to use it.

After that, I started thinking about all the purchases I made during 2005 and which ones I would consider my best and worst buys. On the whole, I don't think I did too bad really, I still bought a few things that I wanted to kick myself for almost immediately after buying them, but compared to my pre-Simple Savings spending habits the year before, it is a huge turnaround. I now present (in no particular order):

Penny's Worst Buys of 2005!

1. Salt rock crystal lamp $53.95. Very groovy, supposed to absorb negative ions and energies around the home apparently. Bought a few days before Christmas and was intended as a gift for a friend, but once I got it home I thought it was so neat that I wanted to keep it. Once Mum reminded me that I had already bought a gift for that particular person, I decided I definitely would keep it, which was a really rubbish decision because I can't find a decent spot in the house for it. Hence I keep forgetting to turn it on so it hasn't been absorbing much in the negative ion department as yet.
2. Two pieces of artwork $170-ish. I bought these in my favourite little seaside town of Whangamata in NZ, which is a place I now try to stay away from because every time I go there I get all inspired by the local arts and crafts and spend heaps. I bought these two beautiful pictures back in March, paid to have them framed and as yet have found nowhere suitable to hang them. One is stashed away behind a box in the spare room and I have recently hung the other in the laundry room out of sheer desperation. Not only is the laundry room a rather strange place to hang such a tastefully expensive piece of art, but one can only actually appreciate it if one happens to be sitting on the toilet with the door open.
3. Extremely large candle. I love candles, I have several in every room already, which means that I definitely did not need to spend $39.95 on this particular one just because I liked the shape of it.
4. Small coffee table $210 (I know, I'm so ashamed!) It does look really good in the spot I found for it, but we just didn't need it and to tell the truth it's only really big enough to put the aforementioned large candle on. Both these items were bought as a result of helping my friend out in her gift shop for the day when she was sick and I kept finding all these 'had to have' things. Mercifully she sold the gift shop several months ago so I no longer have to go in there.
5. Very nice, and very large Kelly Lane picture frame - one of those multi types that holds a dozen photos. I bought it once again in my friend's shop, hugely reduced down to $48 and even Noel really liked it, but it was so darn big that I just couldn't find enough space to hang it anywhere! I kept it under the stairs for months and ended up giving it away to friends.

OK, so I admit they are shocking purchases, but I am quite delighted to find there are only five of them, thank goodness my oil burner phase was the year before! Now for the good news:

Penny's Best Buys of 2005!

1. Dyson vacuum cleaner $480. My beloved Dyson put an end to our horrendous pet hair problem in one fell swoop. With six cats and two dogs living inside, we had one hairy abode! It had become a huge problem, so much so that we were seriously considering having to banish all the animals to live outside, which we really didn't want to do. The Simple Savings newsletter came out several months ago featuring a member help request about which vacuum cleaners were the best value for money. I did some major Vault research as well and found that the Dyson had a huge amount of good feedback, especially regarding pet hair. So I started shopping around and managed to find the latest model which normally sold for $699 on eBay for $480. It was only two days old! The woman had wanted one of her own for ages and finally went and treated herself to one, only to arrive home and find that her husband had done exactly the same thing! I had full warranty, proof of purchase and all the whistles and bells for $219 less than retail. It does a fantastic job, we no longer have pet hair issues and the animals have all got a reprieve.
2. Pie maker $29.95. I had wanted one of these for ages, so waited until K-Mart had one in the sales. It's great! So many of our leftovers now get made into these little pies and are frozen until we want a tasty snack or a quick meal. Leftover meat dishes get made into Beef and Red Wine pies, Chicken and Vegetable pies - even the vegetables from Christmas dinner got made into pies! They take only a few minutes to make and means nothing is wasted anymore (or given to Ella, so far better for her diet too!)
3. Two large buckets with lids, $9.95 each. Don't laugh, my buckets are invaluable! One is for filling with bulk laundry powder so I can take advantage of discount prices and the other is for laundry soaking. I never used to do this before - not since the boys were babies anyway and they are so hard on their clothes now they are bigger. I noticed that Maxine's and Rochelle's childrens' clothes always looked in perfect condition - not like my two stain covered ragamuffins and I discovered that they both took much better care with their washing than I do! So now when I see garments that are heavily soiled or stained, I pop them into a bucket of cold water with a small amount of laundry powder added and let them soak overnight before I wash them. I find just doing this alone brings the clothes up perfectly - I haven't even had to use stain remover yet! As a result, it has extended the life of many clothing items, which I would previously have ended up throwing away and we are all far more presentable!
4. Baking trays and muffin tins! These have saved me a fortune on school lunches, as I can bake muffins and biscuits in large amounts. No more resorting to muesli bars, Tiny Teddy's and suchlike!
5. Three Destitute Gourmet books, $19.95 each. I'm sure you've heard me mention these before, so I won't go on too much! These books have changed the way our family eats and shops and saved us a fortune every month. What could be better?

