Living on a Budget...

It doesn’t matter whether you are single or coupled, have 1 child or 4. Living on a budget is hard. Getting ahead and having more than what you need on hand is your aim, For me this fortnight I feel good, I have 1 Container of Napisan, 6 Boxes of Washing Powder and 1 Big Bottle of Fabric Softener stocking my cupboard, So I feel like I am getting myself ahead.

Money comes in, Money goes out. Seems to be the way of life. One bill paid, Another one is due. One expense out of the way, Another pops up. It can be hard to not let it drag you down, While I was happy to
be stocking my cupboard it was hard to spend the extra money to do it, But I saved money in the long run.

My next move is to stock up on items that I can keep in the pantry cupboard, like canned and long life non-perishables that I can add to meals.

Below I have some tips for Young Parents on Budgeting, Please feel free to add your own to the comments box below and I will put them in a future blog post if there are enough.

Tip 1: I get paid fortnightly, So for me I need to plan what I need for 2 weeks, Obviously things like Milk, Bread (Though bread freezes quite well) Fruit and Veg need to be topped up, but I can buy things like meat and pantry items in advance, most meat can be frozen for up to 3 months some longer, a lot of pantry items have a shelf life of up to a year or more, Sometimes it helps to work from a plan, planning all your meals for the fortnight in a table that enlists Breakfast through to Dinner including Snacks, that way before you even hit the shops you know what you need, what quantity and have a clear idea of what you need which can minimise impulse buying.

Here is an example of a Meal Plan for a 7 Day Week:

Here is a blank one for you to try out:

Tip 2: Buy in Bulk where possible, If you can find somewhere that sells toilet paper, washing powder etc in bulk lots you can save yourself a lot of money than if you were to buy it at the supermarket. For example I recently bought a bulk lot of Washing Powder, I got 12kgs of good quality Washing Powder for $40.

Tip 3: Buy Fruits and Vegetables in Season, What is in season is always cheaper than what’s not in season. Simply because there is plenty of in season fruits and vegetables in supply, and a limited amount of what is not in season, usually items not in season are imported making the price higher also. Also buy what you can eat, it is no good buying 10 of something if you can only eat 5 before it will go bad, again that comes down to planning your meals and knowing your quantities to avoid wasting money and food.

Tip 4: Buy meat from the Butcher not the Supermarket. Most butchers will have deals like 2kgs of premium mince for $14, most of the time at the supermarket you pay nearly $6 for under ½ a kilo of the same or similar mince. The only time to buy meat from the Supermarket is when they mark it down, you can buy a few packets for the price of 1 and put them in the freezer.