How to have more money...

(Great tips from Kindred)

Regaining Sanity: Discovering the Balance between Time, Money…and your Life Part I
By Anna Jahns

Want More Money? Spend Less! Frugal families find ways to use less money by purchasing mindfully, asking, is this in sync with our family values? Voluntary simplicity's philosophy of conscientiously reducing, reusing and recycling is summed up as ‘Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, Do Without!'

• Think cooperatively! Form food and babysitting co-ops.
• Borrow and share rarely used items.
• Take light-on-the-earth, light-on-the-pocket holidays — go camping, share equipment and costs with friends and family.
• Buy secondhand wherever possible; especially clothing and furniture.
• Browse through classified columns full of creative possibilities to repair, reuse, restore, refurbish!
• Enjoy eating and entertaining at home, and friends' homes — including birthdays and holidays.
• Consider eating lower on the food chain more often, involve children in growing your own veggie garden.
• Car pool, bicycle ride, or use public transportation wherever possible.
• Remember all the ways to economise with gas, water, electricity, telephone, to reduce household utilitites in everyday ways.
• Use cotton cloth diapers instead of disposable diapers, and save $4,000 per child. 7
• Buy in bulk, check out places like www.thebulkwarehouse.com.au
• Shop less often, (once per week) and only from a pre-prepared list (and NEVER when hungry!).
• Collect coupons, plan meals by the week with special offers, check for sales.
• Compare at least 3 well-researched quotes for any large purchase.
• Keep a handy list of better things to do than shopping or watching TV!
• Make gift giving a creative family effort — birthdays and Christmases are so much more meaningful when loved ones receive handmade gifts.
• When starting a family, consider taking on the financial burden of a mortgage once the children start school, not from the moment they are born! Stepping back to a single income for the first three years only takes a small percentage away from the average couple's entire working career — and yet, in these few years, the entire emotional foundation for their children's life is established, something that cannot be overvalued or made up for further down the track.