Lowincomelady's Financial Life

Total spent on groceries today was $200.86 and we got $70 cash out. We also bought a strawberry cheesecake from The Cheesecake Shop for $10. The cake was half price and there was nothing wrong with it!

I worked out something weird today. We have spent money on a new computer and bought a hindquarter of beef but we are still on schedule with the mortgage! After the interest on the mortgage is posted on the 8th June, I aimed to get the mortgage to 106 653 and I estimate the mortgage will be 106 603. So we are $50 ahead! I don't understand how that can happen!

This has eased my mind a lot! I hate being behind on my self imposed schedule...

The reason I called my blog, Low Income Lady is because my personal income is low. I receive 756.02 a fortnight. However I live with my parents and we share expenses so my costs are lower. Our combined income is 1737.62 a fortnight.

We are basically frugal people, we try and keep our grocery bill down. We don't have coupons here in Australia like in America. The 2 major supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths are getting more expensive by the week. Luckily I have access to an Aldi, so I can keep my grocery bill pretty low. We spend about $115 to $120 a week on food plus about $20 a week on red meat. We buy a hindquarter of beef every 3 months or so. Sometimes I can reduce this amount if we don't need as much!

Our electricity bill is about $180 a quarter. In winter this is about $230 for the quarter.

Our water bill is about $70 every 3 months.

Our council rates bill is about $175 a quarter. I predict it will go up to about $200 a quarter. We will start to pay that in August this year. We paid our rates bill in full last year so we haven't been worried by a bill for the rates this year.

Our insurance bill we paid for the year in full also. We recently raised our excess to $1000 as we figure if something major happens, $1000 will be not much to pay to replace a house. The insurance bill was $746 for the year till August this year and we will be getting an $85 refund because we raised the excess. Next time we renew it should be about $511 for the year. We will pay that by the month so that will be under $45 a month.

We don't drink alcohol, smoke, we don't go out much. Occasionally we will get home delivered chinese takeaway. It is my parent's 40th wedding anniversary this month. We already bought her a ruby ring in December last year because we had a $20 off coupon and we will get the chinese meal on the day.

I go to craft and a local weight reduction group. Craft costs us nothing, not even transport because we get picked up and we take our own food. The weight reduction group costs $1 a week plus $2.50 transport.

The rest of the time I spend trying to live with little stress. I have a disability that is triggered by stress and that prevents me working, which is why I am on a low income.

We have a mortgage offset account and every cent we have goes into there. The result being I don't know how much we have in each category of spending, it's just 1 big pot of money that can be withdrawn at any time. So we save interest but I don't know what we have to spend on things. So I have been thinking about it and I was wondering if it would be better to save for each category of spending. I have about 5 savings account available that I can save for different things. I'll just have to work out a budget and figure out the amounts I need to save. So do you think that would be better to separate the money out or should I continue just putting it into the offset? The savings accounts pay 6% and the mortgage costs 8.07%. What do you think?

I have lost interest in the finances this fortnight. The mortgage went up. I am so used to it going down every fortnight. We bought my Dad a new computer. That cost about $660 all up plus we have a $589 credit card bill. With the shopping on top of that, it means we have gone backwards. Which means I have to wait until June 14 which is next payday to start moving forward. I can't update the NCN Network because I have gone backwards. That's at www.ncnnetwork.com and I am known as Weight Money Life there, at least that's what my chart is called. So it will be a month between updates. Plus we just received the electricty bill fo $189 which means the credit card will be close to $500 next month as well. So, as I said, I will be happier next payday.

I had a look at the finances and the variable mortgage will be about $300 more than it was last fortnight.

We didn't go to church today, I have had rather a busy weekend so I decided to take the week off.

So it is back to the routine of school tomorrow. My son has a bad cough at the moment but hopefully he will be alright to go tomorrow.

I don't want to look at the finances at the moment! We have just bought a new computer and bought a hindquarter of beef. The computer cost $661 and the hindquarter cost $275. So that has come out of our offset account as we have no savings except for the offset. So I just don't want to look at the moment. We will be getting a carer's bonus at the end of June which will pay for the computer so that is making me breathe easier!

So when I get the guts to look at the finances, I will be able to post more! I think we will probably be able to pay the variable loan by November now, not October but I haven't worked it out as yet.

When I figured out the grocery budget it came to $185 for this Saturday's shopping but now it is $230 because I am going on the CSIRO Diet. That's not too bad!

Oh and I lost 1.7 kilos this week so I now weigh 110 kilos exactly! If I only I could have lost another 100 grams and I could have seen 109.9. Oh well maybe tomorrow!

