Making Savings Fast

Right now my in-laws are building us a house to rent in a small town, on their property.

This will mean a gigantic lifestyle change for us, dh we are looking forward to the move very much (well not the actual move- who looks forward to that?).

But it comes at a price. The wages there are very low compared to here. Dh cannot get a job like he has now because there simply aren't enough people in the town. His best prospect is probably in retail, since he is not keen to become an apprentice.

We may juggle things so we both work part-time, and always have at least one of us with the children. We have always meant to have both of us with the kiddos, and that is not about to change.

So, realistically, when we move we will be earning at least $25,000 (about a third) less than now. This is going to happen with the next 3-4 months, or less.

Now is not the time to panic!

Now is the time to make changes, to find new ways of living because the way we live now will not be possible when we move.

The other drawback about moving is that we will no longer have a company car. I won't spell out all that this means, but to say- we need to a) buy a car, b) start paying for petrol, insurance (probably 3rd party), registration (which did you know is nearly doubling on July 1st?), warrants and maintenance. Currently we pay for none of those things. We budget $50/fortnight for public transport, but rarely use it all (that's been one of the Peter's I've been robbing to pay for the groceries/Paul)...and we occasionally pay for petrol to go out of town.

So, to sum it up...our income will be going down (dramatically), and our expenses will be going up...doesn't sound good, does it. There are many variables, so we don't know what it will be like until get there.

We will get more government assistance, but I am not sure how long that will carry on at the rate we have right now. I am nervous about relying on assistance that could be whisked away at any stage.

I'm having trouble articulating my fears about the situation to my husband, or maybe the problem is more that he is having trouble understanding. He is more inclined to worry about what life will bring when it brings it...and I guess I like that easy-going attitude..but when it comes to drastically cutting spending, I think it's best to start before we don't have a choice.

Next stop- considering our phone bill.