My Disappearing Shopping Fund

I have suffered a dramatic change. I have had to move from “spending” to “not spending”. I built my personal financial system carefully over years and years of spending money, sometimes cautiously, sometimes rashly and sometimes wildly. At all times I planned, saved and budgeted, always keeping spending directly linked to earning. Now I’m in a “hold spending” period. I saved hundreds of dollars in 2011 by getting some good deals on financial products. You can do it too.

 

Years ago I fell into the habit of accompanying my wife on her trips to the supermarket. These outings ranged from ‘totally boring’ to ‘mildly interesting’ until I discovered that there’s a man’s world in the supermarket. I discovered the 10 varieties of olives, the 20 varieties of pickles and the carousel of fiery hot spices. I found the exotic cheese counter and the cheap tee-shirt rack. I bought what I fancied. My job was great, the salary package was generous and I always had money in the bank.

 

At about 9am one morning I received a phone call from the owner of the company I was managing: “We are closing down. Not enough work, blah, blah, blah… the faltering hi-tech industry, yak, yak, yak… Our shopping trips changed. I still accompany my wife. We go to the supermarket – with a list. We buy the items on the list and come home. Money saved: Considerable.

 

In the good old days when I had a problem with money, my first port of call would be the bank and my friendly bank manager who would always lean over backwards to help me. That’s gone. These days when I have a problem with money I put as much distance as I can between me and the bank. I’m just another customer and I’ve never met the manager. I changed banks recently, mainly because the bank on Pine Street offered better deals than the bank on Elm Street. If the bank can treat me a casual customer, then I can treat the bank as a casual service.  

 

I had sudden urge to make sure my “papers” were in order in case I got hit by a bus. The results were surprising. Other than stuff like life insurance, pension and savings which I regard as a ‘do not open’ box unless the agent is present, I looked at such fascinating items as household and auto insurance. It’s been years since I received these policies. If you work on the basis of ‘no claims, no look’ as I do, the years slip away. I took them out and called a couple of new acquaintances in the insurance business. Surprise! The trusty old agents I had used all these years were no longer looking after my interests. They were renewing my policies every year without looking at the premiums. I replaced these policies with a new agent and saved huge amounts of money for the same coverage. I also told the new agent that I would be shopping around for new quotations at every renewal date. If the old agents didn’t look after me do I still have to look after them?