The rising cost of everything...

SB076 · 22-06-2009, 04:36 PM

Ok lately I have been mindful of my costs, probably because my wife is pregnant and there will be a period when we will be down to single income (thats fine we have planned for that) but lately I have disappointed with the continuely cost of living increases. Now Kev07 stated that as Aussies we need to accept that we may not get an wage increases this year (I sort of accept that as I work in an industry where we need to be globally competitive) But my problem is although my wage remains at the same level, my costs of living are going through the roof, ie rates, water, electricity, gas, health insurance, rego (give it 6 months and I am sure petrol)

Now the frustrating thing is I wont see any benefit to any of these increases (its not like the level of service I get, or the quality of the products I purchase will actually increase) So I was wondering does anyone have any hints or tips on how to decrease these costs?

Yellow_Festiva · 22-06-2009, 04:44 PM

Most of those costs are out of your control, however is is whats in your control that you can look out for.

My simple and easy to follow advice. Live cheap. Not uncomfortable, but cheap.

Buy food when it's on sale, swap to no name brands, don't upgrade the car every few years, use the home phone when making local calls and not the mobile, turn off lights, rug up rather than turn on a heater etc. Forget Foxtel, and other luxuries that are touted as 'money savers'...

I hate the word 'budget', but thats a good way to start to plan where you are losing money.

I have no clue of your personal situation. But walk into your houshold as an outsider. Consider your household as a business thats on its last legs. What is the first things you would do to try and save the business?

Cheers,

Jason

Edit: Bargain and shop around on EVERYTHING.

SB076 · 22-06-2009, 04:57 PM

My personal situation is pretty good (I have food, house, car etc so cant complain - only have one debt - mortgage) and definitely not asking for handouts or the like.

Have started budgeting and thats working well - although now I avoid the shops as I used see something I liked and would therefore buy it.

I am going to shop around for a better deal on power and gas and then may move on to health insurance - car insurance etc (typically I am one of those loyal customers that sticks by a company unless they do the wrong thing IMO) Pity I cant shop around for different councils...

edit interesting to note whats happening in Queensland (with price of petrol etc) Even though I am in Vic, I was hoping you would have kept your discount - its funny how this money just dissappears - frustrating thing is that a lot of us work hard for it - pity there is more accountability with government (both sides)

DOC · 22-06-2009, 05:05 PM

Costs will always go up, your income is not as important in as how you use it, I have met cabbies who own a dozen houses and execs who do not own one.

grab a hold of and read the richest man in Babylon, a book written many moons ago, if you want a copy (ebook) send a PM with an email address.

Mr Hardware · 22-06-2009, 05:12 PM

Quote:

I have met cabbies who own a dozen houses and execs who do not own one.

Doc speaks the truth.

XYGTHO · 22-06-2009, 05:14 PM

Some good tipe YellowFestiva.
Everything is rocketing up though. I planned on going for an adult apprenticeship to start next year, if successful. I know what the wage is and would scrape by for the three years that my wage would be fixed as an adult apprentice. However I am very much doubting that i would get by with all the increases in living. I live very cheaply also mind you. I don't know anyone who doesn't call me a tight **** actually. Fortunately for me my partner is also pretty good with her money otherwise most girls would me off. lol.

SB076 · 22-06-2009, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOC

Costs will always go up, your income is not as important in as how you use it, I have met cabbies who own a dozen houses and execs who do not own one.

grab a hold of and read the richest man in Babylon, a book written many moons ago, if you want a copy (ebook) send a PM with an email address.

