Waste Not, Want Not: The 12 month Savings plan

I don't like saying, "New Year's Resolution", but I suppose this is kinda like that. Instead, I like to consider it my goals. My goal for 2013 was to find a new family home, which we did. We moved in Nov 21, 2013. So we just snuck in. But really it was an absolutely stressful year trying to get one house ready for sale and purchase another within settlement time and within budget, which for Sydney prices is really, really, really, hard!! No really, I can't stress enough how difficult and emotionally draining it was to try and purchase a house last year. The market is so competitive, and there is always someone who acts like they have an endless supply of money ready to spill out on the house you also want! Anyway, we did it, and we are very happy.

So this year, my goal is to waste less. It sounds so simple when I read it on the screen, but really when you sit down and start to plan, you realise how much you take for granted and how much you will have to adjust to make sure you make everything you do count for something. So waste less of what exactly? Well everything really. Waste less:

• Money
• Time
• Food
• Resources

Just the big ones and hopefully other things will fall into place. I will talk about the first on the list for this post and continue on down the list for the others. On Facebook, I saw lots of my friends post and like the 52 week savings challenge. I had a good look on Google about how these work and I thought I could give this a go, but tweek it a little. Hubby gets paid monthly, and while I do work, its casually, so I don't want to rely on something that may not be there if you know what I mean. If you are paid monthly too, this could be of use to you as well. There was no real formula for this, other than I based it loosely on the 52 week challenge and rounded amounts up to the nearest $10. I will also be saving this as cash in a safe place. I think there is more of a chance of it being saved that way but do whatever works for you. The money you save by December can be used for Christmas, school holidays, or could be banked and put towards your home loan, or even kept to be added to. Really it's entirely up to you. I will also add, that during some months you might want to add to your savings and make up for months that might be more difficult. Keep in mind, some monthly amounts may not make sense, but I have loosely based my figures on the 52 week challenge and as some months have an extra week, this will reflect in the amount.  Please just consider this as a guide.

January      $10                  

February     $30

March        $60  

April         $70

May         $110

June         $120

July          $140

August     $170

September  $150

October      $170

November  $230

December  $240

Total:  $1500

I think once you get a taste for saving and you start to see it increase, you start to realise you can put a little more aside and you realise you can do it. Saving is possible.