[Note: This information is current at time of writing (May 2012). For up-to-date or more specific information, check out the government websites listed in the resources section below or linked to in the article.]

There are currently a number of options when it comes to Australian government financial assistance for families. This assistance can go a long way in helping to cover the costs of raising a family and living on a reduced family income.

Below is a list of assistance programmes available to those who meet the eligibility requirements. Nearly all families in Australia are entitled to at least one financial assistance option listed below.

Paid Parental Leave

Paid parental leave is $589.40 per week (at time of writing – based on the Australian minimum wage) for an eligible working parent (usually the mother) for up to 18 weeks.

You can find more info here and here.

As of January 2013, the government is also offering paid paternity leave for fathers. This leave is for two weeks paid at the minimum wage.

The Baby Bonus

The Baby Bonus is an alternative to Paid Parental Leave and is $5,500 paid fortnightly (at time of writing). It is now income tested.

You can find eligibility requirements and more info here and here.

You cannot receive both the Paid Parental Leave and the Baby Bonus. If you are eligible for both, it’s a good idea to use the Paid Parental Leave Comparison Estimator to work out which assistance benefits you the most.

Family Tax Benefit (Part A & B)

The Family Tax Benefit Part A is a payment that helps families with the cost of raising children. It is paid for each dependent child up to the age of 21 (under certain circumstances. This payment may stop at age 16 if they stop full time study. The amount received depends on the age and number of children as well as family income. See here and here for more details.

The Family Tax Benefit Part B is to assist single income families, including sole parent families. The amount received will depend on the age of the youngest child. This benefit is income tested and eligibility requirements need to be met.

You can find more information here and here.

You can choose to have these payments paid either fortnightly or annually.

Child Care Benefit and Rebate

The Child Care Benefit is to help pay for the cost of child care, assuming you meet the eligibility requirements (the child care centre has to be government approved and your child has to be immunized, for instance) and you pass the income test. The payment amount depends on your family income and is paid either as a lump sum at the end of the financial year, or as a direct reduction in child care fees throughout the year.

You can find more information here, here and here.

The Child Care Rebate is available for those already receiving the Child Care Benefit and is a rebate for 50% of out of pocket expenses on child care costs (to a maximum payment of $7,500 in the 2012 financial year). You can elect to have the rebate paid fortnightly, quarterly or annually.

You can find more information here and here.

Maternal Immunization Allowance

The government provides an extra incentive for immunizing children. Immunization is free and if you follow the proscribed schedule of immunization, you get a bonus payment for each child between the age of 18 – 24 months and then again between the ages of 4 and 5 years.

You can find more information here and here.

Parenting Payment

The parenting payment is for very low income families – at the time of writing to receive the maximum parenting payment with one child, a couple’s combined income can be no more than $174.60 per fortnight. If you receive this payment, you will still be eligible for other parenting benefits.

You can find more information here.

Other available benefits

If your income is under a certain amount, you may be eligible for a low income healthcare card. At the time of writing, the maximum income you can earn over an 8 week period is $6,944 – anything under and you may be entitled to this card (assuming you meet the other eligibility requirements). The card entitles you to free or cheaper medical expenses, including prescription medication, as well as other discounts, depending on what state you live in. For example, some states give a discount on electricity or public transport to card holders.

Once again, go to the Centrelink website for more details and here for income test info. To find out what additional discounts you are entitled to, check out your state government’s website.

Depending on your circumstances, you may also be eligible for rent assistance, you can find more information here, or visit your local Centrelink Office.

Other payments available include the Double Orphan Pension Scheme, the Child Support Scheme and the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme.

The school kids bonus is a benefit that was announced this month as part of the 2012 federal budget. This bonus will replace the Education Tax Refund. The bonus will be paid to families with school age children twice yearly – at the beginning of term one and three, starting in June 2012.  You can find more information here.

This article is just a summary of the current government assistance available to families in Australia – check out the relevant government pages for more information on each payment. It’s a good idea to know what assistance available to you and, if you are in a position to be choosing between the baby bonus and the paid maternity leave, how to calculate which is the best option for your circumstances.

resources

• Centrelink Payment information
• The Family Assistance Office

Have you read these articles?:

1. managing electronic bills

In the previous post on first aid, I mentioned the free First Aid course for parents that Target provides through St John’s Ambulance.

Well, I took this course the other week and wanted to share with you my experience with the course and a few interesting tips I learned.

Firstly, kudos to Target. Not only do they provide these free courses, we got morning tea and lunch as well, which went above and beyond my expectations. I’m impressed that the business offers this community service throughout Australia for free, so thanks Target.

The free Target course isn’t certified, but depending on your trainer, you may be able to do a bridging course at a reduced cost to get a certificate (that’s what our trainer offered). We did do CPR and things have changed a lot in the 8 years since I last attended a course – well worth the refresher. Just attending one of these courses has increased my confidence.