Yep I have worked with people that have a lower income - i have never worked out how they own multiple houses (and some have no mortgage - its very impressive)

Thanks will do

Crazy thing is I have invested in shares, managed funds etc and done ok with it all (last year wasnt as good as previous years) leason learnt I was young and spent it all

Iggypoppin' · 22-06-2009, 05:24 PM

I'm a 20 year old on 503$ per week, full time with debts of a car, credit card and phone on a plan. I am using a service called mybudget, and am very happy with their service. All bills paid on time, some weeks in advance, with a home loan savers account set up for my future. The best thing I did was go with them, as they have taught me how to save and budget. I live more comfortably now than some people I know on 1 1/2 times my income, and pretty soon I'll be off the budget service as I've learned to live well within my means. I still have money for my project car, board to parents and for drinking on the weekends. My whole point is, budgeting might be a scary word, but it doesn't have to be. Use it temporarily, and make whatever income you have work for you. Pretty soon, you will be able to live safely in the knowledge that your budget has worked and you no longer need it. Skimp on luxuries early on and concentrate on keeping bills to a minimum. After a while routine takes over, you get financial surety and hopefully, a healthy savings for holiday/new car/hot water service repair etc. Don't let an elevated cost of living unnerve you. Plan now for it and life will drift by easily, comfortably and without burden. Good luck.

LeadFoot81 · 22-06-2009, 06:58 PM

Very wise words YellowFestiva, running your personal finance like youd run a business is the best way to look at it.

WOLF · 22-06-2009, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOC

I have met cabbies who own a dozen houses and execs who do not own one.

yeah but houses would be alot cheaper in the middle east

:

Teflon Turbo · 23-06-2009, 11:03 PM

we buy bulk meat from a slaughter house, fruit & veg from markets, car on gas, we have no phones only internet phone, pre-paid throw away mobiles, bills on direct debit so we never even see a bill. only luxury is internet broadband, and above all, ZERO debt.

Limit supermarket shopping as those bastards are the biggest robbers in the world.

If you dont OWE money to anyone, you are halfway there. The other half is to save save and save whatever you can.

This has worked for us.

Iggypoppin' · 23-06-2009, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Torquen Turbo

we buy bulk meat from a slaughter house, fruit & veg from markets, car on gas, we have no phones only internet phone, pre-paid throw away mobiles, bills on direct debit so we never even see a bill. only luxury is internet broadband, and above all, ZERO debt.

Limit supermarket shopping as those bastards are the biggest robbers in the world.

If you dont OWE money to anyone, you are halfway there. The other half is to save save and save whatever you can.

This has worked for us.

You sound like you have a good handle on this, however: direct debit bills=you don't check them first, so a bill coming in higher than average/in conjunction with other bills could throw your bank account around badly.
I don't understand how supermarket shopping centres are "robbers". If you are a good shopper you'll get a good deal. And while I realize I'm now nitpicking, if you really have zero debt, you've either paid off your house(well done!!) or renting. Either way a life of absolutely no spending, when do you get a chance to live? I'm not thrifty. Just smart with my money. Luxuries and necessities all taken care of. No throw away phones, I still supermarket shop and have managed debts. I don't need to be a scrooge, something all overly thrifty people should realize. Not having a dig either mate just offering a slight alternative.

cant · 23-06-2009, 11:55 PM

Saving is most definantly the key, the odd reward helps to keep you on track though.

I agree everything just seems to be creaping up and up, dont forget gst, if milk goes up by 10c then the Gov get an extra cent, You the consumer wears it (to think they want to up GST above 10% WTF!! )

Iggypoppin' · 24-06-2009, 12:01 AM

Saving is the only key-but you need to spend some of it too;). I buy junk all the time(two geminis???) but I make sure my savings are always healthy and there when I need it. Enjoy life. Otherwise what good is heaps of money if you have nothing? You can't eat it..

Trek · 24-06-2009, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJXR6

Saving is the only key-but you need to spend some of it too;). I buy junk all the time(two geminis???) but I make sure my savings are always healthy and there when I need it. Enjoy life. Otherwise what good is heaps of money if you have nothing? You can't eat it..

Best philosophy/advice offered thus far.

And yep, only splash out on luxuries every now and then. Besides, things are better had in moderation, otherwise you'd just be sick of everything you once enjoyed, eventually.

