personal finance

I just transferred $150 from my Holiday/Gifts Fund into my main account, and $50 from my EF (because my Holiday/Gifts fund didn't have enough yet!). That's what it's there for, right?!

I feel bad taking the money out, but it does make me feel a hell of a lot better knowing I am taking it out for what it's actually meant to be used for!

The $200 is for the wedding this weekend. Some of it is because I am taking a day off work to go, and part of it is a cash gift for the bride and groom.

This means I had to delete one of the "goals reached" on my Holiday & Gifts fund, but I am sure that it won't be long until I reach it again.

Oh well. That's why I have these accounts! So I can take money out of them when I need to!

For the past 2 weeks we have had visitors staying at our house, and they left late last week. Also our flatmate, who had been away for a month, returned. It was nice to have the visitors, but I definately noticed an increase in spending, as we would often have takeaway, or I would cook for all four of us (they cooked once). They were our guests and seeing as I didn't know them well enough as I know our other friends, I didn't exactly feel comfortable asking them to pitch in on grocery items and dinners (unless we got takeaways). So BF and I paid for about 3/4 of their dinners. (breakfasts and lunches they did their own thing).

Now everything is back to normal I am looking forward to a decrease in Takeaway Food and Groceries spendings. I know I have to work on some dining out expenses as I have been having coffees with a friend about 2 or 3 times a week, and I stupidly decide each time that I won't bother to pack some snacks and 'will be fine to just have a coffee and wait til dinner', which usually ends in my stomach grumbling at me and my friend and I sharing a bowl of chips or some other equally fattening non-essential item we could have easily avoided.

I have also not been walking AT ALL lately. Usually I have atleast 3 x 30 minute walking/jogging afternoons a week at the beach along a track, but have not really gotten back into it since my holiday. So this is all going to start again next week, on monday after work. NO excuses! and I have decided I will jog an extra 10 minutes each session just because I have been so lazy.
Fortunately I have not put on any weight, though I am sure that will change unless I do something immediately!

I am going to make a meal plan for this week. This vegetarian/meateater combination is a tricky one sometimes, but it's working. Tonight I think we will have homemade pizzas as I have some bases in the freezer which I made last week.
For the toppings we will have: artichoke hearts, pineapple, onion, capsicum, roast pumpkin, olives, sundried tomato, with a tomato and garlic sauce, fresh herbs and on BF's side he will have some sliced lamb.

A Hens Day/Night of expenses:

Transport: $10
Coffees (while waiting for people to turn up): $7.40
Snack: $2.40
Parking (shared): $5
Boat Cruise: $20
Alcoholic Beverages: $38.50 (for FOUR drinks)
Lunch: $6.20
Dinner: $18.50
Scarf: $10 (it was freezing!)
Breakfast: $33.30
Coffee: $3.70

Total: $130.00


...I am cringing at how much the wedding is going to cost me next week!

I (finally) got my car serviced yesterday. (It has done 219 000km and was supposed to have a service at 210 000km).
I stressed for the entire morning wondering how much it would be, and whether I had enough cash in my Bills Account for the service, and whether or not he would find anything horribly wrong with it. I got a call at 2pm telling me it was ready, and that the only thing that needed fixing in the next six months was the brake pads, to relieve the shudder in the steering wheel (whew! i thought it might have been the cv joints!).
So, I get there, and whip out the CC to pay for the minor service, expecting over $200. How much? $116!!!
I was so happy.
Of course, the quote for the brake pads and rotors is $352.00, however now I am aware of that I will have enough money for it.

After that, I went into town with the intent on looking for some kind of jacket so wear to the hens night this saturday. Target were having a sale and I bought a polka dot satin shirt, a navy cardigan and another short sleeve jacket, for $56.00 all up. Would you like to know the best thing about all this? I got it entirely for FREE because I used up three gift cards I had in my wallet. One was a christmas bonus, one was a survey reward card, and one was a credit card reward gift card. I still have $4.91 left on one of the cards!

