Saturday, 26 May 2012
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
The Dreaded Food Shop
UUGGG...The job I hate the most. Food Shopping. You only have to turn around and do it again next week.
The key to good shopping is speed, organisation and knowing your local shopping choices well. Go spend a day looking at all the little butchers, fruit shops and even research if there are any nice little farm gate produce stalls around. I know I found one that is closer to my place than the fruit shop, but it is cheaper and fresher than the stores. WIN WIN. This initial day is a pain in the tushie but well worth it.
Here is when your new found fridge skills come into play. On my fridge I have a list of what I have in the pantry, what I have in the freezer, and my weekly menu. Now It is a simple case of standing at the fridge with my coffee, munching on my toast and writing my list... on the fridge. Not on a piece of paper that is guaranteed to end up left on the bench. Once I'm complete I simply take a pic of the list on my phone and off I go.
ALDI.......Yes Aldi. Please don't poohoo the idea. I LOVE Aldi. They are cheap, you don't get distracted by well placed adverts or shelf trickery to get you to spend more. When I do my grocery shop there for my family of 5 I spend no more than $130 per week. In alot of product testing shows like A Current Affair have done Aldi always comes out on top. Do just one shop there, I dare ya! Other than saving a small fortune on our food bill I can easily be in and out in under 20 minutes. Yay Me!!!
Next is my local butcher. I only go here once every 3 weeks. I get a $65 meat pack ( ask your butcher if they have a bulk order deal) and the meat is far better than any mainstream butchers shop. If there is something in the packs you don't like then swap it for something else you do like. I for one don't cook the whole chook that comes in my pack, so I swap it for more rissoles. These also make cost effective meatballs by dividing into 4.. yummy.
Next is my local fruit market. Yes I said to avoid it if needed but our local fruit market does Sunblest bread for 99c per loaf, everyday. It freezes well so I only go here once every 3 weeks as well as I buy 12 loaves at a time. This saves me running down the street for one loaf of bread everyday and saving me a fortune on fuel.
Next is my roadside fruit shop if I haven't already sent the kids on their bikes.
All up a big week shop that lasts me 3 weeks ( as the other 2 weeks is a top up shop costing me about $80 each week for those shops) costs me about $200.
Get onto facwbook as well. All town now have Buy,Swap and Sell groups and local mother groups. Ask around. Being on benefits is difficult, and when it is for something you have little chance of changing like in our case as I can never work due to my kids, you need to make the best of a bad situation.
For those of you on benefits, see cutting your weekly costs as a job. Each dollar you save is a wage. You work hard to run your house, to look after your children that the government would be paying alot more to care for in a facility if you were working.
Next week.... the websites I use to help me save ALOT!!!
The key to good shopping is speed, organisation and knowing your local shopping choices well. Go spend a day looking at all the little butchers, fruit shops and even research if there are any nice little farm gate produce stalls around. I know I found one that is closer to my place than the fruit shop, but it is cheaper and fresher than the stores. WIN WIN. This initial day is a pain in the tushie but well worth it.
Here is when your new found fridge skills come into play. On my fridge I have a list of what I have in the pantry, what I have in the freezer, and my weekly menu. Now It is a simple case of standing at the fridge with my coffee, munching on my toast and writing my list... on the fridge. Not on a piece of paper that is guaranteed to end up left on the bench. Once I'm complete I simply take a pic of the list on my phone and off I go.
ALDI.......Yes Aldi. Please don't poohoo the idea. I LOVE Aldi. They are cheap, you don't get distracted by well placed adverts or shelf trickery to get you to spend more. When I do my grocery shop there for my family of 5 I spend no more than $130 per week. In alot of product testing shows like A Current Affair have done Aldi always comes out on top. Do just one shop there, I dare ya! Other than saving a small fortune on our food bill I can easily be in and out in under 20 minutes. Yay Me!!!
Next is my local butcher. I only go here once every 3 weeks. I get a $65 meat pack ( ask your butcher if they have a bulk order deal) and the meat is far better than any mainstream butchers shop. If there is something in the packs you don't like then swap it for something else you do like. I for one don't cook the whole chook that comes in my pack, so I swap it for more rissoles. These also make cost effective meatballs by dividing into 4.. yummy.
Next is my local fruit market. Yes I said to avoid it if needed but our local fruit market does Sunblest bread for 99c per loaf, everyday. It freezes well so I only go here once every 3 weeks as well as I buy 12 loaves at a time. This saves me running down the street for one loaf of bread everyday and saving me a fortune on fuel.
Next is my roadside fruit shop if I haven't already sent the kids on their bikes.
All up a big week shop that lasts me 3 weeks ( as the other 2 weeks is a top up shop costing me about $80 each week for those shops) costs me about $200.
Get onto facwbook as well. All town now have Buy,Swap and Sell groups and local mother groups. Ask around. Being on benefits is difficult, and when it is for something you have little chance of changing like in our case as I can never work due to my kids, you need to make the best of a bad situation.
For those of you on benefits, see cutting your weekly costs as a job. Each dollar you save is a wage. You work hard to run your house, to look after your children that the government would be paying alot more to care for in a facility if you were working.
Next week.... the websites I use to help me save ALOT!!!
Sunday, 13 May 2012
The simple things in life.
We are not all blessed with healthy children. That is reality. Though we all wish we didn't have this worry in our lives, the simple fact is kids don't come with warranty cards.
