I coached a client recently through the Financial Freedom e-course and I was like, “wow, A, this stuff is really good” I’d forgotten how sound that e-course was/ is because I wrote it 5 years ago but the lessons are all sound financial principles.  The financial freedom e-course is FREE when you get Organise your Home and no joke, you’ll make your money back in less than a month!

Taken at 5:02 one evening as I left work - so glad I stopped to take it

A few weeks ago there was an article in The Star that said the cost of living in Johannesburg’s risen by 15,9 % in the last 4 months.

Wow!

That’s kind of scary, isn’t it?

And yet, reading that didn’t make me think, “no! never!” because I do know that it costs us more to buy groceries, fill up with petrol, etc. than it used to.

I just thought I was being irresponsible with money.

I believe in working very smart with my/ our money but not freaking out too much as I don’t want to develop a mindset of lack.

Stay with me…

I’ve always thought that the way to approach these things is not to say, “I can’t afford ___” but “how can I afford ___?”

Mostly this approach has worked for me.

And yes, some of that will mean cutting out x and y, but my question takes me from feeling helpless to empowered.

I’ll share a few things I’m being a little more conscious about doing:

1. I make a menu plan and only put items on the shopping list I don’t have in my pantry… which means I check the pantry every week
2. I’m also trying to get creative and use up everything in the fridge or pantry
3. wait a day or two before doing online shopping – if I really want it I can still go buy it, but it takes away the impulse shopping

Have you felt the cost of living increases in South Africa and especially in Jhb?

Are you just taking it in your stride or how are you dealing with it?

Share a tip or five with me

Attention: Overwhelmed individuals whose financial lives seem out of control

Ask yourself: do you want be paralyzed with worry because you don’t know if you’ll have enough money to pay your bills?

• Do you know where all your bills are?
• Is your current money system scattered and not working?
• Or worse, do you have no money system except hope?
• We all want more financial security, but how do you do it?

My friend, Beth Dargis, has a new class to help you simplify your money systems:

Read more here to see if this could help you out.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how are your mid-year finances?

P.S. Beth wrote a blog post the other day on communicating simply and effectively. I told her she got quite fiesty

I have a goal to pay off my bond this year.

I’m not too concerned with the how at the moment; all I know is that the why is very important to me.

I can’t wait for Freedom from the Bond!

That said, I do have a good look at the budget every month and keep my eyes and ears open for opportunities. It’s all about conscious spending and being purposeful about our money.

So… the other day at work our PA mentioned something about getting cheaper insurance.

Hers wasn’t very much but every little bit helps and I thought, “well, it won’t harm anything just to ask for a quote”.

I had an older schedule from my current insurer saved on a flash drive so I phoned her insurer.

The guy quoted me R350 cheaper PER MONTH.

Suspicious me thought he must have got something wrong so I asked for the quote to be emailed.

I then compared the quote with my current schedule line by line and found that my laptop wasn’t listed.

No problem – I phoned back and they added that on. I also upped my household contents cover and still the quote was R300 cheaper.

Sold!

I then phoned my current insurer and sheepishly told them, “I need to cancel my insurance because I found cheaper cover elsewhere”.

She matched it…. but I felt bad letting the first guy down (is this a woman thing?!) so I said that I’d rather stick with the other people.

Then she quoted me R597 cheaper.

I could not believe her and interrogated her about everything.

Bottom line – the quote was valid and with a sister company in the same group.

Of course I accepted – I’m not that much of an idiot.

And so there you have it – I’m now saving R7 164 over the next year, which is all going into my bond.

The phone calls took 10 minutes each time but all of it happened over a number of days, so not a once-off, 10-minute quick fix, but so, SO worth it!

Which financial goals are on your list for the year?

How are you doing? Are you making headway?

When was the last time you phoned around for insurance quotes? A 10-minute call might save you thousands too.

PS Just read a fantastic post on 24 quick actions you can take with your finances – I don’t even know how I landed on his site but the article is fantastic.

