Monday 26 October 2015

Creating Your Own Mini Economy

Do you ever have the feeling that money is leaking out of your home left ,  right and centre ?  Do you feel that your shopping habits are making everyone else rich and your purse a little poorer ?  Do you cringe when large companies post their yearly profit reports ?

If you are answering yes to any of these questions,  I have a solution that will make you feel a little better about your money situation.

Create your own mini economy at home.



Here's how it works.

Buying presents for family and friends all year round can cost a fortune.  If you're like me you have a present / gift  budget.  I always like to beat the present budget and have money left over at the end of the year to buy treats.  Yes I can buy presents on sale and that will save me money.  If I go one step further I can keep most of my present fund within my home instead spending all that money at the shops.

Making presents is a great way to save money and results in a lovely present to give for just a couple of  dollars.  Because I have a well stocked pantry, when I make biscuits for presents,  I just use what I have on hand.  I estimate that  a jar of biscuits costs me $2 for the jar and less than $1 for the biscuits.  Ribbons and gift tags cost zero because I use free supplies to make my own.   The present looks like it's worth much more,  maybe even $10.  I take $10 out of my present / gift budget and put it into my food / grocery budget ( envelope ) to pay for the ingredients.    By doing this,  my food budget has made a profit of $7.

The savings doesn't stop there.  I might have budgeted $15 for a present for a friend.  By only taking $10 out of the present budget to pay the food budget,  I've saved $5 on the present budget.


Here's another example.

I made a couple of tote bags late last year to be given as presents.  The material cost $4 in total for the two bags and I paid for it out of my clothing budget.  That was the envelope I had with me when I was in Spotlight looking around.  Tote bags cost about $10 in the stores if paying retail  Using this valuation,  I took $20 (  $10 for each bag ) out of the present budget and put it into my clothing envelope to reimburse for the material costs.  My clothing envelope has just made a profit of $16. I usually budget $15 for each present so if I chose to give the tote bags on their own,   I've just saved my present budget $5 on each present.   Everyone wins.  I gave one of these tote bags to Darren's sister for her birthday recently and she loves it.  She's already used it too.




Here's one final example to seal the deal -

I love making jam.  I also love eating it because it tastes so much better than anything I can buy.  I also know exactly what's in it.    If I make raspberry jam using our own home grown berries and lemon juice from our own lemons,  the only cost is sugar.  I have a few friends and family members saving jars for me,  so no cost there.  When I make a batch of raspberry jam,  I might use one kilo of sugar ( for example ) which cost less than $1  That batch might yield 10 jars of delicious jam.   If I put a retail price of $3 on each jar ( they are small / medium jars ) then the total retail value is $30,  yet they only cost me $1 to make.  I could be technical and add in the cost of the gas to cook the jam.  I give lots of jars of jam as presents so each time I give one,  I take $3 of of the present budget and  put it into my food budget




You could use this idea for all sorts of presents.  If you take cuttings of plants or grow seedlings from seeds,  they make wonderful presents.  Put a retail value on them and boost your gardening budget as well as saving a little money on presents.

Make some cards and give them in packs of ten wrapped on cellophane with a ribbon.  Put a retail value on it and boost your craft budget.

Make soap,  wrap it in tissue paper or cellophane with a ribbon.  Put a retail value on it and boost your toiletry / make up budget.  Or boost your food budget (wherever you took the money from to buy the ingredients ).

Yes you are still spending money at the shops.  You are still helping businesses but you are not giving all of your hard earned money to make the rich richer.

What gifts do you like to make ?

24 comments:

  1. What a brilliant idea Wendy. I would never have thought of redistributing funds between budgets. What a great motivater to go the extra mile to make your own.

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  2. What a great idea. I will be sure to keep it in mind. I might even share it with my talented Hubby to see what ideas we can come up with for Christmas!!

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  3. Dear Wendy,
    I love this! It goes with what I am posting on Wednesday so I will link over to it.
    As you know I love making my presents and the money I save! And I have basically stocked my pantry from savings in other areas. In December I will have a lot of Christmas present savings which will add to my pantry further and add to our annual holiday fund for autumn. I am so excited about this. One of our big savings is not paying for services. In the last week alone we avoided paying for a plumber by Andy doing the work. And we trimmed the hedge, Andy did a repair on his van etc. I also dont pay a hair dresser or for dry cleaning or any such things. This is all money I would rather use to stock the pantry!
    Great post Wendy I enjoyed it so much! Love Annabel.xxx

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    1. I thought you'd like this post. We are so like minded.

