Disability and budgeting Part one.

 

 This is going to be an end-of-the-year post and it’s going to be a more in depth one, so I have one of my community access team (support organization) going on personal leave. But she is so on the ball and a true team leader in that she suggested to my mum we get my finances in order and it’s never too late or even to early if you have a disability to have your finances in order and the first step we are doing before we even need to think about doing a budget is doing something really basic, a list of things that I am no longer allowed to buy and this then shift me from the day to day goals and living to being able to have a holiday or a trip of some description, so this is going to be the start of that list  as I think most people as we are heading into Christmas are doing a combination of planning for Christmas and the new year as it makes sense when a lot of gift type items are around to by them when they are on sale and put them aside for the new year.

I have a wardrobe full of clothing and I have recently gone through and put into storage the winter clothing as I am in Australia and it’s hot at Christmas.  So, no clothing, even for special events we are going to style what I have and let me know if you want to see those posts of styling what you have as I do strongly believe that people would appreciate you just being at the event.

The next thing is sticking to  a budget when it comes to food and groceries and this is going to take some planning as  yes everything in Australia is going up but with a bit of planning and digging but physically and metaphorically you can make life a bit cheaper, so this is where buying of brand or even changing long term habits, so going to Aldi, before Coles or Wolles, having a grocery club membership, but this is where knowing your prices comes in and I know that this might be difficult b because of mobility but it’s worth the planning.

The next one is cutting back on my take aways and bought coffees, we have a pod coffee machine, and this is a good one, so I have permission to have guests over and then we walk down to the local park.  

Presents I am cutting back on and not being the person who is “cheep” but being the person who put’s in for the big present or hand makes it or even does the “experience” gift’s so something that doesn’t generate wase, I am buying the children in my life for Christmas, the  necessary things for school as I am working with their parents not against them.

For things that we don’t really think about, like sheet’s towels and other linen I am not going to by them new of at full cost,  as I am a big belevier in second hand and  op shops often have these and sometimes brand new or   reasonably  worn and lets be honest we don't need to most expensive if it's constantly being washed. 

 Also I have  found the local variety store often has cleaning products cheaper that the local supermarket or even looking at reusable products such as moon cups (sorry to the males but it’s a real thing)

 There are also some things that I can’t control but I am going to ask for help with and one being bills I am blessed that my utilities come out of my rent as I am in supported housing. So, we don’t need to think about it but in case that changes I am going to put that money aside.   I am also going to ask a family member to help me to sort out my internet and phone plan.

Also when it comes to grooming  we need to be practical and pragmatic unless I get sponsored or start using affiliate links, if you don’t have sensory issues lets be very real that again your grooming products are generally cheaper at the local variety store but you need to know your prices and this is something that I support worker in the community should be able to help with, as  we need to consider the time and fuel so it doesn’t work out to be false economy, but longer term it does add up. So, for hygiene and grooming so shampoo, conditioner, toilet paper and your dishwashing and even at times cleaning chemicals are cheaper at the local variety store.

Then there is the issue of hobbies as I am in the process of looking forward to the new year and that o for me involves looking very seriously at my health and wellbeing and one of that is do I want to look for part time work and what steps do I need to take before I can do that, and you might be thinking isn’t the your tube and blog your job, well no as at the moment I don’t make money out of it and all  of the platforms say not to give up your day job because of cancel culture but to tell your employer that you do content creation or to do it to promote yourself if you are a business owner. As some business have very strict social media standards for employees so it pays to read company policy.

But this for me involves the basics of sleeping though the night, yes, I don’t sleep through the night due to pain, managing my pain without medication that makes me drowsy or changes my personality. Do I want to study before looking for work to have the skills needed for the field I want to go into as I have been told I can’t go back to pharmacy.  So, what would   give me some income without me losing the pension or do I live on a pension and work aggressively on the pattern and monetization for the YouTube and blog as that is a changing game all the time.

So, the question is how much I want to spend on it, or do I do some online free courses this is a question to ask, but it ties into using what stationary I have first and so that being pens pencils and paper.

There is a few things that I can’t cut the cost on is my health care but I can make the best usage of my health insurance and preventive health care so that is eating healthy and starting to excerise to sleep through the night, but I have eleplisy and this can cause parasomnia basically where I get up during the night and eat without really being aware of it.

I will add to the list but this is a very back to basics of what I can’t spend money on and it’s not that I am going under guardianship or supported decision making its that we don’t know what the future holds for me so  we are trying to set me up for my future and one that doesn’t involve living without heat or cooling or extreme isolation but one that I am able to enjoy.

 

I hope that you enjoyed reading this and where able to consider what you can cut back, but also consider the little things that make life enjoyable.  Such as a coffee with a friend of a party to celebrate birthdays this is where you can start to consider doing things the “ old school way” a bring a plate or a BBQ that is done to a budget, basically do what you can afford ad stop trying to compete and compare yourself to others and by doing what you can do you might find that your contentment comes as your working on long term goals and not lost in the cause getting jealous of people your can’t keep up with despite having support because of disabilities or mental health issues.

So for groceries alternatives that do take some planning are Costco, or other grocery clubs, food bank supermarkets or even if your struggling the local food bank my local one was giving away and not in food parcels either apples that wear suitable for selling but if you spent the time cooking them they were suitable for use in cooking, so this is a big one learning to cook and meal prep is a big one as well  so putting aside one day  to meal prep as it saves of take away and let’s be honest it’s better for our health, also not being a brand  snob is a good thing as well, so buying off brand can take some getting used to I will be honest about it, also for haircuts I am lucky to have a support worker who is trained in hair cutting so I call in a favour when I need a haircut and I know that many day centres that actively talk about grooming have hair salons to have haircuts in a safe environment as well.

So this is the start of my list and it’s also going to take some time to flip my thinking from buying the book to going to the local library or instead of having the paid streaming getting off the internet or couch, or waiting until it comes to free to air, so this is where going to a friends house and helping to cook comes into play or again choosing to do other things and there is plenty of content on free to air and if I do go back to study  well the question is will I even have time.

So it’s not an exhaustive list but it’s a bit of a flip the switch in thinking and for me it’s a challenge in where my money needs to go like instead of buying new craft material scissors getting mine resharpened, planning lunches ahead and learning how to cook, and not relying on others to do it for me but developing that self-reliance and this is also where turning off the tv and at time’s the internet is going to help me as well, so I hope this helped as well.

 

I will do another post on practical alternatives to the big chain grocery stores as it can take a lot of planning, but farmers markets can be a game changer. Also, by swap and sell sights can be amazing as well. But that will be another post as it’s time for me to cook breakfast.

I am aware that this isn’t a one size fits all approach as swapping the mind set takes time  and a budget isn’t meant to be a restriction  but it means that you can think about the longer term, goals and this can be challenging for some people with a disability but it’s needed to be able to have positive mental health, and we see that re assessing goals is a good thing.