Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter 39:18
In this Newsletter
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - How to Clean Wooden Floors Safely; Instead of Freezer Bags; Free Bag Sealer
3. Share Your Tips - Have a great money saving tip? Share it here
4. Nice Things People Say
5. On the Menu - Cowboy Cookies
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Where I Shop
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. Last Week's Question - MOO will kits
9. This Week's Question - Is there a black wash I can MOO?
10. Ask Cath
11. Join the Cheapskates Club
12. Frequently Asked Questions
13. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
Goodness it's been another busy week here. There's been spring cleaning going on, on the website and in our home and garden. I've quite enjoyed playing supervisor and telling everyone what to do and how to do it my way, and they've been good sports and let me!
We have so many new Cheapskaters to welcome this week; I've been told finding your way around the Member's Centre can be intimidating for new Members, so please make sure to help them feel at home in our wonderful space on the world wide web. We really are friendly and not at all intimidating so if you are new, don't be shy either.
The new forum is going great guns. If you need a hand with the changeover, please let me know, I'm here to help. It is full of great information to help you reach your financial goals and lots of friendly Cheapskaters too.
And just before I go, whoever you barrack for at the weekend, I hope your team wins!
Have a great week everyone.
PS: Love our site? We love referrals! Send a note to your favourite newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations, friends and relatives, and tell them about us!
2. From The Tip Store
How to Clean Wooden Floors Safely
Vinegar is an excellent cleaner for around the home. It’s cost effective, environmentally friendly and does a great job of cutting through grime, but it’s bad news for wood floors. Using vinegar on wood floor will dull the coating leaving your floor looking dull and lifeless. Try this safe, cheap and effective DIY cleaning solution for your wood floor instead and you’ll keep our floor looking great for years to come.
You will need:
1 litre spray bottle:
1 litre of warm water
5 -7 drops of castile soap
Up to 10 drops of pure essential oil (I love either lemon or orange for a really fresh fragrance)
Shake everything up in the spray bottle.
To use, dry mop or vacuum your floors, then spritz in sections with the floor spray and use a microfibre mop to clean. For stubborn spots, spray and wait about 30 seconds before mopping.
Your floors will be clean and shiny, without harming the finish.
Contributed by Michelle Lamb
Instead of Freezer Bags
Rather than using freezer bags try tearing off a section of freezer paper and wrap whatever up butchers wrap fashion. These sheets are easier to wash, dry and store than bags and you don't need a lot of it. Easy to reuse. I find bags tend to not dry completely and can smell & go mouldy when stored.
Contributed by Anne Wilson
Free Bag Sealer
A cheap and easy way to close grated cheese, frozen vegie bags ect. Cut along the top of the bag, close to the seal and tie it around the opening of the bag. You can leave it still attached to the bag at one end if you like.
Contributed by Junie Blucher
Editor's note: I love this tip, it's exactly what I do the frozen peas, beans and corn. So much easier than finding a bag clip and bundling the plastic up. Using a tie made from the same bag means it's the right size and being the same, it won't tear either. No more spilled veggies in the freezer is always a good thing. Cath
There are currently more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Submit your tip
The Cheapskate's Club website is over 3,000 pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. Let's get together and make the Cheapskates Club Australia's largest online hint, tip and idea library. Share your favourite money saving, time saving or energy saving hint and be in the running to win a one-year membership to The Cheapskate Club. We publish a Winning Tip each Thursday, so enter your great money, time or energy saving idea now.
Share your favourite hint or tip that saves money, time and energy and be in the running to win a one-year subscription to The Cheapskate Journal.
Remember, you have to be in it to win it!
Submit your tip
4. Nice THings People Say
Curious about whether the Cheapskates Club is right for you?
We receive many emails, phone calls and even letters from Cheapskaters thanking us for helping them make the switch from spendthrift to Cheapskate. Here are just some of the many we have received over the years.
