We have always enjoyed our take away fish and chips on Friday. There are the odd occasion that we don't have it but mainly this is tradition. What has changed is that we are actually REALLY enjoying it again as we are a buying fresh fish to cook ourselves. We have noticed the immediate change firstly in the price that we pay which is much more reasonable and secondly in the quality. We were ordering fish and getting Basa which they were selling as a Butter fish. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact Basa is much cheaper retailing for about $5.00 a kilo and I imagine that fish shops would be paying a lot less. We don't really like it, so this is the improvement for a start. We were being charged about $6.50 a piece (this is a conservative estimate) and then the chips as they were wrapped up and steamed in the paper until they were home are also an improvement. We get oven chips from Aldi's for about $1.99 or less and they give us more than we did at the fish and chip shop for about $5.00. We also include a salad or peas or something lovely as well. We are cutting down on the fat content and not having potato cakes as well. Who knew our substitute fish and chips would be much better!
I am happy to say that some of the surveys are starting to pay off. I have been spending a few minutes each day doing surveys and the awards are starting to add up. First you have a choice, I tend to avoid the other rewards and go for the cash in the accounts. I have a $20 one coming through and almost have a $100. I miss doing the taste testings however I don't have the time to do that now. Taste testings pay more quite a bit more and sometimes you have the enjoyment of trying something really good. My assignments and homework and massages are already devouring most of my time. I think every little bit helps and I can make that go quite far these days.
Our actual expenses have been reduced to very little each week. We pay the bills, we go to the farmers market and we eat all our meals at home. I take lunch to school and snacks and my lovely friends occasionally shout me a chai (Soy of course) for having them over and feeding them meals and helping with practice. We deal with cash only now. If we don't have the cash on us then we don't buy it. It makes spontaneous splurging very difficult especially when you go out with the right about to get what you have to. An enforced budget does make a difference. Also writing down what you spend makes a difference as you have to be accountable for all those "little purchases that add up very quickly". As we are not just spending on things that we see and we would like we have to find ways to either include it in our budget or find another way to get something the same or similar for less if possible. What do I have to sell to afford this, what do I have to do in regards to hours of work and massaging, surveys or other way to find income to afford this item/good.
I listen to my friends and share ideas for cheap meals, I share ideas and do research on buying clothing and other items and I watch prices in supermarkets and shops, sales are great if the item of clothing that you want suddenly goes on sale and you save 40 or 50%. Lasoo is great for looking up catalogues and seeing what is on special or on sale.
I think the most important thing that I have learnt is:
- you can probably do it better yourself.
- good fresh food does not take that long to prepare.
- baked goods are great treats for kids and grown ups alike.
- you can almost always find it cheaper if you do a bit of research.
- do you really need it?
Still working on the assignment for trigger points so off to finish this off and do some housework whilst everything is quiet.
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