It is so hard to stay on top of things,but not over spending on the budget is a must!

Excel spreadshset with a budget. I allocate money to each bill when i get paid and so when bills come in i have the money.

I sat down and worked out my budget for 12 months. Weekly, fortnightly, monthly, annual expenses, all worked out and added up to total costs for the year. Then I divided the total amount by 52 weeks, so I know the minimum I need each week to cover bills. I have 2 bank accounts, one for day-to-day/weekly/fortnightly expenses, and the other for annual expenses. So for example, if car registration is annual @ say $520, then it’s $10/week & that goes in to account number 2 every week. Contents insurance is monthly ($32) which is about $8/week, and that also goes into account number 2. And so on, for other bills. This account shouldn’t be touched, unless it’s for accounts you’ve been putting money into it for.

Weekly/fortnightly expenses go into account number 1, and pay for food, petrol, rent, etc. Doing it this way, and putting a few extra dollars into account number 2 when I’ve got it, the money is always there for regular bills. And the extra I put in gives us money for occasional treats, or to go towards unexpected expenses.

Always making budget is the trick.

competitions and survey sites are a great little addition to the income, though cannot be counted on, but they do come in handy

Try to enter competitions whenever you can and you might just win something helpful…

we got some rather large bills and were struggling so we spoke to the companies and they set up payment plans which have been great and helped to stop the stress!

I am feeling you! we have just re done our budget and worked out that we need to sell one of our cars and go for something cheaper down the track. Goodluck!

You need to make a budget and stick to it without fail and also call the companies you owe money to and ask for them to set up payment plans for you.
Good luck hope things sort out for you

The only way is to budget to the extreme!! Go back over the last 12 months and find out how much exactly you need to be putting away. Me and my husband often have competitions to see who can spend the least over the weekend, a little bit of competition is always good fun and stops you from spending on those little things like a drink at the petrol station or take away!

I HATE having money worries – it’s like being on a perpetual diet and surrounded by rich food all the time! It is just relentless, but once I learnt to shift my expectations and way of thinking, it has slowly gotten easier. We actually moved out of Sydney because we were sick of struggling financially. It was the best thing we ever did. We naturally spend less and have a healthier, happier life. Good luck.

Fortunately for us, my husband has now changed jobs and we are receiving 1 1/2 times his previous pay, which is fantastic. But before that, we were on a very strict budget and I signed up with about 10 survey companies to make extra money, then I came across WOMO (word of mouth on line) thank goodness, I made $80 within my first 2 weeks. All you have to do is review small companies, restaurants, cafes – you can review KFC an McDonalds, you just don’t receive points for them. When you have enough points (it really doesn’t take very long) you then redeem them for gift cards, I always get the Wish card because you can use it in so many places. Doing all these things really helped and if you are willing to put in the time, you really can make a bit of money. I also do not purchase meat unless it is on a really good special or marked down, I have save so much doing this. Hope everything goes well.

we did a budget in excel software. We went through the previous 12months bills – gas, elec, ph etc and budgeted extra for each of them based on the previous years amounts. We then added everything else we could think of to the budget so that it would be covered and worked out which bills are due and what pay period they fall in. We set up a separate account so that all our bills are paid from that account and our budget shows us if we have enough to cover them for that pay. It is a work in progress and needs to be kept up todate for it to help you efficiently. Also maybe shop around for cheaper health insurance, house/contents/vehicle insurance that could save you just a little bit extra. Also start a Christmas club – much better than maxing out the credit cards at the end of the year and what you don’t spend on presents you can put back in for the next Christmas Good luck and keep focussed.

We’re a one income households with three kids that I stay at home with. Six months ago we started using the envelope method, which is essentially a budget that accounts for all our bills, insurance etc and then we take out the grocery and clothes money, kids swimming etc in cash. It has made huge difference in how much I spend and my awareness of it, even though before I did this I was CONVINCED I was only buying essentials. We’ve had budgets plenty of times before but this has worked better than them all. My stress levels are so much less.

A budget is the only way we stay on top of things I have a list on my fridge of every thing that comes out ecch week an what evey is elf is ours. Am I get my gas an ele an rates taken out weekly so then I’m not worrying when the bill comes it’s most likely already paid. It is hard to stick to but if u do it works wonders.

with the bills it might also be good to see if you can arrange payment plans with the companies and that way you should have a set fortnightly payment to make instead of having big bills coming in all of the time

In the same situation, can only suggest what others have, try to estimate all bill cost for entire year, then divide by 26 (if you get paid fortnightly) and put this money into special bill account, so money is always there and large bills are smoothed out across the year.

It isn’t easy – we’re struggling too. I do online surveys which help to top up the shopping money but don’ expect big pay off. I might get around $100 of vouchers every three months. List out all of your expenses and see where you can cut back. I also did a big clean out and ebayed a lot of things we didn’t need to help clear some of our debt. I then started paying increments off the bills every pay (so I pay money onto my electricity and water every pay as well as put money onto my credit card for car insurance which comes out quarterly). This way I don’t have the money to spend and work off a strict shopping budget. I buy the marked down meats and bakery items and get creative with the cheaper cuts (you can do so much with mince!).

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  • • mom57522 replied
    • 10 Jan 2015 , 10:22 pm

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  I also buy in bulk and buy secondhand clothes.

keep a budget be strict

You’ve got to know exactly where you are at financially. I mean every penny, what you spend on, what you can save, what’s needed and whats not. Be honest with yourself and don’t own anything you can’t afford. Seek financial adviser would also be really good.