Apples and everything else

My partner and I are careful with our money and keep a close eye on our finances and spending habits. We don't like to have credit debt and anything purchased on our credit card is paid off in full before any interest is payable. We don't obsess about our finances, but have a written budget and stick closely to it. We save money, work ahead of ourselves with bills and do things in our daily life that help mitigate unnecessary expenditure. Being simple people who find enjoyment from the simple things in life helps us along in that way, but we have some other techniques also.

Over the last few years we've noticed the rising cost of living in our country and whilst we don't lead extravagant lives we've noticed the additional expenditure in the back pocket. This has caused us to do things a little differently which has been working well, however no matter what we do, we're not able to keep up with the rising costs it seems.

One of our greatest costs is food, toiletries, personal and cleaning products. These things are unavoidable of course, however we started doing things differently and have managed to keep these costs down.

We buy in bulk a lot and when items are on sale. Buying multiples when an item is 50% off means huge savings over a year period and we've changed a few products we buy to the ones that often come on at 50-% off to be able to save big. We also plan meals a week ahead and buy what we need more often rather than doing a big shop weekly or fortnightly. That means less wastage and that we can take advantage of specials at the supermarket. The meal-plan isn't locked in though, so if there's something on sale we can swap that in one night and do the other meal the next.

We also have a credit card linked with a points plan so we exchange points for gift cards to use at the supermarket chain we shop in saving us something like $1,700 a year in our shopping bill. As stated earlier, we pay the card off before any interest is due so that we don't waste money; just this alone is a huge saving.

Buying non-perishables in bulk or when on sale and shopping for fresh foods more often saves us a lot of money and the habit is so easy to form; I can't think of doing it differently now.

Vehicle costs are incredibly high here and that's another area we focus on.

We streamline vehicle usage eliminating unnecessary trips, walk to the shop when only a few items are needed and purchase fuel when it's a little cheaper...we don't drive across town to find 0.01 cent off per liter saving though. We also ensure vehicle maintenance is kept up as not doing so will often bring unexpected costs, usually much higher than preventative maintenance. (Tyres work prematurely for example.)

We look at insurances constantly, two to three times a year, and ensure we're on the best deal. Often speaking with an insurance company means they can shave a few dollars off here and there, or so I've found, so we ask the question and most of the time we save money.

Eating out and take-away food is fun, we love to do it as it's easy, but it's costly and so we're careful about how much we do it.

Since the 2020 pandemic situation we have noticed quality and service has declined so we're actually less inclined to eat out; it's not as enjoyable. We do it now and then, but a lot of the time we prefer to buy the things and prepare our own special or fun meals at home. Once again, we're simple people so don't feel the need to get too extravagant, and we work around what's on sale or cheap a lot of the time; we have come up with some really great, tasty and easy meals. Getting a take-away from somewhere in our local area could be $45-$55 and quite often it's disappointing. For less than half of that we can prepare better food...it just takes a little more effort, and we can wear what wea want when eating at home, and that brings other benefits.

Lastly, is entertainment which, fortunately, we find in many low-cost ways.

We both love nature, walking and hiking, outdoor sports and outdoor activities. A picnic in the countryside and some antiquing is a better day out than paying for some other form of entertainment, a movie for instance. We also like our privacy and are content reading, doing crafts, watching movies and shows, listening to music and playing games at home. We love the togetherness, the closeness we feel, and it's a much more enjoyable night than one spent out somewhere with strangers.

That's just a few basic ways in which we work towards mitigating the effects of rising costs. It probably makes us sound boring, but we don't think we are. We love each others company and the value found in the simplicity of life and through the togetherness. We make moments from the little things and find pleasure there.

We both have good jobs and our financial situation is not dire, but we're not about to spend carelessly despite having the money. We have financial goals and are well on track toward them and part of that is due to the things above, and others. By doing these few things we're able to save more. Some time ago began paying the monthly interest amount on our mortgage each month in cash, it's meant our small mortgage is coming down very quickly as we're paying no interest. That's only been possible through the things I mention above and some other factors.

Apples and everything else have gone up in cost; I actually can't think of one single thing we buy which has not increased, but we're fortunate to have made some changes a while ago and are reaping the benefits of that now.

Becca 💗