"I just wanted to share with you that I went into semi-retirement at the commencement of 2016. My income dropped by 60% due to changing form a management role to a teaching role (without all of the extra stress and responsibilities). So far, I have been able to manage our family's budget and expenditure as I have been following many of the tips from The Cheapskates Club over the years. I have also been able to go overseas two years in a row with my sisters and this year will be going overseas again, but this time with my husband and adult daughter. Your book: Debt free, Cashed Up and Laughing started my Cheapskates journey. I thrilled that some of the tips were actual things I was already implementing. I also found a lot more great ideas as well. Thank you so much."
Eleanor
" I first saw a segment about Cheapskates Club on TV a few years ago and shared the information with my daughter who was struggling with debt and she has learnt a lot from your site and is now debt free. So thank you for all the resources you have here that help. I love homemaking and have benefited from a lifetime of living by these basic principles and find that even though I think I do it all well these days, I still find that there is always something new to learn and improve how I do things."
Lesley B.
" Just a quick note that I made the coffee syrup from your book which I got out of the library and it is really good, even my family think it is great and are happy to have this instead of the expensive bought stuff."
Magda
5. On the Menu
Cowboy Cookies
Ingredients:
125g butter, melted
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chocolate chips
1-1/3 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda
Method:
Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Grease biscuit trays. In a medium bowl, mix together cooled melted butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir in all of the dry ingredients. You may need to use your hands to finish mixing. Shape into walnut sized balls. Place 5cm apart on prepared biscuit trays. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes in the preheated oven. Transfer from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Beef
Monday: Tuna mornay, tossed salad
Tuesday: Macaroni cheese bake, tossed salad
Wednesday: Sweet chilli chicken tenders, fried rice
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Zucchini Slice, salad
Saturday: Hamburgers
In the fruit bowl: apples
In the cake tin: Cowboy Cookies
There are over 1,500 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge
Where I Shop
Hello Cheapskaters,
One of the most asked questions I get these days is where do I really shop?
I do the bulk of my shopping at Aldi, Coles, Pellegrinos, Australian Butcher, Hindustan Imports and The Full Pantry. Oh, you might see me in other stores in other shopping centres, especially on a Thursday when I go out with Hannah and sometimes my mother (she's not up to going out too often these days and I miss my regular Thursday shopping with her). If you want to know where I shop, keep on reading.
I do the bulk of my groceries at Aldi (love Aldi). The Aldi I prefer to shop at is at Vermont South shopping centre here in Melbourne. I jumped for joy and clapped my hands with glee when Aldi opened there a couple of years ago.
Then I zip down to Coles. It's in the same centre and it definitely shares first place with the Coles Bayswater store as my favourite in the area. It's always clean and tidy, is rarely out of stock of anything I want, readily gives out rain checks and if I really need something I can ask and they do their best to get it in for me. And I love the staff - some of them have been there since the store opened over 40 years ago - it must be a great store to work in.
It gets busy so I time my shopping for either first thing in the morning or around 3pm on a Sunday afternoon. I prefer Sunday afternoon so I can check out the meat markdowns and pick up any really good specials to add to the freezer stockpile.
For fruit and veg I go to Pellegrino's on High Street Road, Wantirna South. I love that they open at 7am, I usually call in on my way home from doing the station run. The prices are excellent, the quality is amazing, buying Australian isn't a problem and the staff are really nice. I don’t know what else I can say about this greengrocer without sounding like a complete fruit cake so I'll leave it at that.
I think everyone knows my favourite butcher is Australian Butcher Stores. When the Boronia store opened I was in butcher-shop-heaven! Only 8 minutes from home, the Boronia store is lovely to shop in. Again wonderful staff, slicing meat isn't a problem, prices are always excellent but the special prices are what I wait for and use to stock up.
Herbs and spices I buy Hindustan Imports, usually once a year when I do the stockpile shopping..
Spelt flour, legumes, gluten flour and yeast I buy from The Full Pantry in Croydon as bulk orders once a year.