So there we have it. I can't believe the difference between the good buys and the bad ones. All except one of the bad buys were things supposedly bought to make the house look nice, but I didn't need any of them, so by and large they go unnoticed. The ones I consider to be the best buys are the ones which get the most use! I'm glad the Piranha has redeemed itself but it's a bit of a shame that I managed to begin 2006 with a shopping mistake so soon (the abysmal CD from the other day - it was the best of The Smiths, which is as dreary to listen to now as it was when I first owned the tape version in 1988, but at least it was fashionably dreary back then). However I shall remain positive and aim that this time next year I won't even be able to make a list of bad shopping decisions. Do you know what I have noticed most of all about my good ones though? Every one of them was purchased as a result of something I learned from Simple Savings!

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Quality time    

Jan 25, 2006

The boys may have been on school holidays these past few weeks, but it's me who has been getting some education! Lately I have learned just how little my children need to have, buy or do to keep them (and me) perfectly happy. I'll be frank - I was dreading the school holidays, I really was. I couldn't believe the other mothers talking excitedly at the school gates, anticipating long lazy days and break from routine. As far as I could see, it was going to be a living nightmare and I had no desire to have my comfortable routine broken thank you very much. The boys appreciate how lucky they are to have a Mum who can work while she is at home and we manage things pretty well when they are not at school. The major problem as I saw it was the fact that I still couldn't drive for longer than 10 minute journeys with my dodgy leg. What on earth was I going to do with them for seven weeks? None of the usual things that we like to do - or rather I like them to do - to keep them happy. No going to the movies, going to the beach, or shopping - couldn't even drive as far as the nearest video store. Things were looking pretty gloomy as far as I was concerned.

Talking to Maxine helped me feel a bit more positive. The pair of us have been pretty dedicated Simple Savers for a while and she informed me that these holidays she was going to do things differently with her two boys. No expensive outings, no unnecessary journeys, just keeping it simple. Listening to her I could see she was absolutely right. For some bizarre reason, we always feel obliged to go and 'do something' with the kids - to bundle them into the car (whether they actually feel like it or not) and spend the majority of their so-called holiday rushing them around from one place to the next in an attempt to keep them occupied. The result by the end of the holidays is invariably worn out, fed up kids, who don't mind if they don't set foot in another McDonalds for the next 12 months and would much rather be left to their own devices. Not to mention a sizeable dent in their parents' bank balance by the time they head off back to school! Being as I had no choice on this occasion but to forceably stay close to home, I figured Maxine's idea was a pretty good one and decided I may as well go along with it.

It turned out to be a darn good idea. I don't think I have ever had such a simple, frugal, yet fun-filled school holiday. For example:

• Two hours swimming every day at local pool - cost $1.00 each
• Picnics - cost, no more than everyday lunch, just in a different place!
• Playing with friends - cost, nothing
• Hut building with Mum - cost, nothing
• Two school holiday programme outings - $9.00 total
• Camping expeditions - there have been several of these, depending on the weather. So far we haven't managed to get the tent up when it hasn't rained or threatened to blow it away but nevertheless we have enjoyed mini camping adventures at the neighbours', on our own back lawn and have even pitched the tent in the lounge when necessary. Cost, nothing.
• Rock star party - this was a blast! The trusty Singstar karaoke set was brought out by popular demand and a dozen children and adults dressed suitably for the occasion, sporting glitter, sunglasses and blue hair before taking the floor. The combined repertoire continued well into the evening and guests dined on chips and star shaped cookies. Cost - less than $20.

The list could go on, but you get the idea! The boys have had countless hours of fun, a good chunk of quality time with their Mum and it has cost next to nothing. We all look forward to our daily swims and that's all they want out of their day. We haven't been to the movies, rented a video, bought a fast food meal or spent needless amounts on kids' magazines. All the things I thought they needed to survive their weeks off school - how wrong could I have been? The best thing I have learned is how fantastic my kids are. How funny, how smart, how surprising. They are just as happy at home playing Monopoly with Mum, playing cricket in the garden with Dad or reading a book by themselves as being ferried around in a car from one activity to the next. I got so accustomed to having them around and enjoying their company that when Rochelle offered to have them for 24 hours, I missed them horrendously and was literally counting the hours until I had them back again! It wasn't my children who were demanding at all; it was me who thought they were, but it has been a wonderful experience being proven wrong!

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Honesty is the best policy    

Jan 26, 2006

Frugal school holidays or not, I still found doing the January bills somewhat painful! I had to chuckle when I read the latest Sad Sally story in the January newsletter. There really are people like that out there - I should know, I was a prime example not so long ago! I remember shortly after joining Simple Savings, I read something which implied couples would enjoy a happier relationship if they were not bogged down with financial worries. To be honest I was quite indignant - what on earth did money have to do with marital happiness? What about love and all the warm fuzzy stuff? Did that not come into it?