I would like to add that the trainer we had was extremely good and had many, many years of professional experience in a variety of settings. She was very down to earth and practical and I’ve since found out that her approach to teaching first aid is now standard; I think it’s an excellent way of teaching first aid.

For example, instead of learning to tie various bandages (as with my previous course), the trainer gave us first aid scenarios and put as on the spot to try and figure out what we had to do. Which of course is exactly how you have to operate in a first aid situation. The emphasis was not on technique so much (although there was that too) but more on a practical way of thinking and acting on your feet at a time when it’s easy to panic. And being put on the spot like that means I will now never forget  what to do in the case of someone having an asthma attack, for instance.

A few things I learned

I learned a lot on the day and took copious notes, but the best way to learn is to go and do the course. Here are just a couple of useful tips that I picked up:

• You probably know about I.C.E (in case of emergency) – the emergency contact number you store in your mobile, but here’s another tip: keep a business sized card inside your wallet just behind your licence with emergency contact details (not your spouse, just in case they are in an accident with you) and any other emergency details like your doctor, medication etc. That way, when the emergency crew take out your licence to get your name, they also find this other important info as well.
• The trainer suggested keeping a red flannel and a clean spray bottle of water in the house to wash grazes and cuts. The flannel is to hide the blood from yourself if you get queasy and the red stops an injured child from possibly freaking out at the sight of blood. Spritzing water on the wound is an easy way to clean it without touching it. As a side note, when I rang the nurse about the little fella, she was very worried that we hadn’t cleaned his graze with antibacterial stuff (like Dettol). The trainer, on the other hand, made the comment that water worked well enough, so I don’t feel so bad anymore. I’ll probably stick to tea tree oil in the future.
• One important aspect of first aid that we might not think about (at least I didn’t) is that our role is to provide comfort, reassurance and to protect the dignity of the person hurt. Holding someone’s hand and smiling reassurance while you wait for the ambos is first aid. The trainer’s motto throughout the day was ‘keep it simple – do the least you need to do.’
• In that same vein, and something I forgot to mention in the last article, our most-used first aid item is the ‘kiss better’. I’m sure you’ve got that in your first aid kit too. It really is the most remarkably effective first aid medicine for small kids on everyday hurts.
• While the list I shared in the first article on what to stock in your first aid kit is straight from the Red Cross, I’ll be scaling back what I feel is necessary for us personally to stock in the family first aid kit.

As a final update on the first article, Meagan at This Whole Family (previously ecoMILF) has since shared a tutorial on how to stock a natural first aid kit. If you’re interested, you can view it here.

Also, if you’re wanting to take the free first aid course through Target, you can find the details here.

First aid and household first aid kits aren’t something we tend to think about until something happens. Taking a course and stocking up on just a few basics now will see you prepared for accidents if and when they happen.

Have you read these articles?:

1. first aid in (and out of) the home
2. unplugged. screen free time and a TV free month
3. 50 Free And Almost Free Holiday Activities For Kids

Autumn is my all time favourite season and because we don’t really have Autumn here in Queensland I make a special effort to either go home during Autumn or to drive inland (and south) to enjoy the season.

As a welcome to Autumn, I’ve created a list of things to do for the season. This list includes both things that need doing around the house as well as fun stuff to do during Autumn.

Because it’s not too hot and not too cold (and not over pollinated with hay fever inducing flowers), Autumn is a great time of the year to enjoy the great outdoors. Bushwalking and picnics are great at this time of the year.

And of course, it’s Easter (at least here in the Southern Hemisphere), so a great time to have an Easter egg hunt or make your own Easter chocolates along with apple pies and pumpkin soup.

Back home, my mother mentioned that their council is running a free Autumn festival over the next couple of months, so I’m looking forward to participating in that when we get back there. Why not check out your council to find out what’s on in your local area this month?

Back to the Autumn to do list. I’ve been working lately at honing my skills in creating graphics and PDFs, so as practice I created this downloadable to-do list for Autumn (and a few others coming up).

I’m not normally one for fancy stuff, but I’ve also been working on our household folder and I thought about putting a seasonal to do list in the calendar section as a fun reminder to do the things that need to be done and get out and enjoy what each season has to offer.

Let me know what you think and if the downloadables are useful.

You can download the Autumn to-do list here (PDF) or a more print friendly version (without the background) here.

Have you read these articles?:

1. what’s in season: australian guide for autumn
2. simple things that make your heart sing
3. when things aren’t working

Accidents happen. Are you prepared?

I’m ashamed to admit that I’m not currently fully prepared for accidents, emergencies and other home first aid requirements. But I’m working on it. We have Dettol and band aids (and we live next door to a paramedic, which comes in handy ) but we’ve been caught out a few times recently and it has been a good reminder to re-stock the first aid supplies (particularly for out and about) and brush up on our first aid knowledge.

