It is very hard especially on one income,wishing you good fortune!

Love the suggestions, especially the meal planning. I really need to try it as I’m always struggling to get by and saving is unthinkable.

Times are tough and it is difficult. I wish you find something soon.

Love suggestions so far thanks heaps!

I definitely agree with suggestions to meal plan – we saved an extra 500 a month by meal planning and not eating out (we used to have take away at least once a week, now we have it once every other month). Other than that – if you’re not THAT attached to Sydney I’d encourage you to think outside the bubble – Perth is an AMAZING town to raise kids in and it’s much more affordable!

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  • • mom152736 replied
    • 31 Aug 2015 , 11:13 pm

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  My freinds stay in Perth and saythe exact same thing…

It is so tough we are due for our little one in January and I know going down to one wage will be so hard. Not sure how much time I can afford to take off.

I live in Adelaide so I don’t have house prices as high, however I did save for a deposit of a house when I was only on Centrelink as a single parent and then continued saving when I got a casual job. I rang the electricity and gas company and made arrangements to pay per fortnight a set amount, I budgeted our meals (made a list of fortnightly meals and only shopped around that) I still took my daughter out, but only did free things, free museums, playgrounds etc that way I put aside at least $100 per fortnight in addition to my tax once I got a job and I had a $20,0000 deposit in a couple of years. I know in Sydney your deposit would have to be a LOT more than this, but hopefully some of my ideas can help, if I could do it as a single mum, you can do it!

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  • • mom57522 replied
    • 16 Jun 2015 , 7:50 pm

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  Good on you! That’s an awesome effort!

I feel for you Sydney is so expensive

… We all need to take Joe Hockeys advice and get better paying jobs …. he is such a DIL!

It is so stressful these days I cannot believe it…I know how you feel…Keep your chin up though!

Im a stay at home mum, I have joined a heap of survey sights and do it in my spare time when hubby is at work while minding the kids. I use the money i make to buy vouchers which I in return spend on the grocreies or presents for the kids birthdays christmas etc. I also save all the labels from the coke bottles and cash them in for vouchers etc on the coke site to spend on the family. It takes time to get here but its worth it for the little extra you can get with your quite times.

It’s really hard… start small, find small savings, and they will start to add up.

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  • • mom93821 replied
    • 13 Jun 2015 , 8:13 am

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  Spot on advice-start small and it feels achievable!

i agree. stuff is so expensive and we want to save for a house. move somewhere cheaper if possible. budget

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  • • mom94125 replied
    • 19 Jun 2015 , 11:35 am

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  yeah i hate it when you are saving because it seems that you get more bills. our power bill keeps getting more expensive when our actual usage is getting lower and lower.

I found that writing out a budget and actually sticking to it helps. Can you do odd jobs to make money or work part time?

Sydney is so expensive. We lived there for some years and we rented. But it was such a pity for the money. Better to try to buy something very small but at least you are not throwing your money away.

It’s not easy. Budgeting does help though. Keep trying x

Saving for a first home is always difficult and sticking to a budget does help-budget meals and budget activities. It is still difficult-but don’t give up!