Oh and my Dad's laptop has been playing up so he has bought a new computer, well its refurbished, not new but it will be fine. We bought it from www.bargainseeker.com.au I bought my computer from there, plus my friend bought it from there too and we are quite happy!

I got a call that my glasses are ready to be picked up so I will go tomorrow and get them. I would also like to buy sunglass shades to go over them too so I will see what they have!

We have just ordered a hindquarter of beef. The last time we ordered a hindquarter was on 30 January and it cost about $300 so I guess it has cost us about $20 a week for meat. We also spend about $10 a week on chicken so our meat bill is $30 a week. We are big meat eaters around here!

Well I have to go soon, I am going to buy some veggies and a packet of chips with those footy tazos in it for my son. the veggie prices are quite reasoable from the local shop, cheaper than the supermarket but you have to watch the quality.

I slept in so I couldn't get the papers. They are sold out by mid morning from the local shop. I went to the library yesterday so I have plenty of reading material!

I have made a cake and a chicken casserole with cheesy dumplings and now I am watching 'The Dish'. My son is being picked up from here soon to go on a sleep over at a friend's place.

So we haven't spent anything today, I have kept to my menu plan. I don't feel hungry and I am relaxing surfing the web!

The credit card balance for this month is $589. I bought an electric blanket for my queen bed, curves membership, school shoes for my son, phone bill and extra groceries.

All that was needed except for the Curves membership which has turned out to be a mistake.

Mum spent 11.37 at Aldi today on some shampoo and conditioner, a kilo of tomoatoes and a kilo of pears. Tomatoes were $3.79 a kilo! I remember when I used to get them for 99 cents a kilo!

The mortgage balance will be 107 139. After next payday which is when the interest is posted and the credit card will be paid, the balance will be 107 095. Its frustrating that the balance will not go down very much!

The balance of the mortgage as of next Friday will be 107 139.23.

I did the shopping today and spent $239.93 on the groceries. I was hoping to spend $218 but we added more things since I calculated that.

I earned a $20 coles gift voucher a few days ago from a survey site. That should arrive next week.

I gave my son 2 weeks pocket money in advance today so he could buy a star wars lego toy he wanted. I hope it is as good as he hopes it will be as he will be without pocket money until the end of May!

I am enjoying this weekend, I rented Happy feet from the video store, we have watched it this afternoon and we will watch it again tonight. It cost $4.95 to rent.

I bought the Sydney Morning Herald and I will start reading it soon. I have already read the local paper. Better get to it!

I spent $2 on some lollies for my son this afternoon and also 70 cents on a banana this morning.

It is shopping day on Saturday. I estimate the shopping will cost $216. We need to get $156 dollars out in cash as well so altogether we will be getting $372 out of the mortgage.

I cancelled my Curves Gym membership yesterday. A $69 payment will come out on the 19 May and I can workout there until the 19 June. Circuit training doesn't seem to do me any good, I feel I get a better workout from a walk which is free! Well I will take advantage of the gym access until June anyway. I needed to try it out and see if it was for me. Just one of those things!

Wehn I get my pocket money back, I think I will start trawling the op shops and list the things I buy on Oztion, I really enjoy doing that. I will walk to town and do that. When I did a lot of walking a couple of years ago, my muscles firmed up and I felt great. Now the weather is getting cooler I might getinto the walking again.

God is wonderful, I won't need to buy any warm clothes for the winter as I have been given a lot of warm stuff and I have found odds and ends lurking in my cupboards. I have found a couple of beautiful jumpers that look really smart. I might go and buy a couple of pairs of jeans though. I have a couple and one is getting baggy and the other I don't like very much, it doesn't feel quite right!

Wow, I have had over 4000 hits on this blog! I love how there is a community feel to this blog...

I bought my son some new school shoes and they are rubbing so I will have to buy some cheap bandaids for next week until his feet get used to them.

I will be getting some glasses for use with the computer in 2-3 weeks. I chose some with rectangular frames, they look cool!

Well, I better think about going to bed, it is 10.43pm at the moment. I don't feel tired but I better make the efoort and try and get some sleep!

Well, I have worked out a shopping list and the total comes to $302, thats $157 for groceries and $145 for cash out.

