Different name, different attitude to saving!

A simple change of tactic can make the world of difference when it comes to getting the family on board with saving! Our family recently did a $21 Challenge. To begin with, I was talking with my daughter, when the children started carrying on about the challenge, (the eldest child in that household in 21!). The other adult in the house said nothing, but his expression said everything. What was I going to do to get them on board? I had a lightbulb moment and told them that I was playing SURVIVOR, with help from my fridge, my freezer and my garden. Did I get any more criticism? No way. What I got was discussions on which family member would be able to survive with what is available at home, and for how long. This discussion went on for a week or more. I heard no more complaints and we spent just $2.99 over a fortnight! Next goal is a $41.00 challenge for a whole month. I just need to set a date, and get my support team going again!

'Gentle reminder' can lead to a lifetime of saving

Often all it takes is the smallest reminder to make a huge difference. Having just turned 65 and now "eligible" to retire, I am not ready to do so either physically, emotionally or socially. I'm also frequently with younger people, who don't necessarily have the same basic foundation of budgeting that I was brought up with. With that in mind, I have taken to carrying around a subtle reminder of the cost of living which not only works for me, but will hopefully rub off on those around me.

My card wallet has a 'sticker' reminder, which says "$20? Is it worth one hour of work?" It's small and discreet, but effective! It also serves as a talking point when I am out and about with some of the younger ones and buying coffee or lunch. It's simple to make the label on the computer or by hand, then clear tape to the card wallet. Here's to some improved lifestyle options as I age further!

Student secrets to eating for $15 a week

During my uni student years I developed a menu-planning and grocery shopping system that allowed me the freedom to eat well, generously fuel my bicycle-based lifestyle, entertain guests regularly and experiment with new recipes, all within my strict food budget of just $15 a week!

It works like this.

1. Decide how much you will spend on your weekly groceries. In recent years I have had to increase my spending to about $21 a week due to rising food costs and CPI, but the system still works really well when I use it and is a great way to separate needs from wants.

2. Choose the staples and basics that are to be made every week as needed. These could include soy milk, tofu, sourdough bread, yoghurt, sprouts, hummus, fresh lemon cordial, Anzac bickies, gomasio or whatever else you require.

3. Give the ingredients needed to make these staples first priority when making the weekly shopping list. If you have a local food co-op you can buy mostly organic ingredients with minimal packaging in exactly the amounts you need.

4. Check what else is in the fridge, cupboard, garden or neighbours' garden and pore over your large collection of second-hand recipe books to see what can be created with these other ingredients. Recipes which require two or less extra (and inexpensive) ingredients are preferred and a list of these and their corresponding cookbooks/page numbers is made and stuck on the fridge. There will usually be a selection of mains, side dishes, desserts, treats and beverages on the list.

5. Give the extra ingredients needed for the chosen recipes next priority on the shopping list. Over time you will intuitively know when your shopping list is 'full'.

6. Once out shopping, specials of the day such as a big bag of discounted apples or cheap cooking tomatoes take third priority. If not consumed within the week, these can form the basis of recipes chosen for the following week.

7. Last priority (and usually only considered after the register shows you are still under budget) are those inevitable temptations that one wants rather than needs. It often helps me to take my recipe list with me and remind myself that I can make a delicious self-saucing carob pudding at home for a fraction of the cost of the tiny chocolate bar I am now contemplating. All of a sudden the money seems much better spent on a kilo of brown rice!

8. Back at home, simply cross the recipes off the list as they are made. There will always be plenty of food for dinner parties or last-minute guests, and the sometimes tiresome decision of 'what to cook?' becomes easy.

Using this system I have never run out of food or felt like there was 'nothing to eat'. In contrast, I have stayed at many houses where, despite having pantries and fridges which are bursting with food, the occupants have driven to the supermarket and easily spent $30 or $40 just to cook up dinner for the night.

Seems unbelievable? Try scratching every processed food item off your own shopping list and see how many more kilos of real food you can come home with for the same amount of money. Don't forget too, to keep an eye out for trees in public areas which are loaded with fruit or nuts. I have used the $15 a week food budget for stretches of up to a year at a time, which means I certainly wasn't relying on stockpiles of food from more extravagant days tiding me over. Necessity breeds creativity, and I am so happy to have been forced early on to examine and separate my wants from my needs in this regard. Even when times are tough, I know I can eat well!

From lows come great highs

Our story is a great example of how thinking outside the square has enabled us to get ahead, even through the toughest of trials. My husband is on a disability pension receiving $450 per fortnight and I work 20 hours per fortnight earning $397. I have chosen not to apply for Centrelink benefits due to the numerous requirements. Our uninsured home burnt down 10 years ago leaving us homeless (I went into premature labour and spent six weeks in hospital with complications so I had somewhere to stay but my partner lived in our car with our two dogs for this time). We were at the lowest point ever and could not imagine how we were going to survive. We were advised to go bankrupt, which we did but we were now unable to get finance (in hindsight an absolute blessing) to get another house.

We did what most people do and rented a house in the suburbs thinking this was it for us. After three years of this we decided to look elsewhere and found a house in 'woop woop' which was $6000 (pre-real estate boom). Using my first home owner grant we purchased our house and although it was two hours from anywhere good, it was ours outright. This in itself is a handy hint to look outside of the box - our 'woop woop' town had a doctor, a supermarket and a school so it was fine and we lived there happily for another three years. At this point the real estate boom happened and we sold our house for $48,000 and decided to look outside the box once again. We ended up 2000km away from home in a place two hours from Adelaide. We still live here happily and after four years the value of our property has gone from $35,000 to $95,000 (I swear getting our first home owner grant was like winning the lottery).

But we still couldn't save any money so two years ago I cancelled my fortnightly family tax benefit from Centrelink (approx $200 per fortnight). It was hard - very, very hard for the first eight months but then it was tax time and I was very surprised when I received a tax return of more than $7000 with my lump sum FTB part A and B. We paid our bills and bought a second hand car. This year I paid a little extra tax each week ($10) and was pleasantly surprised by an $8000 tax return. With this we bought a block of land 30 minutes down the road (in a bigger town closer to Adelaide). The value of this block is double what we actually paid! Some people say we were lucky but luck had nothing to do with it - we were just prepared to live in very yucky houses in areas no one wants to live. Three months ago a house in our town sold for $21,000 which is around the same as the first home owner grant now and there are still others which would be around the same price. We don't have sewerage or town water but we have a school and a pub so it was certainly a change in lifestyle.

Other people have asked how we are doing so well now and I just laugh! We are earning $845 per fortnight and I have chosen not to work extra hours so I can still be a stay at home mum to our diabetic 10-year-old. We have private health cover, Internet, insurance, power, phone, petrol expenses ($100 fortnight), rates, medical expenses and even private school fees to pay but we still have enough to go around and often support other people with food, even though they are making much more than us. This year we plan on buying a second hand relocatable house for our block with our tax return. It may be a form of forced savings by not getting a fortnightly benefit but when it comes in it is amazing. Thanks to careful budgeting and Simple Savings we easily survive!