Budget Management

Is it that time again?…. SMILE!…..Who really smiles when the dreaded school photo envelope arrives? I don’t! Not because I don’t want them, I do really. It’s just I know it’s another thing I now have to budget for. And this one is not going to be cheap!

I think we can agree that it’s been a strange start to a new year, and indeed, a new decade. The terrible bushfires followed by crazy storms and flooding, not to mention the outbreak of Coronavirus…. it’s easy to get thrown off course and wonder where it’s all leading??? Now, more than ever, personal planning and goal setting are absolutely key.

I’m sure you remember, as a kid, playing the memory game where you turn over two cards and have to match the pair together. Well, shopping without a list is a little bit like that! Desperately trying to remember what you saw the last time you looked in your pantry or fridge. Shopping this way

As if it’s not hard enough already to acknowledge that your little one is not so little anymore, and that they are about to embark on an exciting new adventure called “High School”, then comes the dreaded realisation of the unavoidable “starting High School” expenses! …A double whammy!

Stikeez, Disney Words, Lion King Ooshies, Mini Collectables ‘Little Shop 1’ now ‘Little Shop 2’ ……STOP! Enough already! Am I really a bad mum? Is anyone else with me here? Like really, do we need any more obstacles than we already have to stay on budget? Another thing to collect, another thing that will end up on the floor! More tantrums, more guilt on us parents, for what? Another tiny bit of plastic?!?

If you’re like me and thinks every penny counts, that’s awesome. If you don’t, you should. Why? Because it all adds up! The humble change nobody likes. It’s still money! So, why do so many of us disregard it? It’s as if it devalues as soon as it becomes a coin. I often hear people

Money is like air. You need it to live. It’s what you do with your money that is important. And nothing is more important than your ‘money habits’.