Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall to see how others handle their money? Well, I’m that transparent & sharing person who doesn’t mind y’all knowing.
I’ve decided to share my household budget with the world to show everyone how easy it is to cover all needs and wants by telling your money where to go.
I’m sharing my budget to inspire others to get out of debt and show how little it can cost to run a household when you have no debt to repay (and I’m a single low income earner). Since paying off my final debt earlier this year I am now able to spend a few years getting ahead instead of being behind using the money I was using to pay debt. I was never too far in debt but just enough to annoy me and be a constant pain in my butt and I’m so glad it’s now paid off. My budget is now super basic, fun to allocate because I can see growth & I’m getting ahead instead of chasing repayments.
I must say, life is calmer now and I can think of other nicer things to do with my money instead of throwing thousands extra at lenders. I’m keeping that for myself now.
It’s not about snooping or judgement, it’s about learning how others do it and incorporating what you want into your own life for your own success;
To get ideas
To find options
To read reviews
To learn how
To see results
To hear mistakes
To understand ourselves
To understand others
To live our best life
We learn from this and it’s why I believe we should all be talking openly about money!
Allow me to start by telling you my money secrets ;)
This is my situation and household budget.
I am a single mother, paying off a mortgage with two 17 year old kids at home. Total income = $43,000 from my job, Family Assistance and Child Support combined.
*notes about my income
- I pay myself an income (self employed) into my PAY ACCOUNT and everything is distributed from here to my relevant accounts including cash withdrawn each pay;
Cash for groceries,
Kids pocket money,
My personal spending.
- My Family assistance is paid into my BILLS ACCOUNT and only used for all variable bills (and it’s the perfect amount I need to cover these expenses).
- Child support comes in and goes straight to my CAR FUND ACCOUNT. This amount varies each month so any amount helps into the cost of the kid’s pool. This is not written on my budget as it happens automatically.
*notes about my budget
- My mortgage is so low because I’ve been paying it for 15 years. I was also able to fix my home loan at a great rate of 2.19% during Corona Virus lockdown making my repayments even lower.
- My personal spending money of $200 is used for my extra fuel outside of my job, and my other savings and goals:
Fuel $20
Facebook 52 week savings challenge $50
Flights for travel $30
Cash filing system $100 - (split between eating out, clothes, house & garden, interstate trips etc)
Having a fixed budget to guide me each fortnight to follow when I'm paid is the easiest way to manage my money.
Sharing good spending and money habits can be great advice because people do what people see. Seeing how others handle their money brings options to our finances we may never have thought of. Bad money behaviour can also be great advice as a warning. The reason there are so many people living with debt is because they’re quietly living beyond their means to keep up with each other, instead of talking about how bad and expensive it is so all can avoid similar situations. If only we all talked openly and honestly to learn from each other.
Listen to the bad, hear the good and take on board what will work for you when dealing with finances. Everyone has different experiences and it’s up to ourselves to decipher our best options and choices when it comes to handling our money. We are responsible for learning about it and making decisions from there.
Listen to everything and do what’s best for you. Talk openly and ask questions to learn how you can control your income the best way according to your situation. After all, what have we all got to hide?
Since becoming debt free, it’s a whole new feeling and life!
I have noticed my mind is free from the extra thoughts and reminders to make a repayment or at least make sure there was enough in the account for the due date. I have noticed my budget is simpler. Instead of temporary expenses of debt repayments added to my budget, it now only consists of permanent expenses which are easy to manage. Now I only have the main costs of living to pay for and can put the old repayment amount to good use, which will be for my next car. I refuse to pay $7000 in interest ever again by having a car loan. It was literally another 50% of what I borrowed after 7 years of repayments given away, I mean paid. Pretty much thrown in the bin. NEVER AGAIN!
‘Never again’ moments can be a pivotal point where you can change your journey to follow a better money map. Become debt free and see how much money you really have available within your budget.
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