I thought that my day went fantastically well. The only bad bit was that I spent $6.30 on lunch, $28.05 on petrol and a whopping $3.99 on a drink that I didn't bother to check the price on before I bought it. That'll teach me. So I am putting $10.30 onto my debt for those two.

...vegetarian meal?

I seem to have a loss of inspiration in the cooking department lately, and everyone here always seems to have great ideas.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Or anything that has meat in it, that can be easily cooked without as well, will do.

I am having my 21st Birthday Party in a month, and am starting to get things organised so it isn't a major stressout the week before the party. It is a dress-up theme, and therefore at my home.
The guests are bringing their own alcohol and I am supplying food.
I am stressing a little about the food, I don't want to not have enough, because that would be terrible. But I don't want to have too much either. People are meant to arrive at around 4pm, as it is meant to be a relaxed afternoon (I am not really the 'party'-party type, I prefer talking and catching up to loud music and shots until 1am) so I will need enough food for about 25 people for afternoon snacks and dinner. So far I have planned:

for nibbles:

- 40 x mini spinach & fetta rolls
- 40 x mini quiches
- 30 cupcakes
- cheeses, crackers & dips

for dinner (around 6pm)
- 3 large bowls of baked seasoned wedegs
- a large garden salad
- a large pesto pasta salad
- a large potato salad
- various loaves of fresh bread and rolls
- sausages & vege patties on the bbq

for dessert:
- cake

I am also planning on buying about five bottles of flavoured soft drink, plus of course paper plates, plastic cups and knives and forks.

One thing I am wondering is, are there too many 'nibbles'? or should I be putting some of the things for nibbles out when i put the dinner out (like the quiches and spinach and fetta rolls..?)

Is there anything I am missing???

EDIT: I forgot to say, I will be getting the quiche, spinach & fetta, cupcakes & cake from my work (ie. probably making them myself as well!) so they will not cost a great deal)

so to speak...

well, my 'entertainment' budget seems to have burst at the seams last week. i would love to stick my head in the sand and pretend i didn't spend the money, but i thought if i get it out now it will help me deal with it at the end of the month!!!

So this was my blow-out for last week:
CD: Portisheads new album Third ($19.95)
CD: Becks new album Modern Guilt ($24.95)
DVD: 1st Series of X files on eBay ($37.98)
plus some other purchases here and there. They were my main ones. Normally it wouldn't matter if it was one of those purchases in a month, but this was THREE in ONE WEEK. argh.
so many new albums from bands i love. i mean, how culd i possibly resist???

In line with my not-wanting-to-spend-much-money-this week train of thought *cough* we went to the movies last night. (X-files movie - not too bad but not much sci-fi, a lot more relationship talk than i would have liked... oh well. can't say i wouldn't watch anything with david duchovny in it anyway...)
To be fair, it was cheap night, so the ticket itself cost $8.50.
Total Expenditure last night:
Movie: $8.50
Coffee: $3.75
Icecream: $4
Kebab: $10
Water: $1.40
Total: $27.65

$17.75 of that I am transferring to my loan my debt is now *officially* under 4k.

This is hardly financial, but i just wanted to write a little post wishing Morgan Freeman the best in recovery.

If I prayed (which I don't) he would certainly be in my prayers.

Of course, I am assuming what I read online was true (i'm taking a chance here) in that he was seriously injured in a car accident and is in hospital.

I'm not one to follow celebrity stories, or buy gossip magazines (i am a reformed gossip-mag-girl - have been for a year or so now!) however, I did feel a little tinge of something when I read the report. I admire Morgan Freeman as an actor, he is one of the veterans in the industry and I greatly enjoy most or all of the roles he has played.

I will be keeping him in my thoughts today.

Hopefully this week (or next week, depending on how much interest is added on the 8th) my personal loan should be at UNDER $4000. How exciting. I am then roughly $300 off Goal # 2.

$730.28 away from Goal # 3 for my House Deposit/Uni Savings.

$94.79 away from Goal # 1 for my Emergency Fund.

