Wednesday 3 May 2017

13 REALISTIC MONEY SAVING AND ORGANISATIONAL TIPS | SUPERMUM AND HER MONSTERS

I'm sure you have all been told money saving tips from an accountant or even gone searching on the internet. But a lot of them seem unrealistic. These tips may not help you tuck away a fist full of cash into your savings account. But it might just give you a little bit of breathing space.

1. MEAL PLANNING 
You have seen it plastered everywhere like a new fad and probably thought "Christ, that's a lot of work" but I promise you it is worth it. By meal planning you can cut your grocery shopping down drastically. 
I've broken it down a little, step by step to make it a bit easier. In time you won't even need this guide. 
1. Firstly look in your freezer, fridge and pantry. Write down what you have. Now with that list what meals could you make? Do you have your "go to meals" that you must have to have weekly? Like spag bol? Write these down on one piece of paper to commence your "meal plan". 
2. On another piece of paper write your "shopping list". 
3. Then write on your "shopping list" what ingredients you will need for the meals already written on your meal plan. 
4. Hop on websites for your local supermarkets and browse the meat categories. Write down on a separate piece of paper what meat is the cheapest, base this off per kilo. You will find that the cheaper meats are Mince, chicken breast, chicken Legs, whole chook, Sausages and chuck/gravy steak. Check what the price is of the meat at the competition. Which ever has the cheapest meat is where I shop. I do this because really the most expensive part of grocery shopping is the meat. 
6. Now that you have all the cheap meat written down on a piece of paper start brainstorming what meals you can make of it. You can also type in what meat and ingredients you already have in google and it will come up with suggested meals. 
7. Once you have all your meals written on the "meal plan" ensure you have written down all other ingredients needed on your shopping list. 
8. Go shopping!!! Or if you feel that sometimes you often impulse buy or you get worried about keeping it under your budgeted amount how about you do online order, for delivery or click and collect. 
9. With online orders you can bring the specials up within seconds rather than walking around searching the store. You can also see your total as items are added so this makes it a lot easier to stick to a budget. 
10. If you have a local market how about checking their prices up against the supermarket, this may be cheaper for some. 
11. Repeat all above steps for a meal plan for lunches and snacks. 



 


Here are some meal planning ideas for dinner, lunch and snacks;

2. PREPARATION AND STORAGE OF FRUIT AND VEG
Let's face it, we all know how awesome Tupperware containers are and how they do help food last a lot longer, but not everyone can afford them!
With the tips I have given you can basically use any containers you already have.
- Carrots and Celery sticks stored in water to keep fresh for longer. Having it cut up makes doing lunches snacks so much easier
- Cut watermelon and rockmelon. Place grapes and strawberries in one container, as well as cut up watermelon and rockmelon. Ensure there is a layer of paper towel to bottom and top. This way the paper towel absorbs any moister, preventing the fruit from fermenting and keeping it fresher for longer. Change paper towel when it is moist. 
- Scoop out the seeds from your pumpkin as soon as you can. Your pumpkin will last a lot longer

- Potatoes last longer in the fridge 



3. LOCAL MARKETS
You will often find that fresh produce is cheaper and fresher from your local markets. I would suggest you check online or in store for what you would normally pay per kg for the produce you normally buy. Then when you are at the market you can assess if it is cheaper for you.

4. ONLINE GROCERY SHOPPING
You have probably seen adverts for this or heard people talk about it and possibly thought it is for time poor or lazy people. I say it's a smart move and here is why;
- When ordering online you can easily search and see what the specials are for that week, so much easier than a quick glance over the shelves in store.
- You can take your time.
- You don't have to drag the kids in and deal with tantrums
- No waiting in line at a checkout 
- You can still use fly buys or reward card 
- You can see your tally as you go, allowing you to stick to a budget easier. 
- It’s harder to impulse buy
- Often free delivery slots. Which works out cheaper than driving and using your fuel 
- You don't have to lug all those bags inside, the delivery driver does (ok, this may sound lazy but for someone with health problems it's a godsend)
- You can save your shopping list and use it time and time again or amend it
- Can be done or mobile, tablet or computer
It can take a while to do your first order and get use to navigating around the website, so allow yourself a bit of time. 

4. CHECK OUT THE CHEAP STORES
Shops such as the reject shop or $2 shops often sell feminine hygiene products, soaps, washing power, fabric softener, detergent, shaving products, cleaning products & toilet paper in the brands you love and know at a fraction of the cost.

5. BUY IN BULK WHERE POSSIBLE
I know this can be hard sometimes with the initial outlay of cost to buy in bulk. Maybe team up with a friend and split cost/product. 

6. PREPARE AND FREEZE SANDWICHES
As soon as you purchase bread make and freeze a couple of loaves of sandwiches. This makes packing lunches so much easier and saves on wastage. You will also find that it will cut down on purchasing lunch for yourself or the kids. 
Check the attached video of what fillings can be put in sandwiches that you are freezing. 


7. FREEZE BREAD AND MILK 
Do you find yourself popping up to the shops every couple of days or milk and bread? Would I be right in guessing that you would often walk out with more than just these two items? Freezing milk and bread will help with those impulse buys. Even if you don't have a large freezer and can only store an extra milk and loaf of bread you will still be saving a little each week. 