And that's about it. Nothing fancy or special, regular stores anyone can go to; the difference is the prices are so much cheaper than doing it all at one supermarket. Shopping at these stores means I can stick to our grocery budget easily.
So now I've shared where I shop, where do you do your shopping?
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
7. Cheapskates Buzz
From the Article Archive
7 Freezer Meals in One Hour for under $30
https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/7-freezer-meals-in-one-hour-for-under-30---wednesday-1st-april-2015.html
The High Cost of Clutter
https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/the-high-cost-of-clutter---sunday-1st-march-2014.html
Cheapskating on Autopilot (Revised)
https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/cheapskating-on-autopilot-revised---may-2017.html
Most popular forum posts this week
Are You a Cheapskater Near Me?
https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/member-forum.html?p=post%2Fare-you-a-cheapskater-near-me-9851808%3F
Do you ever feel like a doormat to your kids
https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/member-forum.html?p=%2Fpost%2Fdo-you-ever-feel-like-a-doormat-to-your-kids-9849773
Life on the Farm
https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/member-forum.html?p=%2Fpost%2Flife-on-the-farm-9852621
Most popular blog posts this week
Old-Fashioned Household Products for Your Spring Cleaning Project
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2016/09/old-fashioned-household-products-for.html
Are You a Pack Rat?
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/01/are-you-pack-rat.html
Why I Love My Microfibre Cleaning Cloths
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2014/02/why-i-love-my-microfibre-cleaning-cloths.html
8. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Jo who wrote
"Does anyone have any suggestions on making a will? Is a will kit for $30 worth it? I have a simple will leaving to spouse and children. Is it better going to a lawyer or institution like Public Trustees? What do I need for a DIY or MOO will?"
There were lots of answers to Jo's question, some for DIYing wills, others for getting legal advice; some for using Public Trustees, some adamantly against.
Here are my thoughts. We review our wills regulary and if necessary have them updated, I've written about this quite a bit. It doesn't take much to cause a will to be a problem, and each state has different laws regarding wills (and these laws are constantly changing).
Even if you are single, with no dependents and no estate, you need a will. As each of our children turned 18, we bought their first will for them as a part of their birthday gift (along with their passports). No matter how old you are, if you are a legal adult you need a will, if only to ensure your wishes re funeral and burial are carried out.
Don't be squeamish about your will, there's far less stress all round if things are done properly. And as always, this is general advice. Think about your needs and wants with regard to your estate and seek the appropriate legal advice if you have any questions.
Lisette King answered
As an administrator in a small law practice I would honestly go to a solicitor if you are wanting to make a legal will. Whilst there is nothing wrong with a will kit, getting your will done with a professional will ensure that you haven't missed anything and that your will is legally valid.
I would price shop though! Prices can vary dramatically and you have every right to compare value for money (just like you would with any other 'purchase') and in the end you want to deal with someone you feel comfortable with - keeping in mind that your spouse may need to deal with them in the future as well should you pass away. Some firms offer a 'discounted' price for the preparation of reciprocal wills for couples too, so that is something you could enquire about.
As for what you need to prepare for writing your will - consider your executors, beneficiaries and any specific bequests carefully. Often spouses choose each other as their executor but having an alternative, in the event that your spouse in unable or unwilling to be your executor, is recommended. BTW - your chosen executor/s do not need to be family members or direct relations.
You will need the full legal names, occupation/relationship to you and current residential address of all parties who will be referred to in the will too. If you are planning to make specific bequests (your grandmother rings, an investment property etc) have all the details to hand.
There are other things to consider as well which I won't go in to (or this short post turn in to a novel!) but at least this gives you a jumping off point.
Judith Lowe answered
I would avoid the Public Trustee - they charge very heavy fees. Will kits usually include very clear guidelines so you might be ok for a very simple will, but if anything complicated involved, like children from more than one marriage, or estranged family members, better to get legal advice.
