Here are some quick quotes, facts and figures that I hope will keep you feeling motivated and on track for the rest of the month. You’re nearly half-way there!

And if you haven’t yet joined the challenge, it’s not too late. It’s never too late to save money.

“Between 1996-97 and 2006-07, the volume of waste produced per person in Australia grew at an average annual rate of 5.4 per cent. In 1996-97, Australians generated approximately 1,200kg of waste per person. By 2006-07, this had increased to 2,100kg per person.” Australian Bureau of Statistics

“Australians are among the highest users of new technology, and waste from obsolete electronic goods is one of the fastest growing types of waste (ABS 2006).” Australian Bureau of Statistics

Australia’s credit card debt has reached nearly $50 billion. More than two-thirds of all cards attract an interest rate between 15 and 20 per cent, which means that Australians are spending around $7 billion a year on credit card interest charges.

“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” Will Rogers, cowboy, performer and social commentator

“In a consumer society there are inevitably two kinds of slaves: the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy.” Ivan Illich, philosopher and social critic

“Every man is a consumer and ought to be a producer.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet and writer

“Shopping tip: You can get shoes for 85 cents at the bowling alley.” Unknown

“Buy, buy, says the sign in the shop window; Why, why, says the junk in the yard.” Paul McCartney, songwriter and musician

As you know, I’m an advocate of once-a-week meal planning and grocery shopping. The danger of shopping without a plan is that it usually ends up costing more, especially if you’re hungry, tired, rushed, stressed (or all of the above!) Meal planning allows you to check catalogues for specials, look in the fridge and pantry to see what you really need, buy in bulk when it makes sense, and plan meals which are affordable and nutritious.

Nonetheless, shopping on the run is something we all end up doing at some point and, if we do it too often, it’s easy to seriously overspend. So how can we make the short shop a smart shop?

Smartphone saves money food shopping

A friend shared this tip with me… She keeps a list of quick recipes and their major ingredients in the notepad on her iPhone. Even in a rush, she can quickly browse down the list of a dozen or so favourite dishes, choose one and check off the ingredients as she puts them in her basket. She says that it’s cut down her time in the supermarket significantly—no more idle browsing, looking for inspiration, or forgetting the fettuccine that goes in fettuccine carbonara. You could keep your list on your phone, too, or on a piece of paper in your purse or wallet.

Apps that save money by making meal planning easier

Another way to put your smartphone to work is with a meal planning app. Most meal planning apps allow you to plan your meals for the week then generate a shopping list of ingredients. Some, like MealBoard, let you draw from a selection of pre-loaded recipes or recipes you’ve customised. Others allow you to sync your shopping lists with your housemate, wife, hubby etc. Some will even organise your shopping list by aisle.

Jason, our New South Wales state leader, was recently telling us about his experience with Freecycle.

Freecycle.org is a worldwide online community designated to giving and receiving free stuff. They describe their mission: Freecycle is about keeping useful things out of the trash. It is about giving away something that has no use in our life anymore to someone who could extend its usefulness a little longer. It is about giving gifts to people while clearing out our own clutter. It is about creating, building, and sustaining an environmentally aware community.

Jason says, “My flatmate got a number of things off of Freecycle — a washing machine, fridge, couch. There are all sorts of things from computers, hard drives, electrical appliances, furniture, games, moving boxes etcetera.”

Membership to your local Freecycle group is a multi-step process which involves creating a Yahoo profile and answering some email questions.

Once you’re a member, Freecycle allows you to advertise your stuff, respond to ads and request items.

Are you participating in our Buy Nothing New in May Challenge? Freecycle could be the answer to your needs!

Find your local Freecycle group here.

Wonder no more! MyBudget is pleased to offer our clients new online calculators to help make budget planning easier.

Whether you’re thinking about buying a home, pay off your credit card, shorten your loan term or save for a purchase, these tools will help you get started:

• Basic Loan Repayments Calculator: Use this calculator to work out the cost of repayments and total interest on your credit card balance or term of a loan.
• Extra Repayments Calculator: Use this calculator to work out how much time and interest you will save on a loan or credit card by making extra repayments regularly.
• Savings Plan Calculator: Use this calculator to work out how much you will need to regularly set aside to achieve your savings goal in a desired timeframe.

The new planning tools are ready to use now on the Members Website.

It’s a sign of the times that retailers also use these occasions as an opportunity to make sales. I received an email this week from an online retailer promoting “top deals for Earth Day.” Among the items were clothes that featured nature-inspired prints and slogans.

