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nicandtyler View Drop Down
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    Posted: 22 October 2010 at 5:12pm
OK so ird being difficult as they are have just cut my WFF tax credit as they say DP earns to much - which is strange because his income hasn't changed, so I will be getting onto that, but in the meantime, for those of you who are on just one income, how do you manage? DP pays all our rent, bills, grocery shopping, his petrol etc (which will now be mine too ) and even before they cut my tax credit we didnt exactly have money to throw around. I'm studying part time too and don't really have time for a job with my uni workload and T, what are some good tips for managing on the one income, we already have a grocery budget of 120 per week which we stick to, am hoping to transition T over to full time cloth nappies (we only have 5 at the mo) we need internet as I do alot of uni stuff online, but what are the best tips to cut down weekly costs?
TIA




April '11
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SMoody View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SMoody Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 October 2010 at 5:38pm
For us is is all paperbased. Sit down and put your figures in a spreadsheet. All income that is due that is fixed (we dont put any variable ones in example bonuses or tax refunds etc).

Then write down all your outgoings. Literally everything you can think of. If you need help let me know and I can show you what we have. From clothes for kids to you to your partner, from wofs to everything.

Then start budgeting. Put in all the proposed figures and start with the fixed ones that you cant change. For instance rent or mortgage and rates and taxes.

Cellphone: hubby is free but I only pay $6 for the best mate plan. So nothing else there.

If your figures is more than your incomings then start cutting where you can.

Then after that follow it strictly. If need be draw the cash and put in different envelopes and use it for the different things. Put money for the irregular things in a total different account if need be or even with a different bank.

And then put figures in the spreadsheet as you go and transfer or spent money.

The best for our family is that we do this together. For us it doesnt really work if just one pays and the other one doesnt know what is going on. Both of us have access to the spreadsheet and update etc and we can see what we have left or if we overspent to spend less in a different area. (and savings is our first actual expense and we pay that every month first)


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jazzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jazzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 October 2010 at 5:44pm
That's funny they cut ours also & said DH earned 20K more than he is. They had his income at 5K more before this new one.

A friend had the same thing happen to her & no way is her DH earning what they say, she is struggling with the amount lost.
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Bizzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bizzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 October 2010 at 7:05pm
we are on one income and have been since 2004. all our bills are paid automatically as soon as hubbys wages come in, which for us is monthly.. i shop and put gas in the car and then we live on whats left! sometimes not very successfully! we only have one car and my husband catches the train to work and back. we dont do hp's and try and get our bread and milk as cheap as possible - but without searching the countryside for it lol! i have internet banking so i can always keep an eye on the money and pay bills. i am currently thinking of getting rid of the land line as we hardly use that. Oh and we shop for gifts all year round, so if i see a bargain and have the money we get it so we always have a stash of presents.

there are quite a few good threads on here about making your own household cleaners and budgeting and cutting back so have a look and a browse there too.

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Bizzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bizzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 October 2010 at 7:06pm
oh and what type of cloth nappy do you use? i may have some here for you...

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nicandtyler View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nicandtyler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 October 2010 at 8:04am
Wow SMoody thanks so much for all that info! I didnt even think of the stuff like WOF's (what else is there? we have the usual things such as bills, petrol, grocery budget etc) DP sat down last night and got to work on a spreadsheet with all out outgoings etc (not pretty ) and we started writing a list of things we can do to cut costs, DP lives about a 45-55 min drive from work, so we are probably gonna move a bit closer to keep the petrol costs down, I'll let you know how we get on and see if we're on the right track
Hmm jazzy that's weird they cut yours too? DP went on excel last night and put in all his wages from the last financial year and it was no way what they said? Going to have to call them back and see what's going on!
Yea Bizzy we are thinking of getting rid of our land line too, we hardly ever use it, but I think we have a contract, literally about 2 weeks after we set it up vodafone came out with that naked broadband
And thanks i'll look into the homemade cleaners, I was actually thinking about that yesterday so that would be good. oooh for cloth nappies i've only ever tried itti bittis but have been looking at pockets and on trademe (but scared to buy them incase they're not that good), what ones do you have?




April '11
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SMoody View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SMoody Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 October 2010 at 7:35pm
NicandTyler I have find it doesnt help to say we will cut here and there unless it is in your face on paper and you see what is coming in and going out.

But you have to update with the actual figures. So we have a whole year budget that gets changed as stuff change. Like the fixed expenses goes up etc. You quickly will see where you spent too much. Like for instance our insurance is lapsing just now and we looked around for new ones. Saved just on $70 a month right there.

So start looking at your fixed expenses and see where you can get it lower.

I save throughout the year for the kids parties. Get presents throughout the year and have a budget for each kid. and the cool thing is at the end of the year you see exactly where the money went and where you should work harder or find better ways to manage it


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MrsMojo View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MrsMojo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 October 2010 at 7:52pm

There are some good tools on this site: http://www.familybudgeting.org.nz/tools.html

I would start with the budget worksheet.

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whitewave View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote whitewave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 October 2010 at 11:41pm
We had issues with IRD cutting our WFF payments last year too.
Have you tried asking WINZ for extra help? Do you get an accommodation supplement or any other benefits? We managed to get an emergency one-off benefit of about $150, I think, that we used for groceries when we had the sudden drop in WFF payments - you might be eligible for this?
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Bizzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bizzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 October 2010 at 8:16am
nicandtyler i mainly have pockets, got a happy heiny you can have - how big is your boy? i have some fitted ones too i think but may be too small.

