If you have to cope on a low income, you MUST work to a budget--a very tight one!

If you have to cope on a low income (because you have no job or can get only part-time work) you absolutely MUST work to a budget--a very tight one. Here are some ideas to help you:


GETTING STARTED

The first thing you should do is sit down and allot set amounts of money to every household expense:
* telephone;
* Internet connection;
* electric power;
* gas;
* rates or rent;
* water rates;
* house and/or contents insurance;
* car expenses, including insurance;
* health insurance;
* food;
* miscellaneous items such as dog licences, annual dog/cat vaccinations;
* car registration, insurance, etc.
* anything else peculiar to your household that's not on this list.

If you are paid weekly, multiply any set monthly payments by 12 and divide the result by 52 to find out how much you need to put away each week. For payments that differ each month (such as power) you'll need to average out a year's expenditure. You might also want to allocate something for clothing; it's up to you.


SUPERMARKET SHOPPING TIPS

1. Find the cheapest supermarket within a reasonable distance from your home and shop there for ALL your food. It will probably not have the variety of other supermarkets and may even look depressingly like a barn, but these factors are actually beneficial to people on low incomes: there is less temptation to overspend.

2. Always work to a shopping list. The list should contain only items that you NEED and you should stick to it. Cut out such items as sweets, cakes and other baked goodies, magazines, convenience foods that you can make yourself (pies, pizzas, casseroles, etc). Before you list each item, ask yourself if it's absolutely necessary to your family's survival. If it is, but is something you yourself can make, leave it off your list.

3. Compare brand and size prices for the best buy. If your family absolutely hates the cheapest brand, however, don't buy it; you can't afford waste.

4. Learn the layout of the supermarket so you can write your shopping list in the right order. It saves you having to go back for forgotten items.

5. Shop less frequently. Try once a fortnight instead of weekly if at all possible. Limiting the use of your car (especially if fuel is expensive in your country) can save you money. NEVER go back to the supermarket for forgotten items; do without them until next shopping time.

6. Don't succumb to buying something you don't absolutely need just because "it's only a few dollars". Every dollar counts when your income is considerably below the average wage.

7. If your supermarket has a Christmas club, join it. You usually get more interest (in the form of extra dollars to spend at the supermarket) than you will from your bank. You'll also have a little money to enable you to at least have a Christmas dinner, if not Christmas presents.


OTHER SHOPPING TIPS

1. ALWAYS wait to buy new clothing at sales.

2. Look for good bargains at the second-hand clothing shops.


FOOD TIPS

1. Don't eat out or buy takeaways. You can eat so much cheaper by cooking at home.

2. If your house has enough land (you don't need a lot) plant a vegetable garden and look around for neighbours/friends/relatives with whom you can swap vegetables (or other food) and from whom you can get gardening advice. Don't forget there's a lot of advice available free on the Internet.

3. If you have enough room on your land, keep some hens. Eggs can be swapped for vegetables or fruit, or even money.

4. If you live in the country the possible ways of stretching your budget are even greater. Small farmers will be only too glad to give you jobs in exchange for food items. Even dairy farmers keep beef cattle and/or sheep for their own freezers. If a farmer has enough work (pulling out and/or spraying weeds, for instance) you may even be able to barter a full side of beef in return for labour. If you live in a dairy farming community a farmer may be willing to teach you how to milk cows, enabling you to stand in for farmers who need a break. Small farmers are usually very generous with help and/or advice. If you're a good worker the news will soon spread!

5. If your own country house has a few acres you can even keep your own animals. This will give you meat for your freezer and earn a little money for you as well. Ask neighbouring farmers for advice. Theyr'e usually only too eager to help, especially the smaller ones.

6. Make your own bread, especially if you own a breadmaker. If you bake a cake, use your oven to its capacity by doubling the recipe and freezing the second cake.

7. Have an occasional "scratch" meal. Your family's health won't suffer with beans on toast (or something similar) once a week. If they're still hungry they can fill up on bartered or home-grown fruit.

8. Freeze any vegetables from your garden that you can't use at once or haven't been able to barter for something else. Tomatoes can be turned into pickle or chutney.

9. Bottle or freeze any oversupply of fruit, or turn it into jam.

10. When expensive vegetables that freeze well (and that you yourself don't grow) are on special, buy plenty, as long as your family likes them. Just make sure you freeze them on the day you buy them!