An Earth Day t-shirt is an ironic symbol of our consumer culture. Even when products are made from organic, sustainable or recycled materials—and even when some of the proceeds go to an environmental cause—there’s still a deep expense to Mother Nature.

Take the average t-shirt: The cotton crop from which it originated was probably mechanically irrigated. If the cotton was non-organic, chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers were most certainly used during its farming. The machines which harvested the cotton ran on oil-derived fuel, as did the trucks which transported the raw material to the textile plant then to the garment manufacturer. The machines which cut, sewed and printed the fabric very likely used coal-burning electricity. The plastic bag into which it was placed for shipping contained petroleum products. The airplane which delivered it to Australia and the courier van that shipped it to a retail outlet also ran on petrol.

In other words, Mother Nature doesn’t need us to buy t-shirts in her name. She needs us to cut back on t-shirts and all the other paraphernalia that goes along with consumerism.

The best thing we can do for the earth is to make do with less. Do it for the earth and do it for your budget!

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australia leads the world in developing a casualised workforce. Spain is the only country to have more casual workers than us.

Experts have even developed a name for this new class of citizen—the “precariat.” The title reflects the precarious nature of casual and contract employment.

Casual work can make budgeting and money management difficult because of widely fluctuating income from one pay to the next. Contractors and fixed-term employees can earn great money while they have work, but feast can quickly turn into famine.

These factors mean that personal budgeting and good money management is more important than ever for non-permanent workers.

Here are five budgeting and money management rules for the 40 per cent of Aussie workers who don’t have secure jobs:

1. Live the lifestyle you can afford in your leanest month, not your richest one.
2. Create your budget based on your minimum likely pay cheque. In rich months, commit most of your surplus to savings.
3. Don’t take on any debt (that includes a home loan) that would be unaffordable or uncomfortable in lean times.
4. Organise your income into “buckets” for future expenses and bills. Some banks will let you set up sub-accounts for this purpose.
5. Save, save, save like there’s no tomorrow (or at least no work tomorrow.) Have your savings disbursed into a separate bank account which is difficult to access on a whim.

Okay, I appreciate that running a national economy isn’t as straightforward as running a household budget, but it’s still food for thought!

The United States’ financial position:

* U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
* Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
* New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
* National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
* Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let’s now remove eight zeros and pretend it’s a household budget:

* Annual family income: $21,700
* Money the family spent: $38,200
* New debt on the credit card: $16,500
* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
* Total budget cuts: $385

Mr Obama, please contact MyBudget today on 1300 300 922 to book a free budget consultation. And bring Ms Gillard with you. Haha!

In another Advertiser article, it was reported that power prices are now the biggest financial worry for South Australians, even more so than petrol, groceries or debt reduction.

Why have our utility prices gone through the roof since our public power assets were privatised? By giving consumers choice and putting power providers under competitive pressure we were supposed to see lower prices and better service.

Instead, power companies have been reluctant to  properly maintain and develop the infrastructure that keeps our power connected. Some say it’s because of uncertainty about renewable energy schemes and carbon emission policies.

Whatever the underlying cause, you and I are paying for it.

There’s no better time than right now to exercise your consumer muscle. We’ve seen MyBudget clients save hundreds of dollars a year—sometimes more—by shopping around for the best deal on utilities. How you use that extra money is up to you: savings, debt reduction, Christmas presents, increased living expenses…

Let someone else do the legwork… Utility broking services are free for consumers. They make their money by earning a commission from suppliers.

You can find utility brokers on the web by Googling terms like “electricity comparison” or “power compare rates.”

Most broking sites provide a short questionnaire which leads to a recommendation for the best deal for your power usage pattern in your area. Make sure you have a few of your most recent bills in front of you so that you can answer the questions accurately.

We’d love to hear how much you saved by reviewing your utility service or changing power providers. Please post the amounts on the MyBudget Facebook page!

Cashless culture

On our Facebook page last week we shared an ABC News story about new data which show that Australians prefer using cards over cash. We commented that cards make personal budgeting more difficult because it’s easy to lose track of spending. Our suggestion is to withdraw your living expenses in cash so you can closely watch where your money goes.

Let’s take the discussion a step further…

Imagine ordering your usual mocha-chocka-frappuccino and instead of reaching for your wallet to pay, you swipe your mobile phone instead.

Of course, what I’m describing isn’t imagination. It’s a product from Google that already exists. Google Wallet plans to turn our cashless society into a walletless one.

How does it work?

Google Wallet stores your credit card details or allows you to deposit credit into a Google Wallet account. To pay, you enter a security code into your phone and wave it over a Paypass or payWave terminal. These terminals are already in use in some retail outlets in Australia.

