So, I have looked through the book from the Your Family, Your Money website - Save 30000 in 30 days; I have been following the program - the 30 000 is annotised over 12 months.
A couple of the things they suggested was to do things for yourself. This week I was going to send the dog to the groomers (one of the less expensive ones) but I bit the bullet and did it myself yesterday. When I got my dog as a puppy, I took out a book on dog grooming from the library, and equipped myself with a couple of basic tools from the dollar store. I had also been clipping long haired (Old English Sheepdogs and Newfoundlands) from the time I was a young teenager, so I was reasonably confident doing it.
You can get industrial strength clippers from vet supply stores, but my dog is not over big. She is a Lhasa Apso Shih Tzu cross, and has long hair, but I prefer to keep it short. Having a young family makes a clipped dog very ... well ... easy to maintain. It took a while, and she is now used to it, but I socialised her very well from the time she was a young puppy and handled her gently.
Thus I saved myself $30 there.
Whilst tracking all my expenses, I looked at all our fixed expenses and our variable expenses, and I discovered I spent $300 more than what I had to cover my fixed expenses, which is not very good. So a couple of things have had to go from the budget, and I have to consider some lifestyle changes.
I know I will need a new food processor at some stage, so I called up the suppliers, and they gave me the phone number of a repair place. The person told me that it was not worthwhile replacing the motor. It was a very expensive food processor that I purchased on sale. However, I have well and truly got my money's worth out of it. So, understanding that it is now over ten years old (nearly 12) and that many parts are now obsolete - repair is not an option.
I joined a consumer review website, so I now know when I shell out money, I won't be buying a lemon. I can also see a products functions, and whether or not it has passed safety and quality tests.
I have changed in my outlook - my first decision used to be to automatically go out and buy a new thing if something threw it in, and needed looking at. It used to be just sent to the dump pile. My old printer I had tried to fanagle around with it, and that wasn't very successful, so it did end up with the dump, but I did get given one that I am very happy with.
Now, I am using my food processor gently, not using it to grate cheese (the grater will do for the time being), and looking around for a new one that I can both use the functions of well, and that will fit my budget.
I am wondering too, about the suggestion to ditch the second car. While I was pregnant, I had appointments all over the place. Now I am considering that I can arrange myself that I can get around without a car - more environmentally friendly as well.
The second car needs some work. So, I am thinking that we can spend the money to fix it, get it into a good condition, get a safety certificate and then sell it. I am sure we could make the lifestyle adjustments.
I have a beautiful red mountain bike, and there is public transport around here, I can get the groceries delivered. A car really is a luxury item, and having a second one ... do I really need it, can I make the lifestyle adjustments to cut down to one car? I am fairly certain too.
I also cancelled a mobile phone contract that had run its course and regained myself an extra $5 per week. It is all money towards things that I can appreciate more, and less tension over finances between hubby and I.
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