$205.51 away from Goal # 2 for my Gifts & Holidays Fund.

Unfortunately however the Gifts & Holidays Fund will have some setbacks this month. I will be taking $50 out for a wedding gift, and also $113.12 out as I am taking a Friday off for the wedding, and that's how much I would have earnt for the day.

It's a setback, but that's the whole point of it being there, so in a way it's kind of exciting to use it for what it's meant to be used for!

In other news, I think I might start the $20 challenge again this week. I will be adding the extra money to my House & Uni Fund, for anything positive that I do financially or health-wise.

I will also be adding to my debt any small purchase amounts like takeaway coffee (for example) that could have been avoided, so essentially when I make a stupid purchase I will be paying for it twice

Well, it's 5am here and I have to run for work now. Take care everyone!

i'm sorry, but i am just so sick of seeing all these 'new blogs' spring up that are just marketing for some other product or loan or website. when i see a new blog listed, i am genuinely interested in reading a newbie's financial revelations, not some essay on car loans. it is just so disappointing.

Is there ANYONE here that actually reads them and says 'hey, what a good idea, i think i'll go buy that/do that/go to that website' ???

*Please Note: This is my Earnings & Expenditure for TWO months in total, added together. It is easier for me this way as I went on holiday and things would look a bit scary if I were to do the months by themselves! XD
I am proud of my savings efforts though.

Income:
Job 1: $999
Job 2: $2193.37
Other: $1264
Holiday Savings: $1300
Total Income: $5756.37

Expenses:
Rent: $1266.70
Savings: $1230
Fun: $949.82
Loan Repayments: $410
Groceries: $353.42
Petrol: $175.11
Bills: $52.85 (phone & internet) $92.35 (electricity for 3 months)
Skin Care: $69.85
Mobile Phone: $60
Grooming: $52.10
Misc: $46.08
Work Expenses: $22.24
Bank fees: $8
Gifts: $5

Total Expenses: $5743.34

So I earned $13 more than I spent over the past two months! Well, atleast I didn't overspend. And I also managed to save over $1200.

i have found in the couple of weeks i have been back from my holidays that i have been spending less than i did before i went on holidays.
it FEELS like my spending is out of control, but the expenditure log begs to differ.
other than the $180 dress i bought for the wedding, (which i had funds for anyway) my expenses each week are much less than what i have been earning, and much less than i was spending per week before my holiday.
and yet i have been going out for coffee a few times a week with friends, spending more on groceries, buying crap i don't need...
i have double checked the amounts, and every cent i have spent is there, listed. i have even paid for some costs that BF could have shared (like tea tree shampoo, a nail scrubber, some grocery costs i hadn't bothered to divide).

i have come to the conclusion that limiting the strictness of my budget, and relaxing a little on how i spend my money, is a good thing. it allows me to make decisions without feeling bad about it so much. i guess it's like a diet, if you control your eating so much you end up eating five tubs of icecream before too long. if i try too hard to limit my expenses i feel trapped and end up spending more.

i have found lately i have been losing motivation to post frequently. i think my finances might be suffering as well because of this, although i really have tried to do well.
my main problem areas are takeaway food and beverages and grocery shopping.
the takeaways i can deal with, as i will work on decreasing the costs. i actually already have been, as the most of the costs are from catching up with a friend and we have begun sharing a meal if we need one, or just having a coffee.
grocery shopping is a tricky one. having spent three weeks with my father and that side of the family, where they all eat organically and fresh, i have sort of turned over a new leaf and begun buying organic here and there. i am really trying to keep costs down, but i think this is something i want to do, so we'll see how i go. the other reason grocery costs are high is because i haven't had the motivation to do a full shop, and so have been going to the supermarket every couple of days for items, and therefore probably purchasing a few things each time that i don't actually need.
i'll try and work on that.
lately i just can't bring myself to push a trolley around for over an hour. i know every couple of days the time would add up to over an hour, but i just can't do it at the moment.
does anyone else ever have these days? (or weeks, i should say).