I went to Curves today and also had an eye exam afterwards. I am getting distance glasses that will also double as computer glasses. She was pleased with how my eyes were, even though I can't see very well out of my right eye, I still managed to read the bottom line of the eye chart with it. She said I compensate well for it and that that was unusual for people who have had it since childhood. When a child is longsighted, they tend to get lazy and take the easy way out but I haven't done that, my eyes work well even though my right eye is fuzzy. I have read a lot as a child and an adult, I am very well read. I do most of my reading on the internet, hence the need for computer glasses. I already have reading ones but I don't use them often as I don't read actual books very often.

I also went to Aldi and spent about $15 getting fruit and bread... it was very heavy to carry home. My weigh-in and measurements are due on the 19 May at Curves. I hope I have done well, I know my weight has gone down, I hope I have lost lots of centimetres too!

My family is going on a holiday. Just a 3 day trip to Sydney staying in a luxury hotel where we can get the 2 bedroom apartment real cheap using quickbeds. We will also go the Sydney Aquarium, Centrepoint and Oztrek and a Captain Cook Cruise! The holiday should cost about $1000. I am so looking forward to it!

I am hearing rumours that the Budget next Tuesday will be a family friendly one. Maybe the family benefits will increase? And hopefully there will be a bonus payment for carers again...

I love Budget night, I watch Peter Costello's speech and listen to the analysis afterwards, plus read the paper next day. Plus it is an election budget too so they will try and get themselves voted back in!

And if I get anything, it won't influence my vote! Teehee!

I rang the broker that set up our mortgage yesterday. We have a split loan and there is $9577 in the variable loan at the moment. When we pay that off, hopefully by November this year, we can shut down that loan (and save the $8 fee YAY!). The rest of the mortgage is in a fixed loan (balance: $98 146). The thing is I won't be able to close the variable loan until I have saved up an emergency fundas if you pay extra to the fixed loan you can't withdraw it. so hopefully by January I will have saved an EF and then we can start paying extra to the Fixed. I am able to pay $10 000 a year extra to the fixed loan so I am hoping to do that. Then when the fixed loan expires in July 2008 it will revert to a standard variable loan and I will just attach an offset account to it. The broker suggested going to a basic loan but I want the convenience of an offset account. With a basic loan it costs $50 to withdraw from it and you never know when you will need to withdraw money!

Mortgages have got more complicated over the years haven't they! LOL

I went shopping on Friday and spent $150 on groceries. this will do the 4 of us for 2 weeks. About $15.00 of it was for prescriptions so I only spent $135 on groceries! That's only $67.50 for each week on food. Of course next shopping I figure we will spend about $250. We tend to have a light fortnight then spend more the next fortnight!

This Thursday I will be paying the credit card which is $223.03. I figure the current credit card will be about $430.

I worked out approx what we could afford to pay to the mortgage every fortnight provided we keep the credit card to $400 a month and we should be able to pay it off in 4 years time from now!

I have watched the whole season of the Biggest Loser on TV this year. I have only missed one episode and tonight is the Finale. There are 3 people who are competing, Chris, Patti and Marty. I really hope Marty wins. At Curves today the trivia question was Who do you think will win? and I voted for Marty. He has the weight to lose and I think he can get the biggest percentage of weight lost!

I spent $2.50 on bus fare and $10.15 on cheese and fruit. That will get us through until Saturday. I was going to do the shopping today but my son got upset when he realised he couldn't come. He was trying so hard to be a good boy while we were shopping and he thought he was being punished when I told him we were going to go shopping today. So I got 3-4 things today so we can get through to Saturday and I think I will try and go shopping just with my son. My Mum gets stressed when she shops with my son as he is only 7 and mucks up a little bit as kids are prone to do so I will go alone with him and spend some time with him!

I went to town today and got my last DVD's from Video Ezy. The contract ends tomorrow so I will have to hand in my card and get an ordinary one. I had a lot of trouble finding movies today that I liked so I guess its a good thing that I can't get anymore now!

I caught a bus there and back today, I just didn't feel like walking. I went to Curves and when I finished the workout and was changing my clothes, I couldn't find my watch! So when I went home, there it was in my bag sitting in the one place I didn't check when I was frantically searching for it!

I went to Aldi and bought a bag of tomatoes for $3. It's pocket money day for my son so he got $4.

I also sold a book for $4.95.

Total spending for today is $9.50

Yesterday I went to a huge secondhand book sale and bought about 8 books for $23. One of them I bought specifically to sell on Oztion. Some of the others I will be able to sell once I have read them.

Payday was Thursday. The mortgage is down to 108 813.51. I estimate the mortgage should be down to 107 800 next payday but then of course interest will go on and make it about 108 400.

I received $21.50 from an oztion sale. I will transfer that money to the mortgage on Monday.