First aid can mean the difference between life and death so it’s a skill well worth investing in. But besides emergencies, there are the little day to day scrapes and falls, colds and flues that we need to handle as well. That’s where a well stocked first aid kit and medical cabinet come in. Here are some tips for being prepared.

1. Take a first aid course

You can be all kitted out for an emergency, but your kit won’t be much use if you don’t know how to apply first aid! The first and most important step in being prepared is to take a first aid course.

I have taken first aid courses in the past so I know the basics, but I am well overdue for a refresher course. Taking refresher courses is just as important as taking an initial course. Not only are you refreshing old and possibly forgotten skills (especially if you don’t use those skills often – hopefully you don’t need to), you also catch up on the latest methods in first aid – best practices change. The St John’s ambulance basic first aid certificate is valid for three years and they recommend doing the CPR refresher annually.

If you’re a parent or child care worker, it’s a good idea to also take a course that’s specific to treating children.

To find a first aid course near you, check out the St John’s Ambulance website, Red Cross or Google first aid in your area for alternate course providers. The cost of a course ranges from around $80 to $300 depending on the course and provider.

For parents, at various times throughout the year Target offers FREE first aid training in conjunction with St John’s Ambulance, click the link for details (I’m enrolled in one of these so I’ll let you know how it goes).

2. Build a basic home  kit (for emergencies, illness and minor treatments)

You can buy a ready made basic kit for the home and car, but there are probably going to be things you want to add to this kit. You can purchase first aid kits online or from St John’s Ambulance or the Red Cross, but they are also available in chemists and stores like Big W.

If you would like to create your own kit from scratch (or you need to top up your supplies), the Red Cross provides a detailed list of recommended items. A very basic first aid kit can include the following:

• Emergency contact numbers: These include your doctor, local hospital number, emergency contact information (family, neighbours etc.), health line, poison info line etc. You may also want to include essential medical information for each family member like allergies, medical conditions, regular medications, blood type etc.
• First Aid booklet: Ours is pictured above. It sticks to the fridge (top white flap is a magnet) where it is readily accessible. A good first aid booklet is up to date, has lots of clear photographs and simple instructions that are easy to follow in emergency situations. A side finger index for quick access to info and ring binding so that it lays flat are both useful.
• Antiseptic (or antiseptic wipes)
• Antibacterial ointment
• Saline solution
• Band aids of various sizes
• Gauze Pads   / non stick dressings
• Bandages (crepe and triangle)
• Instant cold / cot pack
• Tape
• Gloves
• Tweezers
• Scissors
• Space blanket

To save on supplies, look out for specials or discounts and stock up or look online for discount supplies. Discount stores, supermarkets and discount chemists will often sell the same products as regular chemists for less.

3. extras and medical supplies

Other things you may want to consider, depending on your circumstances, for your personal medical kit include:

• A thermometer (if you have young children, an in ear thermometer is more convenient than an oral / underarm one. They are expensive, but you can get them cheaper online (like this one from Amazon).
• Calamine lotion for bites and stings
• Aloe Vera gel for sunburn
• Antihistamine cream for stings and bites
• Paracetamol
• Children’s paracetamol + dropper / syringe for administering dose
• Cold and flu tablets / cough syrup + measuring cup or natural alternatives
• Medicine for specific circumstances (for example, back-up asthma medicine or antihistamine for allergies, depending on your family’s needs)
• Vapour Rub
• Eucalyptus oil (good decongestant)
• Antacids
• Tiger Balm / Arnica / Deep Heat for muscle aches
• Cold packs kept in the freezer
• Wheat pack or similar to use as a heat pack
• Plastic wrap (the paramedic next door wrapped a neighbour’s hot water burn in gladwrap as well as running it constantly under cold water while waiting for the ambos to keep it clean and the air off it – oxygen can make a burn hurt worse apparently. Click here for more info on burns and a handy first aid video and here for more info on plastic wrap for burns.)

A lot of people swear by homeopathic remedies but I’ve never used them, so I can’t comment. I am in the middle of reading a really interesting book written by a paediatrician who is also a naturopath called, 100 Natural Remedies for your Child. I really like this book because it balances conventional medicine with good nutrition and he especially looks at allergies and sensitivities to food (at least in the first half of the book), which many mainstream doctors tend to ignore. And I think that’s what medicine is about: a whole person approach, not just a symptoms approach – a balance between conventional and natural medicine.

If you’re interested in exploring more natural medicine and first aid alternatives, Stephanie from The Keeper of the Home has an article on what she stocks in her natural medicine cabinet, which is a good introduction.

(And of course, as you already know, keep all this stuff out of children’s reach.)

4. Don’t forget a portable kit for out and about

We went to the pool the other day and the little fella had a nasty fall, straight down on his knees. While I was worried about fractures (he couldn’t stand and walk that afternoon – he was fine though, a bit of bruising and stiffness, that’s all) the nurse on the 13 health line was more concerned about infection – did we, she kept asking, wash out the grazes with antiseptic? Um, well, no.

