Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Desperate for ideas on living cheaper 23Aug 27, 2010 10:22 pm House - Lockup completed 23rd December 2011 - Painters are in!!! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37261&start=0&hilit=Blaxland Re: Desperate for ideas on living cheaper 28Aug 28, 2010 5:29 pm A budget is what I need Slightly off track but still relevant to the subject, what do people think about getting rid of the following... Union fees Private health insurance superannuation top ups Income protection All four can take a heavy wack on your monthly budget (although you do get a % back at tax time)These are really non essentials but essential in other ways. When you do a budget, are these the areas you would cut out completely or do you value them highly? Mrs B Re: Desperate for ideas on living cheaper 29Aug 28, 2010 5:50 pm Mrs B Slightly off track but still relevant to the subject, what do people think about getting rid of the following... Union fees Private health insurance superannuation top ups Income protection All four can take a heavy wack on your monthly budget (although you do get a % back at tax time)These are really non essentials but essential in other ways. When you do a budget, are these the areas you would cut out completely or do you value them highly? Mrs B I think it depends on your situation, Mrs B. Income protection is probably essential if you're self-employed, and union membership may be really important in some industries. Super top-ups can also be vital, especially if you're older and don't have much put away yet - but for someone who's struggling to make ends meet right now, that's probably something that needs to be shelved for a few months or years. As for private health cover, some of us really need it. I have multiple medical issues that mean regular stays in hospital and there's no way I'm playing the waiting list game. Here are a few things we did to save money when we were battling with a mortgage and rent: - Rang our phone provider and got them to give us a cheaper deal. We had the landline and my mobile with them, and we cut $50 a month off the bill. And got a new mobile thrown in for nothing. - Cancelled some life insurance policies we'd had for years. We kept one, and we have very good death cover on our super, so we decided we didn't need the extra policies. - Switched credit card providers - got a balance transfer at 1.99% for 12 months. Awesome. - Shopped for insurance - cars and house - when policies were due. Insurance companies will often give a good premium rate to get your business. Then swap again the next year. And the next. - Put a ban on takeaway and instead made our own pizzas, hamburgers and DFC (that's "Dad's Fried Chicken" ). The kids didn't complain once. - Cancelled pay TV. BIG waste of money. - Borrowed DVDs on Tight-arse Tuesday when we can get 2 new releases and 4 weeklies for some silly price.... - Asked for vouchers for movies or clothing for birthday and Christmas gifts - our budget was pretty tight and didn't really allow for any luxuries, so those things were a welcome treat. - Maintained a Christmas Club account with our credit union. I put away a set amount each pay and at the end of the year, my kids' birthdays and Christmas weren't a financial nightmare. There were a few other things we did, but I can't think of them now. Money isn't a huge issue now, but we're focusing on paying off the house, so we've just kept on doing all those things to save $$ and we don't mind a bit. I would be wary. Is you site demilished but nothing else done? Sounds like liquidity problems to me. Our builder did the same. Got hundreds of thousands of dollars of… 2 15392 3 5582 Can anyone suggest a house layout where the kitchen-dining - living runs the length across the rear of the house left to right where our best view will be we… 0 4348 |