Teflon Turbo · 24-06-2009, 08:21 AM

see for me i use to be a dead set broke loser and never had $10 in my pocket.

for us as a family the supermarket killed us as we use to spend $60 per day (7 days a week) for grocerries including meat and fruit and veg. by eliminating supermarkets we saved at least half of that.

as far as direct debit goes, well it manages your affairs in terms of actually paying bills rather than letting them mount up. some bills too can be paid monthly (like gas) it predicts what you use based on the year before usage, so we get direct debited about $20 per month.

what set this whole thing off for us as a family is we paid off all our debts, credit cards, remainder home loan and got rid of anything we didn't need. then we started saving like nothing we had never done before, we sacrificed our lives and hobbies and enjoyment for 3.5 years and put basically both our wages into the bank and we ended up with mega bucks.

we now live extremely comfy and if we want something we just buy it, but we are still severe tight arzes and save.

we are teaching our kids the same now and each one of have over $5K each in the bank and my youngest one is 9 years old and the oldest is 14.

we have just started a business and missus no longer has to work.

save save save and reduce your debts and expenditures, very simple words, harder to do but when you do it will be like a lotto win!!

this is what has worked for us and continue to work for us, everyone is diferrent.

real rewards only come after sacrifice.

we answer to no one in the world now but before we were slaves

Iggypoppin' · 24-06-2009, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trek

Best philosophy/advice offered thus far.

And yep, only splash out on luxuries every now and then. Besides, things are better had in moderation, otherwise you'd just be sick of everything you once enjoyed, eventually.

Cheers mate. It stems from a famous saying: only after the last fish has been caught, only after the last tree chopped down, only after the last river has been poisoned, will we realize money cannot be eaten. I respect that money is a fact of life, and we need to have some control over it, but we can't let it control us.

schnoods · 24-06-2009, 05:59 PM

shop around and buy in bulk!

One hint is the nappies, its a big cost in the long haul. Buy disposable, the washable dont save money in the long run, time is something thats more valuable as well.

Also buy meat from butchers in bulk and stock up freezers when cheap, fast food is a killer and look at clothing as a luxury and not a need (especially name brand stuff).

I have blown that much on cars, when you go through the figures, it makes it seem like an expensive passtime....

XYGTHO · 26-06-2009, 12:54 PM

Torquen Turbo i agree to a point. However not everyone is in the position to do this. Straight out of school i worked a full time job 5days a week and two 10-12hour days sat and sunday with a second job. Bought the XY in between however managed to save $45000 for a house deposit. I bought a cheap house $248000 with about $200000 debt still. I still save every penny but buy the odd small thing now and then (maybe $50 a month) barely drink, don't smoke etc etc. But when making repayments of $750+ a fortnight with an income of around $1500 in the hand a fortnight after bills, living expenses (kept to a minimum) it will still take a good 15-20years to become debt free if your lucky. Once apon atime when houses were bought here for $90000 it would have been easy, but unfortunately not now for most. Also i plan on having kids in a few years so there goes more money. No way you can get rid of debt fast in this case.
But then i have mates who make 1.5-2times as much as me yet still have no cash on them (or in the bank) and are geting them self further in debt, so all i can say is everyone just has to do the best in their circumstances.
I am doing well though at the moment on a less than average income, just worried what the future holds if i apply for an apprenticeship and wage drops as i want to be debt free also asap. In the long run though after gaining a trade I will have a higher income and will then be able to reduce it quicker? lol.

Quicksand · 26-06-2009, 05:45 PM

Great topic, i was planning on starting one very similar. The Op and i are in the same boat; my wife is due in 4 weeks for our first (its a boy!!!) and we have been cutting down on costs and saving money. How are we achieving this?