Having a small, portable kit that you can carry in your bag is great for just such incidents. What you include will depend on your circumstances and what you plan on doing. Here’s a few things you might consider:

• Band aids
• Antiseptic wipes
• A small saline wash
• Sunscreen
• Insect repellent and anti-sting cream (black ant bites hurt)
• A small hand sanitiser (I can’t believe I’m saying that, I’m usually very anti hand sanitiser, but there have been times I wish I had it on me (think kid’s playing in dog poo) and if you’re cleaning wounds, then clean hands is important.)
• A small instant cold / hot pack

You may want to consider a more extensive kit for the car and especially for camping and hiking trips (bandages for snake bites, vinegar for blue bottles for instance). Check out your road side assistance provider for member’s discounts on travel first aid kits.

A side note – health and emergency services

As well as your local hospital, 000 emergency service and local GP there are various other health services available that you may want to keep in mind.

I can’t recommend highly enough the health line service for non-urgent medical help. We have used this service on numerous occasions when we were concerned about something, it wasn’t an emergency, but weren’t sure if we would need to take a trip the ER (especially good for after hours when a visit to the GP isn’t an option or for when the GP is booked full).

For those living in NSW, ACT, NT, Tasmania, SA and WA you can call Health Direct (1800 022 222). For Victorians you can call Nurse on Call (1300 60 60 24) and for Queensland residents the service is 13 Heath (13 4325). These services are for non-urgent medical advice. All of these free health call lines are staffed by qualified nurses. Keep this number readily available, it’s very good for both reassurance and advice.

You may also want to look up and keep on hand the number for your local house call / after hours doctor (yes, you can still get doctors that make house calls in many areas). Often this service is free (bulk billed). We used an after hours doctor service for the little fella when it looked like he had a hernia (it came on suddenly at night). The doctor came around 9pm (we had approximately a 30 minute wait) to assess the little fella. Again, for the non life-threatening, non-emergency stuff, having a doctor come to your house beats hands down waiting in the emergency room for hours.

Each state also offers various other health services like parenting services, counselling services, drug, cigarette and alcohol services, crisis lines (Lifeline), women’s and children’s health services, poison information line, etc. Again, many of these services are free. Ask your local GP or check out your state website for details on the services provided and the contact information for these services.

In an emergency, always just call 000 (info on calling from mobile phones found here).

Do you have the skills to deal with an emergency? Do you know what to do for an ant bite or a knee graze (common sense is only common once you’ve learned it)? Do you know who to call for advice or how to get help? It’s a good idea to regularly brush up on first aid skills and regularly check your supplies (and your emergency contact list) so you are prepared for those inevitable bumps and scrapes or more serious injuries and illnesses.

What other things in your first aid kit / medicine cabinet do you find useful to have?

Have you read these articles?:

1. an update–the free target first aid course
2. planning for emergencies
3. 10 easy tips to save water and money in your home

This post was inspired by a reader question I received oh, nearly six months ago now (sorry about the tardiness) but as it is summer and school holidays I thought it would be a good time to cover the topic: how to save money on family outings.

The key to saving money on family outings is to be organised. That means having the things ready that you need to take and having easily packed snack or lunch options available in the house, ready to grab.

It just so happens I’ve created a little printable checklist to give you some ideas on what you might need to pack on outings (you can download it below).

But what about spontaneous decisions to go out and have fun? How can you be organised and spontaneous? The way to prepare for spontaneous fun is to have a kit in the car of things you might need (picnic blanket, towels, spare kid’s clothes, sunscreen) as well as having things organised at home so that they are easy to grab.

For instance, in the summer months, you might consider storing all beach stuff – towels, swimmers, kickboards etc., together in the one bag or place so that everything is quick and easy to find when the urge to swim hits. That means you’re out the door with little fuss and spending more time having fun. To make things easier on you (always a priority!), older children can have their own bag with their stuff in it, that they can carry themselves.

When it comes to saving money on food and snacks there are several options. The first is to pack your snacks and lunch before you go. The photo above is a sample of what we might pack for our little fella a day trip: there’s sultanas (much cheaper to buy a large packet and decant them yourself into containers rather than buy individual boxes), some cut up apple (I have found that it doesn’t tend to go brown in the container – I don’t know why), some cheese and crackers and a vegemite sandwich. I also pack a bottle of water for each person (but not bottled water, if you know what I mean) and maybe some snacks for me that the little fella doesn’t eat, but I didn’t photograph these. The sandwich sized containers, by the way, are great. DH takes his lunch in them and we haven’t used cling-wrap in years.

