Stop Burning Money

Who would have thought that COVID would change our lives so drastically? Life for many has become a huge struggle as day to day living has become more expensive, with salary and work hour cuts it’s not only affecting the poor but even the wealthy.

People being laid off, losing their jobs and business closing their doors.

For those of you who know what I am talking about You Not Alone.

With our recent move to Sydney, Australia COVID has hit us with a big bang, our savings have been dropping at an alarming rate.

As the one in charge of managing our finance, it’s been very scary for me to watch. Each time I have to transfer from our savings account to top-up for bills and groceries I fear for what the future holds.

My husband was offered a job in Sydney and we moved in July 2019. This meant we had to sell up our lives and relocate. Once we were settled into our new surroundings my son of 21 years, also started working, this was great as we had two incomes coming in and we were managing to survive rather well.

And then COVID struck…

Working in the events industry work stopped totally due to social distancing, this meant that the company my son was working for no longer had a job for him, and he was asked to stand down until they had more work.

It was not long after, that my husband’s hours were reduced to 3 days a week and his salary took a drop as well.

With this, life has become a little tough, we don’t have a backup plan here and with that, I have had to make a few changes to our lifestyle.

Shopping

Shopping has become less frequent, I have tried to take my weekly budget and stretch it to two weeks. How you ask, well it actually can be done if you are clever and shop for bargains. I use to buy a pack of mince for one meal now I look for bulk packs which work out cheaper and split them into meal portions, I buy bulk chicken and beef burger patties, bulk sausages and do the same split them per meal.

My husband loves meat so it’s not easy to take that out of his diet, so I have avoided meats that cost a lot and started buying the cheaper meats. Also if you shop in-store there are often markdowns or specials if I see them I buy.

Sweets, chocolates, chips and biscuits use to be a huge part of my spend, now I look for what is on special and only buy a small amount. Great way to lose weight too so no gym fees which is another saving.

Take-Aways

We have stopped eating out or ordering in, it is so expensive, I could buy at least three days worth of groceries on one night take out value. It's crazy but a fact, so each time I am tempted to order in, I remind myself of what I can buy for that money and take the thought out of my mind.

Electricity and Gas

We are currently in our winter season and instead of using electricity or gas running heaters we are keeping blankets in our living room to put over us while watching TV this can save you a lot of money as well.

Selling unwanted items

I have also started looking at selling unwanted goods lying around the house, have you ever really looked at what you have around you that you have either not used in a very long time or at all for that matter. Why not list them on social media and sell them, in return use the money you are making towards things you really need and will use.

Used or Pre-loved

Second-hand clothing or a nicer word Pre-loved items can also save you a lot of money, we have a uniform shop which I volunteer at and we offer used clothing to those who are ok with it.

An item that would cost $20 could cost you $5, this is a huge saving, I have already started buying my daughter's school clothes for next year when she starts and it won’t cost near the $300 I spent for my son’s starter kit.

Freebies

There are some freebies on Facebook if you look as well, people are trying to declutter their homes and you will find some bargains there too and this includes anything from clothing to furniture.

What I have learnt from this experience

I have to admit that with these past few months of cutting costs I have come to realize how much money we really waste.

I have also started to put things I don’t want in donation bins rather than chucking them out, for those less fortunate than us. Or as I said above selling and replacing with another used item.

I challenge you to cut down your costs and see how much you save, not only during these rough patches but always and watch your savings grow.

I plan to keep trying to save as we go back to normal, the new normal that is, as I don't think life is really going to be the same as we knew it.