A year or so down the track, I know exactly what it means. When my Sad Sally phase was at its worst, I knew every trick in the book to cover up my spending. I hid credit card statements. Every time Noel questioned me about my purchases, the prices I had paid would miraculously drop by 50%. I was a master of subterfuge. I would actually lay awake at night worrying what would arrive in the mail on weekends when Noel was home - what if he got his hands on anything incriminating before I could grab it and snaffle it away? I was so adept at intercepting the mail that I actually convinced my poor husband that we no longer received bank statements now we had access to Internet banking, so terrified was I that he would discover the evidence of my uncontrollable spending printed in black and white.

Things came to a head shortly before starting my blog last year. We had spent a week at the beach and I had blissfully floated my way around the local craft shops and art galleries while Noel and the boys were at the beach. I bought anything and everything from hideously expensive giant seashells to candles, incense sticks, artwork, crystals, bath stuff and a big red vase. By the end of the week, I had managed to spend no less than $500 and I had a whole bunch of absolutely useless rubbish to show for it. I couldn't believe I had done it - there we were trying our best to save money and thanks to me we were now $500 worse off. I was eaten up with guilt over the weeks that followed. The bills were due and I was going to have to front up about how we came to be so short of money. In the end I could stand it no more and after a sleepless night, I woke Noel from his peaceful slumber to bawl noisily all over him. 'I've got something to tell you!' I wailed. 'What is it, can't it wait?' he mumbled. 'No - I have a confession to make. It's been building up for ages and I have to tell you right now!' I continued bravely in the dark.

Noel sat bolt upright. 'What is it? What have you done?' Heaven only knows what he thought I was going to come out with - I think he was expecting me to reveal I was having a sordid affair with the mailman or something, so he was rather taken aback when I blurted out, 'I spent $500 just on things all for myself when we were away at the beach and it was a load of crap and it was such a selfish thing to do and I'm so sorry and I'll never do it again!' 'Is that it?' replied Noel, incredulous. 'Did you have to pick three o'clock in the morning to tell me?' 'I'm sorry, I just couldn't hold it in any longer, I felt so guilty' I sniffled. 'For goodness sake you silly moo, I know you spent heaps, I'm not stupid! Just don't do it again or I won't be so understanding. Can I go back to sleep now?'

And that was it. Right there and then I vowed never to lie about my spending again and I have stuck to it. I'm still in charge of bill paying and book keeping, but these days I share everything with Noel, so we both know how much we have at all times and how much we need. The Bill Payment System shows us both where our money is going and mistakes are few and far between. Noel knows how hard I am trying and how seriously I take saving money now and nothing is hidden. Whoever wrote that stuff about money and relationships was right - it's like a huge weight is off my shoulders and I have nothing to feel guilty about. Consequently I'm happy and content, secure in the knowledge that I'm trying my best, and I think Noel and the boys would agree a stress free, guilt free wife and Mum is much nicer to live with. I still throw the bank statements away before Noel gets a chance to read them, but only because we don't need them any more - thanks to the Bill Payment System, we know everything in them already!

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High cost of living    

Jan 28, 2006

This morning is gloriously warm and sunny - a sight which would normally bring a smile to my face, but for once I wish it wasn’t so bright and welcoming, because it’s not that kind of day. In the early hours of this morning, Noel and I stood at the roadside comforting one of our dearest friends, Steven*, just 17 years old. We all watched helplessly as his 20 year old sister Melanie* and a girl friend were airlifted to hospital. Their two male companions were taken to the mortuary soon after. Police and support workers agreed it was the worst accident ever seen in our quiet rural area - and one which had occurred so needlessly. The accident happened just a couple of kilometres from our friends’ home - all the carload of young people had been doing was driving around the block to recharge a cellphone. The driver, a likeable and usually responsible young man was proud to drive his friends around in the new car which he had only purchased two days before. The four of them had been drinking all afternoon. The car became airborne at an estimated speed of 160km/h. Not one of them was wearing a seatbelt. Noel and I waited with Steven, while Melanie’s mother rode with her daughter in the helicopter and we waited for their father to make the long trip down the mountain road over an hour away where he had been staying with family, before facing another hour’s drive to the hospital ahead. We waited until news came through that Melanie was going to pull through and seeing that Steven had a bed with friends for the night, we returned to their family home to lock up and make sure everything was in order. Two boxes worth of empty bottles were strewn all over the veranda. We took them away so the family wouldn’t be greeted by the sight of them when they eventually came home. Two lives lost, two more critically injured and many more permanently scarred for $80 worth of bourbon and coke.

* Names have been changed.

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