8. BAKING FROM SCRATCH AND IN BULK 
Baking is not only cheaper than buying pre-made but you know exactly what is in it. I will often bake in bulk and freeze. This makes snacks and packing lunches so much easier. If you are heading out and about grab some of those home baked goodies and you will save on buying food whilst out. 
Here are some links to some cheap bulk baking recipes. 

9. SAVINGS ACCOUNT
Don't set yourself an unrealistic amount to save per week. Start low as $5 if that is all that your budget will allow.
Every night check your bank account. Visually seeing what your balance is, how much abs and what you have spent that day is good to keep you on track.
When you check your account balance each night put the left offer cents over into your savings account. As an example, if your account balance says $82.75 transfer the 75c into your savings. Once you have mastered this then starting rounding down and transferring the dollar amount also. As an example, if your account balance says $82.75 transfer the $2.75.
You will be surprised how this can quickly add up without you noticing. 
10. PAYING BILLS BY DIRECT DEPOSIT 
For as long as I can remember I have payments for my bills come out on a fortnightly basis. Mobile, electricity and day-care are just an example. I have a small amount set up as a periodic frequent payment per fortnight. This means that I NEVER have a big bill and often am in credit. 
This can be set up direct with the provider/business for them to deduct from your account, you can call them to get their bank account details or set up via pay. 
Ultimately you would want to aim to be in credit. This way when your car rego or any other unplanned bill comes in you can call or log on line and see how much you are in credit on those accounts. You can then forgo a payment that fortnight and put towards one of those unexpected expenses. 

11. CHRISCO
At the start of every year I place an order with CHRISCO. Now I'm not a huge fan of the meat hampers as I prefer to choose my own. I also find that the food/pantry hampers can be often full of products I don't use or brands I don't particularly like. So I use CHRISCO purely for their gift cards/vouchers. They have a huge range such as;
-        Accor Hotels
-        BCF
-        Big 4 Holiday Parks
-        Coles
-        Country Road
-        EB Games
-        Goldmark
-        Harvey Norman
-        iTunes
-        JB HI-FI
-        Jetstar
-        Kmart
-        Lowes
-        Mitre 10
-        Myer
-        MyLayby.com
-        Rebel
-        Supercheap Auto
-        Target
-        Just Group (Dotti, Just Jeans, Smiggle, Peter Alexander, Jay Jays, Jaqui-E & Portmans)
-        Ticketmaster
-        Toys R Us
-        Woolworths
-        Zing
I will purchase a whole ton of gift card that I pay off fortnightly. You can choose weekly, fortnightly or monthly. They are usually delivered at the start of November. I will then use these gift card to purchase all my Christmas gifts, or if unable to find a particular gift for someone just give them a gift card.
If you find that Christmas saving accounts don’t work for you then this may just be your answer. I have now been doing this for 7 years and works well for me and my family.
To order your gift cards; Chrisco Gift Cards

12. GIFTS
Buy gifts throughout the year to help prepare and save you money for birthdays, Christmas, Mother's Day and the next size up in clothing. For this you will need 4 storage tubs. Best to get the sort with kids so the kids can't easily see in and they stack better also. 
1. Birthdays/Mothers & Father's Day/Christmas;
You already have a pretty good idea of whose birthdays you have coming up throughout the year. So whenever you see an absolute bargain think about who that gift could be for. The best way to keep track of this is just simply creating a "note" in your phone. List all family or friends you would typically buy for. Whenever you find a gift write it down next to their name to be able to keep track of who you have or haven't purchased for, what you got them and I like putting the purchase amount and RRP so I can tally up my savings. It's great to visually be motivated and inspired. Tuck them away in a tub in the cupboard. 
2. Children birthday party gifts;
You know your child will be invited to a few of their friends birthday parties throughout the year When shopping and you come across cheap gifts that you know your child would like, chances are their friend will also. Tuck them away in a tub in the cupboard. I also always have colouring books, craft items and pencils in there. They help to "bulk up" a gift. This helps for when your child gives you that birthday invitation that has been sitting in their school bag for the last week and you now only have 2 days’ notice. Head to your birthday party present tub and have your child select out a gift for them. You have now saved money, time and sanity! 
3. Rewards or activities;
I will also have a tub hidden away for my children. So any gifts I know that have specifically wanted that I have gotten super cheap. Craft kits can be purchased cheaply and be pulled out as a surprised for a rainy day or when their friends come for a sleepover. Additionally these items can be used for birthdays, Christmas or even as a reward for that awesome report card. 
4. Clothes;
We all know our kids grow like weeds and often seems to be that they will go up a size overnight. When there are end of season sales I will buy the next size up. You will find most stores especially big w, Kmart and best and less will drastically discount their clothing at the end of summer or winter. I will often pick up items of clothing from $3 to $10 a piece. You will then have a head start on the next year, if they have a growth spurt or the weather suddenly changes.

13. LAY-BY
There are 3 times in the year that I will ALWAYS lay-by. Winter, summer and my children's birthday. 
Winter clothing; I will place a lay-by for each kid in March-April.
Summer clothing; I will place a lay-by for each kid in September- October.
I do the children's birthday lay-bys approx. 2 months prior to their birthday.

If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask! 

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