Reading About Wealth Creation

We have been treading the frugal life since our daughter was born and more and more carefully in the past 2 or so years. At the time Dolly was born (5yrs ago) I was a 36 year old full time trainee student in Business Administration earning a low wage of $20,000 but receiving free education along the way. The Rambling Expat was a full time 40 year old university student completing a Masters on a 2 year scholarship of $50,000 and a fee waiver where he also had no educational costs. We were being paid to study and that was awesome!

Currently our only debt is our mortgage from our purchased home nearly 5 years ago, which we pay extra cash into on weekly basis. We are aiming for our unit to be paid off within another 3 years. We paid cash for our small economical car last year and never have problems paying the bills because we budget for everything. We used to spend spend spend - mainly on rent, going out, alcohol, magazines, restaurants, cigarettes, music, clothes and luxury food.

We have been frugal and careful to the point of saving a large sum to replace our windows and our own personal savings. Everything else is split down the middle except for groceries. He pays a little more as I have cut back work to care for our daughter which benefits us both.

So now has come the time to get our joint and personal finances organised. I also want to start developing myself to learn on how to create (passive) income by using my savings wisely. I am reading 1 to 2 hours per day from relevant books that will help my progress. This week I am reading Money For Nothing by Justine Davies from my public library. I'm finding it excellent with homework at the end of each chapter and budget sheets to work from. My focus this week is to rework my budget and start looking at our mortgage and see if we can get a better deal to lower our interest and Government owned portion.

I also purchased a book Ms Millionaire with my book credit for inspiration. The book has online tools and bonus at each chapter end which I am exploring. Each woman highly encourages personal and professional development as most found this was their turning point in creating changes, wealth and abundance for themselves.

It's all fun reading and motivating. I'm not a risk taker now that I'm a saver, so it's daunting to take even small steps. But as my knowledge increases and my confidence grows I will make a few financial investments that will benefit me and my family. Maybe it will take me quite some time to make that 1st step but I'm inching there. As for personal and professional development I'm making steps towards that too. I too think it can only be a good thing for me.

Do you invest time or money in your own personal and professional development? Do you invest any of your savings? I would love to hear your thoughts.

(The above books are very Australia focused - so my international readers may be inspired but may not find them as useful as a book from their own country).

FREE 2012 Simple Savings Calendar!

Here's the link to the FREE Simple Savings War On Debt Calendar. I printed mine out and am ready to tackle 2012 with more fabulous frugalness and saving madness.

Sure it says Australia and New Zealand! But hey! All saving money and the planet tricks and tips cross all borders don't you think. We all work of similar principals where ever we are   :-)

So what about you, are your going to squeeze each cent out of the dollar for a better life?

Are you going to think about all your purchasing actions carefully and see if they are good for your pocket, loved ones and planet?

Are you going to lead a less hurried and more thoughtful life?

Are you going to laugh more and enjoy your short time here on this wonderful planet?

I know I will try real hard, and those baby steps of mine are getting bigger, prouder and more definite. Here's to a wonderful 2012! Happy New Year!

Turning Paper Clutter into $$$

I have let paper pile up and I fell behind with major money issues. I'm very red faced here; I have not completed my tax return for 2010 and I have not claimed my 2009-2010 child care rebate (a long confusing process). This is all lost money as it could be in my bank account earning interest for me as I type.

So I tackled paper work in my 30 minute block as per my calender. I was amazed at how much sorting and purging I was able to do in 30 minutes. Bank statements, home maintenance, warranties and work references all filed where they should have been. The pile is still high but I got through a huge chunk making it motivating to continue. Best of all I found papers relating to my 2010 tax claim and 2009-2010 childcare rebate which I clipped aside. I aim to have these both claimed for by the 13 of May 2011, so that I can tackle my Superannuation and Will next.

Taxes, Child Care Rebates and Superannuation Fund

I discovered an invitation to an upcoming Superannuation talk for over 40's from my Superannuation Fund. I entered it in my diary and will definitely go as it's my money and my opportunity to learn more on how to save it from disappearing and make it work harder. I also need to see what is the best Super Fund for me.

Is your paper file neatly filed away, easy to grab when needed? Or just one big clutter pile causing stress and unhappiness? You could be loosing money if disorganised...

Taking Stock of my $$$

I decided enough was enough and put 30 minutes aside each night to sort out my finances, get my 2011 budget finalised and complete all pending items to do with $$$. I entered the most important jobs in my calendar as to do them in small blocks of time. This way I aim to reach my own goals and those that the Financial Coach encouraged in my FREE 1 hour one on one meeting.

I have a great Japanese Budget Diary I purchased in Paris earlier this year - but have not used it to it's full capacity. So I pulled it out of my handbag along with my wallet and got busy.

My 5 year old wallet and 2011 Diary

I went through all my dockets, entered amounts into my diary and placed them straight into the rubbish bin when completed. My wallet in now manageable and I feel such a relief after putting this boring job on hold for so long - and actually it was not boring, it was surprising pleasant and freeing.

Updating my spendings and up coming events.

I then entered all the fun free activities and other events that are happening around my town so as to keep on top of all opportunities.

I've found spreadsheets and electronic diaries don't really work for me. However I love note books and hard copy diaries. What about you, what works for you? How do you keep track of your finances? Do you budget, use jars, keep tabs, have envelopes?