in good news, i am about to update my side profile with my savings and debt amounts. i transferred $700 (my tax refund) into my home loan/uni fund account, which brings the balance to over $1200. woohoo! have reached goal #2 and am closer to #3 every week.

bf and i have been (well, i have mostly, with bf looking over my shoulder now and then) having a look on the internet at some properties so that we know what we can expect to be looking for in a few months time. the prices of units seem to be steady, but have fallen slightly in a year, which is good news for us. there are also a lot more on the market than there was a year ago. houses seem to be out of the question at the moment, the cheapest at $450 000 and most ranging from $500 000 - $800 000 for a 3-4 bedroom slab house.

it's been a bit tricky sometimes with cooking meals, BF eating meat and I not, but overall it hasn't changed our routine that much. i am planning on buying a heap of small steaks or cutlets to freeze individually. this will give me a bit more freedom as i can cook him a cutlet and add it to whatever i am cooking.
eating out is tough, i have discovovered. i guess i am normally used to eating in restaurants that do have a wide range for vegetarians, whereas lately we seem to be going to places like pubs and clubs, which usually only offer one vegetarian meal. so i'm going to have to do some research and find some good places to eat around here! sooner or later i am going to get sick of raviolli and nachos...!

i bought a dress for a friends wedding last week. let me just say, i HATE shopping for dresses for big events, because i am typically a jeans, tshirt & cardigan girl. so i always find it really stressful trying to find a dress, as i don't feel 100% comfortable in them and can't just buy one that someone else says looks nice. i have to be able to put it on and instantly feel good about wearing it, otherwise i will probably take it back the next day.
so i went shopping the other day and the second dress i tried on was the one. the only thing about it that was NOT the one was the price, which was $AU179.90. i put it back on the shelf and ran around to some other stores desperately trying to find a dress under my targetted spending amount ($150.00). i didn't. it's not that i wasn't looking. i tried on so many dresses after that second one, and i really wanted to find something that was cheaper, but i couldn't. so i went back and bought it, and i have resigned myself to the fact that i will either have to find shoes, a jacket and a bag under $20 or find something in my closet that will go with the dress (i had allowed $200 for my wedding clothes, which most was leftover from my holiday money).
i have some black shoes that will go, although they were initially very cheap ($20) and i have had them for a year now, i am a little worried that the heel might snap off.
anyway, my spending for this week has gone quite well, so i will see if i can save a little more money somewhere to put toward these other items.
and yes, i am aware it was a lot of money for a dress. atleast i paid for it in cash, though and i most certainly will wear it again.
the bride and groom (both our friends) have a wishing well, or accept gifts. the last wedding we went to also had a wishing well, which BF and I gave $50 each. do you think this is still an acceptable amount to contribute?

i talked to my boss today about BF and I discussing (and agreeing) to talk to some banks/mortgage brokers/lenders about loans and property etc. my boss said he would talk to his wife if I wanted (his wife is a manager of a bank). I said yes, figuring (as she is pregnant) that it might take her a while to get some stuff together. Anyway, about an hour later she called me at work to ask some financial questions and said she would get back to me in a few days to tell me an idea of whether she thinks we can get a loan and what interest rate we will be offered.
HOW EXCITING!
It's not that we are actually going to DO anything just yet, but I am really interested to see how our finances stack up.
She also advised me (of which i was aware of anyway) to save as much as we could and for the time being make minimum payments or a bit more on my loan, as it would be better to have money saved and still have a small loan than have no money saved.

anyway. like i said, it's not that we are buying anything for a long time, but i guess you have to make the first step. i am just glad i have friends and people i can count on in areas like this so that i never have to do anything without being looked after. it takes a lot off my mind.

