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Archive for June, 2009

Its the end of the financial year here!

June 29th, 2009 at 11:25 am

Not that it make much difference to me but a lot of other things are happening as well to make the cost of living higher around here.

For one our state government has had an 8 cents a litre state tax subsidy on fuel here for many years now but come the 1st July it will be gone. This will increase the cost of not only fuel but cost of most things too! As our State was the only one that did not have this extra tax on fuel, it will an eye opener to the others states if the transport and supermarkets in Australia were averaging their prices with our states fuel subsidy because at times our prices for fuel were still higher then some of the other states. Someone was making money on this subsidy and not our state motorist. I see it as putting all the states on a level playing fielding but others see it as a rip off by the our state government for taking it off. Time will tell as their say.

Another price rise will be electricity price will be going up so will need to watch my power consumption until I get solar power installed. I still dont know how much but will review my contract with my supplier when I get an idea of how much. If I can get a better deal then I can change suppliers.

Another expense that is coming in on 1st July will Cat Licence this will be a problem as my cats do not like collars at all.

With all the rises that are coming in like rates, water, fares and everyday cost of living with fuel subsidy coming off even I will need take stock of everything and find more money out of my pension to pay all of it. Luckily single pensioners are getting a pay rise in September but there will not be much leftover in the end.

Household inventory and then some!

June 16th, 2009 at 05:34 am

Of late I have been doing a bit of stockpiling in some areas and making an inventory of what I do have already. This is so I dont go and buy things that I already own in abundance and dont need to buy again for along while if ever. When my parents were alive they had a habit of buying ahead, I do think I have taking on this habit also.

Now if you saw that large suitcase under my bed then you would know why I was shocked as when I go shopping with friends I do the feel the need to buy some little thing as well, so when I am in one store here I will buy underwear so 5 pairs of the one's that I buy when they are on special. Now it has got to the point I have no longer have the space in that suitcase to fit in any more.

I am trying to do one hour per day, working on my inventory as I am planning to do the whole house then use it before buying anymore. This is part of my challenge for this year and it's not just on food.

I hoping to use items that I have bought both in food and stuff around the house until its gets to a more comfortable level, any money saved will be banked for the future as I still need to stretch my dollars around here as the cost of living is rising faster than ever.

My menu for the week

Sausages and Vegetables
Grilled Streak, Onion, Poached Egg with vegetables
Fish Cakes & Vegetables with Poached Egg
Omelet with Grated Cheese & Ham
Pasta with Tuna Tomato Sauce
Spaghetti Bolognese
Potluck or a rice dish

Review of My Daily Living Allowance for April & May

June 13th, 2009 at 12:34 am

It is time to review my daily living allowance for the next two months of my 2009 budget.

These are the categories for this challenge.

Items ==budget==spent

Eating out= $67==$144.70
Groceries=$271.00= = $128.30
Non-Food=$33.00= =$19.64
Clothes =$67.00==$0
Grooming=$25.00==$19.64
Gas=$50.00 ==$22.60
Pets= $98.00 ==$82.13
HH items=$83.00==$68.88
Fares= $17.00 == $0
Entrainments= $25.00 == $0
Garden =$17.00==$0
Gifts & Donations =$67.00= =$40
Medical Prescription =$30==$488.24
Misc =$17.00 ==$3
Personal Allowance =$168.00 ==$146.95

No Spending days over the 56 days = 33 days in total.

My eating out in this period included a few restaurant meals so its way over budget.

I did buy an oil heater for my computer room; if the weather gets much colder here as my air conditioner doesnt come that far.

Another big expense this period was my medical extras, these included dentist visits, eye specialist, and first aid kit update. These were out of pocket expenses after refunds.

In personal allowance area was a mail order of books and other book purchases; this was the bulk of this period expense. Other than paying bills which come out of my bill accounts areas I didnt have many other expenses over this period.

$1035 budget total and I spent a total $1163 this included a few unexpected expenses like eye specialist & dentist visits. So was over budget $128 which is cover by an emergency fund if I was short of money but I didnt need to dip into it at all. By cutting back on a few areas I was able to cover any extra expense over this period.

Now two weeks into my next period so I am doing well with some money in the bank to pay my way.

It's a long time

June 11th, 2009 at 12:52 am

Oh dear! Is it so long since I last posted; I have been well so far this winter no flu or colds! Just a bit lazy with my time and doing some HP-Online Courses. I see that they are going to change they website address after 18th June I will change the link when I fine it.

I will get back to posting an update every soon!