Stop- I want to get off!

                                                                                                         Photo credit

A few small (read huge!) changes have been occurring in the Diamante House! As a result the financial reins are being pulled in super super tight (like a nasty corset that breaks your ribs).

Now this is all fine and dandy really and not forever and totally necessary and for the future of our family and the light at the end of the tunnel is bright and blah blah blah. The problem is that I am a total absolute lover of stuff bit of a material girl and so I have to give it up. All of it...no extras, nada, nothing, nix, OUCH!

The first thing I did was hit my email inbox and slowly, over a week, unsubscribe to all of the fabulous shopping and bargain and sale sites that flood my happy little email inbox with material love on a daily basis.
It hurt. 
I didn't like it. 
What if I missed a bargain, or the latest handbag or shoes or lovely little dress for the mini diamantes???
Hah, hah, what then???? I mean the world might stop and I would fall in a heap, wouldn't I??

Well, no, actually I am fine. And I am feeling better about the no spending thing because all of that lovely Internet shopping goodness is not being waved under my nose to the tune of 90 emails a day! (Did I say BIT of a material girl?? I lied)

So seriously, if you want to pull the reins in too then start at your inbox and clear out the temptation. It's like when you go on a diet and eat ALL of the naughty food in the cupboard in one sitting cause it would be a waste to throw it out...(everyone does that right? Please?!!!)

The family money

On our recent Christmas trip away we had car trouble. Major car trouble. The kind of trouble that causes strange noises, bad smells, smoke and engine failure! This was NOT in the budget. It caught us very short and made for extreme stress. Large sums of money heading out the door without warning tend to do that. This sparked some thoughts on financial goals for the family as we head into 2011. Not just to get ahead but to protect my family for financial stress. My top ten goals are:

1. Ensure we have adequate insurance. Contents, life, health, car etc
2. Build up a safety net of about $10,000 over the year
3. Set up a plan to have us out of debt in the next 5 years
4. Stop living week to week. Don't spend every cent that we earn
5. Use this blog to generate a small income
6. Shop around for better deals on essential services
7. Set up a workable budget
8. Streamline our record keeping for both home and business
9. Put money away to cover the kids education expenses
10. Start on a home deposit

How about you? Any specific financial goals this new year?

The family money

Mmm, the family money, sounds posh, it's not. Am I wealthy? Not financially. Will I be in the future? I hope so. Am I some crazy person who is going to work myself into the ground till I am wealthy? Not a chance. I am in fact a married mother of two, our family lives on one income generated by my husband from his small business and sometimes it is financially tough. My kids are three and five years old and we have another due in April. We do not own a house but we do own our car. The 'global financial crisis' has not really hit us but if we want to move ahead and stop living from one week to the next and buy a home for us to live in then we need to tighten the belts and start making some smart decisions. The purpose of this section of Highlights to Housework is to outline what we are doing to improve our position, share some tips and tricks and hopefully help some other people out as we go along. I am hopeful that along the way my family can make some choices that not only save us money but can reduce our impact on the environment. I am not a narcissist and I can not totally 'go without' so don't expect to be reading about a total scrooge. I have a terrible addiction to shoes and my husband is a bonsai freak and there are times when we just have to have a pair or a new tree. I will endeavour to be brutally honest about spending habits and exactly how things work for us. Money is such a taboo subject and I think that sometimes if we could all just be a little more open and honest about it our lives would be easier.


Now before I go diving head first into the The Family Money section I thought I had better share my views on wealth. With the Family Money I would like to be focusing on wealth and not just money, on improving our quality of life and not necessarily on becoming rich. Now don't get me wrong, I fully intend to be saving real $$$ but I think wealth goes well beyond that. I think we are all capable of achieving real wealth through the way we live and the choices we make. Our friends, family and our own personal selves are our greatest tool to help us achieve real wealth.

Your greatest asset (The Family Money)

In the chase for wealth our greatest asset is often overlooked. We each have an asset that all but a very few can improve the value of. Our greatest asset, in my belief, is our heath!


HEY!? What the heck does that have to do with money? I hear you ask. Let's start with the obvious stuff. If you are frequently unwell you lose money in several ways. Firstly a trip to the doctor, which costs about $55 (with a rebate of about $30 here in Australia) then there is often medication to be purchased. On top of this there is down time to recover often resulting in time off work as well as down time from home life. Even if you do manage to make it to work you often don't function at full capacity and mistakes cost you both time and stress. If you are self employed the loss of money that comes with down time for illness is even more extreme, no working, no money!


Being ill can "cost" you in other ways. It can be stressful; you often don't think as clearly as usual, exercise goes out the window. Your family may spend more on take out, as with a parent ill it can be easier. In turn this can slow your recovery and make the rest of the family sluggish. Being ill can also "cost" you home time. Washing, dishes, cleaning in general can fall behind, causing stress etc. Anyway- I am sure you get the idea.


So the first thing I would like everyone to look at doing to increase their wealth is to exercise. Take a walk, play with the kids, go for a swim, drag out the bikes and dust off the old exercise equipment you spent a fortune on!! There are plenty of free activities you can do alone or as a family. Encourage every member of your family to get at least 30 min of exercise a day. Obviously if you haven't exercised for some time or have other health issues see your doctor before starting any exercise program (this may seem like a contradiction but an injury, or worse, will cost you!)


With an increase in exercise you should see a reduction in stress, a possible reduction in weight and an increase in energy. Now lots of people complain that they don't have time to exercise, that there are too many other things that need to be done. Hopefully though with a new vision that exercise is an investment in your health and your future wealth you will find added motivation to get active.


My family and I are achieving this goal by adding exercise to our daily routine, but walking to kinder (my four year old now easily covers the almost 3 km walk) and walking to the shops. This is not only good for our health but is saving us on petrol!


Let me know your ideas or tips on adding exercise to your family life.

The family money

Some time ago I started a blog called the Family Money, it was to talk about money and wealth for families and I was really excited about it. It didn't last long...I have a habit of trying to use too many of my ideas and once and so the Family money feel by the way side. Today I decided to merge them so I will add the posts from the Family Money to here and will be trying the do a family money focused piece once a week or so. Stay tuned!