What stops you spending?

Today I was in Target and they had books reduced to clear (I am a sucker for books), clothing 60% off and more. I loaded up my trolley and was going to get all these things when I stopped and thought.

- The books I am looking at getting, I have no idea if I can resell them. I don't need them myself. Sure I would like them, but they are not a need. Also I have a tub of books I have not read, so no need to get more. I put them all back except 2 colouring in books for my daughters.

- With the clothing, I had a few things I liked and I did get 3 tops, but most of it I looked at and thought "That won't suit me". You know why? I had a personal styling session with All Yours Styling and I know what suits me, what doesn't. I know which colours, shapes etc. are right for me and do not need to waste money on clothes I might wear once!

As for everything else like folders, stationary, manchester and things, whilst it would be nice to replace what we have, we don't need to right now. We have goals and new stuff is not one of them!

So what do you do to stop yourself spending when you don't really need to?

$100 Christmas

Recently I was getting a little worried I wouldn't be able to achieve my $100 Christmas plans. I wrote down who I needed to buy for, what I had on hand, what I wanted to make and where I needed to spend money.

I had wrapping paper, tape, cards, a few gifts and lots of craft items to make presents but felt I needed to spend something or maybe my gifts wouldn't be appreciated.

To give you an idea I have about 16 nieces and nephews, parents on both sides of the family, my husband, kids and a few other little gifts to give.

I have already made baubles for my nieces, nephews and my daughters which you can check out by clicking here.

I have my Oma's present, a puzzle from my present box.

I have my little brothers present. I got a hair product free with clippers we bought earlier in the year, which happens to be the one he uses and worth $20.

My little sister is now done with some things she will like. I can't say, as she occasionally reads this!

I am in love with pinterest. I have found so many great ideas from it and the images link to tutorials so it is easy to make them. I have created so many boards, but the main ones I am using for inspiration are For My Daughters and Gift Ideas and Getting Crafty

I have so many ideas, it is hard choosing what to do.

I am thinking pillow case dresses, head bands, hair clips and ties for my daughters. Some headbands and things for my nieces, felt Santa's for my nephews. I realise there is only 2 months to Christmas so I need to get cracking!


Oh, another thing for my daughters is a signed photo from their favourite Disney character. We wrote letters the there day and I found some stamps I had from when one of my friends lived in the USA and we wrote (yes, snail mail!) so I am using them to post the letters. Did you know if you write a letter to your favourite Disney Character they will send a signed photo back? Write to Walt Disney World 
Communications p.o. box 10040 Lake Buena Vista, fl 32830-0040

So how are your Christmas plans coming?

A New Challenge

I have a few challenges going at any one time. I came short of my $40,000 in 6 months challenge because my husband ended up with no work so our savings got used, which meant we were unable to attend his sisters wedding in Hawaii this week, we couldn't go to Tasmania and the renovations on our house did not get finished.

Fortunately none of these were essentials. We really wanted them all and ideally would have at least had my husband attend his sisters wedding, but unfortunately our finances just couldn't accommodate our desires, which happens from time to time.

The renovations on our house still need to be finished, but we have most of what we need for it. Our bed needs replacing (it broke on the weekend), we have a $9,000 personal loan and would like a bit of an emergency fund, as well as replacing the air conditioning (I know not a necessity, but here summer gets really hot and we nearly died last summer).

All up it's about $16,000 we would like to pay off the loan, have $5,000 in savings and replace the bed/air conditioning.

Ideally the air condition would be done in the next month as it is already getting hot. I know I should technically pay off our personal loan first, before considering luxury purchases. I also know without it we don't sleep, end up at my mother in laws a lot or the swimming pool/shopping centre/anywhere cool which ends up costing in petrol, entry fees and emotionally as we are tired from being unable to sleep.

My timeframe for the entire thing is 6 months. Earlier if possible, but I am trying to be realistic.

So to get $16,000 in 6 months:

• I will switch banks. Our interest rate on our mortgage, bank fees etc. Would all be less with a different   bank. It would save us a total of $1,250 minimum. 
• Take advantage of the extra money offers at the moment. Many banks are offering cash if you deposit a certain amount into an account. I have looked into some of them and could earn a few hundred dollars over the 6 months with these offers.
• My husbands overtime. He has been getting a bit lately, which won't always be the case, but when it's there it will go into savings.
• Finish my Sell 1000 Things Challenge. I am up to 362 items sold now, so that is fantastic.
• Complete my $100 Christmas Challenge. So far I am on track with only spending $100 this Christmas. Many of the gifts are made and my plans are all set.
• Promote my book 365 Ways To Make Money more. I am possibly doing some more public speaking soon and a few other projects might be happening in relation to it.
• Cash in my points on survey sites. I have about $100 in there I think. I need to check them all.

So who is interested in setting themselves a challenge to pay off a debt/save an emergency fund?

Mental Health Month - Borderline Personality Disorder

This month is Mental Health Month in Australia, so I decided to share my story on my other blog. It is very emotional and kind of long, but I am hoping to raise awareness, so would appreciate you checking it out and sharing it or your thoughts on it.

Thanks.

Click here to read the post.

Sell 1000 Things Update

I have still been continuing with my sell 1000 things challenge. I would really like to move so have been getting rid of anything I would not want to move again.

So far I am up to 335 items sold since I started this challenge in June, which works out to be almost 84 items a month which isn't bad, but not fast enough. I have earned nearly $3,000 doing it which is a nice amount and has helped a lot, especially since this past year has been our worst year ever.

Now some areas of my house such as our lounge look pretty bare at the moment. And it could be argued I have decluttered too much in some areas, but we are much happier with less stuff and our garage is still full. I mean it is so full you cannot move in there. I have been going through and listing as much as I can. I do not want to move 90% of what is in there, so why am I keeping it?

Some of it is not mine, but I bet there are over 100 items in there I could sell and I am working on my husband to let go of the others (if it has not been used in the 6 years since it was purchased, it is not going to be!)

Anyway, we have a personal loan of $9,100 we want gone, so the fast I get this challenge done the better. Considering the average price I have been selling items at is almost $10, selling the remainder 665 items would help with that significantly.