I have been asked by so many different people from many walks of life how we fared over the last 6 months. After explaining early on in the blog that it was only due to a one off Centrelink payment that we were able to keep going! So I decided it would be easier to blog how we did it. Hopefully some tips will help other families and it might prove an eye opener for the lucky families who have not had to deal with this before.
First thing is circumstance. If all 3 of our children were healthy we would never have got in this position in the first place. I hate it when people assume that they would have had money in the bank, or they would have been better prepared. Noone and nothing can prepare you for 1 special needs child let alone 2.
We got A's diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy while I was pregnant with L. Until that time assistance was minimal and financially the Government gave us carers allowance and that was all.
So when L was born we were prepared for the costs of having 3 children and knew I was always able to go back to work part-time if things became tight financially.
That was our thoughts....
As a Mum I had always had a second job as being a teacher was not flexible. You were given a contract for a year for the same amount of work per week. So if I needed more hours I got a second job. The year L was born 2011 I wasn't given a position by the Education Department which also meant I wasn't paid maternity leave. A first for us. In December I worked in retail over the Christmas break as we were really feeling the shortfall with presents to buy.
In January we were already starting the back and forth to Doctors and J was about to start school full time.
We were also hit with some of our biggest bills of the year. Rates, water rates, school fees, uniforms, insurances, registration for the cars etc
It was then that we had to look at our family budget. Trips to the Paediatrician were at least $110 per visit and each time we were given a new set of tests for L.
To get blood tests and X-Rays done privately can be very expensive. At one stage L needed a chest and abdomen X-Ray and privately the cost was $180 and Medicare paid around $60 of that. Children were charged the same as an adult. I then had the thought of getting them done at the children's hospital. They were set up for kids and charged a heck of a lot less. When I went in to see them they said the bill was sent out afterwards but it would be less than $50. Well the bill came a few weeks later and it was only $40. Private companies ask you to pay on the day. When you don't have the money in the account it just wasn't possible for us.
Blood tests done were all covered by Medicare and we had no out of pocket expenses. Fantastic when we had to go back 3-4 times over that month.
As we continued on to see the Paed the secretary go to know us very well. He has seen all 3 of our children and both times he saw them a lot as babies. Without me even asking she started bulk billing our appointments. It was such a surprise and a shock that a Doctor would do that. If they hadn't I was going to ask if we could set up a payment plan or if I could pay the Medicare amount and pay the rest over time. Lots of Doctors will do this as they prefer to treat their patients rather than stop seeing you as you can't afford to pay up front. Don't be too proud to ask- it's your health after all.
As we looked at home it became obvious that I couldn't go out and get extra income so we had to look at other ways to make extra money. I had always sold on eBay so I looked around the house and what could be sold. I didn't worry about little things but more the big ticket items. I sold some designer baby clothes that I had bought not long ago and bought in several hundred dollars. I also sold baby items not being used like our pram carrycot and breastpump. We had a double pram that Miss A very rarely went in and sadly I sold that too. That item alone meant I could buy school uniforms for J and shoes for both kids.
For clothes I started shopping at KMart where items start at $5 and also on eBay and Facebook selling pages. I used to love bargain hunting for brands but now it was more of a necessity. I didn't want my kids to be missing out and I was feeling guilty about what they were missing out on.
For the household things were getting tighter and tighter. For the 5 of us we shopped for food fortnightly and spent $200. L wasn't eating so that was easier but still it was a very tight budget. J and A had to take fruit for school and that was quite an expense. I used to buy large packets of Coles brand Sultanas as a back up. It was cheaper to send that to school rather than buying more fresh fruit. We always packed their lunches so no change there just a change in food. Instead of buying pre packaged snacks like muesli bars and Le Snaks I started making everything from scratch. We bought a Thermomix last year and it has been a great investment, over this time it really saved us. I made biscuits, slices and more from scratch. It meant they still had special treats and healthy lunchboxes but I wasn't paying $6 for a box that would last 2 days.
As for bills this was the best bit. As for electricity in WA we only have one provider. So I worked out about how much our average bill would be and I split that into fortnightly payments. Every payday I would BPay that amount so that when the bill came we owed a minimal amount. It never said on our bills that it could be done but we did it. After talking to a few other people they do this regularly too.
Also for large bills you can ring and ask for an extension on payment. For a lot of them it is an automated system so you don't even have to speak to someone. I was embarrassed to ask someone to give us more time to pay so the relief when the voice said press 2 to extend your payment date was huge!!!
We have solar hot water so that is really only an expense in winter as it has an electric booster. We have a 4 star rated washing machine which saved on energy. When I washed I made sure the machine was full and I also checked the clothes were dirty first. A has a habit if putting clothes in the laundry just to make her room look clean! Washing on cold saves power as well and washes clothes fine but I still use hot for towels and sheets.
For food shopping this was the toughest. To make our fortnightly shop last and to stay under $200 I made a lot of choices. We don't have much choice of where to shop with only Coles, Woolworths or IGA. I started by looking at what sort of meals we normally eat and checking the freezer. IF something was still in there after the fortnight it was obvious we didn't need it. I didn't stock up or bulk buy as each shop was to last the 2 weeks. I bought homebrand for a lot of our basics and checked the unit pricing. Surprisingly sometimes the brand names are cheaper for some things. That's where unit pricing really helped.
We eat toast in the morning and have sandwiches for lunch so we switched to the $1 bread loaves. We would eat almost a loaf a day so this was a big change. Occasionally we would have cereal or porridge but milk alone is quite an expense.
If we had to go out during the day like for an appointment I would pack a lunch for Miss A. I would never eat while out and my daily coffee was cut down to once a week if we had the money.
I had to stop buying snack food in the shopping as that was one of our biggest expenses. I bought the 3 star mince and the large packs of chicken especially if on sale. We didn't buy things like chicken nuggets or frozen meat as they average $17 a kg.
We used a lot of frozen veges for dinner as it was cheaper than fresh and it would last the fortnight.
I don't think we were on a diet as such it was more that the luxuries like biscuits, chocolate and soft drink were cut out and most sweet things were now made by me.
Cutting down on food was a big part of cutting down on our budget. We tried to watch how much we drove as petrol cost a lot but with school everyday and therapy appointments that didn't really happen.
There is more to come but I think it best to add it to another blog post as this becomes too long!
The biggest lesson I learnt during this time is even when you think that you're doing it tough you're not. There are people out there struggling so much more everyday of their lives. For us this was a temporary set back that hopefully will not happen again. But if it does we now know we can cope.
TOP TIPS:
Spread your bill payments out
If necessary cut down on your mortgage repayments even for a short time
Plan your meals or shopping ahead of time
Cut out unnecessary social visits/activities
Buy secondhand where possible and sell what you don't need or use
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