but my boyfriend and I are almost positive that we will be taking out a 100% mortgage at the end of this year to buy ourselves a unit.
Why?
Because we don't really have a choice.
At the end of the year, our flatmate (boyfriends sister) will be moving out. Our rent is $390 per week. While we COULD afford the rent between the two of us, there isn't a chance that we would consider paying that amount of money to live in someone else's house.
There is also not a chance that we would live with a stranger, and there is only a very small chance that someone we know would move in with us, as everyone is already shacked up with someone else presently.
If we were to rent our current house at $400 a week (as will be the price by the time our lease is renewed) we would be shooting ourselves in the foot. It would be making it almost impossible to save money for a house deposit, as all our extra money we currently are saving would be going on rent, therefore in a years time we wouldn't be any closer to a house deposit than we are right now.
If we were to put an extra $100 on top of the $400 per week, it would be enough money to pay for the repayments of a unit in the vicinity of $240 000 - $300 000. Taking into consideration interest rate rises which may occur, we would be good for it.
I am guessing you are wondering why wouldn't we rent a unit (at around $300 p/w) for another year to save money? Well one reason is BF's cars. Currently we have a double garage, which houses two project cars (read: not working). Now, BF would be willing to sacrifice them to go to storage at his mates (no cost) if we were to BUY a unit.
However, he doesn't want to rent a unit because, well, he doesn't like units to begin with, and it will mean that he will be giving someone else money to live in a tiny box, that has only one garage where he cannot be close to his beloveds. It would only be worth it, to him, if the unit was actually OURS, because there would be a meaning behind putting his cars in storage.
Some of you may think this is silly but I actually understand it, and anyone that has an attachment to a certain car might probably understand it too. I don't expect you to understand it, I guess is what I am saying.
It's hard to explain I guess.
A unit (or townhouse, or duplex) would not be ideal for us to live in forever. I want to live in a house. BF wants to live in a house. However. In the areas where we want to live, a house costs between $450 000 and $600 000. It would take us a very long time to save for a decent deposit on that amount of money, however, if we were to get our foot in the door now, and purchase a cheap, renovateable unit for $250 000, in a year or so we could rent it out and use the equity to buy a bigger unit or house, and so on.
so i think that's what we are going to do...

New Savings Deduction Amounts:

Emergency Fund: $20 weekly
(current balance: $64.82 goal: $1200 amount left to go: $1135.18)

Gifts/Holiday Account: $15 weekly
(current balance: $113.84 goal: $500 amount left to go: $386.16)

Uni/House Fund: $50 weekly
(current balance: $525.15 goal: $10000 amount left to go: $9474.85

Bills Account: $60 weekly
(current balance: $212.57)

Debt:
Loan Repayment: $37 weekly
Extra Loan Repayment: $40+ weekly
(current balance: $4153.24-)



gosh, isn't it funny how direct debits seem to take over your money (and life) and suddenly there is none left? it's a bit overwhelming sometimes!

from my tax return, which I just completed online. woohoo! i love doing my tax straight away. of course, i am sure had I OWED money I wouldn't have done it as quickly...
I am putting $350 in my savings and $350 on my loan, and the spare change is going on my credit card payment.

I have been thinking long and hard about this decision. I guess I should explain:
I was raised as a vegetarian. My father has been a vegetarian for decades, and while my father and mother were together, my mother was too. I knew what meat was, I was allowed to eat it if I so wanted, but the thing was I didn't want to. I couldn't think of anything less appealing than dead animal flesh. When I was about 6, I was tricked into eating meat by my mother and her new boyfriend. (they told me what I was eating didn't have meat in it, and I didn't find out until later, when I refused to eat turkey at christmas and they said "for gods sake, you've been eating meat for a year anyway!" - thanks mum). So from then on I had to eat meat. To be honest, I really dislike eating meat, particularly red meat. I've never craved it, nor have I ever gone out of my way to order a steak or something when dining out. I don't mind fish or eggs, and chicken is usually what I go for with most meals, but like I said, I don't like eating meat. I never 'feel' like it.
My father is still a vegetarian, as is his new wife and my sister. As with me, my dad and stepmum have encouraged my little sister to try it if she ever wishes to, but as so far, she has refused.

Getting back to my decision.

