Time to do my adding up at the end of the month.

Total income $935.81

Expenses $601.20

Property taxes 88.40
Electric 101.00
House insurance 45.72
Phone 65.80 (includes $20 for cellphone)
Internet 27.95
Maintenance 33.48
Grocery 91.95
Eating out 4.00
Household supplies 5.50
Medical 29.00
Charity/gifts 59.70
Hobbies/interests 4.70
Camp 40.00
Misc 5.00

Total saved for month 334.61.

Obviously that isn't all going into investment savings. Some is kept in contingency and holiday funds. Nevertheless, a good month (of course it was a short one, so I should have spent less)

Confession time. Ever since I was a little girl I've had this dream. Ta da.

I want to travel the Trans Siberian railway.

And for the past 12 months I've been putting money aside for it (how many bank accounts does she have? I hear you cry) I put all the coins I find and all my loose change into it. We have $1 and $2 coins in New Zeland so it adds up. This month I put in $20 for a total of $597.

Moscow Here I Come - in , umm, about 2012.

but the car is gone. I now have another $1700 to put in my hungry little bank account.

My weekly income at the moment is NZ$173.29. I have my 22 yo son living with me, who pays me $50 each week in rent.(He buys his own food) I intend to save as much of this as possible, and put it in Govt bonds. Then I can say I'm living off the Govt without shame.

The first thing to get rid of is the car, as it is quite old and getting to the stage where it costs more to repair than it's worth. I also have difficulty concentrating on driving on my current meds, so the other road users will thank me. I am eligible for a discount bus pass, and my dr has recommended that I walk as much as possible, so that will be a saving.

My basic living expenses are around $320 a month for rates(property taxes), power, phone, house and contents insurance and phone and Internet connection. I have a Community Services Card which gives me a subsidy on prescriptions. At the moment I am eating a vegetarian diet with absolutely no sugar or any manufactured snacks. I don't eat out much apart from church potlucks, and I don't drink alcohol. It sounds very austere, but I have been to India and since coming back I have lived very simply. I know how to count my blessings.

At the moment I am saving $10 a week for holidays (mainly church camps and retreats, or visting family) I also save $10 a week into what Mary Hunt calls a "Freedom Fund". At the moment I have $980 in it. I also need to look at putting money aside in case I have to make changes to my house or move to a more disability friendly house. I would need to be practically destitue and in a wheelchair before I get any financial help for that. I save a further $25 a month into an emergency fund, which currently stands at $512 in an online bank.

All in all, pretty good. I am so glad I am not renting in our current housing market, and I have the skills to cope. I used to do volunteer work as a budget advisor, and I learned a lot from the mistakes I saw other people making.

I am fortunate to have a paid off mortage and be out of debt. I also have $15,000 in a retirement saving account from when I was working. Being an honest person I declared my assets to Work and Income when I got sick, and found that, if I kept them, I was unable to claim a whole range of benefits. I have the choice of either spending all my money on trips to Australia and lotto tickets, then running bakc to the govt squealing how poor I am - or keeping what I have and being on a very low income. I am looking for a way to increase my income, either from interest on investments or rental property.