amex invite

I was stumped to see a mail in my mailbox from American Express NZ. I wonder where they got my information. I have never been in their website nor signed up for anything with them. I don't recall ever reading on any of my banks' websites about having partnership with them.

Anyway, it was an invite with an application form for a Gold credit card. Luckily our recycling bin is on the porch so I chucked it in. It's annoying to think how many organizations out there have my postal address. Even though Amex is a huge company, it still irks me. They take pride in their 100% online fraud guarantee but who knows what else they have about me.

not ready to sell? hire then!

Hire Things is a website that offers people a chance to make some money from what they own but are not prepared to sell them yet. I think it's a cool website. It recently got upgraded so now anyone can post their services too.

Imagine not needing to buy something you know you won't use for long. Not only it is saving you money by consuming less, you're also helping someone earn extra money. I wish we had something to rent, but in a way I'm lucky that we don't hoard stuff. :)

an expensive "free"

J has mentioned a few times in the past year about switching to Freeview from Sky TV. After researching on too many Freeview options out there, he said to me the other day that he's no longer interested in getting one.

For one, we get shows recorded (like TiVo) that we watch during our convenient times (read: when the baby is asleep). Second, the show we record for our child is quite educational and entertaining for him. He has learned many things from his favorite show. Third, we rarely (almost never) go out to watch movies and we rely on Sky for that kind of entertainment.

We pay $82 a month for Sky and if we switched to Freeview, we'd shell out a one-off fee for the box that ranges from $300 to $800. There are plenty of Freeview-ready TVs but we are happy to have just 1 and are not interested in getting another. Plus, we have a goal to move so this is not aligned with the rest of our preparations.

It really helps to wait and review options before jumping into buying something. Although he transferred money from our savings just in case he had already made up his mind on a model. I'm pleased he made up his mind against it. :)

going minimal

We sold our phil&ted's sport buggy for $430. The Touchwood 4-in-1 cot is now listed and hopefully gets sold in a few days. I'm hoping to get at least $500 for the cot. That would be nearly $1k for us to pay down debt with.

We're getting rid of unnecessary things now. There are a few things listed on Freecycle too--mostly toys that our baby no longer wants but are still in good condition.

J and I don't like clutter and only want to have things in the house that we use. Our house is starting to look like a minimalist's, which we are. It's easier to locate things and we don't need to make mental notes about where stuff is located.

look at that!

Within a month, we've brought our debt down by nearly 2k. Congratulations to us!

What's sad is letting go of all that money that we could've either saved or invested. The happy part is improved net worth. Realistically, it's not looking positive that we'd pay debt off this year but it would be dented big time. That's if we stick to our spending plan. If we do, we'd have paid at least 50%. I really cross my fingers, call on the gods of every religion, and pull every source of resolve that we stick to it. Please! Let it happen this year.

As soon as we got paid this week, I paid off borrowed expenses from this period. Borrowed expenses are those that went beyond the period's budget for a specific item. Say we budget $300 for grocery. If we end up spending $350, $50 of that has to be paid from the next period. This system enforces me to stick to the budget cos that would lessen our target of $500 paid to debt each period. So, this period, we only have around $400 to put towards debt. Not looking good, I know.

I revisited the spending plan and the forecast looks like we'll be caught up by the end of Feb. That's not so bad. Fail early, fail fast. I started off this year with a few resolutions and I've stayed pretty motivated to keep at it. I also have modified my day-to-day work strategy to pursue efficiency and effectivity, not to mention real productivity.

I have also lost about 5kg in the last 4 weeks. :)