Alternatively, you can pack an easy picnic with things like bread rolls and salad that you can make up during lunch time. For the super prepared, there’s always cold quiche or leftover chicken, but I’m generally not that organised. In a pinch, you can pick up some rolls and ham from the supermarket, which is much cheaper and healthier than junk food. If you store your picnic set in the boot of your car it makes these spontaneous picnics easier.

Lately we’ve been having dinner down at the river where it’s much cooler. We generally eat dinner around 5:30pm, so we’re not changing our routine to cook earlier and make it down before nightfall. These picnic dinners are often spontaneous and again, having picnic gear already packed and ready to go makes spontaneous decisions easy to execute.

Many dinner dishes lend themselves to being packed as a picnic instead. We’ve eaten honey roasted pumpkin risotto by the river (beats KFC any day), stir fries and curries (just pack the rice and the curry separately like they do when you get takeaway), and the other night I cooked a chook in the slow cooker and we bought a couple of dollars worth of chips to go with it.

One day I might make some insulated carriers for these meals, but for now I find wrapping the containers in tea towels keeps dinner warm and we have the tea towels for hand washing if we need.

You can download the checklist here (pdf format), and I’ve included blank spots so that it can be customised.

Now it’s over to you. What are your tips for saving money on family outings? How do you get out the door with minimum fuss and without forgetting the things you need? What easy food / snack ideas do you have on standby for when you’re out of the house?

Have you read these articles?:

1. stop your friends from breaking your budget
2. moving house on a budget
3. 8 Ways To Improve The Value Of Your Property Without Breaking The Budget

I’ve been working on how to get some more crafting into my day. Time is short, but I’m really missing my creative time. This week I’ve written a three part series on finding time to craft. I like to sew mostly, but the tips over the next few days are relevant for getting any type of project done when time is short.

I decided recently to keep a list of craft projects I want to try. Well that list is two pages long and still growing daily! How to find time to craft? I came across this post on Patricia Zapata’s blog A Little Hut about making time to craft. She has some great tips but the one I love the best is asking for time as a gift:

As a slight variation, DH and I made an agreement that we would each have one night a week completely off. To make the evening flow more easily, I wrote out a very specific evening checklist of things that need to be done each night because there’s no point me having an evening off, only to have to catch up on all the work the next day! The checklist includes things like cook dinner, soak nappies, wash the dishes, put on a loaf of bread, wipe down the benches.

I have arranged to have Wednesdays off and DH has Mondays off. We’ve been doing this for about a month now, and so far it’s been working out really well (although I admit that mostly I spend the time catching up on some rest rather than crafting).

The benefit of this agreement is that there are no expectations on that evening. I’m not going to get cranky if DH isn’t helping because I know it’s his night off, and I get my turn on another night. Like Patricia, I also don’t sit around feeling guilty about having ‘me’ time. Having an official, agreed upon arrangement helps take the guilt away.

If you would like to read Patricia’s other ideas on finding time to craft, you can find them here. As a side note, Patricia is a paper artist who does beautiful things with paper. I love her recycled cardboard coaster and trivet set.

Have you read these articles?:

1. finding time to craft part two – making the most of your time
2. finding time to craft part three–organising your projects–a project bag tutorial
3. finding the time to declutter

When it comes to being frugal, my one major weakness is books. I LOVE books. My idea of paradise is a library room with floor to ceiling bookshelves lining every wall. And a comfy chair. And an open fireplace. And a cup of tea…

Anyway, our book budget is zero dollars. But that’s ok, because I can get them for free! And you know, using the library is practically like buying a book, you have to swipe a plastic card to take the book home, but there’s no pain of money being spent.

Modern library services go well beyond just lending books, however. Even I’m surprised at how many services our local library offers, and I spend a lot of time at our library. When we moved away from the city, library access was what I thought I would miss the most. Luck for us, we have a good library here too.

I thought I would share the services offered by our library. If you haven’t explored your local library, I hope this inspires you to check out what services yours offers.

Borrow: books, DVDs, CDs, toys, puzzles, board games, foreign language materials, eBooks, audio books (digital and DVDs), magazines, newspapers.

Lending Services: inter-library loans, suggest-a-book, mobile library, home library service, new books email service (where they email you the latest titles purchased and you can place them on reserve to read as soon as they arrive), book club (the library has a special book club range with a large selection of books that you can borrow multiple copies of for your book club).

Local history and genealogy: our library has access to births, deaths and marriages etc for you to research your family tree as well as a genealogist to help you.

Author talks: regular meet the author events.

Seminars: lately we have had seminars on raising chickens, permaculture, money management, weight loss, home renovation, business marketing, parenting and how to meditate.

Computers: offering word processing and other office programs as well as internet access.

Tech services: photocopying and printing.

Computer classes: everything from computer basics for seniors to desktop publishing.

Free wi-fi: if you want to use your own laptop.

Coffee machine and outside area to sit. (No toilet though. Can’t believe there’s no toilet!)

