that sounds good tag and will appeal to some

good luck with your venture hope it all works out for you

I have lived with the word BUDGET all my working life and we have a yearly budget plan which we review every quarter. Our view is that one must know where the $$$ are coming from and and more importantly where the bloody $$$$ are going. Virtually everything goes on our Mastercard and I check the statement every month, and honestly there would only be say $20 worth of expenses that we probably would not have spent if operating on CASH only. Obviously the card debt is paid on time in full each month. We have educated our boys, now married men, to operate exactly the same way. No M/Card debt.
Don't die in debt, but conversely don't leave a huge S.K.I. program behind as the kids will say 'Thanks Mum & Dad" as they jet of overseas flying first class.
Don't wooory be aaaappy
Jay&Dee

we have always budgeted too ,well I have as john and I have only been together 10 years
I hate owing money its a bug bear of mine but when we moved from out of town to here ,it was unavoidable

if we had to sell up we would recoup our outlay and then some easily really

the boss calls me his accountant

don't die in debt & don't leave the kids too much

they are cotradictory IF you are an asset owner; most of us would own our own home and at the end of our 'working' lives won't owe on it (i'm not one of that group yet). when it gets sold after our deaths (& i know then none of us will care) the kids will be jetting off first class or paying out their mortgages (depending on where they are in their life cycle)

if you don't own assets then they won't be getting too much anyway

the problem is how to use the 'locked equity' in a home to help our lifestyles when we no longer have a 'working' income.

the obvious way is to 'die in debt' where you owe less than what the assets are worth; assets sold, debt paid & small amount left over for kids

the problem here though is while "in debt" there is an 'extra' charge on the equity that is reducing the lifestyle available funds (called interest !!)

but if you are prepared to forgo some of the equity into finance charges; it is possible to use @ 40%-80% of your equity in the house to enhance your lifestyle

general disclaimer i'm not registered to accept money for advice therefore the above can only be "my opinion"

Everyone is so very different when it comes to their lifestyles and spending. We were fortunate to have done our two year round Australia trip before our 40's but had paid off our home and managed to pay off a large amount off our rental property. The rental paid for itself when we were on the road and we rented out our acreage property to a lovely couple who looked after it as if it were their own. That rent went towards expenses whilst on the road.

My husband and I were never on big incomes but managed to save by doing sensible stuff... the usual like not drinking great heaps, we don't smoke, we don't eat takeaways (yuck!) we didn't buy anything beyond our means. We lived comfortably without going overboard.

On the road we got into the happy hour spirit but limited ourselves to one beer each a day, we shouted ourselves out to restaurants about five times in total as we find the food we cook ourselves to be tastier anyway. We didn't go on every flight or sightseeing venture and instead took to the hiking tracks and entertained ourselves that way.

Accommodation, anything over $30/night was given a miss. We free camped a lot or stayed in national parks. The biggest expense is when you turn the key to your vehicle!!

Just remember it's not a matter of working harder, it's doing things smarter. Once you hit the road all those little sacrifices will soon be forgotten about. Just remember that you will have the trip of your life once you get going.