One thing that makes it difficult, is I guess my laziness. My boyfriend LOVES meat. He could eat it all day, every day. He also does very physical work, and so I guess one of his justifications is that he needs red meat for all the physical benefits it provides (muscle regeneration and growth, vitamins and nutrients etc).
So here I have a problem, as I cook the dinners each night (and no, this is not a discussion about who should cook, I WANT to cook the dinners - also my boyfriend leaves home at about 6am and gets home at 6pm, seeing as I work shorter hours it's only fair).

But having just come back from a holiday where for three weeks I ate a total of two meals which included meat (from staying at my brothers and then my grandparents), I have realised a) this is a choice I truly do want to make and b) I have felt so much better physically having only eaten a small amount of meat over that period of time.

I just wanted to write about it here as I haven't really told anyone else about my decision yet (except my boyfriend and a friend whom is also a vegetarian). It is also slightly financial because at the moment meat is so expensive, and even though I will be eating more beans, nuts etc, I think in the long run it might work out to be better financially as well.

Don't worry, I'm going for a yearly checkup with my doctor soon and will be informing him of this change and will get them to monitor my iron and b12 levels.

thanks for reading.

I thought I would just list my expenses for my holiday in detail:

Food: $72.55
Beverages: $61.50
Clothes: $77.95
Entertainment: $50 (Circus Oz ticket)
Magazines: $8.20
Books: $76.90
Misc: $12.30
Transport: $22.00
Total: $381.40

This is for three weeks. The reason my spending was so low is because I was staying with my dad, stepmum and little sister, so I had most homecooked meals and a lot of my dining out meals were paid for (even though I tried hard to pay for myself).

Now I am back into the swing of things again. I worked yesterday and today. (a rude shock to my system, my first day of work having started at 5.30am on a monday - quite a bit different from three weeks of waking up at around 9am!!!)

I am going to allow myself two weeks of leeway before I begin my challenge and stupid vault counting again. by this time I will have started to get full pays again and will have sorted out all my money!

It is now officially tax time, woohoo! I am currently writing up the group certificates for Work #1, and will be getting my Work #2 group certificate with my payslip on thursday.

Also apparently my boss and his wife at Work #2 handed out $25 coles-myer gift cards to all the staff with our group certificates for putting in a good effort over the year, which is lovely. (we also get $50 gift cards for christmas and a bottle of bubbles, and scratchies-cards for our birthdays...) Yes, it's a nice place to work.

I don't know how much I will get back from my tax return but I'm going to cross my fingers and hope for $700+.

While I was on holidays I also reached Goal # 1 on my Personal loan for $4250 balance. It is now at approximately $4190. I will update all of my savings and debt amounts later.

Well that will be all for now. Thankyou for reading but I have to get back to work now

from my holidays in victoria! hello everyone, i am ready to start getting into frugal mode again.
i have to say though, my holiday expenditure went *exceptionally* well.

I spent, in three weeks, $381.40 on food, transport, beverages, entertainment and clothes.



(this is not including my normal expenses at home ie. bills, rent and loan).

I am so very pleased with myself.

We have a wedding to go to in 6 weeks, which we just got the invitation to, so I will be using some left over money from my holidays to buy a dress and shoes.

tomorrow my plane leaves at around 10am, and I won't be blogging for around 3 weeks. I am so happy to finally be going on a holiday, and am going to make sure I enjoy every minute of it as it will probably be my last holiday for quite some time. atleast, my last holiday where I don't have to fret about how much everything is costing me!

in other news, i have decided to go to the parklife festival this year. artists include:
plump djs
ajax
van she
peaches
dizzee rascal
goldfrapp

and heaps of others. it is $99 for the early bird tickets, I am going to try and make sure I get them because they are $109 afterwards. (i'll add the savings to my challenge money )

I had a little bit of a spendy day yesterday, but in afterthought I think I did quite well!

