Last words on the budget

Hopefully this will be the last post about money for a while. Our budget is an important part of our simple life. It gives us a spending plan and organises us so that we don't overspend in one area at the expense of another. If you haven't written down your expenses yet, it's a very good thing to do. It's a bit scary being confronted with your real expenses but if you're to live an authentic life you need to know exactly what you're spending. I won't lie, it's boring doing it, and it takes a fair bit of time, because you have to go through all your receipts and bills from the previous year so you have a realistic basis on which to build your budget. But in the end you have your money map and that is just as important to you as your garden tools, your sewing machine, your transport and your recipe books.

I resisted making a budget for years, thinking it was a restriction, but it has proved instead to be a means of showing me what we're spending on necessities and how much of our money can be spent on wants - or put into a savings account. The good thing about making a budget is that you choose the categories. If your sewing, knitting, coffee, books are important to you, you have a category for it in your budget. You can then buy what you want when you know the money it there, without dipping into food or rent/mortgage money. Managing your money well will help you live simply.

There were a few comments on the 'vitamins' category in the last post. It's difficult to explain something with one or two words but the vitamins are in fact emu oil capsules and pure oil, Q10 capsules and a multivitamin. Both Hanno and I take emu oil and have done for years. I take it for arthritis in my ankle, Hanno takes it for the general aches and pains of old age and to lower his cholesterol. After he had his stroke, he came off Warfarin after a few weeks because his blood was being thinned by the emu oil. Emu oil is Omega 3, 6 and 9 oil so it does a lot of good for hearts, brains and skin as well and we will keep taking it, even though it's expensive. The Q10 was recommended by Hanno's cardiologist, it's almost $50 a bottle. I've been taking mutivitamins since my children where born. That was back in the day we used to buy fruit and vegetables from the supermarket which I believe have far less vitamins and minerals due to their long time in cold storage. I still take one a day for those times I don't eat properly and I still feel they do me good.

Renee, we have a general list of staple foods that we buy once a month. When we buy fresh fruit and vegetables, we buy what is in season. It's the freshest and the cheapest. We spend $250 a month.

The price of petrol in the UK is incredible! We filled up last week and it was $1.35 (.66 pounds) a litre. The taxes in the Netherlands are a good idea but I would hate to pay them. You seem to have very progressive laws over there. What does your government use that car money for? Is it an environmental tax?

I use an Excel spreadsheet for my budget but you can use any software you have or simply write it on a piece of paper.

I'll be returning to non-money subjects tomorrow and I'll breathe a sigh of relief doing it. ;- )

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