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nicandtyler View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nicandtyler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 October 2010 at 8:31am
thanks everyone for the advice, man it's stressful! Especially knowing people that are on the 'unemployment ' benefit getting hundreds of dollars a week to do nothing   will have a look on that website,and SMoody we that's heaps of help thanks, we're in the process of a spreadsheet with everything on it now so will have a look through it once we've got everything on it.
whitewave no I haven't called WINZ yet - I get an accommodation supplement of $7 a week so not a lot of help from them, but I'll look into the emergency benefit, that would help heaps at the moment.
Thanks Bizzy that would be awesome how much would you like for it? I don't know exactly T's weight as I havent had him weighed since his 9 month check where he was just under 9kg, he's not a huge boy, quite lean, but is in itti bitti large naps on the smaller setting which is a really good fit.




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jazzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jazzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 October 2010 at 12:28pm
We have been on 1 income for 2 yrs now. Prior to that I had dropped down to PT work after DS1 was born.

We have no CC, loans or HP's they have all been paid off.

I budget $1200 a fortnight for bills. $400 for food which has been well over most times. I could save heaps if we tightened our budget.

We could save more if we cut down or out sky. Our BB is high user so we could downgrade that but I could not give up the phone & we wouldn't save much anyway.

I do the budget & pay everything. We do talk about what we want etc but at the end of the day I run it
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jazzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jazzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 October 2010 at 12:37pm
Originally posted by nicandtyler nicandtyler wrote:


Hmm jazzy that's weird they cut yours too? DP went on excel last night and put in all his wages from the last financial year and it was no way what they said? Going to have to call them back and see what's going on!


We got a letter saying he earned 15k more then he does so I rang them & this cow told me on no we have done a mistake & he earns 20+k more so we agreed to say 15k she was a total bitch & told me that we weren't losing any only now getting what we are entitled to get...but a loss is a loss. So will be interesting to see how much he does earn & if they will owe us like last yr....

One good thing is I have just worked out the child support we pay only has till the end of the yr & then we will have more money even tho will will lose most of WFF we will be much better off
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kebakat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 October 2010 at 1:16pm
I find it really weird that you guys have to fight about income. Every time I've adjusted DH's income they have just accepted whatever figure I give them without any issue what so ever
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote E&L+1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 October 2010 at 2:52pm
We got a letter from them saying our income was DOUBLE!!! what it actually is. It looked like they had taken what our combined income was a year ago rather than our current one and then added some more on top.

We rang them and they said they had a glitch in their calculations and were quite happy to change the amount to our estimate.
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nicandtyler View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nicandtyler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 October 2010 at 3:35pm
seems like a few of us have had problems with them? they must be calculating it wrong, they are saying he's earning 10-15k over what he actually is grrr so frustrating, its not like I was getting a lot from them anyway, Esmesmum thats so bad they calculated yours at double what it actually is! im gonna have to call them and have a go - been very stressed out ocer this stupid government




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jazzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jazzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 October 2010 at 4:15pm
Originally posted by kebakat kebakat wrote:

I find it really weird that you guys have to fight about income. Every time I've adjusted DH's income they have just accepted whatever figure I give them without any issue what so ever


what I find weird is that they have access to see the amount he earns & yet they over estimated by 20k. I am not too bothered at the moment as he is meant to be getting a pay rise....long process been several months...so it could take him up to where they think he is.

Every yr we have had a return from them, so rather that than owing.

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Emmecat View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Emmecat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 November 2010 at 7:43am

I've had massive problems approx every 6 weeks with IRD saying DF earned $245,000 per year so my WFF would be cut completely...   

I would just ring them and say um I WISH and give them another serve and it would be adjusted...but man it is stressful as anything. I requested they keep a record of every time I rang and I did this as well-incl who I spoke to etc- and it was eventually sorted out in the new financial year. It was actually the fault of his ex employer who was a dodgy bugger and is being investigated (slowly) for tax evasion....but in the meantime his dodginess affected our income badly

But as how to survive on one income...well I would def class us as a low one income family and it doens't seem too much of a bother. We haev very tight weeks but I try to put away what I can when I can to use as a buffer for those weeks. We use TM alot for buying and selling. We don't eat meat. We gorw our own veges- or a lot of them. We almost never go out. Ever. We use cloth nappies exclusively (except very recently we use one eco sposie at night while Clodagh's rash is clearing up). Um... I walk alot or used to when I was less pg lol. Make most of our dinners from scratch. Make alot of our home cleaners. etc etc.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote _SMS_ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 November 2010 at 9:45pm
I also have alot of problems with IRD. When we first went down to one wage i would get letters every month saying WFF was going to stop, so id ring and say no dont stop. This still goes on now & we have 70% less income than we did 8months ago because DP changed jobs


I bank with BNZ so we have 10 accts for $10. I have the main acct, then bills, car expenses, savings, acct for dd. We transfer money into these each week.

the power bill, phone bill, insurances, rates come out of the bills account. We also have DD for power of $40 a week it goes into credit over summer which helps for the winter months. Although we are always in credit.

The main thing for us was cutting down the food bill, using only cloth nappies & wipes. I buy meat in bulk when on special and divide it up. Some some weeks it will be mince, others chicken but we always have a mixture available
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote myfullhouse Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 November 2010 at 10:11pm
I think that about this time of year they look at your WFF and estimate how much you will earn in the next few months until the end of the financial year. They base it on the last 3mths or something like that. So if your DH worked a little bit more over the last few months or whatever they will assume that he will continue to earn that amount for the rest of the year. Thats what they told me last year when I rang about how much we had earnt so far. Could be the reason for the miscalculations
Lindsey


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