SG Reader Profile – Lynda Hunter
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A few lines about yourself
I live and work on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in Queensland. I live with my adult daughter who has recently started University and am a single parent. We live a very simple existence with our three much loved pussy cats.
What was your first job? What did you learn financially?
I left school at 15 and my first job was as a shop assistant at the confectionary counter at Penny’s in George Street Brisbane. I had to wear a starched white uniform too which was pretty special. I was always encouraged by my Mum (who was a widow and a working Mum too) to tuck money aside into a special savings account.
What do you do for work now?
I am now a charity shop manager and have been for the past 14 years after spending nearly all my life in commerce/travel/insurance/administration roles since I spring boarded from my position at Penny’s back in the 60s.
I have a wonderful team of talented volunteers working with me and we run what has been considered to be a pretty spectacular looking shop which really doesn’t look like an “Op” shop.
I enjoy not just the challenges each stock delivery brings but the camaraderie my staff and I have. I like to spoil my “girls” on their birthdays because of all the energy and talent they give ungrudgingly.
Your ultimate how to save money tip
Forget all those fancy cleaning products they advertise incessantly on the TV and in magazines. I have now reverted to using good old White Vinegar, don’t need to buy the cleaning vinegar, just use the plain brand salad vinegar. I use it instead of fabric softener, and no your clothes don’t smell like a salt & vinegar chip.
I also use it for anything else that needs cleaning in the house. I have even used it for a nasty spider bite I got in the garden one day. I came straight into the house and stuck my finger into a container of the vinegar and voila poison neutralized!
Also takeaways/fast food is kept to an absolute minimum!
Are you more likely to spend money or save money?
I prefer to save and tuck as much as I can away into the small mortgage I have. I am blessed by working in a charity shop by the fact that I come across some wonderful fashions for myself and my daughter that only cost me a few dollars and my main expenditure is on household utilities and groceries, an ever-rising area unfortunately. I do enjoy coffee and lunch indulgences rather than buying big ticket items with my hard earned cash.
What would you do with $50K?
What a blessing that would be. I would put the majority of it into my mortgage and then take my daughter on a holiday to California where my brother has been living for the past 30 years and where she can finally meet her cousins who she has only spoken to on Facebook.
It would also allow me to keep my unit and not sell it as I am due to retire next year and that would be a nice way to take the pressure of my mortgage repayments and to celebrate 50 years of work.
I have always worked throughout my life, only taking a few years off when my daughter was born and then only until she went to school.
Thank you for letting me share with you!
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