It's always been a goal of mine to live on one income and it's a good thing I've been working us towards that for a few years now.
The good news is I could probably not work for years and years (if we don't want to take overseas holidays and upgrade cars).
But that's not practical so it's just years.
The thing I realised tonight is that even though the savings are THERE for just such a time as this (isn't that what I've been saving for the last 16 years - I only started saving in 1998 - the first couple of years working were just getting past survival every month), I actually really don't prefer to dip into them at all.
So I told D I'm taking over his account and will be managing everything to see how we can minimise impact on savings.
He didn't look too charmed by that ;)
Right at this moment, our average groceries are R3200 which I told you before I think is too much, based on the amount of nonsense we buy. E.g On a bill of about R900, R266 was just snacks. At the end of April, I will have a full year of data (NERD ALERT) so I can properly analyse the spending, do graphs, etc.
(go click on that link - there were some really good comments. Also, have any of you changed your habits as that post is dated Dec 13)
I can see I'm really going to have to work hard to stay in the spirit of abundance and keep giving.
I haven't reduced my "spending money" (see my last couple of shopping sprees in the photos - thank goodness you can't see all the Kindle purchases!) but I have worked out properly what I need to cover my (previous) part of the expenses and it's really not very much at all in the grand scheme of things.
So I've decided I'm going to hustle my buns off, take on an extra couple of coaching clients, work on marketing my products a bit more and maybe my side biz can help me STILL not touch the savings.
I realise this sounds totally crazy but when have I ever claimed to be sane?!
How are your grocery budgets looking these days?
Am I mad to not want to dip into my savings?
Any other ideas for me to make some mo.ney?
PS tomorrow I meet with a financial advisor to chat about my prov.ident fund benefits. I never ever commute any of it (it's like a 401K for the US guys) so it's just to decide where will be best to invest it.
We don't have a savings. Well aside from that mason jar of cash.
ReplyDeleteNo you are not mad!
ReplyDeleteI worry about money more than I should.
Hmmm, I really should do a budget to see how much we spend on groceries monthly realistically. At the moment I try to buy stuff in bulk when they are on promo, so it's a bit difficult to tell!
Of course you do not want to dip in it. Its hard work to save. And would you not rather dip into it for something nice and rewarding? I am sure you will work all this out.
ReplyDeleteHow in the world are your groceries so low for a family of four??!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat was my first reaction to her bill too!! LOL!
DeleteM, I have NO idea how you shop to get your groceries to that low amount
I think I need to hire you to teach me to get my grocery bill under control. I really don't know how you do it. I'm super excited for the next phase of your life Marce, it's going to be so amazing to see how God is going to work in your life now.
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I have started tracking our spending since January and I honestly have no idea how you manage to live off that amount but you know that :)
ReplyDeleteI had a grocery amount but it was actually not realistic - I have no realised this after tracking it for 3 months. There is no way I can reduce it - we wouldn't eat then because I have already cut out so much and changed the way we shop. I suppose I could change the way we eat and cut out snacks and fruit? But I don't really want to do that because Kiara suffers low BP like me so often we need to snack.
What I have started doing this year though is buying stuff when its on special - so if the washing soap is on special I buy two bags or more depending on what I can afford. It has really helped when we have tough months because then I don't need to buy. I didn't have to buy a single cleaning item for 3 months this year because I had "stock piled"
I really enjoy your posts about money and groceries. Actually I think the grocery post was my very favourite. (Any post where you show your beautiful albums are a close 2nd) I still havn't been able to bring my grocery bill down. I always end up buying too much when there are sales. So I never have an empty pantry but still have some ingredients missing.
ReplyDeleteYou are only funny about money in that you obviously have the situation well in hand. ;-)
ReplyDeleteWe spend about R1800 on groceries a month, but we do eat at my folks a lot and Nicola gets two meals a day at school. I imagine this will go up quite a bit next year when I have to start sending her food to school.
I don't think you're weird about money. You are obviously more comfortable talking about it which is cool!
ReplyDeleteOur food bill has gone up by about R1000. I'm only doing fresh produce now and as few packaged and processed goods as possible. I spend money on decent butters and things as well and I also need to pack in a decent lunch for Joel that excludes anything nut-based - way harder than it sounds. He doesn't get any meals at school so one has to do this creatively - it's not cheap. Also. The fuel price has gone up multiple times this year and I don't know what happens in Jhb but in CT this means that the food prices increase. I would LOVE to get to the point where we can live off one salary - we are working towards it because I want to homeschool Joshua.
We have NO savings. After we bought our house two years ago (what we were saving for) and then LIVING in the house and getting used to that hectic bond, we literally had ZERO savings. We have only started saving again this year. So there is no one income living anywhere in our near future! I don't spend too much on groceries now that Byron is away and we've been keeping our food really simple. But yup, we could still cut lots of corners to save more in the grocery department i think
ReplyDeleteWe invested our extra money in property...which means our lessees are paying off our bonds and when we retire it will be an extra income for us. I do have a savings account which is earmarked for trips abroad.
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