Leanne Stevens answered
Hi Jo, you may feel that your Will would be simple, by leaving to your spouse and children, but if it is not created properly you could risk your wishes being set aside and your assets going elsewhere, or taking far longer to get to those you wanted to have them. I would always recommend seeing a lawyer to get this drawn up. A small cost now can save a much larger and expensive headache later on.
Robyn Thomas answered
If you are being quoted more than about $300 for a will, shop around to other firms. You don't have to use a local firm as the firm should be able to send you the will for signing and you can send it back to them, they can check it and store it safely for you. Just make sure you use a lawyer in your own state. Country lawyers are usually cheaper than city lawyers, with an added bonus of more personalised service.
Kerry Alexander answered
From the perspective of someone who worked in Probate for a number of years, it's definitely much easier all round if the Will is drawn up exactly correctly, and the best way to ensure that is to pay a professional to draw it up. I also recommend going through a lawyer for the administration of deceased estates because there are regularly unforeseen headaches. A lawyer costs, but they know all the people to contact to make sure all hidden investments or debts are located and called in. That's just my opinion having worked in the field.
9. This Week's Question
Marita writes
"I use a black wash for my dark clothes. There are a couple on the market now but they are quite expensive. Does anyone know of a cheaper alternative to keep dark clothes from fading in the wash? I always hang them inside out on the line to stop fading as well. Thanks for your help."
Do you have the answer?
If you can help Marita, let us know. We'll enter your answer into our Tip of the Week competition, with a one-year membership to the Cheapskates Club as the prize too.
Send your answer
10. Ask Cath
We have lots of resources to help you as you live the Cheapskates way but if you didn't find the answer to your question in our extensive archives please just drop me a note with your question.
I read and answer all questions, either in an email to you, in my weekly newsletter, the monthly Journal or by creating blog posts and other resources to help you (and other Cheapskaters).
Ask Your Question
11. Join the Cheapskates Club
For just 10 cents a day you can join the Cheapskates Club and get exclusive access to the Cheapskate Journal, the monthly e-journal that shows you how to cut the costs of everyday living and still have fun.
Joining the Cheapskates Club gives you 24/7 access to the Members Centre with 1000's of money saving tips and articles.
Click here to join the Cheapskates Club today!
12. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. Members can update their email address or any other details by clicking on "Edit Profile" directly under their membership number after they have logged in to the Member's Centre. Subscribers to our free newsletter can use the Change Your Address form (under Customer Service in the menu) and fill it out. Once you've filled it in click the send button and we'll do the rest. Please remember to include your old email address so we can find it in the list as well as the new one.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
When you login to the Member's Centre you will be told how many days of membership you have left once you have 30 days left. Just click on the link to renew and your membership will just continue on, uninterrupted.
What will you do with my email address?
We never rent, trade or sell our email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever. You'll never get an unsolicited email from a stranger as a result of joining this list.
How Did You Get on Our List?
You signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member
13. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
Contact Cheapskates
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - How to Clean Wooden Floors Safely; Instead of Freezer Bags; Free Bag Sealer
3. Share Your Tips - Have a great money saving tip? Share it here
4. Nice Things People Say
5. On the Menu - Cowboy Cookies
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Where I Shop
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. Last Week's Question - MOO will kits
9. This Week's Question - Is there a black wash I can MOO?
10. Ask Cath
11. Join the Cheapskates Club
12. Frequently Asked Questions
13. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
Goodness it's been another busy week here. There's been spring cleaning going on, on the website and in our home and garden. I've quite enjoyed playing supervisor and telling everyone what to do and how to do it my way, and they've been good sports and let me!
We have so many new Cheapskaters to welcome this week; I've been told finding your way around the Member's Centre can be intimidating for new Members, so please make sure to help them feel at home in our wonderful space on the world wide web. We really are friendly and not at all intimidating so if you are new, don't be shy either.
The new forum is going great guns. If you need a hand with the changeover, please let me know, I'm here to help. It is full of great information to help you reach your financial goals and lots of friendly Cheapskaters too.
