The Challenge: Month 1

Okay, yes, I got bored of blogging about my finances last month, but I thought I’d give a quick update.

I can say that it’s no fun having to live on such limited funds, but it is doable. I was lucky to receive an additional R500 to help get me through, but even so, things were tight.

Here are a few things I learnt last month:

·         Cash is king. Swiping a card allowed me to ignore the state of my finances until there was no money left, at which point I had to do some creative accounting to make it through the month. With cash, I’m always aware of how much money I have to spend.

·         A weekly budget works better for me than a monthly one. Here’s the thing – I like to shop, whether or not I have money to spend. Doing a monthly shop is mostly wasteful for me because I don’t feel like preparing the food I stock in my freezer. I still go to the shops, even when I don’t need anything. I just want things that I don’t have. So, by buying things only as I need then, and not in anticipation of wanting them, there’s less waste. Yes, my freezer is empty, but that’s only a problem when I’m lazy. There are a few things which I’m happy to buy in bulk – milks, eggs, bacon – but for the most part, it works better to shop every few days instead of once a month.

·         Separate petrol budget. A tank of petrol lasts me about 10 days, so I’ve allocated days each month that I can fill up my car. I don’t stick to this strictly, but within a couple of days of these deadlines, I do make a point of stopping by a petrol station.  And instead of just adding petrol money to my weekly budget, I’ve kept a separate tab for this. Otherwise I find that I spend money on other things, expecting that I can get around on petrol fumes if I have to.

I’m continuing with this method of budgeting for April. I’ve even allocated two amounts for entertainment without extending credit to do so.

It’s small steps at this point, but I expect it to get easier as I become accustomed to living with less. 

The Challenge Week 1

I’m currently on day seven of my new budget. I was hoping to report that I religiously stuck to my allocated funds, but alas, I wasn’t so good. R350 really doesn’t go far these days. It was, however, the first payday I can remember that I didn’t rush out to spend money.

I had to buy OTC medication that the medical aid doesn’t cover, which ate more than a third of my cash. I also had to spend a little money on supplies to make a birthday present for a special little girl. And yesterday, I splurged on takeaways. The total of the overspending sits at R220, which I’ll have to cover over the coming weeks.

These three purchases aside, I think I’ve done pretty well. I was careful with my grocery shopping, which means I have four meals in the freezer to get me through those nights I can’t face cooking. I also made a point of telling a few friends about my situation. Now that they know about my lack of discretionary spend, I can’t rock up with treats without having to explain myself.

I do realise that I’m in a much better position than many others who are trying to get by on minimal funds. There is food in house, as well as toiletries and cleaning products, which means I don’t have to spend money on these things right now. I have been grateful this week for the eggs, bacon and coffee that were purchased last month. They came in very handy.

I was also treated to four meals this week. On Wednesday night I was invited to a hotel stayover in Midrand where I was let loose on a prawn and roast lamb buffet. I made the most of the experience, since I knew it was going to be a long while until I was able gorge on such expensive and delicious food. On Thursday morning, I stayed for breakfast and cappuccinos.

On Sunday A-Friend took me out for lunch in Cullinan, which also came with cappuccinos. And then she fed me T-bone steak last night for dinner. These four meals alone are probably more than some people eat in a week, so I know how fortunate I am to be able to keep my stomach full. But I don’t do well with hunger, which is why I caved yesterday and bought takeaways.

I get to draw cash tomorrow for the coming week. I’ll have to plan carefully to make sure I don’t run out of anything important. I have to remain vigilant and not allow myself to not care about later in the month. I might not have succeeded this week, but I did a hell of a lot better than I ever have before, so I still believe I can make it work.