Hello from a long way away...

**missmanny** · 02-08-2008, 01:26 AM

Hi Villagers!,

My name is manny and I am a new member from all the way down under in australia... I live in Brisbane Queensland, we call it the sunshine state as it always sunny and we have perfect beaches, anyone who has never visited should come - although with air fares from the US it woudn't be that frugal a holiday unfortunately. (there is not site in Aust that I can find like this one)

I have recently embraced frugal living after waking up one morning in a panic, I had debt that I was not managing very well, I was robbing peter to pay paul and I looked at my small appartment and felt ill at the ammount of stuff that I had collected (well in all honesty not "collected" more like bought - with credit I should add).

I remembered when I first moved out of home and had absolutely nothing and couldn't understand quite how much I had accumulated in such a short time. Let me tell you that appart from the ammount of money I have spent on all that "stuff" It was definately much easier to keep the house looking clean when there was nothing to clean away!

I earn quite good money and when I sat down to do my budget I was amazed that I should be doing really well but was spending far more then I made. I decided that if I ever wanted to have the financial freedom that I craved it was up to me to change things around.

I live with my BF and we have discussed marriage, we both know that it is on the cards but I am scared. He is soo good with money and I am just terrible (well I have been in the past) We keep our finances seperate and so I don't think that he realises quite how much I owe. I refuse for us to think about marriage until I am at the point that I am debt free - I don't want to start our life together behind the eight ball.

So in the last month, after reading a lot and gaining a lot of information from the internet (what an amazing place - so much good stuff and still soo much bad and obcene sites) I have worked really hard and feel so much more confident about my future. Already I have accomplished the following...

Established $500 emergency Fund (small but getting bigger)
Paid off two of my smallest debts $total of $1500
Decreased the level of debt on my other debts from $7800 - $5500.
Not used my cc for anything
Paid for Christmas in Cash
Started selling my unwated things on Ebay and made about $700. Still more to go.
And all this since the beginning of December only two months ago.

All in all I can contribute my success to really buckling down and re-thinking everything that I spend money on. I have read some of the stories on here and am amazed and overwhelmed by some of the things that you have overcome and the attitude that you keep. I am ashamed to say that I got into trouble purely through my own greed and need for instant gratifiaction and by thinking that I could live like my parents do without earning the same pay check as them.

Things in Australia are starting to get a little bit scarey - Interest rates have just gone up and grocery, fuel and house prices are very high. I see a big bust comming for us probably not very quickly but definately in the future as things just can't keep going like this. I have come to realise that now is the time to put money away and get rid of debt so that when things turn bad I can keep the wolves away from our door and hopefully even prosper, at the moment buying a house is just a pipe dream for us, but once prices start to come down and other people are forced to liquidate, I want us to be in a position where we have a large cash deposit so that we can take advantage.

I'm sorry this has been such a long post - I just had so much that I wanted to share with you all. I'm sure that you will be able to help and inspire me towards a great financial future.

Best wishes to you all

Manny

**Becci** · 02-08-2008, 02:12 AM

Wow missmanny you have accomplished sooo much in such a short amount of time.!!! Congratulations!!!
Well hello from that THAT far from you. I'm in South Australia on the lovely Fleurieu Penninsula. Not been to Brissy yet but will get there one day.
This is a fantastic site. I have been here since October (I think?) and love it. I visit everyday. I get a laugh out of some of the differences between us and the US but everyone is very friendly.
Hope to read some of your posts in the near future.
And keep up the good work, your doing fantastic!!!

**kaykwilts** · 02-08-2008, 04:26 AM

to the villiage.

**PrairieRose** · 02-08-2008, 07:17 AM

Hello from Texas

Welcome to the village and congrats on what you've already accomplished!

**Darlene** · 02-08-2008, 07:33 AM

Hi Manny! Wise lady getting all your ducks in order before jumping into marriage. Great incentive for you.

Welcome & please make yourself at home.

**pinetree** · 02-08-2008, 05:32 PM

Hi and Welcome! Your goiing to love it here.

**mom2matty** · 02-08-2008, 05:56 PM

Hi and Welcome!

**FrugalMomof3** · 02-08-2008, 06:12 PM

Hi there and

So glad you joined us and you seem like you could give us some tips!

**Marie78** · 02-08-2008, 06:12 PM

Hi and

**KJayEsq** · 02-08-2008, 07:43 PM

Hi Manny. Welcome to FV!! As a matter of fact, I have been to Brisbane - it was beautiful and I had a total blast!

**sheidi** · 02-08-2008, 09:44 PM

Hi Manny and welcome from another aussie (there seem to be more and more of us!). i'm in canberra - i know what you mean about house prices, i can't get a deposit saved because i pay half my salary in rent! then, a place here is $350,000 and up for a small apartment, its absolutely nuts. My dad told me today that australians carry the greatest personal debt per capita in the world

plus our housing affordability is the same as nyc and LA!

so don't beat yourself up too much, we are all victims of our consumerist society - having SPEND SPEND SPEND come at us from every direction. we buy, feel good for a while, then stop feeling good so buy more. the more we buy the more we want, its a terrible cycle. i was completely drowning in debt and trawled the internet in desperation and found this site - it has saved my life, helped me from having no hope to having a plan to get out of debt. another one i found on here is www.spam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typed.com which is the dave ramsey unofficial site and amazingly helpful.

have fun at the village!

**sdrjeolsen** · 02-09-2008, 01:06 AM

Hi Manny, welcome!

You are very smart to look to the future and get things moving in the right direction while you still have time. You have really done a lot just since December, nice job!! By the way, you'll love it here!

**SandNOceanGirl** · 02-09-2008, 12:45 PM

Welcome to the Village!

**cab54** · 02-09-2008, 01:27 PM

Hi, Manny, and welcome!

**missmanny** · 02-09-2008, 07:43 PM

Thanks everyone for such a warm welcome. Great to see a few other aussies here as well.

I wouldn't say that I have any tricks or tips that I can give to an one here, you are all such seasoned survivors, I admit that every thing that I accomplished was with the help of Dave Ramsey and ideas that I "borrowed" from websites such as this.

I realise now that I have started this journey just how blessed I am to have evrything that I do. It is up to me to make sure that I use my talents wisely and don't get caught up in the stuff itis hype.

I think that it is the achievements that keep me going and I hope that with focus even the hard months and adversity will inspire me as well.

Thanks once again, and look forward to getting to know you better.

Manny