My name is Sunny. I am blessed with 3 beautiful girls, and an incredibly wonderful husband, Dave. We have many challenges in our lives that we are beginning to realise are not that uncommon in this day and age. We have sick kids. Very sick kids. I do not intend this blog to be a woe is me blog, nor a medical journal, but the way we survive with our main income being the carers pension. With 2 of our 3 children with life threatening conditions, working is impossible for myself. Dave is actively looking for work, and in a small town that is difficult.
Living in a Pension is difficult. Some will see it as leaching on the system, others will completely understand the challenges living on benefits brings. Do we wish we had a normal income from a job? Oh yes we do! Living on these benefits is difficult though not impossible.
I am hoping this blog will help people to come up with ideas, strategies and the pride to make the most out of a situation not of their making and make their family thrive on the money our government gives us. With alot of planning, reading, and forethought, you too can have enough food to eat, your bills paid and your kids clothed.
I'm not going to be displaying how much money we get each fortnight, nor will Í be displaying our budget, but I will be giving you ideas on what works for us, how we manage medical bills and household bills and the resources I use to keep our heads above water.
Here are the two most important tools I use. My fridge and a whiteboard marker.
How does this help me keep my budget together?
Use your fridge as the main budgeting tool you own. It is better than any spreadsheet, notebook, or complicated system out there. As Mums we are always at the fridge. Think of how many times per day you open that thing. It is not only a display place for those school newsletters, precious works of art and bills to be paid, it is also my calender, grocery list, to do list, pantry contents list, oh and yes, a place to keep things cold.
Keeping track of everyone is a full time job in itself. So the first thing I did was to get a permanant marker and draw up a 2 week calender, with provisions at the bottom to write in upcoming events, bills to be paid and any other notes needed. Employ a coloured system if you feel the need but I just kept losing all the other markers. Now you have a place for writing down who is where, when you have appointments, and what is happening i your lives. With 2 sick kids this can be a life saver when a Dr's office calls and wants to see you. There is no searching for your handbag, and hoping that your little angels have not again decided to steal your only working pen and diary to draw you pictures. The fridge is tall so they cant reach your precious marker and everything is central. Being organised is a huge thing is keeping your budget down. How? It means you can streamline your life, and making sure your not running down the street 5 times a day to do different things. You can look at your calender and and know that you are going to the Dr's at 10am, so maybe you can squeeze in a trip to the hairdressers to get child number 2 in for that trim you have been wanting to get down for the last 3 weeks, or you can stop at the fruit store today instead of Wednesday freeing up time for a story with number 3. It is a simple inexpensive way to make your life simpler. Simpler means less stress, which in turn leads to better health, no emotional eating ( we ALL do that when we have sick kids) and more money for essential things.
My name is Sunny. I am blessed with 3 beautiful girls, and an incredibly wonderful husband, Dave. We have many challenges in our lives that we are beginning to realise are not that uncommon in this day and age. We have sick kids. Very sick kids. I do not intend this blog to be a woe is me blog, nor a medical journal, but the way we survive with our main income being the carers pension. With 2 of our 3 children with life threatening conditions, working is impossible for myself. Dave is actively looking for work, and in a small town that is difficult.
Living in a Pension is difficult. Some will see it as leaching on the system, others will completely understand the challenges living on benefits brings. Do we wish we had a normal income from a job? Oh yes we do! Living on these benefits is difficult though not impossible.
I am hoping this blog will help people to come up with ideas, strategies and the pride to make the most out of a situation not of their making and make their family thrive on the money our government gives us. With alot of planning, reading, and forethought, you too can have enough food to eat, your bills paid and your kids clothed.
I'm not going to be displaying how much money we get each fortnight, nor will Í be displaying our budget, but I will be giving you ideas on what works for us, how we manage medical bills and household bills and the resources I use to keep our heads above water.
Here are the two most important tools I use. My fridge and a whiteboard marker.
How does this help me keep my budget together?
Use your fridge as the main budgeting tool you own. It is better than any spreadsheet, notebook, or complicated system out there. As Mums we are always at the fridge. Think of how many times per day you open that thing. It is not only a display place for those school newsletters, precious works of art and bills to be paid, it is also my calender, grocery list, to do list, pantry contents list, oh and yes, a place to keep things cold.
Keeping track of everyone is a full time job in itself. So the first thing I did was to get a permanant marker and draw up a 2 week calender, with provisions at the bottom to write in upcoming events, bills to be paid and any other notes needed. Employ a coloured system if you feel the need but I just kept losing all the other markers. Now you have a place for writing down who is where, when you have appointments, and what is happening i your lives. With 2 sick kids this can be a life saver when a Dr's office calls and wants to see you. There is no searching for your handbag, and hoping that your little angels have not again decided to steal your only working pen and diary to draw you pictures. The fridge is tall so they cant reach your precious marker and everything is central. Being organised is a huge thing is keeping your budget down. How? It means you can streamline your life, and making sure your not running down the street 5 times a day to do different things. You can look at your calender and and know that you are going to the Dr's at 10am, so maybe you can squeeze in a trip to the hairdressers to get child number 2 in for that trim you have been wanting to get down for the last 3 weeks, or you can stop at the fruit store today instead of Wednesday freeing up time for a story with number 3. It is a simple inexpensive way to make your life simpler. Simpler means less stress, which in turn leads to better health, no emotional eating ( we ALL do that when we have sick kids) and more money for essential things.
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