Sophie Gray - Live Well Spend Less: Easy Ways to Save Money In Every Part of Your Life

A RANDOM HOUSE BOOK published by Random House New Zealand
18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand

For more information about our titles go to www.randomhouse.co.nz

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand

Random House New Zealand is part of the Random House Group
New York London Sydney Delhi Johannesburg

First published 2009, reprinted 2010

Sophie Gray, 2009

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

ISBN: 978 1 86979 160 5

This book is copyright. Except for the purposes of fair reviewing no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover design: Sarah Laing

Whether you just want to tighten your belt while you ride out a tough financial time, or make serious savings over the long term, use this book to track your progress, find fresh motivation, and keep yourself on target to achieve your goals.

Many people can rein in their spending for a week or two but undo their good work the next month, as theyve made no significant changes to how they spend.

So how can you save when you are already stretched financially? Live Well Spend Less is a collection of easy strategies for saving money in every area of your life. Having personally lived through some very tough financial times, both as a single person and as our family has grown, I am proof that these strategies work. Weve never gone without anything that was actually important, and weve achieved more than we ever imagined was possible with a low income.

Im not going to go into a lengthy debate about the relative merits of various mortgage repayment plans or insurance adjustments, as this is a practical, push-up-your-sleeves book. Just simple ways to save money in every area of your lifeso you can get on with living well and spending less.

Many people can rein in their spending for a week or two but undo their good work the next month, as theyve made no significant changes to how they spend.

Lets be honest

This book is intended as a practical guide to the many simple, easy ways you can save money in your everyday life. Most of it is drawn from my own experiences, firstly as a debt-ridden and irresponsible twenty-something needing to sort my act out, and later as a young family with a fledgling business, a mortgage and a grocery budget of $50 a week.

Having been in debt myself, and experienced the pain and shame that goes with being the person who has just had the power cut off, or doesnt know if theyve got enough gas in the fuel tank to get them home, a debt-free life is something that I feel strongly about. Ive also experienced the enormous satisfaction of getting out of debt, seeing the savings account filling up, and knowing that the bills are paid and the holiday is possible. When we launched our first home-based business I was determined that we would endeavour to live within our means. Money was very tight but we learnt a whole bunch of really useful and easy ways to enjoy life and save money in the process.

We all have different reasons why we want or need to spend less. Some will be circumstantial, such as study time, retirement, the breakdown of a relationship, an accident or perhaps illness. Others are lifestyle choices, like oursto run a small business from home rather than pursuing more highly paid careers. They also include dropping from two incomes to one to raise a family, downscaling by taking an easier job, moving to a smaller town to destress, leaving a regular job to launch a new career or deciding to study rather than work. Some people may want to live more simply because they just want to use less of the worlds resources. Others have greedily shopped, eaten and drunk themselves into debt. That was the catalyst for my first foray into a live well on less lifestyle change in my early twenties. Its the truth and I had to face up to it.

Whatever your reasons for rationalising your spending, if you are new to trying to make a dollar out of 50 cents there are some challenges ahead. Theyre common to all of us, and to get through them, you need to keep your eyes fixed on your goals.

Goal-setting isnt just meaningless motivation speak. Its absolutely essential if you want to make progress. An ambiguous ideal of dialling back the spending will not get you very far, Im afraid. Serious savings require a strategic approach. Small, consistent savings in all sorts of areas can make a big difference to a debt without having a significant impact on your quality of life.

Goal-setting isnt just meaningless motivation speak. Its absolutely essential if you want to make progress.

We try to spend less, and waste less, so we have money for the things that are really important to us. That includes paying our bills.

So what are you spending less for? If you arent sure, check out the list below or jot down your own ideas. Putting it in writing gets it out there it helps clarify your thinking and gives you a visual reminder of what you are aiming for. Stick your list of goals on the fridge or the dashboard of the car, tape it to your credit card or save it as your screen saver.