When I was working full time we just spent as we earned it. There were never any savings, nothing left at the end of each week. We had holidays every year, Whitsunday islands, Surfers Paradise, Tasmania and went back and forth to England a few times but mainly to be with sick or dying parents. When I gave up working after I became ill, holidays were more difficult to afford but we still managed to get away for long weekends down the Great Ocean Road. This new challenge was a tad bigger, though, and even I felt a bit daunted by the numbers.
I had already begun to put into practice some of the hints I had picked up as a member of Simple Savings. It started with the grocery shopping. I was spending around $150 a week for the two of us but by changing from weekly to monthly shopping I found I was saving quite a lot of money. No more making several trips a week to the supermarkets meant much less impulse buying. This also meant less driving so less money spent on petrol and less wear and tear on the car. Other tips I found useful were creating a stockpile so that eventually I would have enough food in the house so that I could just shop for specials and never have to pay full price for the things we used most. Within a few months I had cut my grocery bill in half and my petrol almost in half, too. Wow, the savings were enormous! Over a year this amounted to $3,750 saved on food and $750 on petrol. $4,500 saved just like that! The $34 I had spent on my Simple Savings membership was looking like the best investment I had ever made.
Once I realised this I knew we could do it. I had five years to save the money and at that rate it was definitely possible. We were on our way! Now to get down to some serious research...
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