I hate to say this but it’s true.

I’ve been using money not very intentionally but I’m happy to say I’ve turned a corner…

Bond

I was paying x on my bond and when interest rates dropped I forgot to do what I normally do in these cases which is pay in the difference every month anyway.

Well, I fixed that a couple of months ago.

Interest rates have continued to drop so I’m still paying in the difference into our bond account.

There’s something so satisfying about seeing all those “extra payment” entries on our statement.

Am I the only one who gets excited by debt reduction?

Credit Card

We get HUGE cash back every month (on average R1500) simply by using our credit card at partner stores, like Pick and Pay for groceries and ToysRUs for nappies and other baby-related purchases. Places we were shopping at anyway.

Again, we used to fritter away our cash back which is literally like a credit on your credit card, and the money seemed to just disappear.

Odd, that.

But again, since October, I’ve been adding that cashback to my trusty little spreadsheet as “extra money” coming in. So that I’m forced to budget it.

The weird thing?

We seem to have more money even though we’re not even using that extra money.

It’s the power of intention - it makes you more aware and I think, makes you wealthier.

I know it’s been said that if you respect money, it will respect you. Suze Orman?

On a scale of 1 – 10 with 1 being terrible, how good are you at managing your money?

I’d say I was an 8.

I’ve shared before that my theme last year was simplicity.

Well, I soon realised that living a simpler life was not going to just happen.

This is what worked for me then:

Re-examine your goals regularly

Regularly can mean monthly for some people; for me, it means weekly as I get sidetracked very easily if I don’t keep reminding myself of what’s important.

Every week I’d look at my life map (I need to do a blog about that) and see that big, bold word on the top of the page – SIMPLIFY.

And when I saw a hectic schedule, I’d ask myself, “is this representative of the simpler life I want?”

Make the tough decisions

My good friend, Beth, and I held a call last year called 5 steps to a saner, simpler life. I was the co-host and yet I probably wrote 3 pages of notes myself.

I loved that call for many reasons but the best reason is this:

She shared that we often think we have no choices when the choices are tough but we always do.

E.g. You have too many time commitments and think you can’t get out of any. Yes, it’s a tough choice and even harder to tell your kids no, we won’t be signing you up for 3 after-school activities but it can be done!

Fix your environment

On a more practical level, let’s talk about simplicity with material goods (stuff).

If you want to get out from under the clutter, you’ve got to start making different choices.

When I work with clients, yes, we organise but more than that, I help them to think about the behaviour patterns that led them to the state of discontent in the first place.

If you keep buying things you don’t need, then stay away from the shops. If you don’t go to the mall, you can’t shop.

I had a really bad habit of buying info products a few years ago.

The bad habit was not in the buying of the products; it was bad because I wouldn’t  use them and they’d all sit on my hard drive doing nothing.

I actually joined Beth in a Spending Fast one month. Once I was half way through an internet transaction before I realised, “hey! I’m on a spending fast” so I stopped and then put a post-it note on my credit card so I’d stick to my resolve.

What is your definition of a simpler life?

Is this something you aspire to?

What are your best tips for living simply?

Don’t forget – for two days only, get the financial e-course for just $21,60 (20% off) when you use coupon code money – offer expires Sat 25th 12pm EST

Do you have a bill-paying centre?

It could be a desk in your home, a shelf or even just a plastic envelope or Office-in-a-bag.

The point it that you have some place to keep all the things you’ll need like:

• The actual invoices
• Calculator
• Red pen (or is it just me who loves a nice, thick gel pen for writing PAID)
• Etc.

Everybody in your home should know where this is so that you don’t have to hunt all over the place to find the bills when it’s time to pay.

