About Melanie Wegener

I love finding ways to be savvy with money and helping others to do so too. I enjoy finding ways to save and earn money while being home. I am passionate about empowering other women to take an active role in managing their finances too.

I haven’t done any finance related study. I simply want to stay home with my children as much as I can, so try to be creative about ways to save money. Things from getting a good deal on our home loan, negotiating deals on utilities, insurance, phone plans, saving money on groceries and earning money from side hustles. I know that my husband is busy at work so I try to manage the money side of things well. It’s one less thing that he has to think about and I genuinely enjoy it!

I do cloth nappies and wipes, reusable cleaning cloths, homemade cleaning products, and cooking from scratch. We don’t have a dryer but use our reliable Hills Hoist instead. I find things in hard waste, clean them up and sell them. I find items at op shops and resell them online. My eldest brings me toys to sell and he collects to profits to buy new ones with. I buy most clothes, shoes and books from op shops, or clearance racks from department stores if I don’t have any luck. Our younger boys wear the same outfits that their big brothers wore, with a few new pieces added in. I ask the person marking down meat to mark it down more for me at certain times of the day. I check receipts carefully to make sure I’m not over charged.

In the last two years, I have focused on building up our emergency fund and paying down the mortgage, as well as building up sinking funds. We are on track to pay off our mortgage in six years, less if I choose to work more hours. We have started investing in shares which is exciting.

My husband has reduced his hours slightly to spend a day a fortnight home with the kids. We try to balance out saving money with making the most of the time we have together while our family is young.