We should just be buying bread today. Bread costs a dollar a loaf so we should spend $3.00 today on it. We can get bread rolls at church for a small donation.

I joined a Curves gym last Thursday. This cost a $99 joining fee and $59 monthly. I really want to lose this extra 100 pounds my body is carrying and other people I know have had success with Curves so I will give it a go. There is a small fee to cancel the contract so I am not up for a huge amount if I decide its not for me.

My son and I walked to town and back today, which was about an hour all up! I bought some KFC chips for him for $1.95 and I only had one...

Yesterday Grandma, my son and I went to town. We spent &7.80 on the bus tickets, $7.70 on Maccas, and $37.50 at the Salvos getting some clothes including this beautiful leather jacket which I absolutely adore! It is too small for me but I hope to get into it when I reach my goal weight!

I developed an ear ache this morning so I thought I had an ear infection. So I rock up to the doctor, well after I had waited for 2 hours, as you don't need to make an appointment and just wait your turn. Well, he examined me and got me to open my mouth wide open while he pressed a spot near my ear where the jaw connects to the skull and it hurt like heck! So, I have something called TMJ Dysfunction... this means I have to do exercises to help the pain as I have a constant dull ache on one side of my face. The thing is I went to get the painkiller he prescribed and I asked for the generic version. So the chemist dispenses it and then she asks for $19.80! The charge for generic medicine is $4.90 and then she said there is no generic version. I mean shouldn't she have told me that there was no generic version before she bl**dy well dispensed the medicine? So I ended up paying $19.80 for 20 tablets. Thats $1 a tablet! AND they are no good, they do nothing to help the pain! What a rort! I am NOT happy!

We went to the corner shop today and got some hot chips and I didn't have any for $2. Also got an ice cream for $2 for my son and some sour chew lollies and some chewing gum.

We are getting some extra veggies this shopping for a couple of meals I am going to make then freeze. I am going to freeze meals and have them each night instead of cooking for myself every night. So I will have toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and my meal for dinner. This will help me control portion sizes.

I went to town today and spent $6.92 at Aldi on cheese, minced garlic, bread and peanut butter. Also got some more DVD's from Video Ezy. I posted a couple of letters and also went to my diet group where I put on weight so I spent $9.50 there.

I went to Sydney yesterday and spent $9.40 on my son's train ticket and also $9 for the taxi to get to the station, $1.40 for my son's bus ticket home and $2.50 for my train and bus ticket. Other than transport I spent $2.70 on a coke and ice cream for my son at Hungry Jack's when we got to Central. We took our own food and drink with us so the coke and ice cream was just a treat.

We go shopping next Saturday and it looks like it will cost $233 for the groceries, give or take a few dollars.

Walked to town and spent $6.34 on half price easter eggs. Also spent $2.80 on bus fares to get home for me and my son as he came with me. He rode his scooter down and we just carried it back on the bus.

My parents and I have come up with a plan to help me lose weight. I am going to get $20 for every kilo I lose. So for every 100 grams I lose I get $2. Monday will be the weigh in day and I was 112.6 kg this morning. I am going to transfer the money into my savings account. I can only lose the weight once, if I put on weight and then lose it again, I don't get the money again. We will see if this motivates me!

Well since the holidays started on Friday the only money I have spent has been $4 for 2 Saturday newspapers and $2.80 for a cabbage. And the shops are shut today because it is Easter Sunday. Hopefully the video store will be open so I can get some more DVD's. My DVD unlimited subscription runs out on the 24th April so I want to make the most of it while I can.

I am trying to lose weight, and my weight loss is not going well this week. I'll have to really try for the next 3 days if I have any hope of losing this week! My official weigh in day is on Wednesday.

Well, I hope you are all having a Happy Easter!

Well, not really! I transferred $10 000 from the offset account to the loan account which still leaves the balance the same. I did that because I was afraid interest rates would rise and I was hoping that the bank would take the new balance into account when calculating the minimum payment.

It was payday this week but I had the big credit card to pay. At the moment, here are the balances of the accounts:

Variable Mortgage: 17696.89
Offset Account: 6665.65
Net Variable balance: 11031.24
Fixed Loan: 98232.08
Total Mortgage Amount: 109263.32
Credit Card: 172.99

The credit card is one of the lowest and the statement date doesn't end until the 16th of the month.

When I figured out the balances just then, I realised I had made an accounting mistake in my books and we are finally under 110 000 dollars with the mortgage! YAY!