-Switching to LPG. Our fuel bill has gone down from $500-600 a month to $200-300 a month. We have already recouped the $1500 shortfall after the government rebate and are now into real $$$$ savings
-Connecting all power points that power non-essential devices to a single switch near the front door and turning it off every night. This includes the Plasma TV, computer, etc that dont need to suck power down when you are not at home or are sleeping!
-Its cold, but rather than turning on the heater, we put on another jumper
-Dont be afraid to buy no-name brand products. We went to a canned pineapple factory many years ago, down came the no-name cans being filled with pineapple, then down came the named brand being filled with the same pineapple. In many cases its the same product!
-If you are an avid mobile phone user, consider dropping your land line and switching to Naked DSL. Our phone bills are now down to barely $35 and $25 of that is line rental; we are wasting money when we can get Naked DSL from iinet for $39.95 unlimited calls! Or consider switching to wireless internet to save on line rental
-Rent a DVD instead of going to the movies. Many people dont realise that if you buy your phone credit from Video Ezy you get a FREE new release DVD. We havent paid for a new movie in years (as we dont believe in stealing via downloading movies)
-Do you really need to turn that light switch on? Do you need to shower for that long?
-Bring lunches to work, dont buy them.
-Dont waste money on cigarette or copious amounts of alcohol.
-Put money aside each week; it quickly adds up!!

It might sound like we have a strict, boring, monotonous life but that is incorrect! You can save money and enjoy life too; enjoying life doesn't mean you have to spend money!

T

Iggypoppin' · 26-06-2009, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inducted_Breeze

Great topic, i was planning on starting one very similar. The Op and i are in the same boat; my wife is due in 4 weeks for our first (its a boy!!!) and we have been cutting down on costs and saving money. How are we achieving this?

-Switching to LPG. Our fuel bill has gone down from $500-600 a month to $200-300 a month. We have already recouped the $1500 shortfall after the government rebate and are now into real $$$$ savings
-Connecting all power points that power non-essential devices to a single switch near the front door and turning it off every night. This includes the Plasma TV, computer, etc that dont need to suck power down when you are not at home or are sleeping!
-Its cold, but rather than turning on the heater, we put on another jumper
-Dont be afraid to buy no-name brand products. We went to a canned pineapple factory many years ago, down came the no-name cans being filled with pineapple, then down came the named brand being filled with the same pineapple. In many cases its the same product!
-If you are an avid mobile phone user, consider dropping your land line and switching to Naked DSL. Our phone bills are now down to barely $35 and $25 of that is line rental; we are wasting money when we can get Naked DSL from iinet for $39.95 unlimited calls! Or consider switching to wireless internet to save on line rental
-Rent a DVD instead of going to the movies. Many people dont realise that if you buy your phone credit from Video Ezy you get a FREE new release DVD. We havent paid for a new movie in years (as we dont believe in stealing via downloading movies)
-Do you really need to turn that light switch on? Do you need to shower for that long?
-Bring lunches to work, dont buy them.
-Dont waste money on cigarette or copious amounts of alcohol.
-Put money aside each week; it quickly adds up!!

It might sound like we have a strict, boring, monotonous life but that is incorrect! You can save money and enjoy life too; enjoying life doesn't mean you have to spend money!

T

Aaaaaargh!! Yes!! You are what I'm talking about, you budget well yet look at your signature: two remarkable cars, and you don't miss out on the luxuries you occasionaly deserve, all while saving money and preparing for a child. Kudos from me.

GT69 · 26-06-2009, 09:09 PM

-Dont waste money on cigarettes

There's my problem right there.

Internet banking is also bad if you dont control yourself. Limit the amount you actually carry....say your going shopping, leave the credit card at home, carry what you would normally spend, or estimate your shop will be. Read catalogs (there free) and can work out a very good estimate, plus you no whats on special when.

Iggypoppin' · 26-06-2009, 09:18 PM

Ditto the smokes. Here's a good way of putting it in perspective: I smoke a 35 pack of ciggarettes every two days(as of late) and if I could quit, I could rent my own home just about, or finish my project car faster. Oh and I gave KFC the snip not long ago. Hard as it was, I am thanking myself for it-as are the pores on my face.