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.