I took this week's $20 grocery money and bought 10 kg rice, 2 packets pasta and 2 cans fruit, all on special for $19.70. And I have left several cans beans and sardines, potatoes, carrot and 1 egg to help spread next weeks $20 out.

I now have enough rice to see me thru the New Year - good job I like it.

donated my loose change, about $1.50. Found 10 cents on the way home. Apart from that another NSD.

Made it a no spend weekend. This week I am going to eat out of my fridge and pantry. Wonder if I can make it a no spend week?!

So of course the mailbox is chocka with flyers advertising all the wonderful bargains available. I am tempted by the supermarket, but if i buy food on sale I often wind up with more than i need (which is how I have a bulging pantry). Then I eat more than I need, so This week I am ignoring attempts to separate me from my money by repeating my mantra - "there'll always be another sale."

I read about a Kiwi woman who claims to spend $20 a week on groceries and teaches people on welfare to do it. I don't know the details so don't know if she has a veggie garden, lives with other people thus gaining economies of scale etc. I am interested in knowing if it is possible for a single person buying normal food at the local supermarket. I am not interested in driving across town to get the lowest price on 50lb sacks of oat groats, nor do I want to drink homemade dandelion coffee. But I am going to try it unless my health starts to suffer. No point winding up back on disability.

I have been slack about saving over the last few months. I have dad's money tucked away and part of my wages automatically going to retirement, so that's going to be allright. I have been earning more money and it seemed like I didn't have to worry about every cent spent any more so I eased the purse strings and took my eyes off the dream of Financial Independence.

But thinking it over I realise I really do have a realistic opportunity of being FI, and sooner rather than later if I really tighten up on spending now. There is a lot of difference between having to be thrifty when there is no alternative, and choosing to save money in pursuit of a goal. When I had little money I would often rebel and spend on some treat because "I don't have any other indulgences". Now I am going without because I can have it back later on. As Dave Ramsey says, Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else.

I had to have a fasting blood test this morning and am cranky from missing my coffee

After months of enjoying better health and being able to take on more work, I woke up this morning with my knee on fire, so off to the dr for pain relief. $56 for visit and prescription. I should not resent this creaky old body of mine, but I'm looking forward to the day Jesus gives me a new improved model.

I have decided to stop drinking coffee, or at least cut back. I drink several strong cups a day and it isn't doing me any good. I have tried going cold turkey before and it was awful. This time I'm weaning myself of it gradually. Looking for an improvement in my health, besides saving money.

found 50 cents
spent $1 on a can of peaches

I used to keep a buffer of $1000 in my bill paying account. Kinda baby emergency fund, a la Dave Ramsey. Now that I have almost $10,000 in my FFEF that is unnecessary. I decided to keep $500 in there, as that is roughly the amount of my monthly bills, and transferred the rest to my Financial Independence account.

I was determined to make today an NSD, so deliberately didn't take any cash or debit card with me to work today. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten I was supposed to be meeting a friend for coffee after work, so I had to borrow $3 off a coworker (turned down the offer of money for a sandwich).

Technically I suppose you could say it was still a NSD - I didn't spend any of my own money. But now I'm back in debt!

There was an item on the news this morning about borrowing by local councils. One observer reckons it's far too high. Councils used to use sinking funds for capital projects, now they borrow against these funds. A spokesman came on to defend the council saying they used very sophisticated methods to control the debt and some councils had lazy balance sheets - they actually needed more debt.

I'm just a simple soul (it was all those "sophisticated" borrowers that got us into this financial jam). I see only that if you borrow money, you have to pay it back. With interest, so that means you pay more, or rather the taxpayers do. My rates have gone up a lot since the sophisticates took over the council.

Yes I know, you'll save money in the long run because the return on assets is greater than the cost of borrowing. I'll believe next time i see a council project come in under budget. Somehow the cost always requires more borrowing than anticipated and up go the rates again. If these financial clever clogs want to play financial geniuses, they can do it with their own money, not public funds.

I'm grumpy, can you tell I just got my property tax bill?