Money In and Money Out

Lets talk about money shall we. You know that stuff comes into your bank account fortnightly and goes out just as quickly. The stuff that doesn’t grow on trees (unfortunately) and the stuff that most of us are told from a young age, we should have a stash of, probably in a bank… you know in case of emergencies.

Don’t roll your eyes… I know you are rolling your eyes. Do you know how I know… Because I rolled my eyes too. Money is such a tricky topic and it’s something the recently, I have realised I have been a bit shit with. Ok let’s be honest. A lot shit. After moving to a new city we wanted to explore, go to shows, eat at fancy restaurants. All of which cost money believe it or not. And my savings account has suffered because of it. Then last year, we got engaged [exciting I know] and suddenly the need for that savings account sky rocketed. Weddings cost money… a lot of money apparently.
So, what else was there to do but go on a diet. A spending Diet. If you haven’t heard of Anna Newell Jones from And Then We Saved and you are a girl on a mission to get out of the red, get your cute little butt over to her site now and get reading. She managed to pay off about $24,000 worth of debt in 15 months. It sounds crazy but she did it, and she didn’t give up her life or have to live under a bridge to do it. She developed something called a spending fast and then subsequently the spending diet. In its simplest form it’s a budget. The fast is pretty intense. Needs only expenses and everything else is out. Certainly not a long term solution, and for us not something that we want to do as our lifestyle is still important to us. And at this stage, we don't need to be that aggressive in our savings plan. But the spending diet makes a lot more sense. Its about trimming the fat so to speak. It gives you the chance to set an allowance for ‘no-essential items’ and basically requires you to stick to it.

So the mister and I sat down and wrote a budget. It isn’t as scary as you might think it is. When all the bills are paid and all the necessities are covered we allocated a sum of money to go into the savings account every fortnight. Then there is play money. That is basically what is left over that we haven’t accounted for. I didn’t go crazy and give myself hundreds of dollars a week. But we also have allowed ourselves the little luxuries that make us happy, you know having a meal out every now and then and perhaps a concert from time to time. We don’t want to stop living just because we are having a wedding and wanting to make our future financially stable.

Basically the difference here is the mentality that once that money is gone, too bad sister, that’s it for the week. It sounds harsh but I tend to be the kind of gal who dips into my savings account for a new dress or a new pair of boots. And then justify it by saying “oh I will put it back next week” and then start the perpetual cycle of owing my savings account money. [Can I get an Amen? Please tell me I am not the only person who is doing this!] For the next 6 months that is going to stop. I mean its winter, so its perfectly acceptable to be living in last years trackpants and watching netflix [wait... can we still afford netflix?... It's definitely an essential item right?] We have a plan and we are going to stick to it. Its actually amazing when you look at your outgoings how much money you are spending on junk. While I haven’t gone through my bank records extensively it terrifies me to think of all the money that I have spent on things that I don’t really need… I mean come on, why the heck did I think that 10kgs of air dry clay was a good idea? 1kg would of sufficed, and lets be honest I probably would still have 800gms left over!

Saving money is simple. But it is not easy. Life is expensive but it doesn’t have to be. Most cities are full of awesome things to do for little to no cost, and exploring doesn’t have to cost and arm and a leg. Over the next 6 months I am going to share some of my budgeting tips, some of my learnings while on this journey, and hopefully come December, be a little closer to that blue line, oh and be able to afford the wedding of our dreams!