When it comes to security, Google’s answer is that their virtual wallet is safer than your real one. They argue that if you lose your phone, your Google Wallet is still password protected. Plus, you can cancel your telephone SIM card without cancelling any of your banking cards.

But what does it mean for personal budgeting?

I appreciate that the mobile phone has replaced everything from our wrist watches to our street directories. To some extent, online stores are even replacing our shops. But I’m worried that Google Wallet is yet another way to make spending way too easy. And spending without thinking is a dangerous financial habit.

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you. Please post your comments on the MyBudget Facebook page!

It’s unfortunate that for lots of people work is drudgery. Another day another dollar, a means to an end. It can feel even more unfair that the rarified few who get to do their dream jobs have careers that look unattainable to the rest of us. (Think: movie stars, professional surfers, and married-into-royalty.)

But, inspiringly, there are exceptions and MyBudget’s Leah McNamara is one of them. In September 2011, Leah celebrated her seventh year of service with MyBudget and she freely confesses that she is living her dreams.

This is because MyBudget has changed Leah’s life twice: the first time when she became a client and the second time when she became an employee. “By the time I started working at MyBudget,” explains Leah, “I was already very passionate about the company. I had been a client for two years and it had changed my life.”

“I hadn’t been good at paying bills,” Leah continues. “I’d had my phone disconnected and I had some debts, but then it totally changed. Because I didn’t have easy access to my money, it made me think before I spent. Things were suddenly paid on time and my financial life improved amazingly.”

Today, Leah is married to Kerin (you may recognise them from some of our testimonial ads.) The couple lives with their two young kids in a fixer-upper in their dream location. Their home sits on a seven acre property in the midst of McLaren Vale, complete with a working vineyard. “It’s just amazing. We love it,” says Leah about her lifestyle in one of the world’s famous wine growing districts.

In 2004, Leah was hired into MyBudget in an account setup role when the company was staffed by only six people. She later did stints in personal budget consulting, office management, and numerous project positions, including a four-month overseas secondment helping a company that offers MyBudget-type services in the United States.

Today, Leah is MyBudget’s National Service Delivery Manager, which means she manages all of MyBudget’s customer service and new client support staff—at last count, 86 people. Leah says that the key to managing such a big group is having great people and a good support structure. “We’re always learning,” says Leah, “But we’re also getting better every day.”

Leah acknowledges the pace of change at MyBudget, but she focuses mostly on how she has seen MyBudget’s unique culture evolve. “We’ve always cared about our clients,” says Leah, “But our team has taken it to a new level.” She gives an example from the previous day where staff had raised $600 of their own money to help a cash-strapped client whose newborn baby had developed life-threatening medical problems.

Leah attributes these spontaneous acts of generosity to MyBudget’s core values which include caring and making a difference. “We live by our core values every day,” explains Leah. “Not only do we encourage caring in our staff, we try to hire people who want to make a difference in other people’s lives. I guess when you bring a lot of thoughtful people together, you end up with a very caring environment.”

Eddy May, MyBudget’s product manager, says that Leah embodies the values and attitude that make MyBudget special. He says, “Leah has been involved in nearly every aspect of MyBudget in the last 10 years, initially as a client and then as a staff member. And outside of work she’s a great mum, wife and a dearly loved friend. All of these aspects make Leah a very caring and very well-rounded leader of our service delivery team. On top of it all, she’s fun and a pleasure to work with.”

Leah’s friendship with Tammy May goes back to their school years, and it was Tammy who initially suggested that MyBudget could help improve Leah’s financial situation. Tammy explains that Leah has more than repaid the favour: “Leah has been integral in the evolution of MyBudget — such a key player in developing the company you see today. Her commitment to our clients has never wavered and her input is particularly special to me for being my ‘right hand man’ for so many years.”

Leah also acknowledges MyBudget’s Dave Bohn and Sue Newberry for mentoring her to become a more effective leader. Sue describes Leah as a leader who clearly has the respect of her colleagues: “Leah not only stands for the client by ensuring the company provides exceptional service, but she also stands and supports her staff.” Lauren Clarke, also a long-serving MyBudget employee and one of Leah’s direct reports, agrees with Sue: “Leah balances the needs of our clients, staff and the company. She has been inspirational to me during my employment.”

When Leah is asked what the future holds for her she answers, “My ambition is to be at MyBudget forever. I know that at the moment I’m about as high in the company as I can go, but I’m sure that as we continue growing new opportunities will open up. To be honest, I don’t know what the future holds, but I know that I’m very happy doing what I’m doing.”

By guest writer, Kylie Hughes