If you want to get ahead in your finances you need to put some thought, planning and effort in to achieving that balance. Using eftpos all the time and not keeping an eye on your actual bank balance, not paying bills on time and not making some kind of budget can see you running out of cash very fast. 
1. Make a Budget. I found this very handy when I was on maternity leave without pay with my first, which is now my life. We had gone from two disposable incomes to one that now needed to feed and clothe a whole extra person. It was a struggle, but when I sat down and figured out where the money was going and what I had to play with, what I had to buy food with and what I had to spend on bills it suddenly all gelled and became so much easier to manage.
2. Work Out When Bills Will Arrive. Your bills we obviously be monthly, quarterly etc so you can predict when each bill is due and mark it on the calendar. That way there are no nasty surprises when a bill arrives, you will be expecting it. Even with quarterly bills time can fly and you wont even notice that 3 months have passed, and even if they are huge you will still only have the usual 2 weeks to pay it. So if you are ready to receive it, it gives you more time to get ready to pay it.
3. Organise To Pay Your Bills Fortnightly. I will be doing this one this week, not sure why it never occurred to me, but the shock horror of receiving a $1000 electricity bill last week has got me asking how do people pay that kind of money in 2 weeks. The more people I asked explained how they pay it fortnightly, genius.
4. Have a List Of Up And Coming Expenses. If things are really tight, a birthday can blow the budget out. So again on the calendar mark things like birthdays, fathers day, school photos, etc so you know when you are going to need a little extra money. This way it wont leave you cashless because you would have already factored it in.
5. Change Your Habits. This one takes a while to get, see for me I like stuff, I love pretty things, I love cushions, photo frames, candles and I often used to buy stuff that I didn’t really need. So I had to re-train myself to stop buying stuff that really I didn’t need. Or you may eat out a lot, or get take-a-way in a lot, you could change these habits and do some good old fashioned cooking to save a bit. Or ditch Foxtel, do you really need that American trash rotting your brain. Or walk to school to save on fuel. Just little things like that can make a huge difference.
Have a think about the above 5 ideas, and I am sure you can implement some in your life and get a little more organised when it comes to your finances, because there is nothing worse than the feeling of being broke especially at such a beautiful time of starting a family. It doesn’t have to leave you feeling like you must rush back to work, stuff that, you just need to sit down, like you always say you will, and actually work out your finances and stop just grabbing out your card and paying for anything and everything without any thought.
Renee
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