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  4. I just loved reading this post, Wendy. I save (squirrel) money from the budgets as well, but I do like your ideas for redistributing the funds! I have just let the surplus build up in the account and it truly becomes a sizeable amount of savings over time. You really make each dollar work hard. Thanks so much for your continual inspiration and ideas. xo

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  5. Great ideas Wendy! This week, I'll be taking a baby shower gift from my gift trunk that I made earlier in the year. I love making things to go in my gift trunk to have on hand for gift giving occasions when they arise!

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  6. Wow, Fabulous post. Your posts just keep getting better and better.
    Do you mean slush fund when you say food/grocery budget envelope?
    I going to set this up this week, can't wait.

    Thanks,
    Maureen

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    Replies
    1. Yes, it's the food slush fund envelope that gets a boost.

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  7. Thats a very clever idea Wendy. Thankyou :)

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  8. I keep a ready made stock of gifts and have never thought to redistribute cash. I will amend this right away, I can feel my food and craft budgets growing already.

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  9. That is really clever Wendy. A great way to actually SEE the savings. Awesome. Mimi xxx

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  10. Hi Wendy, thanks for a such a great explanation of how you actually execute your budgeting ideas. It is really helpful and such an interesting insight into the nitty gritty of how you do things. Kelly

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  11. You are such a fabulous planner. It really pays off. Yesterday I made lemon butter in the microwave and rhubarb relish (on the stove) - I will be gifting a recycled glass jar of lemon butter for a birthday gift this week. We will enjoy the rest. A couple of years ago I would have felt the need to buy something for a gift. I love your system with the different budgets. You are so organised. Marie

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  12. Great idea here! Found you via Bluebirds are Nesting :)

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  13. "Do you cringe when large companies post their yearly profit reports ? " - eh, no I don't. I have superannuation and I own shares. This is how I make some of my income
    How are you planning to fund your retirement Wendy ?

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    1. We put more into Super than most Australians on our low income do.

      Next time please post your name. I don't like people hiding behind anonymous.

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  14. Hi Wendy , I am late to comment on this post but I just had to say something. The gifts you give ( such as yummy homemade biscuits ) are beautiful and you put a lot of thought and love into making them
    I know. I cannot afford to sppend a lot on gifts but my family accept that and love my "chip" gifts . A lot of people actually appreciate handmade gifts, I know I do. Keep doing what you do Wendy , I support you more than 100% . I love your blog and I love the idea of putting money back in your budget this way. Please don't let rude people spoil it for you or for us Wendy. Thank you for being an inspiration and providing motivation for me and others Wendy. Barb.

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  15. You are so inspirational Wendy, as are all your followers who comment.
    I have made lots of peg bags using plastic coat hangers, and I put about a dozen good quality pegs in them as a start, it is so rewarding as I visit friends and relations and see my peg bags hanging on their washing lines. Not a very exciting gift but very practical. I use soft furnishing fabric which I am often gifted but otherwise I look for inexpensive bright curtaining from Spotlight or Fabric Warehouse. Off cuts are ok too. I estimate I can make a good sized bag for about $3 complete with pegs.
    I love to crochet and look for wool on special to make baby shawls and knee rugs, these take longer but make very acceptable gifts too.
    I have crocheted scrunchies using bought hair bands, these use up small amounts of wool and look really lovely. It's too hard to give directions on these but I am sure you can google it.
    I made a promise to myself at the beginning of the year that I would buy materials to make gifts but not purchase actual gifts and so far I have kept that promise. I have saved a lot of money, had a lot of fun and seen the smiles on friend's faces when they see a handmade gift just for them.
    Your scheme to put saved money into other account envelopes really appeals to me and I will definitely be putting it into practice.

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  17. This is such a great idea! When I buy or make gifts the money comes out of my "gift fund". I never thought to buy food items from my grocery money or material from my clothing budget. Thanks so much! Also wondering if you have already or could write a post on some tips on paying off your mortgage? We are working on paying ours off as quickly ass possible and living debt free :)

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    1. Mel, I'll work on a mortgage post for next year.

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    2. Awesome, that would be great!

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  18. I, too, did not think of redistributing my budget when I make a homemade gift. I love to decorate repurposed jars with my papercraft supplies, and i love to make handmade gift boxes as well. I fill them with things like handmade slices/cookies/brownies, dried fruit and/or the person's favourite lollies/nuts (bought in bulk from a bulk food coop). Thank you for the extra ideas, Mel and everyone who commented!

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