That’s always a load off my mind. Today Stacey put the finishing touches to the calculations and it spat out what I need to pay SARS. That hopefully will be done in the next week or so.
I’ve learned a lot from Stacey. The best way to do it is the right way! I have a file for my paperwork and I start with each tax-deductible receipt and it gets added. If there is every audit, I have all the paperwork in one place. Stacey goes a step further and has it all digital. Then I have an online Google spreadsheet which neatly adds it all up. It’s a great feeling being on top of things.
One of the things that Mike and I have never really consistently done in our entire 32 years of married life is a budget! Our strategy has always been to spend as little as possible. Over the years, when we had higher expenses such as school fees and uniforms and sports tuition and school camps, I would keep tabs on what was needed. Now things are a little simpler although we have some property expenses which I need to keep on top of.
Talking of a budget, Mike is going to join me at my desk in the next little while because he wants to add a list of projected costs to our building spreadsheet. The builder will meet with us over the next couple of weeks with his quote, but we know that there are several things it won’t include such as the grey water system, the solar panel set up, the funicular, landscaping, security and a whole lot more. Mike wants to make a list and then start researching prices so that we can have a better idea of how much this will cost altogether.
The reason why we can afford to build this house on the mountainside is three-fold:
- Julian is coming in 50-50 so we don’t have to pay for all of it. The cost is shared.
- When Mike retired, he was able to take a bit of money out tax-free and invest it – that has grown over the last 3 years and is going to pay for the lion’s share of our part of the cost of the house.
- I have an income that I can save towards the house.
While Mike and I are both professionals, we started off our married life with very little. Mike had spent the first 10 years of his professional life – the most lucrative years – in full time ministry. Only after we married did he return to the commercial world.
Our family financial policy was to only buy what we could afford and the big expenses like the house, we only bought what we could afford on Mike’s salary. Mike worked for the City of Cape Town as a professional land surveyor and while he earned well enough to keep us all, he was just a civil servant. I worked at CCFm for best part of 2 decades. Initially, I earned commission only on any advertising I sold. The Lord blessed me and I managed to earn enough to buy a flat. Most months, all my income went into paying that off. I borrowed the money from Julian and paid him off at R5000 per month. There was seldom much left over. Eventually, when I had about R60000 left to pay, Mike had a small payout from a retirement annuity and we flattened that debt. Adrian and Stacey were my first tenants. Then when they went overseas, David took it over. When the Lord opened the door for us to buy the house on Echo Rd. David moved into the loft there and I found a new tenant for the flat. The tenant and his wife have rented it for 4 years. That income has been so valuable in contributing to our financial stability.
Everything we have comes from the Lord and we are the first to acknowledge that. What we have found is by spending less than we earn, we have grown our wealth. I love listening to Dave Ramsey. His policy about money is to use it for living, for giving and for saving. Here is one of his videos:
Today I worked 8 hours.
When we die, we will leave an inheritance for Stacey and David. But we have a greater one.
Ephesians 1:11-12
In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
Do everything for the glory of God. Work, play, money, building.
These are the days.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Gym:
- 45 minutes on the treadmill. I laboured 5km and then cooled down.
- 15 minutes of stretches.
Braces:
Day 97