And just before I go, whoever you barrack for at the weekend, I hope your team wins!
Have a great week everyone.
PS: Love our site? We love referrals! Send a note to your favourite newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations, friends and relatives, and tell them about us!
2. From The Tip Store
How to Clean Wooden Floors Safely
Vinegar is an excellent cleaner for around the home. It’s cost effective, environmentally friendly and does a great job of cutting through grime, but it’s bad news for wood floors. Using vinegar on wood floor will dull the coating leaving your floor looking dull and lifeless. Try this safe, cheap and effective DIY cleaning solution for your wood floor instead and you’ll keep our floor looking great for years to come.
You will need:
1 litre spray bottle:
1 litre of warm water
5 -7 drops of castile soap
Up to 10 drops of pure essential oil (I love either lemon or orange for a really fresh fragrance)
Shake everything up in the spray bottle.
To use, dry mop or vacuum your floors, then spritz in sections with the floor spray and use a microfibre mop to clean. For stubborn spots, spray and wait about 30 seconds before mopping.
Your floors will be clean and shiny, without harming the finish.
Contributed by Michelle Lamb
Instead of Freezer Bags
Rather than using freezer bags try tearing off a section of freezer paper and wrap whatever up butchers wrap fashion. These sheets are easier to wash, dry and store than bags and you don't need a lot of it. Easy to reuse. I find bags tend to not dry completely and can smell & go mouldy when stored.
Contributed by Anne Wilson
Free Bag Sealer
A cheap and easy way to close grated cheese, frozen vegie bags ect. Cut along the top of the bag, close to the seal and tie it around the opening of the bag. You can leave it still attached to the bag at one end if you like.
Contributed by Junie Blucher
Editor's note: I love this tip, it's exactly what I do the frozen peas, beans and corn. So much easier than finding a bag clip and bundling the plastic up. Using a tie made from the same bag means it's the right size and being the same, it won't tear either. No more spilled veggies in the freezer is always a good thing. Cath
There are currently more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Submit your tip
The Cheapskate's Club website is over 3,000 pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. Let's get together and make the Cheapskates Club Australia's largest online hint, tip and idea library. Share your favourite money saving, time saving or energy saving hint and be in the running to win a one-year membership to The Cheapskate Club. We publish a Winning Tip each Thursday, so enter your great money, time or energy saving idea now.
Share your favourite hint or tip that saves money, time and energy and be in the running to win a one-year subscription to The Cheapskate Journal.
Remember, you have to be in it to win it!
Submit your tip
4. Nice THings People Say
Curious about whether the Cheapskates Club is right for you?
We receive many emails, phone calls and even letters from Cheapskaters thanking us for helping them make the switch from spendthrift to Cheapskate. Here are just some of the many we have received over the years.
"I just wanted to share with you that I went into semi-retirement at the commencement of 2016. My income dropped by 60% due to changing form a management role to a teaching role (without all of the extra stress and responsibilities). So far, I have been able to manage our family's budget and expenditure as I have been following many of the tips from The Cheapskates Club over the years. I have also been able to go overseas two years in a row with my sisters and this year will be going overseas again, but this time with my husband and adult daughter. Your book: Debt free, Cashed Up and Laughing started my Cheapskates journey. I thrilled that some of the tips were actual things I was already implementing. I also found a lot more great ideas as well. Thank you so much."
Eleanor
" I first saw a segment about Cheapskates Club on TV a few years ago and shared the information with my daughter who was struggling with debt and she has learnt a lot from your site and is now debt free. So thank you for all the resources you have here that help. I love homemaking and have benefited from a lifetime of living by these basic principles and find that even though I think I do it all well these days, I still find that there is always something new to learn and improve how I do things."
Lesley B.
" Just a quick note that I made the coffee syrup from your book which I got out of the library and it is really good, even my family think it is great and are happy to have this instead of the expensive bought stuff."
