I've always liked the idea of a "not for profit" business. It's subversive, in its own small way, since the purpose of a business is usually to make a profit. It's also a simple idea, and I'm a simple person at heart: you charge for your service only what it costs to provide it. I wonder if I could apply the same idea to myself: intentionally earning only enough money to cover the costs of living. This minimizes time spent working, and maximizes free time. It seems like a sensible first step in the direction I want to go.
I started a spreadsheet on Monday that I'll use to record all my expenses - income and outgoings. Since I've got a little money saved up, I can treat this as a kind of "float". At the end of each month, I can total up how much I spent, and work out how much I have to work (or sell) in order to make that back. Then, that becomes my "target" for the next month. As I go along, I work on cutting down the expenses themselves, so in theory, as each month goes by, I can work less. Keeping a detailed record of every transaction should help with this. For every expense, I just ask two questions: a). was this necessary? and b). can it be reduced (or eliminated)? I wonder if I might surprise myself as to just how much I can save.
It all seems so simple, which means it probably isn't.
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Cool idea. I'm really impulsive, so I might have a budget at the beginning of the month, but by the end of the month there are so many odds and ends that I've spent on that I really didn't need to. Food is usually the biggest bill. I'm working on that.
ReplyDeleteALDI is your friend. I plan on posting on this shortly, but in a nutshell: pasta, rice, tinned foods like beans, chick peas, potatoes, peas etc are all ridiculously cheap there. 4-6 tins for under £1 in most cases. 200g of peanuts, which is about 1300 calories, for 48p! After that you just need your fresh veg, some olive oil and you can whip up a meal for a couple of quid. Tinned and dried food keeps for ages, so you might as well stock up. I've been making meals in large batches and freezing in portions to microwave when I need them. Do the same with baked potatoes. There's 8 in the oven right now. Keep in the fridge and microwave in 2 minutes for a warming, handheld breakfast. Oh yeah.
DeleteBeen using GnuCash for years to keep track of all income & expenses. Highly recommended.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of it - will investigate. Cheers!
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