I need an accountability partner (the forum) so I decided to put the things below that I am doing now, that I needed to change in order to get my money matters more in order.
1) stop buying daily coffee
2) increase rent on IP by $30 per week
3) make meal planning more of a priority
Hi Chloe,
Change is just making a new habit. Meal planning something we do also but school holidays usually play havoc with it!
Changes for us:
1) Because we are self employed we have changed our personal budget to reflect the 30% tax rate so that we have a more accurate idea of what we are really spending - it was frightening to say the least! But we now feel we have a better idea of the 'real' cost in time and money of purchases and spending.
2) Take steps to reduce our costs to a level that is sustainable long term and will allow us to invest to produce another income through investing.
3) Sell our current investment property, which is negatively geared, by October.
4) Assess whether we should sell our home - this is a real hurdle for my husband emotionally.
Cherie
Cheers
Cherie
Hi Cherie
Looks like you have made some progress with your Y-E=S and you have a few hard decisions to make! Selling your PPOR isn't easy. I did that 6 months ago to free up some cash and hopefully this course is going to show me where to spend it!
I like your "change is making a new habit". I concur. If we don't replace our old habits with new ones, the old ones will creep back again.
Chloe
FF 22/2/19
yes I agree with you being self emplyed makes planning more difficult as I dont get an idea until we do our tax a little late to reign in spending!
with your investment property being negatively geared have you thought about selling using vendor finance? I am investigating doing this myself
I am not great at meal planning, but I am really good at cooking a big lot of soup or Dahl and putting it in freezer for when haven't had time to organise a meal.
If you put labels on what it is and when put it in, and periodically eat everything in freezer.
I Have eliminated waste of food by buying to need, and keeping a list of dates when opened, and plan around eating what is in fridge and monitor what is in there.
I have started using the 'I' word with force instead of 'once removed' language... 'I will / am' rather than 'the things that need to be done include'...
And I am focusing my attention on the opportunities that arise from my undertaking that this is 'must' for me. :-)
Oh and, I've started building my team, applying the leverage principle.
Christine
Hi Christine
I understand what you are saying. I have just come to realise also that I have been making excuses for non action (code for procrastination) by hiding behind the collective! So I am with you in that I am now responsible for my situation and I am the one who is going to change it.
Cheers
Cherie
Chloe,
Great post! I so agree. Meal planning is a good one for me to do too. As well as being cheaper, it also eliminates (almost) wastage of food.
Anyone who likes to eat out (on a budget) would probably like the coupon websites (or apps) like Living Social, Ouffer, Scoopon etc.
Jane
I think that when we are made aware of our problems/issues that is the only time we can do something about them.
Thanks ladies for jotting down your thoughts:)
Chloe
FF 22/2/19
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1vqzHx/:XO6AkbeE:aQJVZ-4k/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc4HGQHgeFE%2F I like to watch this every once and awhile. To me if he can overcome adversity and everything that has tried to stop him then it should be no issue for me. Help with motivation and stopping me time wasting.
What I got out of the weekend was Y-E=S . Sure I have heard Steve use it before but this time it really set in. I have an offer to take over a physiotherapy business in New Zealand that could potentially increase my income however it made me think about a couple of things. 1) Will I be wanting to do this job in 5 or 10 years time and does it fit in with be financially free 2 ) will I just be prostituting my time for more money and thus cutting down my time for investing and reaching my goal sooner. I will still do my due diligence but gives me some more to think about .
The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
What a great attitude in life. He really has everything! Thanks for posting the link
Cheers
Cherie
Hi munmun5,
I really needed to watch your video today.
Thank you
Oh man. What an amazing video! Wow.
Thanks munmun5 the utube link was very inspirational
Congratulations on making the necessary changes to move forward and thank you for having the guts to share :-)
I have written an ebook about managing your money.
At the moment I am editing and updating it with a view to self publishing as a paperback, I would love to offer you a free copy to help you get your finances on auto pilot. There is also a spending leaks calculator, a budget and menu planner and shopping list spreadsheet which is also useful for your smart phone.
The system I teach in the book is the one I used to get through our own financial crisis.
In 2001 when the IT industry crashed my husband was unemployed for 18 out of 24 months and our income fell from $160,000 to $26,000, that’s an 84% drop.
The system I put in place over 11 years ago I still use today and it just gets better all the time. It works a little like a machine and requires very little management once it is running well. It will challenge you at first because the scariest part is facing the real situation, which I’m sure you are already doing.
Using a menu plan is a great way to stay on track. Another tip is when you are at the shops don’t think or say "I can’t afford" this or that, say this is not a wise use of our money at this time. We made sure our kids never heard us say those words, which was also really good for our own ears too.
One way to stop the kids (and partners) asking for impulse purchases, just say if it’s not on the list we can’t buy it. The kids get really creative about getting things onto the list before you go out.
There are so many stories I can tell about how good that challenge was for our lives and our children’s lives.Our daughter has managed her own budget since she was 12, she is a great money manager. our twin 13 year olds are pretty good too,, they were only little at the time but they still learned about wise use of money.
Wishing you all the best in your journey.
If you want a copy of the book just email me.
Bless you, thanks for sharing.
Michelle
To Your Prosperity
Michelle
blog: www.michellethemoneycoach.com
eBook: http://financialfreedomonyourcurrentincome.com
We too have been tightening our budget and watching where our money is going. Great ideas getting the kids involved, looks like you have had some success, well done :)
Chloe
FF 22/2/19
Hi Michelle
I like how you changed "we can't afford" to "it is an unwise use of our money" - a much more positive way of avoiding unnecessry/extravagant purchases.
I'll take a look at your blog and book!
Thanks
Cherie
Cheers
Cherie
Nick Vujicic is really the man!
He inspired me so much and makes my heart melt.....
I saw his clip a few years ago when I really needed that spark of inspiration - I get back up!!!!
Having the courage to get back up, no matter what the perceived limitations is a life belief every person needs.
Thank you :-)