Magda
5. On the Menu
Cowboy Cookies
Ingredients:
125g butter, melted
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chocolate chips
1-1/3 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda
Method:
Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Grease biscuit trays. In a medium bowl, mix together cooled melted butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir in all of the dry ingredients. You may need to use your hands to finish mixing. Shape into walnut sized balls. Place 5cm apart on prepared biscuit trays. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes in the preheated oven. Transfer from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Beef
Monday: Tuna mornay, tossed salad
Tuesday: Macaroni cheese bake, tossed salad
Wednesday: Sweet chilli chicken tenders, fried rice
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Zucchini Slice, salad
Saturday: Hamburgers
In the fruit bowl: apples
In the cake tin: Cowboy Cookies
There are over 1,500 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge
Where I Shop
Hello Cheapskaters,
One of the most asked questions I get these days is where do I really shop?
I do the bulk of my shopping at Aldi, Coles, Pellegrinos, Australian Butcher, Hindustan Imports and The Full Pantry. Oh, you might see me in other stores in other shopping centres, especially on a Thursday when I go out with Hannah and sometimes my mother (she's not up to going out too often these days and I miss my regular Thursday shopping with her). If you want to know where I shop, keep on reading.
I do the bulk of my groceries at Aldi (love Aldi). The Aldi I prefer to shop at is at Vermont South shopping centre here in Melbourne. I jumped for joy and clapped my hands with glee when Aldi opened there a couple of years ago.
Then I zip down to Coles. It's in the same centre and it definitely shares first place with the Coles Bayswater store as my favourite in the area. It's always clean and tidy, is rarely out of stock of anything I want, readily gives out rain checks and if I really need something I can ask and they do their best to get it in for me. And I love the staff - some of them have been there since the store opened over 40 years ago - it must be a great store to work in.
It gets busy so I time my shopping for either first thing in the morning or around 3pm on a Sunday afternoon. I prefer Sunday afternoon so I can check out the meat markdowns and pick up any really good specials to add to the freezer stockpile.
For fruit and veg I go to Pellegrino's on High Street Road, Wantirna South. I love that they open at 7am, I usually call in on my way home from doing the station run. The prices are excellent, the quality is amazing, buying Australian isn't a problem and the staff are really nice. I don’t know what else I can say about this greengrocer without sounding like a complete fruit cake so I'll leave it at that.
I think everyone knows my favourite butcher is Australian Butcher Stores. When the Boronia store opened I was in butcher-shop-heaven! Only 8 minutes from home, the Boronia store is lovely to shop in. Again wonderful staff, slicing meat isn't a problem, prices are always excellent but the special prices are what I wait for and use to stock up.
Herbs and spices I buy Hindustan Imports, usually once a year when I do the stockpile shopping..
Spelt flour, legumes, gluten flour and yeast I buy from The Full Pantry in Croydon as bulk orders once a year.
And that's about it. Nothing fancy or special, regular stores anyone can go to; the difference is the prices are so much cheaper than doing it all at one supermarket. Shopping at these stores means I can stick to our grocery budget easily.
So now I've shared where I shop, where do you do your shopping?
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
7. Cheapskates Buzz
From the Article Archive
7 Freezer Meals in One Hour for under $30
https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/7-freezer-meals-in-one-hour-for-under-30---wednesday-1st-april-2015.html
The High Cost of Clutter
https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/the-high-cost-of-clutter---sunday-1st-march-2014.html
Cheapskating on Autopilot (Revised)
https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/cheapskating-on-autopilot-revised---may-2017.html
Most popular forum posts this week
Are You a Cheapskater Near Me?
https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/member-forum.html?p=post%2Fare-you-a-cheapskater-near-me-9851808%3F
Do you ever feel like a doormat to your kids
https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/member-forum.html?p=%2Fpost%2Fdo-you-ever-feel-like-a-doormat-to-your-kids-9849773
Life on the Farm
https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/member-forum.html?p=%2Fpost%2Flife-on-the-farm-9852621
Most popular blog posts this week
Old-Fashioned Household Products for Your Spring Cleaning Project
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2016/09/old-fashioned-household-products-for.html
Are You a Pack Rat?