I went into town and bought 2 jumpers for $AU25. (so, $12.50 each) which was an absolute bargain. And no, I didn't just buy them because they were cheap. I bought them because I am going on holiday in a couple of days, where the temperature can get below 0 degrees celcius. I am hoping it won't be too cold, however I am going in the middle of winter so...

I don't have a great deal of jumpers. I have a few cardigans, but no actual fleecy jumpers, because in the state where I live, even on the coldest day in winter last year it was about four degrees, and usually averages around twenty, which means you can comfortably walk around in shorts and a t-shirt. (well, most of us can)

I did a mock-pack of my bag and weighed it, as I am only allowed 15kg in luggage on the plane. (damn tiger!)All up so far it is about 7.5 kg. I am hoping to keep it at 10kg so I have some room to bring stuff back with me.

Also yesterday I spent $2 on the staff lotto and $4.35 on a coffee while I was out. I am transfering the $4.35 to my personal loan RIGHT NOW. New Stupid Vault balance: $29.73

There are only 3 nights left until I hop on the plane.

Today I paid the remaining $84.67 on my CC # 2 and now I officially have NO BALANCES on ANY of my CC's.
Which means my only debt is my personal loan. Technically I never actually had CC 'debt', as I always paid the full amount at the end of the cycle, but I always had a balance. So it's a very freeing feeling. I like transfering the money as soon as I spend it, I think I will keep doing it, it makes me feel on top of things.
I have set up a $60 transfer into my bills account for the next three weeks, as I probably won't have much access to the internet over my holiday. On Monday night I am going to adjust my automatic transfers for my online savings accounts as well, and transfer ALL of my holiday savings into my main account. I have worked hard for these savings, so I am not going to feel guilty for whichever way I decide to spend the money.
I am already a low spender type of person. I wouldn't say I'm especially frugal, and I like to have fun (sometimes a bit TOO much) however I am not the type of person to blow a paycheck on shoes or clothes, nor my holiday savings on a bunch of crap I won't use. I know if I have any money left over I will put it to good use as well.
Last holiday, I was with a friend who tried to convince me to buy something from a Country Road store, even though I wasn't really that interested, I only said I liked some of their clothes. Her reasoning? "you work hard, you deserve it."
deserve what? a piece of overpriced clothing that i only sort of like?
sheesh.

I am looking forward to seeing the SATC movie, haven't seen it yet. I was waiting to see it with my step-mum. She has already seen it but would like to see it again.
Oooh, can't wait! Only five more days to go!

In other news:
I got some bread rolls from work today (FREE!) so we are having burgers tonight for dinner:
Homemade beef rissoles, lettuce, tomato, cheese, cucumber, pineapple and beetroot.
Yum!
Bread rolls are normally 70c each, so I am adding 70c to my challenge, as well as $1 for a NSD today. New balance: $77.98

Last night we went out for dinner and I spent $2.20 on a drink and $12.50 on a pasta dish. It was delicious; a garlic, chicken and mushroom fettucine pasta. I think I did quite well for the night.

That's all my news for now!

This morning my pay went in for Job # 1 and I transferred $11.69 to the Stupid Vault.

New Loan Balance: $4288.47
New Stupid Vault Balance: $20.93

I also transferred $60 into my bills account. Once the money goes in for Job # 2 I will be transferring the remaining balance for CC # 2. Then I will officially have no credit card balance at all!!! How exciting, I haven't had that for months!

I will have to set up and change some automatic transfers over the next three weeks for:
Bill A/C: $60 weekly
Rent: $126.67 weekly
EF, Uni Fund: $20 weekly
Gift/Holiday Fund: $10 weekly

Why, you ask?

Because, I AM GOING ON HOLIDAY!!! Yes, that's right. A three week holiday to visit my dad, step-mum, sister, granparents, brother, sister in law, nephew, aunties, uncles...

It will be my last holiday of length for five years, if my University plans go ahead. So I am really looking forward to seeing all my family, as they all live in another state. The plane leaves next Tuesday. (This is what I have been saving for in my Holiday Fund).

