Around here - Simple Living

In the beginning of the year it's all about budgets and finances and I love reading blogs about simple living which entails growing your own veggies, cooking from scratch, budgeting, having a hobby and generally not keeping up with the Jones.  The first blog and person I followed over 10 years ago was Rhonda from Down to Earth blog.  I have all of her books she wrote and have loved reading all her posts about making bread, growing veggies, recipes etc. over the years.

Instead of buying your clothes new you can sew your clothes or get second hand.  If you have no idea how to sew you can check out Elise's "Sewing isn't Scary" online course for $28USD [approx $40 AUD].  It's a work at your own pace introduction to get you started.  One thing I noticed that she does instead of using pins to pin your pattern piece to your fabric she uses big and small metal washes on top of the pattern to hold them down which I think is a great idea [check out Bunnings].  I know pinning patterns down is a little time consuming whereas she just pops the washes on top and of course you can just push them around easily on top of the pattern. [Elise is the person I wrote about in my last blog post about goal setting and getting things done]

Have you heard of the term FIRE [Financially Independent Retire Early]?  There are many blogs and resources on on the internet about this.  I love reading about these things and picking up tips here and there.  I only wished I had read about these topics in my 20's however there was no internet around back then or access to such wonderful information.  I thought I would share a few here.

One of the first blogs I read about the Frugalwoods blog and her book which I also read a while back.   Her book was about how she ended up where she did vs Rhonda's books about how go about simple living. 

Last week I came across a Melbourne Mum who left her husband with $60 in cash and 4 kids under 5 and had to raise her family.  This was some twenty years ago now so the kids are all grown up  however she had to learn how to be financially independent while raising her family on her own.  Her blog is called Burning Desire for Fire and I take my hat off to her for her bravery.

This young couple from Strong Money Australia blog retired at 28.

There is also other articles like this one 10 things to do things you need to do daily to become financially indepenent.

I have been reading this blog for a while 1500 days to freedom.

Our Next Life blog and her book "Work Optional" is another take on Fire.

The Fioneers blog.

Another Australian blogger who's family lives below the poverty line "with abundance" and who has been featured on A Current Affair on TV as the Queen of savings is Wendy from My Abundant Life.

Here's another one Retire by 45.

There are many blogs and information about simple living and finances and the two go hand in hand.  Whether you want to save up for a holiday or have extra funds in your emergency account.

Some principals to get ahead are:-

• Pay off your debt.
• Reduce your expenses.
• Increase your income.
• Invest your savings.

Sometimes it's hard to get ahead or see the light at the end of the tunnel especially around Christmas time, school holidays etc and back to school expenses.  If you spend $200-$300 a week on food for your family try one week spending $100 and saving the other $100-200 by going through your freezer and using whatever you have stored there.  Make simple home made pizza's with flour, yeast, olive oil and water and put left over veggies or meat on your pizzas.  They are much healthier than the take away pizza's and more fun for the family to make them.

You can make Friday night or Saturday night your regular "Fake-away" [ie make take away at home].  Pizza feels like a weekend thing so why not make your own.  You can also go through your pantry any tins of salmon or tuna and make tuna bake.  The extra $100-$200 can make an extra payment on your mortgage or credit card.  If you do this 6 times a year [ie shop from home and only spend $100 or less on fresh fruit, milk, bread and maybe a little bit of meat] you can save between $600-$1200 a year.  So you are not doing without...you are just using your freezer and pantry after all in Australia with shops open every day of the year and we don't have "snow days" we don't really need to have a heap of stock in our pantries...1-2 weeks is plenty.

I mentioned earlier that one of the ways I want to reduce my expenses this year is with the weekly groceries by meal planning, cooking from scratch and not wasting any food.