Sunday 28 April 2013

My passion - saving money while still enjoying life.

This is it.  The start of what I hope will be an on-going project that is mutually beneficial to both you AND me.

I am passionate about money... not just about having money, but about ways to save money, spend less and get more.  I have spent many, many hours searching the internet for helpful ideas on saving, and found some great information, but sadly not very much that was specifically for those who live in New Zealand.  This was where my family told me that I should start a blog to share my ideas and those that I had found helpful to me.  And so here I am.

To give you some background, I'm a Mother to three teen/pre-teen boys and Wife to my Darling Husband (DH).  We have a dog, two cats and three chickens.  I work part-time (18 hours a week) to earn our spending money, which we are currently saving furiously for a family holiday.   I have often been complimented for how little we spend on our groceries, and hear comments such as "Man, I wish WE could spend that much - we spend twice that amount".  I thought we were just pretty normal, but it seems that the old grocery bill gets away with most people. Over the last 7 months, we have been ruthless with our grocery bill, and still had plenty of food for entertaining, eating what I would call extremely well, and not feeling like we are missing out (unless of course you ask my 15 year old, who always says "Muuuuummmmm... we haven't got ANYTHING to eat".   In my mind I see the funny clip from Giggle T.V (Thanks to Dad's N Lads Barber's)

Open fridge;  Nothing to eat.
Open pantry;  Nothing to eat.
Lower Standards and repeat.

ANYWAY...  Last year, I was introduced to Dave Ramsey, and WOW, was I hooked.  Dave's no-nonsense approach to saving had my head spinning with excitement.  One of Dave's most precious sayings: - "If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else". 

I have been, and am constantly BEING challenged, to follow this motto.  For the first time ever, I refused an invitation to go our for dinner simply because it was going to cost me more that I was prepared to pay.  That was easier than I expected, and I did compromise by joining the girls for coffee after dinner so I could still enjoy their company.  I certainly didn't feel that I missed out, when I paid my $5 bill at the end of the night.

Lyn Webster, from little old Taranaki, was also a major inspiration to me about 2 years ago to try and get our grocery bill under control.  Check out her website HERE to see what she is up to now. 

Hopefully I can share ideas that will inspire you to re-think how you spend your money. 

Our goal we set this year - pay off all our debt... yes, ALL OF OUR DEBT, by the time I turn 50.  We have about 7 years and 5 months to go.  I will share our story, and tips we have learnt as we go.

Thanks for checking my blog out!

Happy Savin'!


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