I say 'holiday of length' because I am sure there will be many long weekends in there (being one that likes music festivals, bands, camping, trips away etc) but I am certain I won't be able to afford any holidays spanning weeks for a very long time!

I will miss BF terribly. Did you know, the longest we have ever been apart in five years is a couple of four week holidays here and there, and a couple of one week work-related trips for bf?

Whilst on holiday I am going to try and keep a spending log, so atleast I know what I spend when I am on holiday. This will let me plan for future trips too, incase I am able to save for a plane ticket.

Once I am back from my holiday I should have some surplus to keep me going for a week, and then I will be back into saving, saving, saving. My main priorities will be:

-a car service
-my EF goal # 2
-my goal # 2 for Personal Loan
-visiting my sister for two days in august

If I have a lot of money left over from my holiday I might consider checking out the stocktake sale in myer, as they sell a brand of jeans that I really like which are around $100 normally, but I can usually pick them up for under $50.

Today my expected spendings will be dinner, as we are having dinner with BF's mum. They usually have specials at the place we are going to at around or under $10, so I will try to keep it at $15 for drinks as well. That should be all the money I am spending today.

Anyway that is my update for today

Today's expenses:

Muffin: $3.50
Extra: $2.09
Chocolate: $2.39
Petrol: $30.03
Fish: $6.05

Everything except the fish and the petrol I could have done without. So obviously it's all going to the Stupid Vault.

I was so ridiculously hungry this morning and I realised I had forgotten my lunch, so I bought a strawberry muffin from the organic cafe when i made a deposit at the bank.

My parents redeemed their credit card reward points for a coffee machine so I bought the chocolate (a kinder bueno) to share with my mum with a coffee.

my flatmate went to a housewarming party of a friend of hers and her bf's. they have been together for roughly 2.5-3 years and have just bought a house together. she is a real estate receptionist, so i understand the need and determination of someone in that profession to own property, but i wonder if they aren't jumping the gun a little on buying together? apparently the boy contributes more money to the mortgage than her as well.

eh.

sometimes i wonder why it seems so easy for other people.

the one thing that made me smile is, about a year ago they took out a five year term personal loan of $6000 to get a plasma television. apparently (according to flatmate) that is the only thing of value in the house, other than the house itself.

Today while BF and I were driving to the markets we passed one of these:

http://www.mbusa.com/media/images/campaigns/c-class-08/masth...
with a Personalised Number Plate with the word 'FRUGAL' on it.

AHAHAHA!

I'm sorry, but not only are the cars themselves new priced between $70 000 to $150 000, but a single-word Personalised Plate sets you back $2500.00!!!

There's nothing frugal about it at all.
I'm guessing it's meant to be a joke, and in which case it's quite mean and dispiriting to those who truly are frugal, because it's slightly like a slap in the face when you think about it.

frugal. bah.

BF just finished doing a floor for a lady in her house, and when he finished she gave him and the other worker $50 cash (ontop of the $5000+ for the floor) for doing such a good job!
i thought that was very nice of her.

With the money Bf treated me and him to a movie 'date' and dinner, which was nice. We haven't been on a 'date' for over a month, and then before then it would have been about 6 months... The movie was $8 a ticket (saved $6.80 each by using a club card) and our meal came to $38.60 and we had a drink to take in to the movies (mine was $2.40 and BF's was $2.90). I gave BF $10 for the extra money. (It came to $59.90).

I am adding $6.80 to my challenge money for using our cinebuzz club card and getting a discount on the movie ticket. I am also adding 78c for buying an extra bottle of tomato passata sauce when it was on special saving 33c, and the ricotta cheese was on special from $4.09 to $3.64 saving 45c. Also my automatic payment to my Uni/House Fund went through yesterday, so that is another $20 to my challenge fund!

New Challenge Total: $56.28

I am also adding $5.44 to the Stupid Vault as BF and I did not really need to buy desserts for the week but we bought some gourmet icecream and some others. Although we saved around $1.50 as they were both on special! It is still going to the Stupid Vault though!!!

New Stupid Vault Balance: $9.24