TIPS FOR SAVING POWER

1. If you live in a relatively temperate climate (frosts but no snow) and don't have a fireplace or wood burner, you can help keep power spent on heating down to a minimum by wearing good thick thermals (top and bottom) under a tracksuit--and I mean the type of thermals a mountaineer would wear, with a fleecy brushed lining. Add a knitted thermal hat, thermal socks and slippers and gloves with no fingertips. If you're working at a computer, or sitting reading or doing other sedentary work, and are still cold, you can do what I do--shove a hot water bottle up your tracksuit top. *G*

2 If you use electricity to heat your house in the evening, make sure your heater has a thermostat.

3. Turn off lights not in use. Change to fluorescent lights in your kitchen or workshop, if possible.

4. Make sure your hot water pipes and hot water cylinder are well lagged.

5. Take showers instead of baths, if possible, and stay under the water for only as long as you absolutely need.

6. Change your shower head to one that saves water. After all, you don't need a deluge to clean yourself.

7. Don't shower every day if you can get away with it. A "sponge bath" between showers cleans you surprisingly well.

8. Stop using your clothes drier if you have one. If (in winter) you can't get your clothes dry in time without it, try putting up a temporary clothes line in a garden shed or somewhere similar.

9. For small amounts of hot water (say, to wash a few dishes) boil your jug or kettle rather than taking water from your hot water cylinder.

10. Use your dishwasher, if you have one, only when it's full. Set it to use cold water, if possible. An added advantage here is that your machine will last longer.

11. Wash your clothes in cold water, using a special detergent for cold washes. Treat stains with a special stain remover for cold water, and leave the load to soak overnight for a cleaner wash. Turn the machine on only when you have a full load; it costs almost as much in power to wash a part load as it does a full one. Your machine will also last longer.

12. Lower the temperature of your hot water cylinder if it's too high. If you can't do this yourself, your electricity supply company should be able to help you. Take full advantage of any other economy tips they have available while you're about it.

13. If there are only two in your household, a small benchtop/countertop oven is more economical than a full oven. If you have one, USE it.

14. Likewise, make as much use of your microwave as you can. Borrow some microwave books from the library if necessary to learn all the wonderful things your microwave can do.

15. If you have a pressure cooker, there's no better way to make soup stocks quickly and economically. Home made soups are not just cheaper than bought; they're also tastier and more nutritious. There are many other things a pressure cooker can do, too.

16. If you have a Crock-Pot (slow cooker) it turns the toughest meat into tender, delicious casseroles using far less power than your oven. On low it uses no more power than a 60W light bulb. You can also steam puddings in it (and I believe you can even bake cakes) and, as long as you use the low setting, you can be sure your baked custard won't overcook.

17. If your oven is electric, turn it off five minutes or so before the end of cooking time.

18. Don't use saucepans that are too small for the element or gas burner, and once the water is boiling set the heat only high enough to keep it simmering.


MONEY TIPS

1. Don't keep money in your purse/wallet if you can help it.

2 Use your cash card (NOT your credit card) for all purchases and keep careful account of how much you spend and what you spend it on.

3. Use your credit card only when you already have the money (or at least most of it) for the item you want. Nothing puts people on low incomes into debt as easily as incorrect use of a credit card. You need to be able to pay off the debt WITHOUT PAYING ANY INTEREST, which means the whole amount needs to be paid as soon as it's due. If you have problems using a credit card so that you don't pay any interest on it, the only solution might be to cut up the card and throw it away.


MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

1. Preferably cut out long-distance phone calls and ask family and friends to ring YOU. If you can't, at least cut down on the number you make. Try to make all such calls one after another when your phone company has a special "bulk" deal that you know you can afford.

2. Don't gamble, even on weekly lottery tickets. If you spend $5 a week on your country's big lottery, that amounts to $260 a year. You're unlikely to recoup this in the small wins that are all you can expect. If you have serious trouble doing without your weekly flutter, you need help. Try Gamblers Anonymous.

3. If you smoke, make a determined (and this time successful!) effort to give it up. This is very hard but it's well worth the trouble: you’ll feel better for it and you’ll start being able to taste your food again. There's a lot of help available. Seek it if you need it.

4. Cut out alcohol. If this is any sort of problem for you, you're in real trouble because it means you're addicted. Seek immediate help from Alcoholics Anonymous.

5. Concerts, plays, films, video rentals, etc, are also off budget. Remember, if it's not necessary to survival...

I do hope at least some of these tips help you. They may even lead you to some ideas of your own to save money.

Finally, good luck with both your new budget and your search for a full-time job.

Updates to this article will appear on http://lbarker.orcon.neet.nz/budgeting.html. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.