My suggestion is this:

• when the mail arrives, sort into different types of piles
• take the bills and circle the DUE date (see why I like the red gel pen?)
• based on your method of payment, either use Outlook or your paper calendar to diarise/ schedule to pay them
• I use internet banking or direct debit order so I never leave more than two days prior to the due date to attend to them.
• now put them in your bill-paying centre so they’re ready for you. Do this in chronological order so whenever you look at the pile, the most urgent one is always on top.

excuse the blurry pic

Your challenge

1. Declutter anything that doesn’t belong
2. Dedicate a place for your bill-paying centre
3. Organise it with everything you need
4. Relax and have a nice cup of tea or coffee for being responsible

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For two days only, get the financial e-course for just $21,60 (20% off) when you use coupon code money – offer expires Sat 25th 12pm EST

Have you taken the financial check-up quiz yet? You’ll find it about halfway down on this information page: 10 steps to YOUR financial freedom

For two days only, get the financial e-course for just $21,60 (20% off) when you use coupon code money – offer expires Sat 25th 12pm EST

our bill-paying centres (or centers )

Get ready to post your before and after pics … if you want to, no pressure!

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For two days only, get the financial e-course for just $21,60 (20% off) when you use coupon code money – offer expires Sat 25th 12pm EST

Have you taken the financial check-up quiz yet? You’ll find it about halfway down on this information page: 10 steps to YOUR financial freedom

Today we’re decluttering and organising receipts.

Which receipts?

• In your car
• In your handbag
• In your wallet
• Stashed on your entrance hall table
• On your desk

Here’s an article I wrote called 5 steps to organised receipts

This week, your challenge is to

• Gather the receipts all together in one place
• Make piles – those you need to keep (please check with your accountant for some retention guidelines as these differ from country to country and from state to state) and those you can toss
• For the ones you’re keeping, organise them either by month (which is what I do) or by category first and then by month (household – Jan, business – Jan)
  

Share in the comments how you did!

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If you could use some help with your finances, check out

receipts

It’s tax time in the US…and will be happening soon in South Africa too, so we may as well get our finances in order.

Right?

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If you could use some help with your finances, check out

(About half way down the page, there’s a financial check-up quiz so be sure to take that)

Have you ever checked out my sidebar?

I have a link under my Organise your Finances heading called Simple Savings. It’s an Australian site but the financial principles talked about are applicable all over the world!

I have a fair amount of Aussie readers (hello Tina, Kin and Ali) who might know about this site already but if you don’t, go over and get their Simple Savings newsletter. That’s for everyone, not just Australians!

Just based on my own experiences when we visited Australia in 2004, the Aussies are way more advanced than South Africans with regard to eco-friendly programmes. I’m by no means the most eco-friendly person but I do my best with what I do know.

As an aside, Oprah did a “going green” show that was aired here last week and I was amazed at the simple things we can do, like switching appliances off at the wall, using less serviettes (napkins), using those long-lasting lightbulbs, etc. The one lady said she saw an electricity saving of US $50 in one month (that’s R350! or Aus $58).

I’ve just received my October Simple Savings newsletter and as well as the great savings tips, there is also a link to their free going green 2008 Simple Savings calendar which they have said we can freely pass along to others, hence this blog post.

Each month talks about how going green will save you money. For example…

1. Limit your impulse buys. Impulse buys are always things we can do without.
2. Only buy essentials. Leave the extras on the shelf.
3. Learn the difference between a ‘need’ and a ‘want’.
4. Re-use everything. Before you throw anything out, try and use it one more time.
5. Fix things when they break. Don’t buy a new one.
6. Be a creative cook. Learn how to cook from basic ingredients. [there are some great vegetarian recipes in this month's newsletter too - I can't wait to try the vegetarian chilli (yum)!]
7. Live in the smallest space possible.
8. Buy in bulk for better value and less packaging.
9. Grow your own food. Food is free when it comes out of the ground.
10. Reduce your power consumption. No need to pay more than you have to.
11. Reduce your water consumption.

Please go download the calendar, sign up to the Simple Savings newsletter and start saving money! I’ve already downloaded mine and it looks great!

For more WFMW posts, head on over to http://rocksinmydryer.net