Time to work on you marriage and spend with children, are not the only benefits of living on a single income. Living on one income can help you become more careful with money. How? Read on.
When it came to groceries Mick and I figured out early on that the fewer times we went near the supermarket the better off we were. Grocery shopping was once a month. It means making a list and ensuring you are not going to run out of necessary items. If you do, then go without till the next shop, unless it is absolutely essential.
Obviously things like bread and milk are not going to last a month, so you will need to make exceptions for them unless you put your bread in the freezer and only take slices out as needed. For milk you could use long life, which would never be my choice, or powdered milk. Otherwise you will have to buy milk every few days. But if you need to buy milk that’s all you buy. Don’t get sidetracked into thinking you need other things.
Fruit and vegetables are the other thing that cannot be kept long, although if you keep apples in the fridge they will last longer and apple growers recommend it. We buy ours at a market from the grower and fridge them. But mostly you will need to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, unless you have a garden area and grow a lot of it.
Mick grows the majority of our vegetables and always has. It’s one sure way of saving money. He enjoys it and I enjoy the benefit of freshly picked vegetables and our budget is heaps better off. As well as vegetables, he grows passionfruit (which are never cheap here and I adore them) strawberries, lemons and limes. At the moment our lemon and limes trees are not big enough to produce too many lemons, but they’ll get there.
Don’t forget the herb garden. Fresh herbs like parsley, basil, dill, mint, rosemary, sage and coriander are not cheap when bought from stores but are all easy to grow, even in pots if you have no garden space.
This is just a couple of ideas, tomorrow I’ll have more benefits of living on one income.
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