Yesterday, my son was sick so I spent his $4 pocket money for him at the fruit shop on some treats. I also entered Dad in another chess tournament for which cost $13.23. That went on the credit card. That makes the credit card balance $172.99 which is a whole lot better than previous credit card balances. Last months was nearly $800 which I will pay tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I am going to my diet group which will cost $8.50 including bus fare. Plus I have to buy a prescription which will cost $4.90. I am also going to the doctor but he bulk bills so it won't cost me anything. I am not going to lunch tomorrow so I will save $5 there. I ordered a garden salad last week and it was yum but my doctors appointment is at lunchtime so I will give it a miss this week. I have lost weight this week which I am pleased about! I made up a weight spreadsheet where I can put in my daily weight and it produces a chart automatically! I am very happy with it!

I thought I would share my shopping list for next fortnight that I wrote out last night. It is a work in progress so this is not a final version.

Aldi

2 powdered skim milk 4.29*2
jam 1.39
honey 2.99
2 peanut butter 1.89*2
choc eclairs 1.49
noodles (5 pack) 1.09
2 cheese twists 0.89*2
tomato paste 1.19
2 tissues 1.19*2
3 salmon 1.99*3
3 beetroot 0.65*3
8 tomato soup 0.99*8
5 cans of peaches in juice 1.79*5
3 cans of spaghetti 0.79*3
3 cans of baked beans 0.79*3
minced garlic 0.99
3 lemonade 0.69*3
4 cordial 2.19*4
garbage bags 2.49
2 carrots 0.99*2
5kg apples 1.99*5
oranges 3kg 2.99
pears 1kg 3.00
1kg tomatoes 2.49
bananas about $4 worth at 1.99 kg
packet of snow peas 2.50
4 red capsicum 2.89
half pumpkin 2.50
brushed potato 4kg 3.99
grapes 3.00
2kg chicken breast 19.00
4 cheese 500g 2.99*4
3 margarine olive oil spread 1.99*3
baby peas 1.49
fish fingers 1.99
12 party meat pies 3.19
4 white bread 0.99 * 4
2 soy and linseed bread 1.99*3
3 eggs 1.99*3

Coles

shapes multipak 4.74
3 vitsweat 2.58*3
6 evaporated light milk 1.99*6
2 frozen onions 2.29*2
beef stock 2.49
ground coriander 2.50
cumin 2.50
pickles 1.55
pecks paste 1.62
fresh fish $10 worth

Coles should cost about $50
Aldi $166

We also have to get 3 prescriptions which will cost $14.70 and we will get $125 cash out. All up $355. I will improve on the shopping list as the fortnight goes by, we might not need as many tomato soup or other things!

School Snacks: DS has 1 vegemite sandwich and 1 peanut butter sandwich for lunch. And he has a packet of chips and a packet of shapes or tiny teddies for recess. He won't have fruit because he doesn't like it when its warm and it just comes home again. So I get the 20 pack of chips from Aldi for $3.99 and that will last about 5 weeks. He has 3 sandwiches on a Monday only because that's the day he gets his pocket money and he buys rubbish from the canteen. I used to just give him sandwiches but his schoolfriends gave him chips and snacks anyway so I gave in.

My menu plan is not really set out. My son is very fussy and will only eat a limited amount of stuff and I cook my own meals so I cook twice. Mum cooks for herself and Dad and sometimes I share in their meals. So I guess my menu plan would not really be suited to anyone else's family as sometimes it works out that we are cooking 4 meals on the one night. My Mum will cook my Dad a meal which she doesn't want to have so she has something separate. And the only meal that I can share with my son is spag bol.

Here are some of the meals that my Mum cooks:

Nasi Goring (you can google the recipe). It is spicy but yum! We use pecks paste for the shrimp paste.

Beef casserole with gravy beef. Just cut up beef, flour, then cut up potato, carrot and any other veggies and cover with beef stock in a casserole dish, cover and cook for 2-3 hours at 180 degrees. Its yum!

T-bone with veg

Mongolian beef and rice

rissoles and veg

homemade hamburgers with lettuce, beetroot, cheese, egg and tomato.

porcupine casserole, this is meatballs with cooked rice added with tomato soup and canned diced tomatoes, tomato paste and oregano.

chicken strogonoff and rice (with light evaporated milk)

chicken curry and rice (the curry has cabbage, grated carrot, capsicum and onion added)

battered fish (from Aldi) and veg

fresh fish in foil and veg

salmon patties and veg

I have some of the same meals and I have a lot of stir fries, I usually make the recipe up as I go along!