Adult literacy classes

Kids activities: our library has story telling time, baby in arms story time, school holiday activities, summer reading programmes, competitions, toddler music time, a couch and reading area with toys to play with, computers just for kids with learning programmes installed.

Charity events: our local library is having a biggest morning tea for instance.

Art exhibitions of local artists

Reading suggestions: the library has a newsletter that includes a ‘great reads’ section. There are also book reviews posted on the shelves around the library and the online catalogue has a ‘review’ section a lot like Amazon.com where members can leave a book review of the books they read.

Community notices: The library has a community notice board, bus timetables to take, community health and awareness brochures, community magazines, a free local flora and pest guide, what’s on, for sale etc.

Extra curricular activities: One of the smaller libraries in our region offers daily yoga, tai chi and meditation sessions. What a nice way to start the day – followed by a coffee and a book!

What local library services do you use?

Have you read these articles?:

1. 12 Favourite Books That I Read In 2009
2. Save Money On Cookware At Your Local Army Disposals Store
3. tip tuesday–creating your own personalised library

Over the last month we had four virus in four weeks. The last one really laid us all low, the coughing lingering for two weeks after. Sick for six weeks with a sick, unhappy bub = not fun.

While ‘plenty of bed rest’ may be what the doctor ordered, when you’re a parent, especially one with sick children, the likelihood of bed rest is pretty small. You still need to keep the household running with mouths to feed, clothes to wash and minimum sanitation to maintain.

Preparing for cold and flu season before it hits may not prevent you from getting sick, but it will certainly ease the burden of keeping the household running while you’re under the weather.

Stock up

So that you have them on hand ready, stock up on a supply of cold and flu tablets / paracetamol, tissues, lozenges and whatever you normally use to soldier on (‘cause sometimes soldiering on is just what we have to do). That way, you’re not out in inclement weather while you’re ill getting supplies and you’re not sharing germs either. Don’t forget the measuring cup and thermometer. Also, I haven’t tried it myself, but some people swear by homeopathic remedies. If you use these, have some on hand before illness strikes.

Last week I wrote about how I squeezed a bag of lemons and froze the juice. I can’t tell you how glad I was to be able to pop a cube in a cup of boiling water with some honey. As well as lemon juice, you may want to consider some useful essential oils like eucalyptus oil that can be used in a steamer or bath to help with congestion. I came across this site that talks about what essential oils are useful for colds and flu and how to use them.

Get cooking

When I was ill, all I wanted was my mum. And her chicken soup. I had a huge craving for chicken soup. And it turns out that studies have tested chicken soup and actually found it an effective remedy to symptoms of the common cold! Too sick however to make my own chicken soup, I had to make do with short soup from the local Chinese shop. Not really the same, but close enough.

Which brings me to my point: stock the freezer with soups and other foods for when you’re too sick (or even too tired) to cook. Real homemade soup in minutes when you’re ill is well worth the effort now. And other ready to defrost meals will ensure the family doesn’t turn to takeaway (which isn’t going to help you get better) while you’re out of action.

Quiet time activities

It’s a good idea to have some special quiet time activities set aside to keep the kids busy while you (or they) are under the weather. Books, colouring-in books, special DVDs, puzzles, board games – novel activities that are set aside specially for when you’re ill or other ‘special’ (mum needs a break) occasions.

Build immunity

In the meantime, the best thing you can do before cold and flu season arrives is to build your immunity naturally by eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables (did you know that sugar is an immune suppressant?), drinking lots of water and getting plenty of sleep. Keep up your vitamins and minerals and take plenty of opportunity to de-stress. And of course, one of the best ways to avoid illness is regular hand washing with normal soap and water.

What about shots? For myself, I’ve normally said no no no to flu shots, but after being sick for so long, DH thought it might be a good idea to get shot this Winter. We really don’t want the flu as well. I still haven’t decided, but it’s another way to avoid the flu this season.

Entitlements

If you work, ensure you know how much sick leave you have available and what the business’ policy is for taking leave? Do you need a doctor’s certificate? Under what circumstances? For instance, DH needs a doctor’s certificate if he has two or more sick days in a row or takes a Monday or Friday off sick. Can you use holiday leave if you have no sick pay? Do you have family carers leave?

Don’t forget the unwritten workplace policy. Are you expected to go to work sick? I know and you know that you’re better off at home in bed rather than at work infecting everyone else, but sometimes that’s not the reality of the workplace. If this is the case, it’s even more important to focus on building your immunity and having medicine at hand to help you manage the symptoms.

Do you prepare for the cold and flu season? I have never prepared for illness before, but the last few weeks have really shown me that we could do with some sickness preparation.

Have you read these articles?:

1. Preparing The Household Budget For 2010
2. preparing the household budget for 2011
3. what’s in season: australian guide for autumn

Does this sound familiar: no school for six weeks and three days in you’re already hearing the dreaded “I’m bored!”

