We are fortunate in our finances in that we usually finish each of our personal financial years (which for us run Feb 1st to Jan 31st) with some kind of surplus in our bank account.
This hasn’t always been the case. In fact, a little over 3 years ago we were basically living BEYOND our means, spending around $3000 a year MORE than we could really afford to.
It was at this point that we decided it was time to separate our finances from the farm a little and work on tracking our spending and living more WITHIN our means (and perhaps even a little under them).
Still, it was somewhat of a surprise to us to get to the end of the first year and actually have MONEY in our account. At this point I was mighty glad we’d moved to a separate bank account for our personal drawings as this meant the left over money was OURS and wasn’t simply going to be swallowed up the endless black hole for money that a farm seems to be.
So, we needed to come to some kind of decision. What do we do with this surplus money? Spend it? Save it? Use it toward the mortgage?
I thought it would be a nice incentive toward NOT overspending, if we put at least SOME of any surplus at the end of the year toward something “fun”. Kind of a reward for our efforts throughout the year.
We started off using a split of 60% toward the mortgage, 20% toward our emergency fund and 20% “blow money” (meaning we didn’t have to spend it on something “practical” or “sensible”).
Now that the mortgage is paid and our emergency fund is at a level we feel comfortable with for now, we make decisions at the end of each year based on our needs and plans at the time. But still, at least 20% gets set aside to be deliberately spent as a “reward” for our efforts (which do involve hard work and sacrifice from time to time).
This system works well for us and we feel far from deprived even though we tend to spend less than others in some areas of our budget.
One year we took the kids to the Adelaide Show as our “splurge”. It’s great to be able to say to our children that we “choose” to spend our money in this way and have money available for ………. . We want to show them that frugality is about a lifestyle CHOICE. We are not deprived. We are not “poor”. We just choose to spend (or not spend) our money the way we do.
Yesterday we went on a spending spree. It’s not “normal” for us to spend our “splurge/blow money” quite this early into the next year but we had a plan. It was a plan that made sense to us. The money was sitting there. So we went ahead and instituted it.
We’d been discussing for a while the need to buy a netball ring for Singstar Princess as she’s constantly using our old kids basketball ring to shoot hoops and given she’s interested in starting netball training, we figured a ring would be a useful backyard item. The basketball ring is a plastic adjustable kids one and doesn’t go very high.
We’ve also been talking for a while about how useful a punching bag would be. We’re finding that Leighton is prone to fits of anger and aggression that really need some kind of physical outlet (that doesn’t include throwing a pillow at the light and snapping the bulb off). Being able to let off steam would also be helpful for me and I know Farmboy will make use of it as well.
I noticed Sports Power were advertising both of these items and suggested to Farmboy that we *could* use our 2007 “splurge” money and just go out and buy them.
It still felt strange to walk into Sports Power and just spend $500 in the space of around 5 minutes. Then again, it also felt GOOD to know that we were spending money we HAD.
This is the netball ring. The “normal” me would have gone for the $20 ring that you need to attach to a carport or similar. The “splurge” here was buying a free standing ring that is easily adjustable in height and movable depending on where it suits us to have it. We also bought a netball for her.
The grin on her face last night when we told her what we’d bought was priceless. If it got any wider she would have lost half her lips as they fell off her face. Despite the hot day she had to have a go when she got home from school today. 
And this is the punching bag set-up. It’s a bit flash for our usual “buy the cheapest you can find” style. Given at least 3 of us plan to use it on a regular basis, we felt it was a worthwhile investment.
Farmboy admitted to me on the way home that he has always wanted to own a punching bag. He’s a practical kind of guy and it would never have ocurred to him to go out and buy a set-up like this. It was only that I suggested we buy it with our surplus “blow” money that he’d even contemplate it. I was rapt when he said that because he really IS bad at spending money on himself. It’s nice to think we’ve bought something that will make him smile.
Not to be missed out, Trailer Boy (note: new name for “The Bomb”) got a new yellow football. His first EVER real football. Last season during football training he was asking for a yellow football. So now he has one. And it is definitely his most prized possession. He doesn’t actually attend training yet but likes to go along and play with the other younger boys that are there.
Spoilt? My kids? Yeah….I know. 
All that didn’t quite add up to $500. Farmboy also bought himself a weights set. He’s noticed since he broke his collarbone a couple of years ago that he no longer has much strength in that arm so he wants to work on rebuilding some of that.
Being frugal is boring? Not in our family.
Plus I thought if I said he was gone then I was losing all hope that he might come back. He didn’t come back. I still miss him. As you do. When you love a pet.
Or get your entries in anyway so we can all have a giggle.
My gullability ratings haven’t improved all that much in the past 20 years.