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/01/are-you-pack-rat.html
Why I Love My Microfibre Cleaning Cloths
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2014/02/why-i-love-my-microfibre-cleaning-cloths.html
8. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Jo who wrote
"Does anyone have any suggestions on making a will? Is a will kit for $30 worth it? I have a simple will leaving to spouse and children. Is it better going to a lawyer or institution like Public Trustees? What do I need for a DIY or MOO will?"
There were lots of answers to Jo's question, some for DIYing wills, others for getting legal advice; some for using Public Trustees, some adamantly against.
Here are my thoughts. We review our wills regulary and if necessary have them updated, I've written about this quite a bit. It doesn't take much to cause a will to be a problem, and each state has different laws regarding wills (and these laws are constantly changing).
Even if you are single, with no dependents and no estate, you need a will. As each of our children turned 18, we bought their first will for them as a part of their birthday gift (along with their passports). No matter how old you are, if you are a legal adult you need a will, if only to ensure your wishes re funeral and burial are carried out.
Don't be squeamish about your will, there's far less stress all round if things are done properly. And as always, this is general advice. Think about your needs and wants with regard to your estate and seek the appropriate legal advice if you have any questions.
Lisette King answered
As an administrator in a small law practice I would honestly go to a solicitor if you are wanting to make a legal will. Whilst there is nothing wrong with a will kit, getting your will done with a professional will ensure that you haven't missed anything and that your will is legally valid.
I would price shop though! Prices can vary dramatically and you have every right to compare value for money (just like you would with any other 'purchase') and in the end you want to deal with someone you feel comfortable with - keeping in mind that your spouse may need to deal with them in the future as well should you pass away. Some firms offer a 'discounted' price for the preparation of reciprocal wills for couples too, so that is something you could enquire about.
As for what you need to prepare for writing your will - consider your executors, beneficiaries and any specific bequests carefully. Often spouses choose each other as their executor but having an alternative, in the event that your spouse in unable or unwilling to be your executor, is recommended. BTW - your chosen executor/s do not need to be family members or direct relations.
You will need the full legal names, occupation/relationship to you and current residential address of all parties who will be referred to in the will too. If you are planning to make specific bequests (your grandmother rings, an investment property etc) have all the details to hand.
There are other things to consider as well which I won't go in to (or this short post turn in to a novel!) but at least this gives you a jumping off point.
Judith Lowe answered
I would avoid the Public Trustee - they charge very heavy fees. Will kits usually include very clear guidelines so you might be ok for a very simple will, but if anything complicated involved, like children from more than one marriage, or estranged family members, better to get legal advice.
Leanne Stevens answered
Hi Jo, you may feel that your Will would be simple, by leaving to your spouse and children, but if it is not created properly you could risk your wishes being set aside and your assets going elsewhere, or taking far longer to get to those you wanted to have them. I would always recommend seeing a lawyer to get this drawn up. A small cost now can save a much larger and expensive headache later on.
Robyn Thomas answered
If you are being quoted more than about $300 for a will, shop around to other firms. You don't have to use a local firm as the firm should be able to send you the will for signing and you can send it back to them, they can check it and store it safely for you. Just make sure you use a lawyer in your own state. Country lawyers are usually cheaper than city lawyers, with an added bonus of more personalised service.
Kerry Alexander answered
From the perspective of someone who worked in Probate for a number of years, it's definitely much easier all round if the Will is drawn up exactly correctly, and the best way to ensure that is to pay a professional to draw it up. I also recommend going through a lawyer for the administration of deceased estates because there are regularly unforeseen headaches. A lawyer costs, but they know all the people to contact to make sure all hidden investments or debts are located and called in. That's just my opinion having worked in the field.
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