Ok, so the little fella is too young for this yet, but I remember those words coming out of my own mouth not so long ago.

I’m discovering that the best children’s activities are the ones that hold their attention for the longest and these activities often involve the simplest of things. Mess and noise I can deal with as long as it gives me a few minutes of tuning out time without resorting to turning on the TV. I’m also discovering that a little planning and preparation means a lot of fun with the little fella (or a lot of mummy time to herself).

Below are a few inexpensive activity ideas to help keep the kids entertained during the summer holidays.

Fun in the water

While the times of spending hours running around under the sprinkler are over, summer time the time to splash around in the water. If you have a pool then you’ve got hours of entertainment already. For the rest of us, a blow up kiddie pool can be an inexpensive alternative (and if you’ve sat in a kiddie pool drinking beer on a hot summer night you will appreciate that the kiddie pool can be enjoyable for all ages).

In the pool – Ideas for pool games include swimming competitions, water tug-o-war marco polo, handstands and dive for the coin.

Spray bottle water fight – Don’t have super soakers or water bombs? Use household spray bottles to conduct water fights.

Bowl of water – A good one for smaller children. Place items in a bowl of water that they can splash around in. Maybe they can ‘help’ you wash up. I do this with the little fella and he enjoys tipping the bowl of water over his head.

Bucket relay – Divide into teams. Each team has two buckets at either end of the yard (one with water and one empty) and a cup. The teams race each other to get the water from one bucket to the other with the cup…by holding it over their head. The team with the most water in the second bucket wins.

Paint with water – For smaller kids. This used to be my all time favourite activity when I was in preschool (I can still remember painting the cubby house, so it must have been good). You need a bucket and a paint brush and something to ‘paint’.

Fun in the backyard

Pavement art – Chalk and cement is all that is needed for pavement art. We used to do this at my grandmother’s. After taking an art class and discovering charcoal, I raided the BBQ and drew all over the pavement with lumps of charcoaled wood – that didn’t go down very well actually, but it washes off just fine.

French cricket – derived from cricket, there is only one batsman who stands with their feet together the bat held in front of the legs. ‘Bowling’ is underarm and you get out by being caught out or by being bowled in the legs. For more details see the Wikipedia entry.

Make believe – Cops and robbers, playing shop in the cubby house, playing house, doctors and nurses – the options are limited only by kid’s imaginations which of course are limitless. You provide the sunscreen and the cordial (and maybe a few props) and the kids do the rest.

Hide and seek – An old favourite, no explanation needed.

Scavenger hunt – There are two versions of this game, one that takes a little more preparation than the other. In the first version, you write a list of things that can be commonly found in the backyard like a leaves, feathers etc. The first person or team to find everything on that list is the winner. The other version involves you hiding things in the yard and writing clues as to what these things are and their whereabouts. Alternatively, you write clues to places in the yard and the answer has to be written down. Again the first person with everything on the list wins.

Spotlight – This is a game to be played at night. One person is the ‘spotter’ and they hold the torch. Everyone else goes to the end of the yard. They must make it back to home base before being ‘spotted’. I played this when I was about 14 in a huge open paddock in the pitch black darkness. The bonfire was the home base. I have never had so much fun. Just as well the snakes were asleep. A variation of this game is Ghost in the Graveyard.

Mini Olympics – I’d almost forgotten playing this one when I was a kid. Host the event with a variety of games like timed wheelbarrow races, obstacle courses, tossing games like toss the ball in the bucket or quoits, jumping games, egg and spoon races etc. Don’t forget the opening and closing ceremony, medals and certificates and the after party.

Fun Out and about

There are lots of free activities to do out and about. Visit your local library for free holiday activities. Our library has cartoon drawing workshops and young writers workshops as well as story time. Other free activities include:

Playgrounds – Meet other parents and relax under the trees with a book while the kids play with other kids on the equipment.

At the beach or river – build sandcastles, the more elaborate the more time consuming, play beach bowling (make the pins out of sand and throw a ball to ‘knock’ them over) build dams (and then knock them down), wade in the rock pool looking for crabs.

At the park – play cricket, Frisbee hacky sack, soccer, football or whatever other sport you like. Build fairy villages. Go on a nature walk. Borrow a local guide book from the library and use it to identify the birds, insects, lizards, and plants at your local park then create your own nature book with drawings, cuttings and descriptions.

Around town – Explore your local town or suburb. Look at new shops, walk down new streets. If your suburb is old, find out about the history of certain buildings as you explore.

Fun indoors

While outdoor play is great during summer, it isn’t always possible. It might be raining. Here in Queensland, to be ‘sun-smart’ we are told to stay out of the sun between 10am and 3pm. That’s a lot of indoor time over six weeks.

Dress ups – a perennial favourite.

