Living Deliberately & Money

Spending:

Before we came to this remote area, I shopped at Coles, we had milk delivered, and yes we went to K-mart sometimes. I bought from ebay during our last year there, but we were on a low income so not sure what our shopping was, I don't think I went up the street, K-mart was near Coles. That was 6 1/2 years ago.

These days, the supermarkets are catching up here. There is buttermilk or was at some point introduced after we moved here, I think same with packaged custard, and more recently packaged birthday cakes like I have mentioned. The supermarket is now heated properly (it was very very cold, you would have to experience it to know what it felt like) the other supermarket got rid of its sparrows, and the first supermarket doesn't have tourists wondering how to get in without a self-opening door. And really why would you bother heating it if everyone left the door open?

But, we still have to buy our large shop, 50 minutes away once a fortnight, the milk, Euca washing powder and large block of tasty cheese (they used to have 2kg now only 1kg) at another shop, my husband does that. Then because our freezer is at the other house, my husband gets bread here more often and anything we have run out of. I do plan very well, but we still need a small amount of things there. Plus the things we can't get at the further away shop like wheatgerm. They say they can't sell it at the other shop, they should get the stablised stuff perhaps.

Then I have had to supplement that with meat from yet another shop. Since we get money on three different days it feels like we are always at the shop, this is each fortnight. I don't think we are at the shop much apart from that, however our daughter does look. But she is more content now with walking the dog with her friend, and I am glad. She used to feel frustrated and go to the shops instead, even though she had lots of after school activities at the time. Now she has two, one is in the evening, and is quite content.

My living deliberately plan was going OK except the house moving has taken too long and is running into the time where our second child goes off to uni. But I hope it can be managed OK. I have until March and have been thinking about it alot. Lots of things I am buying now, not on credit, like the laptop through a Christmas saving plan through the hamper companies, including kitchen stuff if he goes into self catering.

I was reading a novel about a lady who spent a lot of time with a sick child and her friend bought her a book to dream in. The novel is called One Perfect Day by Lauraine Snelling. I guess my dream is still to have the kids go to uni. The rest I haven't worked out.

After Michael Jackson died, it felt a little like an end of an era. Tonight we were watching, (cringing a little) Queen. We feel maybe if we went back (since we have been so busy for lots of years) and watched some of those bands, that we may find ourselves and can come forward again and find what we want now. Do we still want to move to our house, or do we want to move back to our hometown, or stay here. And other questions about lifestyle.

We are still going ahead with the odd plantings, like Jerusalem artichokes despite ourselves. Our new house has lots of room.

This year has been challenging moneywise. Not harder than usual, but for example, our trailer needs new tyres and we have spent a lot on the motor of my car, things like that. So we have been putting our thinking caps on and exercising our skills honed over many years with being frugal.

I must say, I have bought a Women's Weekly cookbook on cheap meals, and watched a couple of episodes of the cheap Four Ingredients series. They are going back to our parents, or my parents era making stews. You can tell, or at least I think I can, that they haven't had huge practise with this. Though everyone's idea on what they would like to eat is different. Pancakes for breakfast for me is not high enough in fibre, for example. Flour doesn't seem as cheap as I thought it was.

In my parents day, our meat for stews was cheap. I can't afford the meat for stews for 6 people. My Mum went halves to have a beast killed at the abbitoir, half went in her freezer. She always had mince made up mostly. Mince is still cheap, thank goodness, not so much stewing meats. I find tongue is very cheap, but to me not quick enough, but we used to eat it.

In our early marriage years, we had an attiboir nearby that sold cheap meat, so my step-son used to buy things there for me. He went over on his bike. My Nana ate a lot of lamb. It was grown right on the large block they had in town and butchered themselves. So these days I eat sausages, despite their possibly health worries.

So I like the liftouts in the paper from the Taste magazine as they are cheap, or use the budget section on the website.

Also dried legumes are cheap, but I also still like quick meals, but the supermarkets are cutting back on canned legumes. That is my preference.

I have a book with a page for each fortnight and I use that to record the bills when they come in.