Board games – There are plenty of games to play without having to buy expensive board games, charades is the best example. For other games ideas see the Party Games website.

Write and perform a play – Kids will have to write the script, make the props, practice the performance and then perform the play – an all afternoon activity.

High tea – Sit down to a formal high tea. Bake some lovely cakes, dress up, use a tea pot and nice tablecloth and napkins and enjoy a formal morning tea.

Craft activities – For great craft activities visit the Family Fun website or the Frugal Family Fun blog.

For more holiday ideas see 50 free and almost free activities for kids. For games ideas check out the Fun and Games website and Kid’s Games website.

Have you read these articles?:

1. Keeping Cool This Summer The Frugal Way
2. Frugal date Ideas
3. 50 Free And Almost Free Holiday Activities For Kids

It’s that time of the year again. Time to draw up a new budget and decide on some goals for the coming year. DH and I recently sat down and had THE TALK. What our financial priorities will be for 2011.

Dealing with stark financial realities is never fun. Budgeting and goal setting can be difficult enough for the individual, but throw marriage into the mix and it can be a minefield. The convergence of different ideas about how money should be handled, what is a comfortable amount of debt, whether money should be saved and how much, what to spend the money you have on, can all lead to stress. Once you are in a relationship where finances are shared, you can no longer effectively budget and set goals as an individual. We only just realised this a year or two ago. While I was busily planning all the renovations I wanted to do to our house, DH’s goal was save up every last cent, sell our house and move. Our financial goals were in conflict and we didn’t even realise it.

So this month we sat down, looked over next year’s budget and decided on some shared financial goals. We discussed options and made some compromises. I thought we needed to focus on buying a newer car. DH felt that we would be just wasting money, that the old bomb probably has another year in it yet. His goal was to invest some money and increase our assets. We compromised by agreeing to invest a little while putting what money we could aside to buy a newer car some time in the future. And we both agreed on fixing up the backyard so this became financial goal number one. However, all of these financial goals hinge on one thing. We both agreed that I have to do something to earn some extra cash otherwise none of these financial goals will be possible.

I’m no expert in money talk and marriage. I’m lucky enough that DH and I are pretty much on the same page when it comes to finances. We don’t fight about money. After all, you can’t fight about something that you don’t have. But here are some things that work for us when it comes to the money talk.

Set a date

If you’re the person who deals with the household finances, set a date that your partner agrees with, where you can sit down and discuss finances. Don’t spring the discussion on them with a “we need to talk about our finances right now, turn off the TV,” give them time to think about your financial position and goals. You both need to be relaxed and able to focus on the discussion with full attention.

Make sure the kids are in bed and the TV is off

Pick a quiet time where there are few or no interruptions so that you are able to to make some concrete decisions and set some realistic goals. Half-started, half-hearted conversations will not result in the action that needs to be taken for real change to occur.

Use facts

If you keep a budget, then using actual numbers makes any discussion more concrete and financial goals more attainable. Write out a debt plan and your net worth and look at your cash flow. If you are considering large expenses such as renovations, get a quote or two so that you have a ball park figure with which to work with. Tracking expenses and using a budget will also mean that you can both discuss the strengths and weaknesses in your financial situation.

Avoid blame

Before having a discussion with your spouse about finances, decide what the purpose of the discussion is. Is it to improve your financial situation? I’ve found that open discussions end in positive change more often than arguments do.

Discuss common goals

What financial goals do you both agree on? These goals are the ones to focus on, other goals come secondary.

Compromise

You and your partner will each have separate personal goals. If the budget allows, agree on some common goals and then one or two separate personal financial goals. For example, one of my personal goals is investing in a new theme for this website. DH has no interest in that goal. We focus on the main goals and allow a couple of personal goals as well.

Write it down

Write down both your common goals and your personal goals and put a budget on each goal. This way there are no arguments six months down the track, you can refer to hard physical evidence as “this is what we both agreed on as being fair and reasonable.”

Set boundaries

Agree to a ‘splurge fund’, money that can be spent freely without recriminations. That way you can be both working towards your common financial goals, while still having a little room for everyday splurges without the guilt. Discussing ‘rules’ that work for the both of you and that you both agree on (for example discussing expenditure over $100) and respecting those rules will mean less money arguments. Write these agreed rules down as a reminder.

Make the commitment

Once financial goals are agreed upon, both partners need to take concrete actions to make those goals a reality. That might mean giving up an expense that is not serving your financial goals. If your partner is a spend thrift, leading by example may help and if not, you are still one step closer to your goals than what you would have been if you hadn’t made those compromises. Sometimes seeing results is enough motivation for the other partner to tow the line. Tracking expenses can also be a real eye opener.

Do you have tips for the money talk? I would love to here how you work out your finances with your partner.

Have you read these articles?:

1. the money talk–a joint perspective
2. Australian Online resources for money management
3. Teaching money to kids with five activities